Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Is Joe going to let IHS's Carlos Carter leave town?

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

Believe it or not this is his 12th year down there.

He's about 150-150, give or take, at Francis Marion. I've loosely followed his teams over the years. This is a pretty talented one.

As for the ladies ... didn't they obtain a No. 1 ranking back in ... guessing here ... 1998 or 1999 under Sandy Thomas? She had that one senior-loaded team that started like 18-0. The Woodall girl was on it and Melissa McGill was its big star underneath.

Tom's scoring margin is about +30 for the season. Incredible. That said he didn't take on a real daring schedule. That changes real soon.

IUP, Cal and Boro are going to be quite a ladies race ... and all three may be in the Top 10. The East is way behind the West on the women's side. The men's side seems the opposite.

Okay, yeah I think that was about the time that IUP WBB made the Elite Eight. That was a little before my time following the program. Yup, Sandy Thomas was the coach then.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Believe it or not this is his 12th year down there.

He's about 150-150, give or take, at Francis Marion. I've loosely followed his teams over the years. This is a pretty talented one.

As for the ladies ... didn't they obtain a No. 1 ranking back in ... guessing here ... 1998 or 1999 under Sandy Thomas? She had that one senior-loaded team that started like 18-0. The Woodall girl was on it and Melissa McGill was its big star underneath.

Tom's scoring margin is about +30 for the season. Incredible. That said he didn't take on a real daring schedule. That changes real soon.

IUP, Cal and Boro are going to be quite a ladies race ... and all three may be in the Top 10. The East is way behind the West on the women's side. The men's side seems the opposite.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP women's basketball (12-0) moved up to No. 3 in this week's poll.

Cal is also in the Top 10 (No. 10).

That may very well be the highest ranking that I can recall IUP WBB ever obtaining.

Also worth noting is that former Duke legend Bobby Hurley has his Arizona State team currently at number 3 in the men's poll. He's really put himself in line to land one of the very big jobs in college basketball like a Duke, North Carolina or Kentucky. And to think that he began a mere seven years ago as an assistant at Wagner where he shared an office with three other coaches after he had basically struck out in just about everything else that he had tried in life. Good for him.

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[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Re: Iup basketball

Don't look now but Gary Edwards' Francis Marion team is 8-0 ... and likely to soon crack some D2 polls.

He's been down there quite a few years now. Maybe he has his final job in his mind. The Old Ball Coach must be around 60 or so these days. He was quite a character.

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[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

IUP women's basketball (12-0) moved up to No. 3 in this week's poll.

Cal is also in the Top 10 (No. 10).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Don't look now but Gary Edwards' Francis Marion team is 8-0 ... and likely to soon crack some D2 polls.

[ironmaniup]

Re: Iup basketball

We always have the good defense / bad shooting discussions.

I do agree, the IUP defense was good, but the opening run, the first ten minutes, Fairmont was cold. They were a bit below average with their foul shooting too, which is already not to good. I don't think playoffs is a lock for them - still a great win for IUP.

[IUPalum]

Re: Iup basketball

I forgot to mention Dante ...

Yeah, looks like I was wrong on that one. From Joe's post-game radio show after the Cheyney game it sounded like a done deal. Maybe Joe was blowing a little smoke?

It's a good thing. He played pretty well last night. It looked like the two games he sat and the week off for finals helped him a lot. Ayron Hutton yelled at him a couple times last night to 'slow down' ... good advice. It worked. As long as Dante isn't trying to be Stephon Marbury or Allen Iverson he's pretty effective.

I'm glad Daunte was back on the court. I don't think it was a Bravado Joe smoke screen. I truly believe he had a plan and the time off helped Daunte get right. As far as Daunte slowing down... as a coach, I've been saying that all a long. Daunte sometimes plays to fast and he doesn't let plays develop. Hutton is a defensive guy, always has been and always will be as far as I'm concerned. I still don't understand the Vaughns situation. UGH!!! Hopefully these men can build off this big win.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

I forgot to mention Dante ...

Yeah, looks like I was wrong on that one. From Joe's post-game radio show after the Cheyney game it sounded like a done deal. Maybe Joe was blowing a little smoke?

It's a good thing. He played pretty well last night. It looked like the two games he sat and the week off for finals helped him a lot. Ayron Hutton yelled at him a couple times last night to 'slow down' ... good advice. It worked. As long as Dante isn't trying to be Stephon Marbury or Allen Iverson he's pretty effective.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

For two sentences, Ironman, you packed a lot in there.

A few comments (on your comments):

Fairmont isn't the same team as last year. But, that's still a real good team that beat Wheeling Jesuit, lost to Findlay by a bucket and to West Liberty (106-100).

IUP played tremendously better defense against them. You hold Fairmont to just 4 three-pointers you're doing something right. IUP contested just about every shot. We haven't seen that defensive effort probably since the DeVante team.

Fairmont also lives and dies with Jason Jolley. When he's 'on' the whole floor opens up for them. IUP smothered him. He was visibly flustered in the second half. When he can't play Houdini the side effect trickles down. Hutton and Malik did a tremendous job on him and it effected their whole offense.

The bad calls went both ways. The refs seemed to want some camera time in the second half. That said, both teams only shot a combined 19 free throw attempts. Combined, that's very low.
One thing to keep in mind is the PSAC calls a much tighter game than the MEC. A lot of fouls up here aren't called down there.

IUP also owned the boards with a +8 advantage. You mention Fairmont shot bad. They finished 32.2 percent from the field. IUP had a lot to do with that number. Keep in mind this was a team averaging 90 points per game -- held to 59 points. Not a coincidence.

Ironically, IUP turned the ball over 16 times to just 8 from Fairmont.


That was a real, real big win for IUP. Fairmont is going to win a lot of games this year and likely make the tournament. It's a great strength of schedule boost and in-region win.

Give both teams credit for playing these types of non-conference games. They don't have to do so and it's risky. Look at some others who play laughable non-conference schedules. IUP could have played three patsies instead of Ferris State, Findlay and Virginia State and have an 11-1 record right now. That's the risky part. Hopefully it doesn't backfire on selection day.


Joe made a real good comment after the game. They obviously watched Fairmont score 109 on Cal this past Saturday -- hitting 17 treys on the Vulcans in 37 attempts. Joe said, paraphrase, they made all those trey's on Cal because Cal let them shoot 37 of them -- and that IUP wasn't going to let them shoot 37 of them. And, they didn't (8 for 33 -- almost all highly-contested).


Trust me ... when you beat an elite MEC team ... take it. It's not easy to do.

[ironmaniup]

Re: Iup basketball

I thought Fairmont played terrible, missed alot of shots they made last year. They are no where near as good as last year, the speed is not in control, and they looked to be flailing alot, alot of bad fouls, too.

This is the first IUP game I've seen live this year, and what others have said seemed true, lots of energy from IUP tonight and a good win.

Re: Iup basketball

Ayron Hutton didn't light up the stat sheet but was dominant on defense. Malik was also outstanding defensively (and offensively). They held Jolley to 5 points on 1 of 7 shooting.

Glover finished in the low-20s.


Very different intensity level tonight. I think Bravado finally found a spark. First time all year IUP was the aggressor. Nice to see.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Iup basketball

Ayron Hutton didn't light up the stat sheet but was dominant on defense. Malik was also outstanding defensively (and offensively). They held Jolley to 5 points on 1 of 7 shooting.

Glover finished in the low-20s.


Very different intensity level tonight. I think Bravado finally found a spark. First time all year IUP was the aggressor. Nice to see.

[IUP24]

Re: Iup basketball

Finally was able to tune into some IUP basketball. Didn't watch the whole game, but was able to watch. I'm way behind on the year to this point. With going back to school for my masters, it's tough to concentrate on following two D2 teams closely. I was football focused for a good while. Glad to be back in the mix here though.

Very nice win for Joe and the gang.