Re: Iup basketball
Lost in the football playoff buzz is a pretty big game Saturday at West Chester.
The Rams are 5-0 with wins against (D3) Wesley, Chestnut Hill, (at) Gannon, (at) Clarion and Wilmington (Del.).
WCU has had a big scoring night (91 against Clarion) and a defensive battle (52-44 over Gannon).
A few notes on WCU:
* hitting just 27% on treys (24-88)
* hitting just 59% at the line
* overall shooting 49% from the field
* +6 in rebounding
* forcing 18 TOs per game
* Tyrell Long (6'5" guard) is the top scorer at nearly 21 ppg. Jackson Hyland (6'5" F) is at 17 ppg.
* Malik Jackson is no longer on the team. He would have been a junior this year. If you recall, he hit about 12 treys on IUP at the KCAC during his freshman season.
* IUP has split the past four games against WCU.
* IUP's last trip to WCU ended with Brandon Norfleet hitting a huge trey with seconds left in OT ... only to see the Rams hit a walk-off hero shot as time expired. That was in the PSAC Tournament Final Four.
From a quick analysis Long is going to cause problems. IUP has struggled the past couple seasons containing big, athletic guards. WCU has been awful from outside which means they'll (like most) shoot the lights out tomorrow. Big game for both teams.
-
Re: Iup basketball
It wouldn't be from another program. There are players out there available for whatever reason. Some of those reasons aren't good -- grades, discipline, etc. Others could be coming off injuries ... who knows. It's happened in the past. One example you see somewhat often is a kid who signed somewhere, showed up in the summer/fall and for whatever reason didn't like where he was and decided not to play. Chances are good if it's happening it has already happened as they'd have to go through the enrollment process, etc.
It's certainly not an ideal situation. Then again, ... you find the right guy at the right time and he fits in ...
They are only carrying four legit guards. If any of them were to go down for any period of time it would be a mess. Chances are you aren't going to find a big scorer on the waiver wire in December but even adding a defensive-minded guard would be a big boost to eat some minutes.
The thing with Joe teams you always have to remember is they rarely come out of the gate on fire. His teams usually start to peak around Christmas. This is a good team. They've showed it in flashes (Ferris State, etc.)
I still see them, after 8 games, as a very strong PSAC team. I haven't seen enough yet to call them anything more at this point. If they get to XMAS break with wins over West Chester and Fairmont ... the conversation starts to change.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
It was implied that was the plan when Armoni was lost for the season. Who knows. I don't know who you find this time of year but Bravado has a lot of connections I'm sure.
Dante is better but nowhere near 100 percent. I think they need some insurance just in case. It would be a huge problem right now if he had to miss any time.Last edited by IUPbigINDIANS; 11-29-2017, 08:56 PM.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
I've learned to quit questioning Irish Tom.
His team is just loaded this year -- and very deep.
I'm most curious about this alleged mid-season addition Joe's supposedly adding.
Saturday is a real big game for the men's team. While they didn't play last year WCU has beat Joe the past two meetings.
Both close, yes, but I think many of us are getting tired of 'close' losses in big games.Last edited by IUPbigINDIANS; 11-29-2017, 05:43 PM.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
No real height to that class. Not surprising for D2, but you'd like to get someone over 6'0.
Would be interesting to see how they fit into the lineup down the road.
Also, no Catholic Schools represented, seems like a deviation from past classes. (Not too familiar with the schools, they could be very good in their own right)Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
Tom formally announced the signing of four high school recruits during the early signing period.
Mikayla Lovelace (Leechburg, Pa.) - 5'9" G/F
Teirra Preston (Central York) - 6'0 F
Raja Fink (Dover High School) - 5'10" G
Alana Cardona (Souderton High School) - 5'11" F
The women's team isn't getting much buzz yet with football still going on but is 5-0 and ranked as high as No. 4 in one of the polls. All five wins have been blowouts.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
Bravado Joe may have been reading this site. He talked about every item we've been talking about in the Gazette today. He certainly called the team out a bit in his own language.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
Wish I could've seen both games yesterday but it looks like I didn't miss much.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
Solid game today. Slow start but kind of expected. With the football game still in action the KCAC had a morgue vibe to it to start the game.
That was a strong outing. Final score aside that's a Sciences team that almost beat St. Thomas Aquinas and Kutztown.
I haven't looked at the box yet but Dante and Cobo were very strong. Cobo played a little angry today. Nice to see. Glover just kept the silent assassin role going. Malik ... keep him on the floor.
Willem is evolving with each game. This 'may' be a scary team come January.
That's 4 straight. On to the next one.Leave a comment:
-
Re: Iup basketball
IUP wins by about 30 ... shot the lights out in second half.Leave a comment:
Leave a comment: