Iup basketball

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP better be ready to play Saturday. Cal is lighting up UPJ in Johnstown. Vulcans are on a heater.

[IUPNation]

Joe hasn't left Indiana to recruit in 8-10 years. Not joking.

His growing media exposure will surely help....

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Yeah, with the way they play defense they'll be pretty tough to handle if they start hitting deep. Obviously they've been tough enough for the PSAC to handle even without lights-out shooting. The big worry to me would be when they get deeper into regional or national play and run into stronger offensive clubs. They'll probably need their shooting eyes then.

IUP's defense is probably the best its ever been under Joe Lombardi. Last I saw they were No. 1 in the country in points against (58.8). It's the combination of big, fast guards (a lot of them) and very athletic, aggressive and physical post players. The item nobody talks about is these are system guys -- not one-year imports. These guys have played in Joe's scheme for years and years. The other item is IUP's guards rebound better than some teams' post players. Shawndale Jones, for instance, is 6"4" and built like a house. He pushes around a lot of 6'8" guys who weigh 170 pounds. Dallis Dillard is an elite rebounding guard and is packing serious speed and muscle.

They've held some really good offensive teams to WAY below their averages:

Concord - 60
Winston-Salem - 50
Walsh - 60
New Haven - 60
West Chester - 55
Millersville - 45
SRU - 57 & 60
East Stroudsburg - 53
Seton Hill - 52
Mercyhurst - 62 & 67
UPJ - 71 & 60
Cal - 70


Obviously, West Liberty and Fairmont State can put up some major points. But, IUP also will cause them a lot of problems. It works both ways.

There's no doubt IUP should be scoring much more than it is the past 10 games. But, their scoring margin is still a PSAC-best 16.9 ppg. The other caveat is the second half of the conference loop almost always sees scoring decline. These teams know each other so well. Some of them know each others play calls, switches, etc. IUP beat UPJ in the second meeting and UPJ literally called out a counter for every play Joe called out the entire game. Several of us are convinced had Joe just stayed quiet and let them play, IUP could have blown them out of the building. But, it gets a lot harder to score when the opponent knows everything you're doing.

Are they built to win a shootout like we see in WV? I have my doubts. But, I also have serious doubts they'd ever get in to that position. They don't get sucked in to speed races. These are upperclassmen who have played in many big games. They defend the three exceptionally well. East Stroudsburg came in here averaging 90-some points per game and got held to 53 -- and had the pace controlled on them for probably 37 of the 40 minutes. IUP is very strong in the press break this year (unlike last year).

We saw a PSAC West Regional Final a year ago. It wouldn't shock me if we see another one. I'm already anticipating West Liberty and Mercyhurst playing in the second round. Not saying Mercyhurst could beat West Liberty this year ... but, I'm also not saying they won't.


All of that rambling aside, they could also get bounced in the first round. March is pretty unpredictable.

[Ship69]

Hard to say. David Morris had a similar funk at about this same time last year and then went crazy the final 7-8 games of the year.

The one reason I think it will improve here shortly is Ethan Porterfield is getting healthy. He's looked much better the past couple games and even said after the SRU game that was the first game all year he felt pretty good out there. It was noticeably visible. He wasn't hobbling and looked a full step faster.

Everything changes for IUP when he's healthy (healthier). They become a whole different animal to deal with and are much harder to defend. It was pretty clear the past 4-5 weeks teams knew he was hobbled which allowed them to suffocate others. A healthy Ethan puts a 6'9", 230 lb guy in the middle of the offense -- who can hit sky hooks, treys, pick-n-rolls and he's also a great passer. Ethan puts a lot of fear in to teams which takes heat off of others.

Joe decided to let them shoot out of this ... some think he should have limited the shots -- and who was taking them. If they get the trey ball humming again, they are going to be a load.

As we've seen, they can win without the deep shot. Hell, they've shot it horrible for 6 weeks now. But, Ethan is the key to everything this season.

Yeah, with the way they play defense they'll be pretty tough to handle if they start hitting deep. Obviously they've been tough enough for the PSAC to handle even without lights-out shooting. The big worry to me would be when they get deeper into regional or national play and run into stronger offensive clubs. They'll probably need their shooting eyes then.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

He's recruiting.

:-)

Joe hasn't left Indiana to recruit in 8-10 years. Not joking.

[IUPNation]

Joe L is sitting courtside at the Pitt - GT game tonight

He's recruiting.

:-)

[IUPTrackMan]

Joe L is sitting courtside at the Pitt - GT game tonight

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The deep-shooting funk seems to be consistent this season. As someone who follows another program it's kind of puzzled me as some of these IUP players have been pretty deadly at range in the past. Are they tossing up bad shots, not getting into an offensive rhythm, or simply not hitting open looks?

Hard to say. David Morris had a similar funk at about this same time last year and then went crazy the final 7-8 games of the year.

The one reason I think it will improve here shortly is Ethan Porterfield is getting healthy. He's looked much better the past couple games and even said after the SRU game that was the first game all year he felt pretty good out there. It was noticeably visible. He wasn't hobbling and looked a full step faster.

Everything changes for IUP when he's healthy (healthier). They become a whole different animal to deal with and are much harder to defend. It was pretty clear the past 4-5 weeks teams knew he was hobbled which allowed them to suffocate others. A healthy Ethan puts a 6'9", 230 lb guy in the middle of the offense -- who can hit sky hooks, treys, pick-n-rolls and he's also a great passer. Ethan puts a lot of fear in to teams which takes heat off of others.

Joe decided to let them shoot out of this ... some think he should have limited the shots -- and who was taking them. If they get the trey ball humming again, they are going to be a load.

As we've seen, they can win without the deep shot. Hell, they've shot it horrible for 6 weeks now. But, Ethan is the key to everything this season.

[Ship69]

Another dreadful day shooting from deep (5 for 23).

David went 1 for 11.

They could have blown that game wide open had they made some deep shots.

Everything else was pretty good. That's not an easy lineup to hold to 60 points.

The deep-shooting funk seems to be consistent this season. As someone who follows another program it's kind of puzzled me as some of these IUP players have been pretty deadly at range in the past. Are they tossing up bad shots, not getting into an offensive rhythm, or simply not hitting open looks?

[IUPalum]

Another dreadful day shooting from deep (5 for 23).

David went 1 for 11.

They could have blown that game wide open had they made some deep shots.

Everything else was pretty good. That's not an easy lineup to hold to 60 points.

I 100% agree, they played a good game other than the long ball. I’m thinking we’re going to have to deal with the poor shooting. Nothing indicates that they’ll break out of the 2 plus month slump.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Another dreadful day shooting from deep (5 for 23).

David went 1 for 11.

They could have blown that game wide open had they made some deep shots.

Everything else was pretty good. That's not an easy lineup to hold to 60 points.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

So this was the biggest crowd ever but there are 5000 seats right?

I think there 4,000 chair-backs.

To my memory, the Silent Night game was the biggest gate ever (a hair over 3,900). Yesterday was not the record. That was reported incorrectly by the sports information department.

[IUPNation]

If students showed up yesterday the record would have fallen. They had 3,624 and next to no students.

It was an amazing 'townie' turnout for sure.

If they won’t turn out for a legit national contender in basketball in a state of the art arena they aren’t going to watch a national
pretender in a 62 year old foosball field.

Students at this level just don’t care about the sports.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

There seemed to be some confusion about the record attendance on the post-game show. Jack thought yesterday was the record and the previous record was a game against Gannon a few years ago. Then Joe said the record was opening night of the KCAC, I believe against Seton Hill? I think what’s really happening is everyone is getting old and can’t remember! LOL

If students showed up yesterday the record would have fallen. They had 3,624 and next to no students.

It was an amazing 'townie' turnout for sure.

[IUPalum]

Silent Night record lives on baby! Let’s go!

Lol