PSAC WEST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That looks like a very well-balanced division, although Gannon — and perhaps IUP if they put it together — seem to have some separation from the rest. It should be an exciting conference season. Bottom half of the East does not look strong.

If I can add correctly, the West went 36-12 against the East this year in Men's crossovers.

Of course, that's irrelevant on Final Four weekend.

[Ship69]

Maceo Austin and Ike Herster were both absent today for Slippery Rock.

What's the word on these two? Obviously they aren't replacing that kind of pop in the lineup.

Herster played some when they were at Ship. Austin didn't appear at all. I was disappointed as I thought that was a very winnable game for Ship with Austin out of the lineup.

[IUPalum]

Maceo Austin and Ike Herster were both absent today for Slippery Rock.

What's the word on these two? Obviously they aren't replacing that kind of pop in the lineup.

and Zay Waters running to Millersville really makes them thin.

[Ship69]

Playground ball didn't work for West Chester today.


WCU was called for 30 fouls to Seton Hill's 13. The Griffins won by double digits.

On the IUP Basketball threat I posted something about West Chester being like the proverbial Forrest Gump box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get from them, and this weekend was ample proof. I would never bet on a Damien Blair West Chester basketball team one way or the other, because it's impossibe to know which version is going to show up.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Playground ball didn't work for West Chester today.


WCU was called for 30 fouls to Seton Hill's 13. The Griffins won by double digits.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Maceo Austin and Ike Herster were both absent today for Slippery Rock.

What's the word on these two? Obviously they aren't replacing that kind of pop in the lineup.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Joe has like 40 years of coaching experience and it his press break concepts just blow my mind. Best way to break a press is the not let them get set up. Joe does the complete opposite. He purposes slows it down and lets them get set up. I understand that he doesn't want the Gannon's, WLU, ESU, etc to play fast but if you let them set up, you're allowing them to create turnovers which helps them play fast. Joe really has two options... Closest guy to the ball grabs it and gets it in as quick as possible so they can't set up the press. Now once it is over half court he can either attack quickly with this squad because they can score or slow it down. This years team, I think I push that tempo and score quick. Previous years I would've pulled back and set up a half court offense since they weren't deep/not great shooters.

Well, before he's breaking presses, he has his hands full this weekend.

West Chester and Millersville are both strong teams.

WCU can be a bit sporadic. But, if you get them when they are having a good day, it can be very problematic.

This first game back is always interesting (and usually sloppy).

West Chester (historically) likes to muddy it up and turn this into a physical, playground-style game. They also have very athletic guards and monsters under the basket. Millersville plays very similar to IUP (and is built pretty similar).

[IUPalum]

Cal is the forgotten team but they aren't going away. Danny had some issues early on but they are back to full strength.

Joe's 'trap break' is still too slow. That's why I don't think they'll beat Gannon this year.

Joe has like 40 years of coaching experience and it his press break concepts just blow my mind. Best way to break a press is the not let them get set up. Joe does the complete opposite. He purposes slows it down and lets them get set up. I understand that he doesn't want the Gannon's, WLU, ESU, etc to play fast but if you let them set up, you're allowing them to create turnovers which helps them play fast. Joe really has two options... Closest guy to the ball grabs it and gets it in as quick as possible so they can't set up the press. Now once it is over half court he can either attack quickly with this squad because they can score or slow it down. This years team, I think I push that tempo and score quick. Previous years I would've pulled back and set up a half court offense since they weren't deep/not great shooters.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That looks like a very well-balanced division, although Gannon — and perhaps IUP if they put it together — seem to have some separation from the rest. It should be an exciting conference season. Bottom half of the East does not look strong.

Cal is the forgotten team but they aren't going away. Danny had some issues early on but they are back to full strength.

Joe's 'trap break' is still too slow. That's why I don't think they'll beat Gannon this year.

[Ship69]

We've reached the Christmas break. Most years, by now, we've seen enough to have a pretty good idea what is going to happen.

In the West this year, forget about those preconceptions.

A quick comment (in order of today's standings):


Gannon (4-0, 10-1) - Aside from one hiccup, the Knights have steamrolled just about every team they've played.

IUP (4-0, 8-1) - Joe's off to a big start -- and nobody is talking about his team. Any idea what time their next gameday shootaround is?

Seton Hill (4-0, 10-2) - The record looks good. The non-conference schedule does not. This same team that won at East Stroudsburg found itself in a dog fight with Pitt-Greensburg. So, the jury is still out.

California (4-0, 7-4) - Danny got off to a disastrous 1-4 start but has turned things around. The schedule of late has helped. This next stretch of 4-5 games is going to tell us a lot more.

Slippery Rock (3-1, 10-2) - The Rock's most impressive showing thus far actually came in a narrow, 93-89, loss at Fairmont State. SRU's also played most of the season short-handed. One item to watch: both losses came outside of Morrow.

UPJ (3-1, 9-3) - Are the Mountain Cats a division contender? Doubtful. But, on the right night, they can be a very tough bunch.

Clarion (2-2, 7-5) - Don't let the record fool you. Unlike most, the Golden Eagles have played a really tough non-conference schedule. Winning at West Chester yesterday was huge. Clarion will not be an easy out in West play.

Edinboro (2-2, 5-5) - This is a young team. With that, comes sporadic play -- which is exactly what we've seen. The Scots should win their next couple games (Mansfield and Bloomsburg) before a murderers' row begins.



My personal assessment rankings (with 5, 5A and 5B being interchangeable):

1. Gannon - Until they aren't.

2. IUP - This is Joe's best team in a few years. I'd like it a lot more with one more (non-hybrid) post player. They are doing a lot well, but need to fix up a few items.

3. California - Danny isn't going away. The Vulcans took too big of a bite with too many new faces in November. They will be in the thick of things come February.

4. Seton Hill - This is the first Griffins team in years and years not to play zone. Nice combination of bigs and guards. Tough home venue.

5. Clarion - Battle-tested. Athletic. Big. Nice shooters.

5A. Slippery Rock - The nightly lineup card is like drawing straws. They can jump up here but they need to get healthy -- and stay healthy.

5B. UPJ - Always a pain to play -- especially in the Dirty J.

8. Edinboro - Much better than the typical last team in the West. They are scrappy and will keep improving.

That looks like a very well-balanced division, although Gannon — and perhaps IUP if they put it together — seem to have some separation from the rest. It should be an exciting conference season. Bottom half of the East does not look strong.

[Fightingscot82]

Just wondering if you had any idea what the total athletic budget is for Mercyhurst and how much it increased due to the step-up to Division One? Or where would one go to find that type of information?

We're still a year or two away from that being public but my estimate based on what I can find is that is around $18-19 million. Private school athletic budgets are always inflated because they account for the larger amounts discounted from the base MSRP sticker price.

[gman16506]

The NCAA money passes through the conference. The NEC gets about $2 million from March Madness revenue alone and it's divided up from there after the conference takes their cut. I bet Hurst gets $250k at most between all the revenue sharing

Just wondering if you had any idea what the total athletic budget is for Mercyhurst and how much it increased due to the step-up to Division One? Or where would one go to find that type of information?

[Fightingscot82]

Wonder how much they get in conference and NCAA cash per year?

The NCAA money passes through the conference. The NEC gets about $2 million from March Madness revenue alone and it's divided up from there after the conference takes their cut. I bet Hurst gets $250k at most between all the revenue sharing

[boatcapt]

Keeping tabs on our old friends up in Erie ...


The Mercyhurst men's team is 5-8. However, two of the wins came against Penn State New Kensington and Bethany (WV).

The Lakers are averaging 248 in attendance per home game. This is down significantly from their D2 days.

Just a hunch but Gary would come back to the PSAC tomorrow.

The Mercyhurst women's team (which at best was average in D2) is 0-11.

Wonder how much they get in conference and NCAA cash per year?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Keeping tabs on our old friends up in Erie ...


The Mercyhurst men's team is 5-8. However, two of the wins came against Penn State New Kensington and Bethany (WV).

The Lakers are averaging 248 in attendance per home game. This is down significantly from their D2 days.

Just a hunch but Gary would come back to the PSAC tomorrow.

The Mercyhurst women's team (which at best was average in D2) is 0-11.