PSAC WEST

[CALUPA69]

It seems Gannon's guys are enjoying themselves more, especially the change from JR's seeming disinterest on offense - or at least his complete lack of creativity on offense - which demanded that guys pass up open shots early in the shot clock just so they could jack up bad shots late in the shot clock. However, the flip side is that Gannon is not playing defense at the level it played under JR. The key for Gannon will continue to be whether Gannon can make shots. Ironically, the guys that are producing for Gannon are JR's experienced guys - Webb and Cisero. Jefferson will be getting his first taste of Manchell, who knows how to pick at weak spots. Manchell does not have the offensive talent he had last year, so he will grind Gannon to the bone with his switching defense and his patience on O. Coaches are shadowing Gannon's only consistent perimeter threat in Clancy, who can't beat people off the dribble. Expect more of the same from Manchell. A good recipe for a Gannon loss would be for Gannon to play run and gun and miss shots while Manchell grinds them to the bone with patience on O.

This is the most important week of the season for UPJ. If UPJ wants to compete for #2 seed in the West, these are must wins v Hurst and SRU at UPJ.

I really like Cal U. If Sancomb could get them to play better D, they have the kind of team that can beat anyone except IUP, which is going to win the West going away and probably the conference 'ship even without the injured Big guy.

In what used to be an exciting rivalry, the VULCANS have clearly not held up their end recently. They've lost 11 straight even though the five games @ KCAC have usually been good games with the C'HAWKS winning by an average of 13 pts. But the the last W for CAL U was memorable because it was @ KCAC, on Saturday January 18 2014, against the #5 ranked team in the country, before a nice crowd of 2141 by a score of 59-54. Guaranteed that will not be the score this week.....but, who knows.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Gannon's 72.5 pts/game this season is hardly "run and gun" and ranks Gannon as #16 out of 18 PSAC teams on offense, right above lowly Seton Hill. Gannon is getting and shooting better shots this year - its overall team shooting percentage is 5% higher this year (45% in 2019-20) than last year (40% in 2018-19) with the same basic roster. If Gannon played defense at the level it played last year, when it gave up just 62.4 pts/game (2nd in the PSAC), Gannon would be having a pretty good year scoring 72.5 pts/game while giving up 62.4 pts/game.

There are dozens of successful teams who can score and play defense. IUP to name one of them.

Under JR in 2018-19, Gannon scored 62.4 pts/game and gave up 64.5 pts/game.

Under Jefferson in 2019-20 so far, Gannon is averaging 72.5 pts/game and giving up 73.8 pts/game.

Not much net difference.

Defend JR all you want - he's a great defensive coach. But his teams struggled on offense unless he had guys like a Zay Jackson who could score on their own.

IUPALUM, I need to get better educated. If only I had your basketball IQ!

Never like to break up a good fight, so please continue ... but I do like a good stat crunch.

I like to see how a team is performing against teams on different levels. It tells a better story.

So, looking at Gannon's body of work this season:

Against top-level teams, Gannon is 0-4 and losing by an average score of 78.5 to 65.5. (If you wanted to remove the Bonnies, it becomes losing 79.66 to 70.66)

West Chester (72-67 home loss)
UPJ (82-81 road loss)
IUP (85-64 home loss)
St. Bonaventure (75-50 road D1 loss) Note: Apparently GU is counting this game in its overall record and statistics.

Against mid-tier teams, Gannon is 2-3 and losing by an average score of 77.0 to 74.2

Ashland (81-76 home loss) Note: Ashland was No. 11 when they played GU. However, today they are 7-8 overall.
Bowie State (66-53 road loss)
Millersville (71-62 home win)
Kutztown (92-82 road loss OT)
Bloomsburg (89-84 road win)

Against low-level teams (based on their current record), GU is 4-0 and winning by an average of 77.25 to 65.25

Alderson Broaddus (81-74 home win)
Mansfield (74-67 road win)
Edinboro (79-59 home win)
Seton Hill (75-61 home win)


Overall this season: GU 72.5 ppg Opponents: 73.8 ppg
Overall last season: GU 62.4 ppg Opponents: 64.5 ppg

So, GU is scoring 10 more a game but also giving up 10 more a game. Thus, the 6-6 record against D2 competition (6-7 overall).

For historical comparison against Gannon's last two good teams:

2014-15 PSAC Champion GU: 63.3 ppg Opponents 56.6 ppg
2017-18 NCAA Tournament GU: 71.3 ppg Opponents 65.9 ppg

Against D2 teams this season, Gannon's offense has been held in the 60s or less in 3 of 12 games - all against traditionally strong defensive teams (WCU, IUP and Bowie State)

[PSACwatcher]

Wow!!! Of course a team isn't going to play has good of defense when you are playing run and gun! Obviously, you're going to give up more transition points! Obviously, you are giving your opponent more offensive possessions! That's just the start!!! The uneducated basketball people... YIKES!!!

Gannon's 72.5 pts/game this season is hardly "run and gun" and ranks Gannon as #16 out of 18 PSAC teams on offense, right above lowly Seton Hill. Gannon is getting and shooting better shots this year - its overall team shooting percentage is 5% higher this year (45% in 2019-20) than last year (40% in 2018-19) with the same basic roster. If Gannon played defense at the level it played last year, when it gave up just 62.4 pts/game (2nd in the PSAC), Gannon would be having a pretty good year scoring 72.5 pts/game while giving up 62.4 pts/game.

There are dozens of successful teams who can score and play defense. IUP to name one of them.

Under JR in 2018-19, Gannon scored 62.4 pts/game and gave up 64.5 pts/game.

Under Jefferson in 2019-20 so far, Gannon is averaging 72.5 pts/game and giving up 73.8 pts/game.

Not much net difference.

Defend JR all you want - he's a great defensive coach. But his teams struggled on offense unless he had guys like a Zay Jackson who could score on their own.

IUPALUM, I need to get better educated. If only I had your basketball IQ!

[IUPalum]

It seems Gannon's guys are enjoying themselves more, especially the change from JR's seeming disinterest on offense - or at least his complete lack of creativity on offense - which demanded that guys pass up open shots early in the shot clock just so they could jack up bad shots late in the shot clock. However, the flip side is that Gannon is not playing defense at the level it played under JR. The key for Gannon will continue to be whether Gannon can make shots. Ironically, the guys that are producing for Gannon are JR's experienced guys - Webb and Cisero. Jefferson will be getting his first taste of Manchell, who knows how to pick at weak spots. Manchell does not have the offensive talent he had last year, so he will grind Gannon to the bone with his switching defense and his patience on O. Coaches are shadowing Gannon's only consistent perimeter threat in Clancy, who can't beat people off the dribble. Expect more of the same from Manchell. A good recipe for a Gannon loss would be for Gannon to play run and gun and miss shots while Manchell grinds them to the bone with patience on O.

This is the most important week of the season for UPJ. If UPJ wants to compete for #2 seed in the West, these are must wins v Hurst and SRU at UPJ.

I really like Cal U. If Sancomb could get them to play better D, they have the kind of team that can beat anyone except IUP, which is going to win the West going away and probably the conference 'ship even without the injured Big guy.

Wow!!! Of course a team isn't going to play has good of defense when you are playing run and gun! Obviously, you're going to give up more transition points! Obviously, you are giving your opponent more offensive possessions! That's just the start!!! The uneducated basketball people... YIKES!!!

[PSACfan1]

GODSPOWER OGIDE
Very confusing resume. Can't begin to tell where he's played and for how long. Connections to SALEM and DELAWARE STATE as well as a number of AAU teams.

These are the type of players Clarion would be routinely getting if Gary Cooper Jr would have gotten the head coaching job at Clarion.

[PSACwatcher]

It seems Gannon's guys are enjoying themselves more, especially the change from JR's seeming disinterest on offense - or at least his complete lack of creativity on offense - which demanded that guys pass up open shots early in the shot clock just so they could jack up bad shots late in the shot clock. However, the flip side is that Gannon is not playing defense at the level it played under JR. The key for Gannon will continue to be whether Gannon can make shots. Ironically, the guys that are producing for Gannon are JR's experienced guys - Webb and Cisero. Jefferson will be getting his first taste of Manchell, who knows how to pick at weak spots. Manchell does not have the offensive talent he had last year, so he will grind Gannon to the bone with his switching defense and his patience on O. Coaches are shadowing Gannon's only consistent perimeter threat in Clancy, who can't beat people off the dribble. Expect more of the same from Manchell. A good recipe for a Gannon loss would be for Gannon to play run and gun and miss shots while Manchell grinds them to the bone with patience on O.

This is the most important week of the season for UPJ. If UPJ wants to compete for #2 seed in the West, these are must wins v Hurst and SRU at UPJ.

I really like Cal U. If Sancomb could get them to play better D, they have the kind of team that can beat anyone except IUP, which is going to win the West going away and probably the conference 'ship even without the injured Big guy.

[bballfan03]

I was upset when I saw they are playing at the same time as IUP.

Having seen both I'm not sure what to think. I think Gannon has more good players this year than Mercyhurst. However, they can really discombobulate teams' flow. Mercyhurst can really shoot the trey at high percentages (especially in the MAC). GU didn't defend the trey well at all against IUP. That could be the problem area. Gannon played well against IUP for 30 minutes. The last 10 just got ugly.

It's a tough call.

the biggest issue for Gannon, to me, is that they appear to want to play a "run and gun" kind of game. Player rebounding takes it full court trying to outrun defense, shooting early in shot clock and trying to create a shot, etc which then leads to scrambled defense. I think they can do it against most teams, but they showed they couldn't against IUP. Rather than change it up, they did the same thing and IUP finally hit 3's and crushed them. Same thing against UPJ... they slinged it around, but couldn't capitalize for a W and then UPJ hit 3's and won. Mercyhurst will obviously slow them down, so I'm curious to see if it helps Gannon to slow down a little or if Hurst will just eat them with slow, grinding defense.

I'd have felt a lot better if the IUP game was at IUP and ended the way it did. But having it happen at home... ugh.. game at IUP could be 30+ and early. We'll see how they handle Hurst first.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think Hurst-GU will still be ugly to watch.. could still be as low as first to 50.

I was upset when I saw they are playing at the same time as IUP.

Having seen both I'm not sure what to think. I think Gannon has more good players this year than Mercyhurst. However, they can really discombobulate teams' flow. Mercyhurst can really shoot the trey at high percentages (especially in the MAC). GU didn't defend the trey well at all against IUP. That could be the problem area. Gannon played well against IUP for 30 minutes. The last 10 just got ugly.

It's a tough call.

[bballfan03]

Things slow down a bit this week with just two games instead of three. However, as the season is slowly winding away, there are some big games on deck. A quick look at this week in the PSAC West:


* Slippery Rock dug itself a hole but is capable of playing really well. You can see just watching Micah Till that he's getting better with each game back -- and the team is getting used to playing with him. When he's fully back to speed they will be a nightmare to play. That said, a suddenly-hot Millersville visits Morrow Field House on Wednesday, followed by a trip to Pitt-Johnstown. Not an easy week for the Rock, but at 3-6 in conference and 7-8 overall, they have to be looking to sweep. It won't be easy. If SRU loses both ... adios amigos.

* Mercyhurst is another talented team but one that has struggled on some nights and looked great on others. This is a very difficult week for the Lakers. A trip to Johnstown starts things off followed by a Saturday night, primetime visit by their friends from across town. A 2-0 week would put Mercyhurst right back in the West race. An 0-2 week would spell doom.

* IUP travels to Edinboro (ideally with its uniforms this year) and finally returns home this weekend to host California. It's the first IUP/Cal game in a very, very long time with true implications. IUP has won 19 of the past 21 in the series -- including the past 11 meetings. This will have the feel of a big game come Saturday night. Both teams are built pretty similarly. This could be a really fun, high-flying game to watch.

* UPJ has two home games this week, but its guests are rarely a treat to entertain. SRU and Mercyhurst are both capable of beating the Mountain Cats. Slippery Rock will actually match size against UPJ. Also, UPJ's pick-n-roll, back-door offense doesn't always work well against the Lakers' Triangle and Two. This has the feel of a split for UPJ. However, they are really tough to beat in Johnstown.

* Gannon should have an easy visit down to Clarion but will have its hands full at Mercyhurst. It's not Gary vs. JR any longer, so, ... call it first to 60.

* Seton Hill gets California and Shippensburg both in the McKenna Center. It will not be a fun week to be a Griffin -- or one of the 17 fans in the stands. Seton Hill used to be famous for one big home upset a year. It's hard to see that happening this year. Nathan Davis will get his points, but he can't do it alone.

* Edinboro has IUP and Clarion coming to McComb. The latter visit should be a win. The first one, ... not so much. With all the D-10 flavor, expect another large IUP contingent to accompany the visiting team.


On the ladies' side, California has a massive test ahead of it with trips to Seton Hill and IUP. The IUP ladies should get a test from a suddenly-rejuvenated Edinboro team prior to the yearly tussle with the Vulcans.

I think Hurst-GU will still be ugly to watch.. could still be as low as first to 50.

[Ship69]

Some statistical leaders (Top 5 in each):

Scoring Offense:

West Chester - 86.5 ppg
California - 83.3
Bloomsburg - 82.5
IUP - 82.1
UPJ - 81.3

Defense:

IUP - 64.2 ppg allowed
Mercyhurst - 67.2
Shippensburg - 67.3
East Stroudsburg - 69.4
Shepherd - 72.1

Margin:

IUP - +17.9
West Chester - 11.7
Mercyhurst - 10.8
Shippensburg - 9.5
UPJ - 8.3

FG %:

UPJ - 51.1%
Merchurst - 50.4%
IUP - 48.9%
Bloomsburg - 47%
Millersville - 47%

FG% Against:

IUP - 39.5%
Lock Haven - 40.5%
UPJ - 40.7%
West Chester - 41.2%
Millersville - 42.7%

3-Point PCT:

Mercyhurst - 43.2%
Gannon - 40.7%
Shepherd - 40.4%
Slippery Rock - 37.2%
West Chester - 37.2%

3-Point PCT Defense:

IUP - 29.4%
Lock Haven - 32.3%
California - 32.3%
Millersville - 33.0%
Shippensburg - 33.3%

3-pointers Made:

Shepherd - 194
California - 150
West Chester - 147
IUP - 120
Edinboro - 111

FT PCT:

Shippensburg - 77.4%
Kutztown - 75.6%
UPJ - 75.5%
Edinboro - 74.8%
Slippery Rock - 74.6%

Rebounding:

West Chester - 45.6 rpg
Shippensburg - 40.9
Slippery Rock - 40.0
Bloomsburg - 39.9
Lock Haven - 39.4

Blocks:

Millersville - 4.8 per game
Lock Haven - 4.46
Bloomsburg - 4.27
UPJ - 4.19
IUP - 3.93

Assists:

UPJ - 19.06 per game
Lock Haven - 16.15
California - 16.00
IUP - 15.21
West Chester - 15.13

Steals:

East Stroudsburg - 11.21 per game
IUP - 7.93
Lock Haven - 7.92
California - 7.60
Gannon - 7.23

Attendance:

IUP - 1,269 per game
Gannon - 758
Shepherd - 464
West Chester - 440
East Stroudsburg - 390

Kind of backs up what I've thought about Ship. Solid defense and rebounding have helped cover erratic shooting this year. And if you foul them, they make the free throws.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Things slow down a bit this week with just two games instead of three. However, as the season is slowly winding away, there are some big games on deck. A quick look at this week in the PSAC West:


* Slippery Rock dug itself a hole but is capable of playing really well. You can see just watching Micah Till that he's getting better with each game back -- and the team is getting used to playing with him. When he's fully back to speed they will be a nightmare to play. That said, a suddenly-hot Millersville visits Morrow Field House on Wednesday, followed by a trip to Pitt-Johnstown. Not an easy week for the Rock, but at 3-6 in conference and 7-8 overall, they have to be looking to sweep. It won't be easy. If SRU loses both ... adios amigos.

* Mercyhurst is another talented team but one that has struggled on some nights and looked great on others. This is a very difficult week for the Lakers. A trip to Johnstown starts things off followed by a Saturday night, primetime visit by their friends from across town. A 2-0 week would put Mercyhurst right back in the West race. An 0-2 week would spell doom.

* IUP travels to Edinboro (ideally with its uniforms this year) and finally returns home this weekend to host California. It's the first IUP/Cal game in a very, very long time with true implications. IUP has won 19 of the past 21 in the series -- including the past 11 meetings. This will have the feel of a big game come Saturday night. Both teams are built pretty similarly. This could be a really fun, high-flying game to watch.

* UPJ has two home games this week, but its guests are rarely a treat to entertain. SRU and Mercyhurst are both capable of beating the Mountain Cats. Slippery Rock will actually match size against UPJ. Also, UPJ's pick-n-roll, back-door offense doesn't always work well against the Lakers' Triangle and Two. This has the feel of a split for UPJ. However, they are really tough to beat in Johnstown.

* Gannon should have an easy visit down to Clarion but will have its hands full at Mercyhurst. It's not Gary vs. JR any longer, so, ... call it first to 60.

* Seton Hill gets California and Shippensburg both in the McKenna Center. It will not be a fun week to be a Griffin -- or one of the 17 fans in the stands. Seton Hill used to be famous for one big home upset a year. It's hard to see that happening this year. Nathan Davis will get his points, but he can't do it alone.

* Edinboro has IUP and Clarion coming to McComb. The latter visit should be a win. The first one, ... not so much. With all the D-10 flavor, expect another large IUP contingent to accompany the visiting team.


On the ladies' side, California has a massive test ahead of it with trips to Seton Hill and IUP. The IUP ladies should get a test from a suddenly-rejuvenated Edinboro team prior to the yearly tussle with the Vulcans.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Some statistical leaders (Top 5 in each):

Scoring Offense:

West Chester - 86.5 ppg
California - 83.3
Bloomsburg - 82.5
IUP - 82.1
UPJ - 81.3

Defense:

IUP - 64.2 ppg allowed
Mercyhurst - 67.2
Shippensburg - 67.3
East Stroudsburg - 69.4
Shepherd - 72.1

Margin:

IUP - +17.9
West Chester - 11.7
Mercyhurst - 10.8
Shippensburg - 9.5
UPJ - 8.3

FG %:

UPJ - 51.1%
Merchurst - 50.4%
IUP - 48.9%
Bloomsburg - 47%
Millersville - 47%

FG% Against:

IUP - 39.5%
Lock Haven - 40.5%
UPJ - 40.7%
West Chester - 41.2%
Millersville - 42.7%

3-Point PCT:

Mercyhurst - 43.2%
Gannon - 40.7%
Shepherd - 40.4%
Slippery Rock - 37.2%
West Chester - 37.2%

3-Point PCT Defense:

IUP - 29.4%
Lock Haven - 32.3%
California - 32.3%
Millersville - 33.0%
Shippensburg - 33.3%

3-pointers Made:

Shepherd - 194
California - 150
West Chester - 147
IUP - 120
Edinboro - 111

FT PCT:

Shippensburg - 77.4%
Kutztown - 75.6%
UPJ - 75.5%
Edinboro - 74.8%
Slippery Rock - 74.6%

Rebounding:

West Chester - 45.6 rpg
Shippensburg - 40.9
Slippery Rock - 40.0
Bloomsburg - 39.9
Lock Haven - 39.4

Blocks:

Millersville - 4.8 per game
Lock Haven - 4.46
Bloomsburg - 4.27
UPJ - 4.19
IUP - 3.93

Assists:

UPJ - 19.06 per game
Lock Haven - 16.15
California - 16.00
IUP - 15.21
West Chester - 15.13

Steals:

East Stroudsburg - 11.21 per game
IUP - 7.93
Lock Haven - 7.92
California - 7.60
Gannon - 7.23

Attendance:

IUP - 1,269 per game
Gannon - 758
Shepherd - 464
West Chester - 440
East Stroudsburg - 390

[CALUPA69]

Anybody see the mid-year transfer Clarion signed? Dude is 6'11", 280 lbs.

GODSPOWER OGIDE
Very confusing resume. Can't begin to tell where he's played and for how long. Connections to SALEM and DELAWARE STATE as well as a number of AAU teams.

[Ship69]

Anybody see the mid-year transfer Clarion signed? Dude is 6'11", 280 lbs.

Doesn't sound as if they'll be running a fast-break offense when he's in.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Anybody see the mid-year transfer Clarion signed? Dude is 6'11", 280 lbs.