PSAC WEST

[IUP Indians]

There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear (name the singer and you get a bonus) Buffalo Springfield........ :)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

OK, boys and girls. It's not 'early' anymore. There's not 'plenty of time' left anymore. These last 5-6 games in the West are massive for many teams. Success in conference tournaments is typically directly related to match-ups. Let's take a look at what remains.


IUP (5 games left) - The Hawks finally hit the pothole. Life goes on. As of today, IUP has a comfortable, 2-game lead in the West. Now, said lead gets a lot less comfy should the Hawks lose to UPJ tomorrow (which is certainly possible). IUP has (5) games left -- against UPJ, (at) Clarion, Edinboro, Slippery Rock and (at) California. With two of three big ones in the KCAC, odds are leaning toward IUP winning the West. They could take another loss but that starts getting the Regional a little dicey. Prediction: 5-0

Mercyhurst (6 games left) - The Lakers got some revenge but still have a tough path ahead. Will they show up in Morrow with a hangover tomorrow? Possibly. After that, they get three in a row at home (Cal, UPJ and Clarion) in advance of a potentially tricky trip to Seton Hill. A visit from Gannon comes on the final day. UPJ beat them earlier and Mercyhurst beat Cal by just a point. So, they have some work ahead of them. Even Gannon in the finale isn't an easy game. It will be a physical one regardless of the final score. Prediction: 6-0

Pitt-Johnstown (6 games left) - The Mountain Cats have (6) games remaining -- starting with tomorrow's short trip to Indiana. UPJ's remaining schedule is really backloaded (i.e. tough). After IUP, they host Seton Hill before traveling to Mercyhurst. Edinboro and Cal visit Johnstown before the finale at Slippery Rock. They will have to work in 5 of those 6 games. Prediction: 4-2

Seton Hill (5 games left) - The Griffins host Edinboro tomorrow before back-to-back trips to UPJ and California. They finish the year out with home dates against Gannon and Mercyhurst. So, while it's been a nice story, there's a lot of tough games coming up fast for Seton Hill. Prediction: 2-3

Slippery Rock (5 games left) - There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear (name the singer and you get a bonus). SRU has lost 5 of its past 7 games -- including getting smacked in the Mon Valley last night (a month after smacking those same Vulcans in Morrow). Mercyhurst visits tomorrow night. Could this be one of those famous Morrow traps? Doubtful, but it is possible. The Rock then has two on the road at Edinboro and IUP followed by home games with Clarion and UPJ. Prediction: 2-3

California (5 games left) - The Vulcans may be the best (current) 6th seed in the history of the PSAC West. Although, I don't think they'll remain in the 6 hole much longer. Cal hosts a tricky (when motivated) Gannon prior to a trip to Mercyhurst. Seton Hill and IUP visit the Angelo Dome with a trip to Johnstown sandwiched in between. This is a team capable of making some noise on a given night. Prediction: 2-3

Edinboro (6 games left) - The Scots are hanging on to the final conference tournament spot for dear life. Edinboro isn't helping itself having lost 5 in a row and 10 of its past 11 games. As such, Gannon finds itself right in the mix for the final spot. A brutal stretch awaits, however, to close things out. Tomorrow, the Scots play in tough McKenna Field House and will be a road dog against Seton Hill. Slippery Rock then visits prior to a trip to IUP. Gannon and Clarion round out the schedule -- both in McComb. Gannon's visit should not only be a 'friendly' affair but quite possibly (likely) a massive game. Prediction: 1-5

Gannon (5 games left) - If the Knights have been anything this year, they've been an entertaining bunch. They play hard. Their bench cheers hard, too. The Knights travel to California tomorrow before returning home to face Clarion. Back-to-back roadies to Seton Hill and Edinboro follow. Gannon hosts crosstown rival Mercyhurst in the finale. Prediction: 2-3

Clarion (5 games left) - The Golden Eagles are not yet mathematically eliminated. They have a bye prior to IUP's visit this weekend and then have four straight road games to close out the regular season (at GU, Mercyhurst, SRU and Edinboro). Prediction: 0-5



Based on predictions, these would be the final regular season standings in the West (conference only record listed):

IUP (21-1)
------------------------------------------------ Round 1 bye
Mercyhurst (19-3)
Pitt-Johnstown (17-5)
Seton Hill (11-11)
Slippery Rock (10-12)
California (10-12)
Gannon (4-18)
------------------------------------------------ GU takes tie-breaker with season sweep
Edinboro (4-18)
Clarion (1-21)

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Who wants that final spot ... Gannon or Edinboro?

It's going to be tight.

[Ship69]

That rule is unfortunately called about 5% of the time.

They were calling it in early November but it has about vanished.

Yeah, they certainly don't call it enough. Also hardly ever called is three seconds in the lane and carrying the ball when dribbling (what we used to call palming in my youth). Most of today's guards would have trouble dribbling the ball downcourt if they didn't carry it,

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Obviously, flopping is not good sportsmanship. That is why there's now a rule against it.

That rule is unfortunately called about 5% of the time.

They were calling it in early November but it has about vanished.

[Ship69]

What world are you living in? Do you not see players flop to get a foul call? Is THAT good sportsmanship. I see it almost every Men's game I call...

Obviously, flopping is not good sportsmanship. That is why there's now a rule against it.

[WarriorVoice]

Even if it's not stated in the official rules, every sport has unwritten rules (i.e., don't bunt for a base hit in the 8th inning of a no-hitter) that dictate whether or not you're displaying good sportsmanship. So even if it's not against the rules, it's terrible sportsmanship which says a lot about the program within which it occurs. There's a fine line between gamesmanship and bad sportsmanship, but this seems like a fairly obvious violation of sportsmanship IMHO.

And, yes, if the bench is standing during an opponent's offensive set, the ref should sit them down. MEC refs do it all the time--not sure why the PSAC refs let it go on.

What world are you living in? Do you not see players flop to get a foul call? Is THAT good sportsmanship. I see it almost every Men's game I call...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Updated Men's standings:

-

TEAM	PSAC	OVERALL	STREAK
IUP	16-1	22-1	L1
Mercyhurst	13-3	17-3	W4
Pitt-Johnstown	13-3	17-5	W6
Seton Hill	9-8	14-9	W2
Slippery Rock	8-9	14-9	L2
California	8-9	11-12	W2
Edinboro	3-13	5-16	L5
Gannon	2-15	2-19	L3
Clarion	1-16	3-19	L2

[bballfan03]

Down goes number one. Wow! I did not think anyone in the PSAC was going to beat them.

[Fightingscot82]

I personally do not think that KJ helped his cause with the Edinboro player incident as this is certainly a bad reflection on both the program and the school. Cannot imagine that the school administration is any too fond of the bad publicity this may have generated. Further, I would be interested as to whether his initial contract term is up this year; if it is then it is a perfect time to go in a different direction. If Coach Jefferson's contract is not up for renewal this year, then the question becomes what is the cost of any potential buyout. With that said, I do not know if coach's' contracts at this level have a buyout clause or whether can they be fired for underperformance with no penalty to the school.

He's got a fixed term contract that I've been told is in its last year.

[IUPalum]

bit of a stretch lol baiting intends instigating.. i.e. - saying to a player "come at me"... you didn't do a physical action, but you incited any forthcoming physical action that occurs because you instigated it. And I wouldn't put it past a PSAC Official to have said that baiting would include the time as they don't know how how to interpret most rules (like players standing near/on the court when a team is on offense or a bench player touching an on court player, etc).

A bit of a stretch???

ART. 1 . . . Commit an unsporting foul. This includes, but is not limited to, acts or conduct such as:

[bballfan03]

I personally do not think that KJ helped his cause with the Edinboro player incident as this is certainly a bad reflection on both the program and the school. Cannot imagine that the school administration is any too fond of the bad publicity this may have generated. Further, I would be interested as to whether his initial contract term is up this year; if it is then it is a perfect time to go in a different direction. If Coach Jefferson's contract is not up for renewal this year, then the question becomes what is the cost of any potential buyout. With that said, I do not know if coach's' contracts at this level have a buyout clause or whether can they be fired for underperformance with no penalty to the school.

So I did a very quick stat check (not thorough or accurate by any means)... but I was looking at the technicals that came under Coach Reilly and under KJ. It appears Reilly had 2 techs against him in his time and in KJs 4 years he's at 5. The players, under each coach, again by skimming through total season statistics quickly... it looks like there were about 6 under Reilly... KJs players are at 9.

[bballfan03]

My view regarding blowouts: Keep playing and keep scoring ... but it best be with your walk-ons and deep bench guys. If you are going to leave your rotation guys in the game ... you best not be taking a shot in those circumstances. If it's the five walk-ons vs the five walk-ons ... so be it. Have fun. They practice all year for those couple minutes.


The wildest I've seen this year was the end of the IUP vs Clarion game. Both teams emptied their deep benches. Once both empty, it's essentially a JV game for the final couple minutes. The funny part was Clarion's deep bench players are all about 5'8" or 5'9". IUP's deep bench guys are 6"8", 6'10" and 6'7". So, IUP had a guard and four really big dudes playing against what looked like an intramural team. It was an entertaining couple minutes.

I concur. I was never a fan when Coach Reilly would leave his starters in until about 30 secs left in a 20+ game. He said he did early in season because the starters were still developing chemistry and he was getting rotations set... which in the beginning of the year - i still don't like it, but I understand it. However, it happened in February, too. Not figuring things out at that point lol

But, yeah, regardless of the score - when the scrubs are in - let them play! That's the only time they're going to get. Even more especially when it's a local product walk-on. Home gyms go nuts when a local kid hits their first (usually only) shot of the season.

[gman16506]

I hope this is KJs last year. He's shown absolutely nothing as to his ability to be a head college coach. Maybe he's just more suited to be an assistant at a D1 school. One of his better season's was with all of Coach Reilly's leftovers and they've not progressed at all in his 4 years. For all the garbage years Coach Reilly had - he didn't have 4 straight garbage years at any point. Usually 1-2 off and then back near the top of the PSAC. I'm pretty sure Gannon has finished no better than 5th in any of the 4 years - and this year they're contending for the worst of the worst.

I personally do not think that KJ helped his cause with the Edinboro player incident as this is certainly a bad reflection on both the program and the school. Cannot imagine that the school administration is any too fond of the bad publicity this may have generated. Further, I would be interested as to whether his initial contract term is up this year; if it is then it is a perfect time to go in a different direction. If Coach Jefferson's contract is not up for renewal this year, then the question becomes what is the cost of any potential buyout. With that said, I do not know if coach's' contracts at this level have a buyout clause or whether can they be fired for underperformance with no penalty to the school.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

i'm really not one for unwritten rules... you play the game by the stated rules and if someone has an issue with it - that's on them. One I saw in a D1 game the other night... team was up by near 30.. scrubs got in for last minute. There was a 2 second shot clock difference from game time.. at shot clock end (with 3 seconds on game clock) scrub shot a 3. Missed it, but an opposing player shoved the scrub and it started a little squabble. After the game the other coach defended his player by saying "you're up by 30... it's just disrespectful". Now I will agree it was not classy, but being classy isn't a rule specifically. That may have been the only shot that kid got all season and with the way the fans were up on their feet - the house would have came down had he made it. It was not classy, but it wasn't against the rules. Unwritten rules, yes... but if they're not in writing - no consequence is enforceable.

My view regarding blowouts: Keep playing and keep scoring ... but it best be with your walk-ons and deep bench guys. If you are going to leave your rotation guys in the game ... you best not be taking a shot in those circumstances. If it's the five walk-ons vs the five walk-ons ... so be it. Have fun. They practice all year for those couple minutes.


The wildest I've seen this year was the end of the IUP vs Clarion game. Both teams emptied their deep benches. Once both empty, it's essentially a JV game for the final couple minutes. The funny part was Clarion's deep bench players are all about 5'8" or 5'9". IUP's deep bench guys are 6"8", 6'10" and 6'7". So, IUP had a guard and four really big dudes playing against what looked like an intramural team. It was an entertaining couple minutes.