Vulcan rebirth ??

[CALUPA69]

Don't know how he did it, but Coach McBride has gotten together what looks like a team which is a pretty amazing thing because until say 2 week ago he had posted a 6 man roster. Now he can at least scrimmage with a 13 man team which looks to include a fair number of transfers. One true freshman I did note was 6'1" guard, RAMON CREIGHTON, from a Tayloe-Allderdice team that lost in the PIAA AAAA finals to Roman Catholic, 62-73. Time will tell if this is a quick rebirth or or a continuation of the VULCAN'S MBB long nightmare. We'll see beginning on 11/11-12 with a trip to VSU for their season opening tournament against VSU (who lost to WLU 64-74 in the regionals) and ST AUGUSTINE .
If anyone has any knowledge of or has seen any of these players, your opinion would be appreciated.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

Hard to say until the ball tips. The core coming back isn't real strong. Maybe a new system will help them. I'd certainly expect McBride to bring more of an MEC style (pace) of play.

That can be tricky when the rest of the league (minus IUP) all plays a slow-down 1950s style of basketball.

Like I said, too may new faces to know what to expect. To be honest they can't be any worse. One way to go.

Creighton is a nice player. I think a .500 season would be a good turnaround for Year 1.

Remember McBride got a real late start after Cal took an eternity to hire him so he may have got some leftovers of the transfer free agent class. I'd expect it taking 1-2 of his own classes to see what you're going to get from him.

The West is pretty strong.

[boatcapt]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

At the risk of being accused of praying at the Church of Crutch...WLU 2003-04 was 4-23, 2004-05 in Crutch's first season, WLU was 21-10 and went to the conference tourney champ game. Sooooooo...a new coach CAN turn things around quickly!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

When Crutch walked across the Ohio River it should have been a sign of things to come.


It's certainly possible Cal could bounce back in Year 1 of the regime. Take in to account Slippery Rock and Gannon have a ton of new faces, Mercyhurst lost a lot (but generally just reloads), Clarion is in a complete rebuild, Edinboro is probably a wild card and Seton Hill's top returning player is ineligible ...

Indiana and UPJ are the only two established teams as of now.

That said, Mercyhurst is going to be tough and SRU will be good by the time conference play starts. My opinion ... .500 is a realistic outlook and would be a good step in the right direction.

[CALUPA69]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

At the risk of being accused of praying at the Church of Crutch...WLU 2003-04 was 4-23, 2004-05 in Crutch's first season, WLU was 21-10 and went to the conference tourney champ game. Sooooooo...a new coach CAN turn things around quickly!

Your opinion of McBride??

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

Your opinion of McBride??

don't know him personally, but having watched alot of MEC games over past 3-4 years...he had solid teams...very athletic..seemed to listen to him. cant' be easy landing players in athens WV..and he probably got this job by virtue of beating Crutch 2x last year...who ever beats WL 2x in the same season? Maybe no one...but Concord did.. I'm sure that he will be ok this year, but look for a jump in year 2, like we always do with new coaches..

[CALUPA69]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

don't know him personally, but having watched alot of MEC games over past 3-4 years...he had solid teams...very athletic..seemed to listen to him. cant' be easy landing players in athens WV..and he probably got this job by virtue of beating Crutch 2x last year...who ever beats WL 2x in the same season? Maybe no one...but Concord did.. I'm sure that he will be ok this year, but look for a jump in year 2, like we always do with new coaches..

Also has the advantage of following Bill Brown at the rather sad end of a fine career. Pretty much has to be an improvement.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

On the surface I think it was a good hire -- for Cal and the West. He hopefully is bringing an up-tempo style in to a very archaic league. Once January and February roll around in the West ... you can only take so many of those 55-49 shootouts.

I don't recall ever seeing the list of finalists but I'm sure Cal chose him out of a huge applicant pool. They probably hamstrung him a bit by taking so long but the expectations won't be too high this year anyway. He certainly has a fantastic facility to sell. It's been proven you can win down there in the Mon. These are different times but overall I think he'll do well. The West has some outstanding coaches. Holy Joe, Kevin Reynolds, John Reilly, Gary Manchal, etc.

[boatcapt]

Re: Vulcan rebirth ??

When Crutch walked across the Ohio River it should have been a sign of things to come.


It's certainly possible Cal could bounce back in Year 1 of the regime. Take in to account Slippery Rock and Gannon have a ton of new faces, Mercyhurst lost a lot (but generally just reloads), Clarion is in a complete rebuild, Edinboro is probably a wild card and Seton Hill's top returning player is ineligible ...

Indiana and UPJ are the only two established teams as of now.

That said, Mercyhurst is going to be tough and SRU will be good by the time conference play starts. My opinion ... .500 is a realistic outlook and would be a good step in the right direction.

Crutch didn't have to walk across the Ohio...All he had to do was jump over the net. Before basketball at WLU, Crutch was the head tennis coach for the Toppers were he won 11 conference titles and was named WVIAC coach of the year 8 times.

How may tennis titles did Father Joe win at IUP?? Hahahaha!!!