2023 Men's Basketball Atlantic Regional Tournament THREAD

[IUP24]

Man we had a chance. That ended up a lot better than I thought going into it.

Hopefully our coach doesn't get pulled away by some MEAC or SWAC offer and will continue to build WSSU into a regional threat.

Great showing by Winston Salem. That’s a well coached team and they were right there. Loved the pep band.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Great showing by Winston Salem. That’s a well coached team and they were right there. Loved the pep band.

WL may win the Regional. Obviously they are very good.

But, tomorrow will be a much different test. Today we all watched 5'9" UPJ guards on Bryce Butler. That's going to be a little different the next two games lol.

UPJ fought today but they weren't a tournament team. They got rewarded for getting blown out by a tough schedule. Cal or West Chester would have put up a way better fight.

[Ship69]

WL may win the Regional. Obviously they are very good.

But, tomorrow will be a much different test. Today we all watched 5'9" UPJ guards on Bryce Butler. That's going to be a little different the next two games lol.

UPJ fought today but they weren't a tournament team. They got rewarded for getting blown out by a tough schedule. Cal or West Chester would have put up a way better fight.

I couldn't believe UPJ kept trying to guard an obviously quicker West Liberty team man-to-man about the entire game. It was a constant parade of drives to the hoop. It wouldn't have hurt them to have a little zone in the mix, which in addition to clogging the middle could have slowed tempo a bit. The Winston-Salem zone gave IUP some problems, helped by the their length and the fact that IUP wasn't hitting its three-pointers.

[Scrub]

WL may win the Regional. Obviously they are very good.

But, tomorrow will be a much different test. Today we all watched 5'9" UPJ guards on Bryce Butler. That's going to be a little different the next two games lol.

UPJ fought today but they weren't a tournament team. They got rewarded for getting blown out by a tough schedule. Cal or West Chester would have put up a way better fight.

I'm just glad WLU got a chance to show what it can do on the big stage (after last year's debacle with WVSU). That was a prototypical textbook WLU performance yesterday, so it was fun to get to showcase that in front of a new set of eyes who don't usually watch our games.

That said, Mercyhurst will be an entirely different animal, and I'm not sure if WLU will be able to impose its will like that today. There won't be anything prototypical today. They're gonna have to dig deep and slug it out.

[EyeoftheHawk]

WL may win the Regional. Obviously they are very good.

But, tomorrow will be a much different test. Today we all watched 5'9" UPJ guards on Bryce Butler. That's going to be a little different the next two games lol.

UPJ fought today but they weren't a tournament team. They got rewarded for getting blown out by a tough schedule. Cal or West Chester would have put up a way better fight.

UPJ was the least athletic team in the field, the smallest, and the shallowest. Add to that their plan didn’t seem very good and they never changed it up. Credit to WL for just running them out of the building. That’s what you should do in that spot. Teams look a lot different under pressure though and WL was never under pressure in that game. Maybe they won’t be today either, but I see a much different game this afternoon. Hurst, on top of being a great team, is well coached. They are a little thin though and that could be the difference today. If Ajaya gets into foul trouble again and they have to rely too much on Reichert, I don’t see that ending well.

[Chuck Norris]

They could have busted that out to 10+ so many times today. They have to make a freaking shot. This may be the worst shooting 31-1 team in history. My goodness.

They are winning because they suffocate people.

But then they let them keep breathing.

It’s perplexing. If you had told me in November that on March 12th IUP would 31-1 heading to the 2nd round of the regional as the host team and there was A LOT of doubt as to whether they were gonna win it, I’d have said you were crazy. But here we are.

But they still have talent, great coaching and the best home court advantage in the region. And they know how to win.

[IUPTrackMan]

I haven’t seen WL play in person for about 4years. When they warm up they don’t give the vibe about the hurricane that will be unleashed. They look quite ordinary. Then the game starts and it’s lions on gazelles. However I did think that UPJ played about as well as the could have.

My first exposure was a Regional WL hosted that had IUP and a Kevin Reynolds led SRU team. It was around 2013 or 2014. I had heard the legend of WL but to witness it in person was fascinating. Their games are so physical it really puts the refs in a tough spot. Yesterday many fans were upset in the second half that there was a foul disparity but there is really no other way to fairly call it when one team wants to play in a phone booth. There is just going to be excessive contact.

I was very impressed at the level of coaching that goes into making the contact look minor based on position of the defender. It’s hard to describe but very effective. After what transpired yesterday I think WL wins by 15+ on Tues. But I’ve also been to so many of these tournaments in both D1 and D2 that I know every day has a unique surprise.

[Chuck Norris]

I haven’t seen WL play in person for about 4years. When they warm up they don’t give the vibe about the hurricane that will be unleashed. They look quite ordinary. Then the game starts and it’s lions on gazelles. However I did think that UPJ played about as well as the could have.

My first exposure was a Regional WL hosted that had IUP and a Kevin Reynolds led SRU team. It was around 2013 or 2014. I had heard the legend of WL but to witness it in person was fascinating. Their games are so physical it really puts the refs in a tough spot. Yesterday many fans were upset in the second half that there was a foul disparity but there is really no other way to fairly call it when one team wants to play in a phone booth. There is just going to be excessive contact.

I was very impressed at the level of coaching that goes into making the contact look minor based on position of the defender. It’s hard to describe but very effective. After what transpired yesterday I think WL wins by 15+ on Tues. But I’ve also been to so many of these tournaments in both D1 and D2 that I know every day has a unique surprise.

West Liberty always looks unbeatable, until they don’t. Wheeling beat them. Do they look like the favorites based on what happened yesterday? Perhaps. But they could lose tonight and I don’t think anyone would be particularly surprised.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I haven’t seen WL play in person for about 4years. When they warm up they don’t give the vibe about the hurricane that will be unleashed. They look quite ordinary. Then the game starts and it’s lions on gazelles. However I did think that UPJ played about as well as the could have.

My first exposure was a Regional WL hosted that had IUP and a Kevin Reynolds led SRU team. It was around 2013 or 2014. I had heard the legend of WL but to witness it in person was fascinating. Their games are so physical it really puts the refs in a tough spot. Yesterday many fans were upset in the second half that there was a foul disparity but there is really no other way to fairly call it when one team wants to play in a phone booth. There is just going to be excessive contact.

I was very impressed at the level of coaching that goes into making the contact look minor based on position of the defender. It’s hard to describe but very effective. After what transpired yesterday I think WL wins by 15+ on Tues. But I’ve also been to so many of these tournaments in both D1 and D2 that I know every day has a unique surprise.

Tell you what ... Give me Mercyhurst +15 tonight for about $10k?

WL 'may' win tonight but it's going to look nothing like that game yesterday.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I've never seen that one before.

When that happened I was sure Fairmont was going to win. That was just incredible. That guy couldn't do that again if he tried 20,000 times.

[EyeoftheHawk]

When that happened I was sure Fairmont was going to win. That was just incredible. That guy couldn't do that again if he tried 20,000 times.

I would have loved seeing the % chance to win thing during that game. Right before VUU went on that 12-2 run to end the game, it had to be around 90% toward Fairmont. They only scored once after the 6:30 mark. Yikes! I can’t imagine they slept well, if at all last night.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I would have loved seeing the % chance to win thing during that game. Right before VUU went on that 12-2 run to end the game, it had to be around 90% toward Fairmont. They only scored once after the 6:30 mark. Yikes! I can’t imagine they slept well, if at all last night.

That's the thing with the top CIAA teams ... they just keep coming. I agree ... watching it, VU was dead in the water. They just didn't stop.

This is a team that swept Fairmont State this year. They are legit.

[EyeoftheHawk]

That's the thing with the top CIAA teams ... they just keep coming. I agree ... watching it, VU was dead in the water. They just didn't stop.

This is a team that swept Fairmont State this year. They are legit.

I think at this point in the process, everyone is legit. Three of the four games yesterday were nail-biters that could have gone either way. I felt like I got my $20 worth after the Hurst vs ESU game yesterday let alone how the rest of the day went. I expect two great games today as well. If you’re close to Indiana, PA, love basketball, and didn’t come to at least one of the days of this tournament, shame on you for six months.

[Ship69]

That's the thing with the top CIAA teams ... they just keep coming. I agree ... watching it, VU was dead in the water. They just didn't stop.

This is a team that swept Fairmont State this year. They are legit.

Ship has usually opened with games against CiAA teams for some years now. They CIAA teams are almost always very physical and talented, so it's a good test of where you are at the beginning of the season. Fairmont nearly lost that way at Ship this year. They were seven points ahead with about 47 seconds left when Ship hit a three-pointer, got a turnover, hit another three-pointer, and then scored again to actually take the lead. But in the bedlam that followed that, Carter picked up a nickel-dime foul, and Fairmont sunk two FTs to win the game.

[IUPHawks24]

West Liberty should win this game, but they are the biggest group of floppers I have ever seen