Ignatius Basketball

Lorain coach said:
Ignatius should always have better talent than the public schools. For Rhodes to beat them twice says something. By the way Parma had Rhodes beat until they missed 2 for throws. I wish Cam all the best......but for him to get the ignatius job last spring says something good or bad about the process. Bottom line is Ignatius will always have talent and win. Go judge the coach if he can develop a program at Sheffield brook side, Amherst, Wellington, etc.....with the talent Ignatius has their bottom 7 guys could win 15 games in the SWC
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Meh, not sure Ignatius’ last seven could go 15-3 in The SWC, but they’d be a tough out every single night. You’re so correct on judging coaching ability by how one does with limited, run-of-the-mill talent: I’m hard-pressed to find a coach whose public school success has matched his success with a private school
 
Let's use some simple logic here and take out the emotion. A few of these posters seem to be in the Iggy staff or work at the school.

1) Cam Joyce was an "out of the box" choice because the admin (primarily the president and this fr sheldon guy ) thought it woudl be cutting edge and would transform the culture at the school - which is their mission (whatever that means).

2) CJ is likely a nice young man and has a good bball pedigree -- playing and and as a staff member at a couple colleges -- NO HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE - limites experience as an assistant. I suspect if he works hard and learns from his mistakes, he could be a good HS coach.
COACHING matters in high school.

3) The results are EXACTLY what any rational person would expect - very average - because the coach is inexperienced and he did not help himself by bringing in equally inexperienced and also non-Ignatius assistants; setting aside Isabella who played sparingly in HS, and also brings ZERO coaching experience at any level. His father works at the school and is personal friends with the Joyce family (a helluva a way to choose a staff).

4) The school caught a lot of of grief for passing on a number of experien candidates -- caucassian and affrican american - who were alums as well. And the school has exhausted themselves (to the point of being defensive) promoting Cam Joyce as the next coming of John Wooden. Articles, twitter, videos, etc. (Thoud dost protest too much). Unfair to the young man to put him in that position.


5) This is/was not an untalented team. Toppin is one of the top guards in the state. Lot's of athletes and players that many coached would kill for

So what are the results?

- a mixed-up line up all season.
- no clear offensive strategy
- 2 bad losses to eds - be thankful they did not play them a third time.
- 2 losses to a senate team --- should have won both - a better coach wins both
- btw - ignatius had not lost to a senate team in 25 years - this team loses twice in 30 days
- a poor coaching games VS rhodes -- Igantius got outcoached -- pure and simple - end of story (that is part of the learning experience).
- bad losses to CCC, c heights..
- a decent win vs mckinley might be the highlight of the season.
- a run up the score victory vs collinwood that bordered on bad sportsmanship.

All the while a depleted Solon team plays for a district title and Ed's looks like favorites to win the state.

The first step in making change is recognizing yoiu have a problem --- I suspect the school may know they have a problem, but does not want to admit they made a mistake.

Is this the end fo the world ? No it is not -- it is HS basketball. But with 1500 boys and a price tag of 18K per year, and for the school to beg for donations on a regular basis from alums -- striving for excellence is expected - not making excuses for mediocrity. And that is what Igantius is doing -- making excuses for Cam Joyce to save face.
 
Go check the ledger in hoops dating back to 96-97 when Ed’s hired a coach with very little experience to run the show there. It’s not pretty for the Wildcats over that span head to head, trust me. Losing to Ed’s twice is supposed to be some sort of indictment? Cam has something in common with Becker and O’Toole then because it happened often. This Ignatius team was going to be hard pressed to beat Ed’s this season regardless of who was on the bench.

Your Senate stat proves what? Rhodes has a nice team, anybody in the area that pays attention would tell you that. Both games could have gone either way. That is high school basketball for you.

You do realize that Ignatius hasn’t exactly been a Regional regular since winning state in 2001 right?
 
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Comparing CJ hire to Flannery is apples and oranges -- no - apples and hammers. No comparison. Flannery a) attended Ed's, b) worked as assistant there, c) if I am not mistaked was JV or freshman HC coach for a while. That is called EXPERIENCE. (It is also the path Tom Parker was on). He had people mentoring him and also evaluating him. Huge difference. No different than a corporation. Ignatius gave the keys to the program to an unproven guy, with no experience, but with some potential. And maybe you shoudl walk down the hall and down a few steps to the Atheltic office and you will find that Brian Becker has a career winning record vs Ed's.
It wa a very average season and the team underperformed. That is a pure fact. Rhodes? Give me a break. They had 2 good players and one very good player. But they only played 5 kids and Igantius was able to score a total of what, 9 points in the 4th quarter and ovevrtime ? They should have and could have exhausted them using the better athletes on their roster. Instead, Rhodes ran off like 5 minutes off the clock in OT and the 4q and controlled the game after Igantius had two double digit leads in the second half - that is just the start of the coaching mishaps. Not the end of the world here guys ... but facts are facts. Let's not reinvent the facts to protect the Igantius narrative. Hope he gains some expereince and sticks around and listens and learns. A good start would be a staff that can help him -- not his AAU buddies and family friends. We all make mistakes - but not all learn from mistakes -- hoping he does.
 
Iggy has gone to the sweet 16 in 2010 and 2016, before that they won in 2001, they went to elite 8 in 2000, 1999 and runner up in 1998. I think the numbers could have been higher since 2010 If Iggy didn't put Ed's and Iggy in same district to make sure one is eliminated. Some of those years that Iggy lost to Eds they would have easily won any other district. As far as being mediocre that is not true, Becker has a decent record vs Eds I believe it is near 500 or better but O'Toole struggled vs Flannery. If you can't split with Flannery then you are probably winning most of your other games. If you good look back at Iggy's record the last 10 years it is not average just happened to be put into a district with Eds. Last 2 years to lose to Brecksville and Rhodes and not even make the district final just doesn't cut it. Ed's shot 1-20 from 3 vs Rhodes and still won by 20, it was a 8-10 point game most of the night, If Iggy gets past Rhodes they would have had a lot better shot vs Eds than Rhodes. Some of the Eds coaches I talked to said for sure they would rather have played Rhodes than Iggy a third time so there was talent on this team for sure.
 
Any expectations for the season this year? Will need to replace a lot of scoring and ball handling with the graduation of Toppin. There was very little depth among lead ballhandlers last season.

There are at least a few changes to schedule. Canton McKinley is (disappointingly) off, and Shaker Heights has been added. I don’t think we’ve played Shaker since Esa Ahmad knocked the Francisco Santiago and Derek Sloan-led team out of the playoffs.
 
Wildcats1886 said:
Any expectations for the season this year? Will need to replace a lot of scoring and ball handling with the graduation of Toppin. There was very little depth among lead ballhandlers last season.

There are at least a few changes to schedule. Canton McKinley is (disappointingly) off, and Shaker Heights has been added. I don’t think we’ve played Shaker since Esa Ahmad knocked the Francisco Santiago and Derek Sloan-led team out of the playoffs.
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Some very very good young talent incoming this year. The strength of the team will likely be the bigs with Henry Raynor, Will Yontek, CJ Yarian, and Shondo Green. Great size coming back.

As far as guards, the Cats will be young. Senior Mike Mattimore should be solid. Look out for junior Jon Effertz and sophomore Braydn Szczepaniak. You may see a freshman or two on the roster this season.
 
ClevelandCat1 said:
Some very very good young talent incoming this year. The strength of the team will likely be the bigs with Henry Raynor, Will Yontek, CJ Yarian, and Shondo Green. Great size coming back.

As far as guards, the Cats will be young. Senior Mike Mattimore should be solid. Look out for junior Jon Effertz and sophomore Braydn Szczepaniak. You may see a freshman or two on the roster this season.
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How is sophomore Tristan Marshall coming along? He needs to keep working his offensive game, but love how he plays and his motor. Saw some good things this summer against some pretty good competition.
 
SVillegrad said:
How is sophomore Tristan Marshall coming along? He needs to keep working his offensive game, but love how he plays and his motor. Saw some good things this summer against some pretty good competition.
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Really liked what I saw from Marshall on the defensive end last season. I’d expect him to be on the Varsity this year, although it will be tough to crack the lineup with Raynor, Yontek, Yarian, and Green in the frontcourt.
 
Wildcats1886 said:
Really liked what I saw from Marshall on the defensive end last season. I’d expect him to be on the Varsity this year, although it will be tough to crack the lineup with Raynor, Yontek, Yarian, and Green in the frontcourt.
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Yeah. Great kid too, fwiw. A couple more inches and he has the ability, if nothing else, to at least be one of the best defensive big men in NEO. Gets off the ground quick and has very good length.
 
Ignatius will play Trotwood Madison at Flyin’ to the Hoop this year. I don’t think the Cats have played in this event since the O’Toole years. Should be a nice matchup. The Rams will have a talented squad this year with a couple good guards transferring in.
 
Wow, very tough slate with challenging games night in and night out. But, other than SVSM, I don’t see any games where the Cats should be huge underdogs.

Hoping to see some improvements offensively in year 2 of the Joyce era.
 
Any word on how the team is looking? Heard there are a couple freshman on the Varsity roster that may get meaningful minutes (assuming there is a season).
 
First game vs. Walsh Jesuit on 12/1 apparently is still on
Next games vs Lutheran East and Erie (PA) have already been postponed
After that it's Hilliard Bradley in Columbus on 12/20. Time will tell if that goes forward

Although school has just reverted to virtual remote learning mode, they are continuing cautiously with athletics and extracurriculars. Hope everyone stays healthy
 
WOW - 2 freshman on varsity from the start. I guess the SVSM era at SIHS has begun. That is not the Ignatius way. I can only think of 2-3 players in 30 years who played varsity... much less made the team from Day 1. Obviously these two were recruited by Joyce and certain promises were made. Also understand he has promoted a few freshman to JV. What is wrong with letting a 14 year old get settled in school and play with his classmates for at least a portion of the season. Hey Cam.. consult t your coaching colleagues who have 21 state championships between them.
 
catholic98 said:
WOW - 2 freshman on varsity from the start. I guess the SVSM era at SIHS has begun. That is not the Ignatius way. I can only think of 2-3 players in 30 years who played varsity... much less made the team from Day 1. Obviously these two were recruited by Joyce and certain promises were made. Also understand he has promoted a few freshman to JV. What is wrong with letting a 14 year old get settled in school and play with his classmates for at least a portion of the season. Hey Cam.. consult t your coaching colleagues who have 21 state championships between them.
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This post...isn’t it. There were two freshman on the Varsity squad two seasons ago in Becker’s last year (Effertz and Bodamer). Two seasons prior to that, two freshman were promoted to Varsity for the playoffs (Toppin and Jackson). Before that, freshman on the Varsity were rare. But this is the way most sports are moving, at most levels, at most schools. It has become increasingly less rare to see 9th graders on Varsity in most sports at Ignatius (and other schools) in recent years.
 
catholic98 said:
WOW - 2 freshman on varsity from the start. I guess the SVSM era at SIHS has begun. That is not the Ignatius way. I can only think of 2-3 players in 30 years who played varsity... much less made the team from Day 1. Obviously these two were recruited by Joyce and certain promises were made. Also understand he has promoted a few freshman to JV. What is wrong with letting a 14 year old get settled in school and play with his classmates for at least a portion of the season. Hey Cam.. consult t your coaching colleagues who have 21 state championships between them.
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Yeah, this post is bad. Lol. Mike McLaughlin has had freshmen on the varsity squad before (remember Matthew McLaughlin?).

The 2 freshmen are the real deal. From what I've heard, they deserve to be on varsity. This year could be a lot of fun.
 
St Ignatius, a school ruled by football, postponed an outdoor fall sport back in the light (compared to November) COVID days. Yet an indoor sport that is seemingly more contact (especially in contagious areas) is full steam ahead while many others in the county have shut down? I’m surprised any school that thought fall sports in August were unsafe are even considering winter sports in this current COVID climate, which is seemingly much, much worse than it was in the summer.
 
Not much if any concrete evidence of Covid transmission during competition. Ignatius has been pretty transparent within the school community about their cases. I'm sure if an issue arises they will shut it down for a period of time. CDC just lessened the advised quarantine period as well.
 
Wildcats win the season opener over Walsh Jesuit, 69-51. This team could be very, very good. The forwards have plenty of size led by Raynor and Effertz will be excellent leading the guards
 
Nice win to start the season. Looking forward to see how the Cats compete against more athletic teams.
There's more depth this year with 10 kids playing in the rotations.
The 2 freshmen, Little and Jackson, are in the 1st group of substitutions and provide needed athleticism. I liked what I saw from them in their 1st game.
 
Nice opening night win. This team will pose a lot of matchup problems with size and skill inside. Walsh looked pretty average and didn’t have much talent other than the big, Stern.

The defense seemed to have miscommunication issues on a few rotations, but played well overall.

This team has more outside shooting than last year which should open up the offense. Execution was a little off last night (a number of unforced turnovers), but somewhat expected in game 1. I think they will miss Toppin quite a bit against teams with long, athletic perimeter defenders. Effertz did a good job at the point last night, but he still seems best playing off the ball.

The two freshman played well for their first HS action. Both showed their inexperience at times, but are clearly talented and seemed to settle in as the game went on. They will need to play some big minutes this year for the team to live up to its potential, which is a tough ask for 9th graders.
 
Wildcats1886 said:
Nice opening night win. This team will pose a lot of matchup problems with size and skill inside. Walsh looked pretty average and didn’t have much talent other than the big, Stern.

The defense seemed to have miscommunication issues on a few rotations, but played well overall.

This team has more outside shooting than last year which should open up the offense. Execution was a little off last night (a number of unforced turnovers), but somewhat expected in game 1. I think they will miss Toppin quite a bit against teams with long, athletic perimeter defenders. Effertz did a good job at the point last night, but he still seems best playing off the ball.

The two freshman played well for their first HS action. Both showed their inexperience at times, but are clearly talented and seemed to settle in as the game went on. They will need to play some big minutes this year for the team to live up to its potential, which is a tough ask for 9th graders.
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Good points. Agree that Effertz is best playing off the ball at SG where he can cut off screens and get enough space to get a good look at a shot. He has the smoothest shooting stroke that I've seen from a Wildcat in a number of years. Athletic perimeter defenders and aggressive presses could be a challenge and that's where the 2 freshmen and their athleticism can be important.
 
A couple other random thoughts:

Shondo Green could pull a Montorie Foster if he were to come out for football senior year. Looks like he was born to play tight end.

Also want to give kudos to the Walsh Jesuit broadcaster. He had done a lot of research for the game and threw out some nice Wildcat anecdotes and trivia.
 
Game added vs Medina Saturday night. Should be an interesting one, they’re led by one of the best players in the area in Senior G Corey Tripp. Good test for the Cats in this young season.
 
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