Roman in at Jtown

[WPIAL~Titan]

Heard that Dave Roman accepted the head coaching job at Jtown High last night.

Congratulations to Dave! I am sure he will do a fine job there. From what I understand, his top assistant (a teacher at GJHS) will also follow him, a great move to have a coach in the school.

Dave has excellent basketball knowledge and is a great guy, one of the best and brightest coaches in western PA who nobody knows about.

Johnstown has some excellent tradition and some super athletes. I think DRJR is going to make a big difference at Jtown. Remember, Jtown is just a few years removed from a PIAA AAA silver. They often have the horses to compete year in and year out. With the WPIAL being fairly weak in class AAA, Jtown should compete well in the PIAA AAA western bracket just about every year.

With Roman going to Jtown, I would bet the farm that the McCort faithful are NOT PLEASED...Roman competed with McCort year in and year out with Westmont...I can't help but wonder what he will do with MUCH better athletes and talent at Jtown...I also can't help but wonder how many athletes will choose Jtown over McCort now that Roman is at Jtown...

WT

[colonelsanders]

How does Johnstown have better athletes than Westmont when Westy has won the last four meetings in basketball and won 3 out of the last 4 meetings in football?

[blueberry11]

Better athletes-----YES....
better talent----NO!!!

[WPIAL~Titan]

Jtown=Better ATHLETES and BETTER TALENT than Westmont. Now Jtown has excellent coaching and a proven winner at the helm. Look out McCort.

[fro]

Jtown=Better ATHLETES and BETTER TALENT than Westmont. Now Jtown has excellent coaching and a proven winner at the helm. Look out McCort.
Jtown=Better ATHLETES and BETTER TALENT than Westmont. Now Jtown has excellent coaching and a proven winner at the helm. Look out McCort.

While there is no arguing that Roman is a good coach, your comment is a slap in the face to the departing JHS coaching staff, who as you commented, took the Trojans to the state championship game, which in my opinion would qualify as "excellent coaching and a proven winner".

I would also say that since that state runner-up team, Westmont has had better PLAYERS than Johnstown, which is proven in their record versus the Trojans over the last few seasons.

[Brick]

WPIAL,
Sometimes you have descent posts but sometimes you are way out there. I think you look for controversy. Most years Johnstown may have the talent and quickness but not the past two. Man for man, Westmont was as good the past two years not to mention the grades, criminal time, and health of the players from Johnstown.
Why should McCort watch out? McCort may get better now. I would guess that McCort gets more kids from Westmont and other areas than Johnstown. Some kids might decide to go to McCort from Westmont becasue Roman is not there now.

Now Johnstown has excellent coaching? Did you forget about the 0-24 season he had at Vo-Tech? I know Vo-Tech is bad but not to win a game. Surely they scheduled some cupcakes. (Not bashing Roman here, just making a point) Litwalk, Shipman, Fuschino - looks like some pretty good coaches there in the past.

I am sure Roman will do well there. He does have some pressure though. Johnstown is the favorite again in the LHAC and District and his track record for interdistricts isn't very good.

[WPIAL~Titan]

Brick...

FYI, Roman was 2-22 at JVT his only season there, not 0-24. I also recall his best player not being able to play due to grades...In case you didn't notice, JVT is CLOSED now, and was on the verge of closing when Roman coached there. It was an accomplishment that Roman could field a complete team, let alone win any games. I wonder how Bobby Knight would've done at JVT?

Since being at JVT, Roman has won 201 games in 10 years, that's 20 games a season on average. That is a lot of wins.

You read into my comments way too much. Obviously, Fuschino and Shipman did a great job at Jtown and proved themselves on the floor. Litwalk is ancient history, so I won;t include his name in the mix, although he too did a great job. Let's not forget Shipman's issues and the fact that Fuschino inherited a DREAM TEAM. What I was implying is that Roman, with better talent and better players at Jtown, will make a positive difference there...in a program that already has a lot of "upside."

You say that Roman's track record in PIAAs isn't very good...BUT show me a boys' coach from District 6-AA that has a great record in PIAAs...Class AA boys in the west over the past decade has run through the WPIAL. I'd venture a guess that District 6 could've taken an ALL-STAR TEAM each year for the past 10 years from 6-AA and not beaten Quippa, Beaver Falls, Sto-Rox, or even the good Quaker Valley teams during their peak years.

By contrast, the WPIAL's weakest classification in boys' basketball by far is AAA (Blackhawk and Char Valley are the exceptions, other than those two teams, WPIAL AAA is not good). Distrct 10 (General McClane) has dominated the west the past few years. Johnstown should compete just about every year in PIAAs. I do realize, however, that some District 3 teams are now in the west bracket in boys' AAA and that district is the strongest in the state in boys' AAA.

True, Roman will have pressure to win at Jtown...but I'd take my chances with the talent and athletes he will have there.

[Dfense wins games]

We'll have to wait to see whether he does better at jtown.

Im concerned for his coaching style not matching up with the types of players he will have. His westmont teams shot lights out while jtown players usually use thier athletic ability to win games.

My question is WHY did he leave Westmont?

[AlaskaNative]

WPIAL,
Man for man, Westmont was as good the past two years not to mention the grades, criminal time, and health of the players from Johnstown.

You say that like every single person that attends GJHS is a dealer or gang buster, Westmont has just as many kid's doing the same thing but not getting into trouble with the police.. These are high school men you are talking about.

Did you forget about the 0-24 season he had at Vo-Tech? I know Vo-Tech is bad but not to win a game. Surely they scheduled some cupcakes. (Not bashing Roman here, just making a point) Litwalk, Shipman, Fuschino - looks like some pretty good coaches there in the past.
I am sure Roman will do well there. He does have some pressure though. Johnstown is the favorite again in the LHAC and District and his track record for interdistricts isn't very good.

Roman was at Vo-Tech.. enough said... They are probably picked to win because of their "athleticism" and "talent". Now you add a coach like Roman, not bashing previous coach(es), and they have a legitimate chance at being the New England Patriots in the LHAC for basketball.

[AlaskaNative]

DWG,
I don't know a lot about the Roman's, but don't they improve your shooting by just being your coach and having them to critique you (Westmont=Lights Out)? IF Johnstown could slow down and play the half court game with their ridiculous amount of athletic ability, doesn't that mix for a HUGE advantage over local teams, and interdistrict games?