More thoughts on the Harvard game...
First things first-- how about the blindfolded kid who almost hit the Harvard team with a basketball during a timeout? Completely asinine and easily the highlight of the game-- for me, anyway.
Second thing-- its tough for me to ever root for Yale in anything (I have one letter for you), but Yale's basketball coach, James Jones, is an Albany alum ('86, I think.) I don't know if Yale's team is any good this year, but from now on when Yale plays Harvard, Go, Bulldogs!
Not that I harbor any resentment-- Harvard came into the RAAC and although they did not play especially well, they played hard and they played as a team. That was really the difference in today's game. We had 5 guys on a court; they had one team.
Nice crowd on hand, considering finals and the holidays rapidly approaching. Problem is, we haven't seen a home win yet and the natives are getting restless. I feel bad dragging my grad. school friends to these games, telling them about how good a basketball team we have, only to have to apologize for the team's performance afterwards. However, even my friends who do not know a lot about college basketball can recognize how good some of our players are.
Right now, instead of playing to win, we're playing not to lose. Sacred money is stupid money, the saying goes. The same concept holds true in sports. Scared play leads to unwise play. We did a good job of getting some easy looks early and we came out with a lot of energy and intensity, as if we were determined to stuff the ball down their throats. When this didn't lead to early points-- we scored something like 8 points over the first 10 minutes-- we got frustrated and started to play tight. That was when Harvard went on their 19-2 run.
Its been the same thing so far with this squad-- when we don't score, we don't play defense. Today, it was more than that-- Harvard got all of the loose balls. They went to the ball-- we waited for it to come to us.
Kirsten started strong, but looked lost on the defensive end. Harvard, thanks to their backup point guard, Drew Housman (I think), broke our press with ease and in the second half, and always found the open man who was able to get off an uncontested shot. Housman was the best player on the floor today. I think he's a Freshman and if that's true, he'll be a nice player for Harvard for the next 4 years.
That being said, his two offensive rebounds in the second-half were flat-out inexcusable. That' s the result of a lack of hustle.
When it rains it pours. We get a steal and Brent falls down with the ball. Jamar dives for a ball on its way out of bounds that was last touched by The Crimson. That's just bad luck . However, every possession in college ball is important, and sometimes it seems as if the team forgets that fact. You can't take a possession off.
All in all, not really any positives to take away from yesterday's game, other than Lucious' resurgence.
To add insult to injury, my Johnnies also found a way to lose to Marist yesterday. Think of it in those terms and that it could be worse-- you could be an Albany and St. john's fan. Ouch.
Who ever thought St. John's would lose to schools like Hostra and Marist?
Second thing-- its tough for me to ever root for Yale in anything (I have one letter for you), but Yale's basketball coach, James Jones, is an Albany alum ('86, I think.) I don't know if Yale's team is any good this year, but from now on when Yale plays Harvard, Go, Bulldogs!
Not that I harbor any resentment-- Harvard came into the RAAC and although they did not play especially well, they played hard and they played as a team. That was really the difference in today's game. We had 5 guys on a court; they had one team.
Nice crowd on hand, considering finals and the holidays rapidly approaching. Problem is, we haven't seen a home win yet and the natives are getting restless. I feel bad dragging my grad. school friends to these games, telling them about how good a basketball team we have, only to have to apologize for the team's performance afterwards. However, even my friends who do not know a lot about college basketball can recognize how good some of our players are.
Right now, instead of playing to win, we're playing not to lose. Sacred money is stupid money, the saying goes. The same concept holds true in sports. Scared play leads to unwise play. We did a good job of getting some easy looks early and we came out with a lot of energy and intensity, as if we were determined to stuff the ball down their throats. When this didn't lead to early points-- we scored something like 8 points over the first 10 minutes-- we got frustrated and started to play tight. That was when Harvard went on their 19-2 run.
Its been the same thing so far with this squad-- when we don't score, we don't play defense. Today, it was more than that-- Harvard got all of the loose balls. They went to the ball-- we waited for it to come to us.
Kirsten started strong, but looked lost on the defensive end. Harvard, thanks to their backup point guard, Drew Housman (I think), broke our press with ease and in the second half, and always found the open man who was able to get off an uncontested shot. Housman was the best player on the floor today. I think he's a Freshman and if that's true, he'll be a nice player for Harvard for the next 4 years.
That being said, his two offensive rebounds in the second-half were flat-out inexcusable. That' s the result of a lack of hustle.
When it rains it pours. We get a steal and Brent falls down with the ball. Jamar dives for a ball on its way out of bounds that was last touched by The Crimson. That's just bad luck . However, every possession in college ball is important, and sometimes it seems as if the team forgets that fact. You can't take a possession off.
All in all, not really any positives to take away from yesterday's game, other than Lucious' resurgence.
To add insult to injury, my Johnnies also found a way to lose to Marist yesterday. Think of it in those terms and that it could be worse-- you could be an Albany and St. john's fan. Ouch.
Who ever thought St. John's would lose to schools like Hostra and Marist?
posted by L3K at 8:58 AM
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