Cagers Looking Up, Ahead to Next Year

Coming into the 1987-'88 ball season, Harvard Coach Pete Roby wanted one thing from his squad: consistency.

Inconsistency had plagued the Crimson during the 1986-'87 season when it finished in the Ivy cellar (9-17 overall, 4-10 Ivy), and the Crimson coach just wanted his team to play on an even keel.

But contrary to Roby's wishes, the Crimson, which finished the year with an 11-15 overall record (6-8 Ivy) played erratic basketball all year long. From game to game, half to half, and possession to possession, you never knew just which Harvard team would be out on the court.

When the Crimson was good, it was really good, beating strong teams like Holy Cross and Princeton on the road, and making amazing comebacks against Dartmouth and Penn.

And when Harvard was bad, it was really bad, losing to weaker teams like Division II Merrimack and this year's Ivy doormat Brown.

The Crimson will have to be much more consistent next year if the team is to compete for its first-ever Ivy crown.

Here is a recap of the performance of each position on the Crimson.

Guards: The starting pair, freshman Ralph James and Tri-Captain MikeGielen, return for Crimson next year. Both earned honorable mention All-Ivy honors, and James was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

At times, the freshman James carried the team. Who can forget his 34-point, 11-rebound performance against Dartmouth when the rookie scored 11 straight points at the end of the first overtime to force another extra period.

James finished his freshman year with 376 points, only four points short of Joe Carrabino's rookie scoring record. But toward the end of the year, James showed a disturbing tendency to force too many shots.

Although James' shooting percentage suffered from this tendacy--he finished last among the regulars--James still led the team in scoring (14.5 points per game) and rebounding (5.7 rebounds per game).

Gielen had some trouble shooting the ball early on, but he seemed to get over it toward the end of the year. The tri-captain never let his shooting woes affect the rest of his game. finished second on the team in scoring (13.0 p.p.g.) and led the squad in assists (109), steals (61) and minutes played (36 minutes a game).

Freshman point guard Dana Smith matured quickly and began to see a lot of important time at the end of the season. Sophomore Scott Gilly also did a good job in limited action.

Forwards: Junior Neil Phillips was definitely the team's best player in the second half of the season, and was honored as a second-team All-Ivy selection. The junior started slowly coming out of the football season, but when he got back into the groove, there was no stopping him.

Phillips finished first on the team in three-point (an amazing .461 percent) and free-throw shooting (.837 percent), second in assists and steals, and third in scoring (11.2 p.p.g.) andrebounding (4.3 r.p.g.).

Phillips excellent play limited the time givento two other juniors, Tedd Evers and KevinCollins, who both played well early in the season.

Tri-Captain Kyle Dodson was fifth on the teamin scoring, and played a greater role in theoffense when the Crimson began to look insidemore.

Center: Tri-Captain Bill Mohler andjunior David Lang shared time in the pivot. Mohlerwas an outstanding shot-blocker, and finished theseason with 50 rejections.

On offense, the Crimson centers were helpedwhen the offense began to look inside more. Mohlerposted career-high offensive numbers (6.6 p.p.g.,5.9 r.p.g.) after a slow start while Lang chippedin 3.4 p.p.g.

Coaching: Roby improved greatly as agame coach as the season progressed. He becamemore adept at calling timeouts before changes inmomentum became too costly, rather than after itwas too late.

Roby was also flexible with his strategy,willingly changing things that weren't working, onboth offense and defense.

When it was clear that Harvard wasn't gettingenough rebounding, he shifted from constantpressure to a two-three zone. And Roby moved moremen into the paint to improve the inside game andto get additional spacing for the perimetershooters.

The Crimson has gradually improved duringRoby's three-year tenure. Next year, when Harvardwill a squad spearheaded by five seniors, theCrimson should be in a position to make a run forit first-ever Ivy title.NEIL PHILLIPS (15)