J.V. Cagers: Playing for Fun

Playing in obscurity, anonymity and before a crowd of 29 spectators last night at Briggs Cage, the Harvard junior varsity men's basketball team is in the process of closing out its home schedule against Brown.

"Concentrate," Coach Tom Bazzell is yelling at his players during a time out. "You've got to concentrate. You've got wide open shots and you're blowing them. Come on, let's go."

The score is 44-37, Brown.

The players head back out on the court, determined to "concentrate."

It works for a while. The Crimson pulls to within three points, but Brown busts the Harvard press wide open. On offense for the Crimson, getting a pass into the paint gets harder than getting seconds at the Union.

"You guys aren't looking inside," Bazzell is shouting during another time out. "Steve's wide open in the middle. If he's open, give it to him. No hesitation."

But after two minutes of non-stop hustling on defense, an improved offense and a Dave LaPointe three-pointer in the final seconds of the game, Harvard comes up short and loses to the Bruins, 77-74.

If you've ever seen the varsity players after a big loss, you would see angry men with scowls on their faces and lips shut tight.

The scene is different here. The players are casual, smiling and talkative. Why not? They all played, and they all played hard. Most importantly, they had fun.

"We want to win for pride's sake, but we're all having fun," freshman Steve Brown says. "It's not a problem that we're not as serious as the varsity. We're not making careers out of it."

"Everyone's out there because they want to be," Captain Marc Pino says. "We're just playing for fun. I'd probably be out playing pick-up some-where anyway, so I might as well play organized ball."

Don't let their casual attitude mislead you. Watching this team play is like watching the last few seconds of a Lakers-Celtics game. No one quits.

"Their greatest strength is heart," Bazzell says. "These kids do not die. That's what I enjoy most about this team."

Varsity Hopes

Pino, a second-year j.v. player and the team's spark plug, would like to play for the varsity squad, but realizes that a move from j.v. to varsity is not an everyday occurrence.

"It happens sometimes, but not very often," Pino says. "Usually one player makes varsity from j.v. about every other year."

In some sports the junior varsity serves as a principle feeder for the varsity, but in basketball--where outside recruiting is relied upon heavily--the path to the varsity team does not usually lead through the j.v.

"There are some students who have the potential to play varsity but just aren't good enough yet," Bazzell says. "Then there are those who just want to play organized basketball. Everyone enjoys playing. The ultimate goal is not to play varsity ball, it's just to win."

As is the case for most Harvard j.v. teams, preparatory school varsity teams like Phillips Andover or Governor Dummer regularly wind up on the schedule. Of the six prep school teams the Crimson has faced this year, it has defeated only two.

"A lot of these prep schools have post-graduates," Bazzell says. "So it's just as if [our team] were playing against college freshmen."

Whether it's facing preps or Ivy League rivals, the team doesn't seem to mind, as long as it's playing the game.

"It's perfect for me," sophomore Tim Fogarty says, "I get to be serious, have fun and play basketball two hours a day."

The Beach Boys would be jealous.