Ivy Titans Next For M. B-Ball

For the Harvard men's basketball team, it is crunch time.

If the Crimson thinks that it is ready to bust out of the Ivy League cellar, then now's the time to show everybody.

Because Penn and Princeton are coming to town.

The Crimson faces off with the Quakers tonight and the Tigers tomorrow evening. And a win against either of these Ivy titans would end Harvard's long history of being associated with a doormat.

Harvard's all-time record against these schools does not conjure up images of greatness--actually, it doesn't conjure up much. Against the Quakers the Crimson are 23-101, and against the Tigers it is 34-97.

None of this is lessening Harvard's resolve.

"You gotta be [excited], you gotta be," guard Dan Morris said. "Guys are looking forward to the games--we feel that we can win."

Harvard also felt that it could win during last season's matchup with the Quakers, but that was not quite enough for the victory. A last-second shot by then-captain Tarik Campbell was swatted away, and the Crimson lost to the eventual Top 25 team by one point.

In that game, Harvard played as well as it had all season, and Penn was not quite as dominant as it could be. Nevertheless, the visitors won.

One must assume that Penn will guard itself against an upset this time. In turn, the Crimson will have to step up its game that much more.

Even so, Harvard is confident.

"Let's bring the best teams to Cambridge right now and see how we shape up with them," Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan said. "We can beat anybody at home."

Princeton, on the other hand, is a much different team than Penn, but requires the same effort to be defeated. The Tigers are a young but extremely talented team, as shown by the fact that they took No. 10 Syracuse to overtime earlier this season.

The Tigers are known for their slow, methodical four-corners offense, which can practically annoy their opponents to death.

To combat this, the Crimson will do something--be it trapping, pressing, what have you--to keep Princeton from getting into a groove.

"We definitely have to do something," Morris said, "to disrupt their offense."

It will be a difficult game that will be made even more so by taking place only a day after the Penn game.

"Princeton's always a tough team," forward Kyle Snowden said. "We're as prepared as we can be--we just have to stay in focus."

That will be the key for Harvard in both games. Undoubtedly, both Penn and Princeton will find a way to go on big runs, and it is up to Harvard to not get frustrated if it finds itself in a hole.

On a more basic level, the Crimson also has to keep its offense in focus--Harvard cannot take silly shots when there's plenty of time on the shot clock to pass the ball around some. And of course, accurate shooting from deep threat Mike Gilmore and good inside play from big men Darren Rankin and Snowden are paramount.

The percentages are not on the side of Harvard in either game. But, as last year's close loss to Penn will show, basketball is played on the court and not inside a computer. No one really knows what will happen this weekend, and it is that uncertainty that the Crimson is counting on.