M. Hoops Report Card: Yale, Princeton Making the Grade

More than free-throw shooting, more than road games and even more than Kyle Wente, one thing continues to be the bane of the Harvard men’s basketball team’s existence—the zone defense.

Things were going pretty smoothly Saturday night through one half, as Harvard led comfortably over Yale, 38-22. Then Bulldogs Coach James Jones switched from a man-to-man to the cursed zone, and the Crimson looked lost.

It wasn’t the first time a zone—or a variation of it—has given Harvard trouble. Northeastern gave the Crimson a startle with it back in November, and Boston University held Harvard to 41 points with a diamond-and-one defensive setup one week later.

So, give credit to James for exploiting a Harvard weakness. If Yale doesn’t make the switch—or alternatively, if Harvard is able to adjust—the Crimson probably coasts to a weekend sweep of Brown and Yale and is a legitimate contender in the Ivy race.

Instead Harvard has two losses—a precarious position when you’ve yet to make the Penn-Princeton road trip. The Crimson faces a do-or-die situation this weekend: sweep Cornell and Columbia, or be effectively eliminated.

The skeptics among us might think that Harvard will not be able to win twice on the road. History suggests that the Crimson is not a good road team.

Then again, the skeptics among us also thought that Harvard would not have a bench this year, that they’d rely too much on the three, that they’d be lost without Dan Clemente.

None of that has happened.

Some also thought they’d finish sixth, and that’s not likely to happen either.

I am tired of being proven wrong. I’ll take Harvard to sweep this weekend.

And now for some other not-quite-midseason assessments. Here are my votes for a list of league honors, as well as my grades forhow each of the eight Ivy teams has performed so far.

Midseason Awards

Player of the Year: Patrick Harvey, Harvard.

Only Hunt has better offensive numbers so far this year and unlike Hunt, Harvey plays defense. Harvey is the main target of opposing defenses every time he steps on the floor, and he kills them anyway. In the Crimson’s upset over Penn, Sullivan admitted that Harvard’s game plan on offense boiled down to one simple axiom— “Get the ball to Pat.” So far, Harvey hasn’t let them down.

Rookie of the Year: Jason Forte, Brown.

All the preseason attention focused on Yale’s Edwin Draughan, but all indications now point to Forte. He’s been the Ivy Rookie of the Week four times already this season, and in addition to trailing only Harvard junior Elliott Prasse-Freeman in the assist department, he’s shown an uncanny ability to take over a game offensively. While Earl Hunt struggled against Harvard last Saturday, it was Forte (25 points) who singlehandedly kept Brown within striking distance. Draughan may yet develop into the better player three years from now, but Forte has gotten off to the faster start.

Most Improved Player: Sam Winter, Harvard.

At the risk of being called a homer, this one’s a no-brainer. Winter has softened the blow of Clemente’s departure as well as anyone could have hoped. Offensively, he’s discovered some nifty low-post moves to go along with a reliable mid-range jumper that has him averagining 8.6 ppg. Defensively, he has settled into his body and, against Penn last month, Winter outmuscled Penn’s ultra-talented Ugonna Onyekwe. Harvard has not given up anything on the boards with Winter, either. The 6’6 forward is pulling down better than six per game, fifth-best in the league.

Coach of the Year: Jones.

In three years, he has turned the Bulldogs from an Ivy doormat into a title contender. This year, he has guided Yale to an undefeated road record and he’s done it with a starting lineup that includes two freshmen and zero seniors. A Penn-Princeton sweep this weekend is a distinct possibility. If it does happen, look out for the Elis.

Midseason Report Card

YALE (13-7, 5-1)

The Bulldogs are young, fiesty and leading the league in wins. Draughan and classmate Alex Gamboa give Yale one of the Ivy’s best backcourt duos—they are second and third on the team in scoring, respectively. Yale has three other players averaging better than seven points a game, too. And, as their comeback win over Harvard showed, they’re resilient. The Bulldogs have the best shot at dethroning the P’s this year.

MVP: Draughan.

Grade: A

Team song: “So Fresh, So Clean,” Outkast.

PRINCETON (9-7, 4-0)

The Tigers have won all their games, but they’ve only played four, and half of them were against Cornell and Dartmouth. The loss of Andre Logan will end up hurting more than people think, but the whole is always more than the sum of the parts for Princeton. The Tigers are still the favorites to repeat, but don’t expect them to run away with anything. Penn won’t lose twice to this team, and one of either Brown, Yale or Columbia can certainly beat the Tigers. Harvard proved the Tigers can be outtoughed, outrebounded and forced into turnovers. Princeton’s perfect so far, but just barely.

Grade: A

MVP: Kyle Wente.

Song: “Semi-Charmed Life,” Third Eye Blind.

HARVARD (11-7, 4-2)

They’ve exceeded all expectations. The second half against Yale was really the only half they’ve been outplayed in an Ivy game. The Crimson has yet to find a No. 2 scorer, but they seem to find a different one every night. They should continue to confound opposing offenses—assuming Gellert stays out of foul trouble, something that killed Harvard against Yale—and they’re holding their own on the boards.

Graham Beatty and Jason Norman have given Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan reliable options off the bench besides Brady Merchant. The Crimson’s shown mental toughness this season, something missing in past years; they won’t roll over on the road.

MVP: Harvey.

Grade: A-

Song: “Under Pressure,” Queen.

BROWN (13-6, 4-2)

One more loss and Brown—picked to finish second in the league—is done. Forte has been a wonderful surprise and Hunt leads the team in scoring, but the Bears don’t play much defense and they got killed on the boards by Harvard Saturday. That does not bode well the rest of the way.

MVP: Hunt. Forte a close runner-up.

Grade: B

Song: “Living on the Edge,” Aerosmith.

PENN (15-5, 2-2)

If the Quakers played with Harvard’s heart, they’d be tied with Princeton for first place right now. As it is, they have boatloads of talent but are woefully inconsistent. Onyekwe and Koko Archibong may be the two best forwards in this league, and junior transfer Andrew Toole has been as good as advertised, but unless Penn gets serious, its loss Saturday will not be its last. And Penn can ill afford any more upsets.

Grade: B

MVP: Toole.

Song: “My Own Worst Enemy,” Lit.

COLUMBIA (10-10, 3-3)

Their Penn win last weekend saved their season, but the Lions’ Ivy hopes are still on life support. That’s a shame for the folks in Morningside Heights, because the Lions figured to run at the head of the pack this year. A veteran team with a savvy coach—when he’s not losing his cool, anyway—Columbia is still dangerous. Harvard needs to be careful Friday.

Grade: C+

MVP: Craig Austin.

Song: “All I Need is a Miracle,” Mike and the Mechanics.

DARTMOUTH (3-16, 0-6)

It’s been another long winter in Hanover, spoiling what has been point guard Flinder Boyd’s best year of his career. Boyd, who is fifth in the league in scoring, should receive strong consideration for All-Ivy First Team honors at season’s end. He’s had only two poor Ivy outings this year. Both have come against Harvard’s Drew Gellert, and there’s no shame in that. Dartmouth is nowhere near as awful as its roommate in the cellar, Cornell. One of these weekends Dartmouth will win a game.

Grade: C-

MVP: Boyd.

Song: “Comfortably Numb,” Pink Floyd.

CORNELL (7-12, 0-6)

Losing freshman Chris Vandenberg has made what already figured to be a long year even longer. The Big Red put a scare into the Bulldogs in its Ivy Opener, losing by just five, but will be hard-pressed to do much better than that. Best case scenario: they split with Dartmouth and avoid going winless. Hey, at least they have hockey.

MVP: When they win a game, then we’ll talk.

Grade: D-

Song: “Free Fallin’,” Tom Petty.