It wasn’t easy, but we survived another Boston winter. As the season, which included its fair share of scandal and controversy off the field, draws to a close, we look back on the true bright spots for Harvard athletics. From Linsanity’s explosion onto the front pages of the New York Post and Sports Illustrated to three national squash championships to the men's basketball team reaching the biggest stage in college sports for the first time in 66 years, it was a great few months for Harvard sports.
In such a wonderful winter, there were a number of distinguished nominees for each of the season's awards. After much debate, here is the best of the winter in Harvard sports.
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For the second time this season, Jeremy Lin ’10 and the New York Knicks have found themselves on a six-game losing streak. On Monday night it was the Chicago Bulls to whom they fell victim, losing, 104-99, in a game in which hardly anyone shined for either team.
Lin, adhering to his recent trend, did not shoot well; once again, his field goal percentage was under 50 as he finished the night 4 for 11 from the field. The Harvard alum also committed five fouls on the night along with a slightly improved three turnovers.
Lin’s counterpart on the Bulls, Derrick Rose, torched the Knicks’ PG for 32 points. But despite that stat, the reigning MVP did not shoot well either. He, too, shot below 50 percent, making only 12 of 29 shots throughout the game.
The tone for the Knicks after the game was, simply put, one of disgust. Forward Amar’e Stoudemire attributed his team’s unfocused play to the too-casual attitude in the locker room.
“The joking around has to stop at some point,” Stoudemire told reporters after the contest. “We’ve got to take this game very serious, especially in a time where now we’re in the eighth seed and we’re not playing well. So the time is now.”
Carmelo Anthony agreed with his teammates, emphasizing his frustration in clear and unmasked terms.
“It sucks,” Anthony said. “The situation we’re in right now, it sucks losing basketball games. The way we’re losing at the end of games, it sucks. It’s not a good feeling right now. We need to get our act together and start winning.”
Currently, the Knicks are tied for the final Eastern conference playoff spot with a record of 18-24. To give perspective, if a team had that record in the West, not only would it not be in the hunt for playoff positioning, but also it’d be third to last in the conference.
Somewhere within the last couple of weeks, both Linsanity and the Knicks’ successful play came to a halt. Until the team begins to rekindle its cohesiveness from the long-lost days of February, it seems that the times of puns plastering the headlines are over, replaced by tick after tick in the loss column.
And the troubles continue for Jeremy Lin ’10 and his New York Knicks. The Knicks dropped their fifth game in eight days on Sunday afternoon, losing further ground in the competition for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot with a 106-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Lin did not come out of the locker room strong, as he began the game shooting only one for five from the field. His play did not pick up from there—he finished 5 for 18 for the day, committing a game-high six turnovers along the way.
The Harvard alum suggested that his recent slump has to do with the adjustments that defenses are making to his style of play.
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With winter seasons coming to a close, spring seasons underway, and March Madness on the horizon, The Back Page takes a look at the top five teams in Harvard athletics at the moment.
5. Men’s Volleyball
After losing to a powerful Penn State squad, Harvard has rolled of five straight wins, including a tight, 3-2 victory over George Mason, to whom the team had lost in early February. At 11-2 and led by co-captain and reigning EIVA offensive player of the week Matt Jones, the squad will spend its spring break in California as it looks to continue its winning streak on the west coast.
4. Men’s Tennis
Entering this weekend at the Hilton Mission Valley Spring Classic in San Diego, No. 26 Harvard looks to continue its success this year so far. The Crimson stands at 10-1 overall with ECAC Division I championships already under its belt as it heads into the major part of its schedule.
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On Friday the Knicks had an opportunity to improve their playoff prospects against ninth place Milwaukee. But while the team found its offensive rhythm against the Bucks, it had no answer for its opponent defensively, eventually falling, 119-114.
Down the stretch, the Knicks went on a 7-0 run to rob momentum from the Bucks. But Brandon Jennings iced it from the line to bring his total to 25 on the night. Mike Dunleavy, and Ersan Ilyasova also came up big with a combined for 51 points.
For the second straight game, Jeremy Lin ’10 finished with an impressive 20 points. In 40 minutes of play, he went 8-for-14 from the field. While he was on the floor, the Knicks had a 13-point advantage on the scoreboard.
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