#theroadtohoustonstartsonbroadway

lions begin their quest for a title

a rehabbed and reinforced columbia hoops squad opened its 2015 – 16 campaign with a boring 45 point rout of the visiting kean college cougars during lunch break on friday the thirteenth. the mismatch in size, talent and skills was such that no conclusions can surely be drawn from the one sided (107 – 62)  fray. but having dispatched the felines from union county, new jersey, the light blue now wings west to hunt two packs of major conference wildcats. the first opponent prowls manhattan, kansas where coach webber looks to rebuild a big 12 conference kansas state team that was talented enough last year to defeat ncaa tourney  participants kansas and iowa state but so tumult racked that it could only muster a 15 – 17 record.  the most talented member of that team, marcus foster,  has departed for creighton while other defections and graduations leave coach bruce weber attempting to integrate ten new athletes into his system.  new they may be, big they certainly are as the wildcats of the big 12 feature two 6′ 10″ players, two 6′ 11″ players as well as a seven footer.  that is a bunch of size for columbia’s immense but under tested junior center, conor voss, to battle.  he will need help from everyone else in the front court.  the kstate attack begins on the outside, however, and includes jc all america transfer guard, carlbe ervin II, who boasts the kind of academic resume (community college, jc, major conference program) that portends an nba career.  this should be a severe test for the lions, but coach smith’s crew battled a still bigger and more talented team at rupp arena last december and those kentucky wildcats barely escaped with a win.  the kansas state contest will be televised on espn3 for those properly cabled.

the lions fly east northeast after the game to visit evanston, illinois and the big ten’s wildcats at northwestern.  those cats feature seven foot senior center alex olah who cashes 12 points while grabbing 6 rebounds per outing.  again, young voss will have to gird his loins and guard the paint.  also 15 – 17 last season, northwestern is helmed by the highly touted chris collins who made his bones on the sidelines as mike kryszewski’s associate head coach and chief recruiter.  aiding and abetting olah’s down low banging are guards tre demps, a 6′ 3′ red shirt senior guard who delivers 12.5 ppg and guard bryant mcintosh who chips in 11 points and 5 assists each night.   despite the disappointing overall record, northwestern was very tough during the non-conference portion of its schedule last year,  going 9 – 4 in those games.  the cats counted wins over brown and the golden phoenix of elon – regular opponents of columbia – in that number.  one can expect a collins coached team to make few mistakes, but they can be turned over.  they shoot just about 75% from the charity stripe, pretty much matching the lions in free throw accuracy.  the light blue is going to have to move its collective feet on defense and avoid reaching if they are to deny their hosts easy foul line points.  this battle can also be caught on espn3 – friday, november 20.

coach smith’s boys will have to hustle over to o’hare post-game in order to return to levien for a sunday matinee match up versus the mountain hawks of lehigh.  we watched the lions dispatch the bethlehem boys last november at their arena and coach brett reed’s crew struggled to get anything going offensively.  they are the patriot league favorite this season, however,  and we expect them to be a harder out this time.  again, same song and verse,  conor voss will be on the spot.  the mountain hawks are led by 6′ 10″ senior center tim kempton.  the phoenix native contributed 15 ppg to the lehigh attack while snagging 8.5 boards nightly last season.  he did not miss a beat in the season opening loss to syracuse, scoring 16 and pulling down 12 boards.  that 47 – 57 defeat led orange hall of fame coach jim boeheim to describe the mountain hawks as “a good team that will beat a lot of people.”  if columbia is to continue its dominance of patriot league opponents, voss will have to slow kempton down and that means team defense.  guards will have to contest the entry passes and the rest of the lion front court will have to hit the boards.

defending south conference champion wofford arrives on tuesday the 24th to conclude the pre-thanksgiving entertainment.  i believe this is the terriers first visit to levien and it should be a fascinating match up of two squads that live and die by the trey.  the south carolinians averaged .372 from beyond the arc during their league championship run last season and that slightly betters  the .364 notched by the lions a year ago.  the light blue seem to be in about the same place this season, dropping 16 – 46 (.375) three pointers against kean.  the game was such a laugher, though,  that one can’t be sure how many of those shots would have been taken in a tight, consequential game.  the terrier trio of fletcher magee, a freshman, and upperclassmen eric garcia and spencer collins will have the lions working defensively all night on the perimeter.  no other crew the lions meet this season will be so committed to the long distance barrage as these visitors from spartanburg.  the lions best be ready; the terriers nearly ousted a talented arkansas squad in the first round last year’s ncaa tournament.

our title is our credo.  anything less than the ivy league title and its attendant ncaa tourney berth will be an underachievement for this sixth edition of a kyle smith led lion team.  though we have stressed the challenges that must be met by their mammoth minnesotan, conor voss, their front court seems solidly talented if not so deep as the back court platoon.  the rehabbed alex rosenberg looked fit running against kean when he scored 10 and grabbed 10 rebounds to complement the 8 grabbed by voss himself.  isaac cohen, the team’s indispensable factotum, who plays the i, 2, 3 or 4 spot as necessary, grabbed another 7 while blocking two shots.  junior luke petrasek who missed much of last autumn battling a nagging illness looks fit.  though slim, he can spell voss at center when the big man needs a breather.  whether playing the 4 or the 5 spot, he is an efficient passer who will score when needed.  first year forward, the german bred lukas meisner provides additional size up front where his touted classmates, pete barba and john sica still need to carve out more p.t. for themselves.  petrasek’s and voss’s classmates, floridian jeff coby and canadian sean mccomber complete the front court unit for the lions and should get significant minutes.  these big men, talented as they seem, will likely be outshone by a backcourt whose chief adornment is returning ivy league scoring champ maodo lo.  the berlin bred standout can drill treys with curryesque efficiency.  step up to close the gap on the jumper and lo will break your ankles with his crossover dribble.  lo’s running mate, canadian grant mullins, seems to have finally recovered from a concussion that sidelined him all last season.  mullins brings terrific tempo to the offense and is the squad’s best on ball defender. sophomores kyle castlin and nate hickman would likely start on any other ivy unit and can score outside or in.  first year point guards c.j. davis (who led the lion scoring with 19 in his debut v. kean) from queens and californian quinton adlesh complete the back court platoon.  these last two “bowling ball type” (according to coach smith) guards give the light blue solidity at the point that they have not had in several seasons.  columbia simply has not had this much reliable depth in a very long time.  injury and graduation have depleted defending champeen harvard.  princeton has lost valued forward hans brase for the season.  yale’s coolly elegant coach james jones must find a reliable outside complement to the whipcord tough and smoothly quick inside game of his terrific center, justin sears.  the door has cracked open and the lions must force it wide.  a championship awaits.

game on.

d up and peace out,

paulie b