the columbia lions will journey to the finger lakes this saturday to commence the 2016 – 17 ivy league campaign. cornell’s big red should be subdued by a light blue squad that is starting to play some solid ball, but this trip is always tiring and thus dangerous. coach engles’ crew must find the focus and consistency to win its first league road game in a year that will send the ivies’ top four teams to its first ever post-season conference tourney.
the ithacans, now skippered by former princeton assistant brian earl, still feature an attack led by sophomore guard matt morgan and his mohawkishly coiffed backcourt mate senior robert hatter. between them they contribute 30 points and 10 rebounds per game, numbers bolstered by the efforts of 6′ 8″ forward stone gettings who tallies 12 points nightly while grabbing an additional five boards. the lion offense has been more efficient of late, even in the losses to miami and albany, largely because of mike smith’s accelerating learning curve. he needs to involve his teammates while continuing to look for his own opportunities to score. nate hickman, who started the season on fire, has come back to earth over the last month but still needs to look shoot the three pointer when it presents itself. luke petrasek is the indispensable cog in the lion attack and should be going to the rim against a smaller cornell crew. just as important, though, will be the lion’s defensive toughness. coach engles has been favoring a 2 – 3 zone since december began and it has become more active with each contest. nate hickman and mike smith will have to be alert on the perimeter in order to contain the main thrust of the big red attack. we trust that the lions have enough players at guard to efficiently spell the starters and help shoulder the defensive burden outside. messr petrasek and jeff coby must control the boards in order for the lions to limit the big red guards’ opportunities and guarantee this vital ivy league road win.
as the columbia – cornell dust up concludes, princeton will be preparing to defend jadwin gym against the visiting league champeens from new haven. yale got to the ncaa tourney last april and whipped a very long baylor squad before falling to duke in a hard fought round of 32 game. coach james jones, the dean of ivy coaches, faced the 2016 – 17 season with his entire starting front court having graduated. shortly before the play began, he lost his best returning player, the feisty and fine shooting guard, makai mason, to a broken foot. allgame has bemoaned coach engles’ task in replacing 60% of last season’s offense. coach jones has had to do more than that and so far has been successful. his troops are now led by 6’9″ senior forward sam downey who has been grabbing 6 rebounds and scoring 12 points per game. second year alex copeland has been contributing an additional 12 points nightly. yale’s new big man on the hardwood, however, is first year guard, 6’6″ miye oni who is grabbing 8 boards a night while tallying just under 14 ppg. the elis will be relying on their three point shooting – they drop 39.2% of their treys – and relentless board work to upend their hosts. the tigers came into the current campaign as a putative favorite having returned their entire roster from last season (22-7 overall,12-2 ivy ). they feature senior leadership across the front court where 6’11” pete miller and, assuming he’s healthy enough to play, 6’9″ hans brase provide the muscle and small forwards steve cook (6’5″) and spencer weisz (6’4″) provide the offensive fireworks. the back court leaders are amir bell, devin cannady and henry caruso – a trio that absolutely tortured the lions last year. in the past, this battle would significantly shape the rest of the ivy campaign with the loser compelled to take the rematch and worry about any potential upset elsewhere on the schedule. the post season tourney in philadelphia removes much of that pressure from the game, which is one reason allgame has yet to fully enthuse about the tourney’s institution. nonetheless, the battle will certainly provide a sense of whom is primus inter pares, at least early on, in the league.
the proprietary statistical models that allgame relies on to refine its grasp of ivy league hoops show columbia the third best squad during the just concluded non-league schedule. yale is a solid first and princeton decisively second. these numbers give us hope for the light blue’s participation in the championship tourney. harvard and a surprising brown team, though, are fully capable of undoing the lions. columbia’s standing the first week in march will depend substantially on its domination of the ancient eight’s second tier. sweeps of cornell, dartmouth and penn will make the path to the playoff in philly much easier. the first of those must wins is this afternoon. cornell delenda est!
d up and peace out,
paulie b