since mike smith went down for the season with a torn meniscus in the game against bryant, the lions have been 2 -3. we cannot credit the win over the decidedly earthbound soaring eagles of div iii elmira as a bead on the wampum belt. similarly, we dismiss the late november victory against st. joe’s of brooklyn, another div iii operation. against major foes, then, we count them 3 – 9. a measly eleven points, however, carefully distributed over four games and they would stand at 7 – 5. long story short, they are not good, but not so bad as they seem.
of course, the toughest part of the year kicks off this saturday when they travel (in what will likely be lousy weather) to ithaca to take on the matt morgan led big red of cornell. just as lukas meisner’s decampment for a German professional league savaged the lion front court, power forward stone gettings’ decision to sit out the 2018 – 19 season before transferring to arizona made us think that brian earle’s charges would be easier pickings than last season. that seems overly optimistic with messr smith now sidelined, but based on their comparative outings against colgate and delaware, the lions look to be a slightly better team. even more encouraging for those willing to bet the lions, cornell will not be bigger than the boys in blue. taking the average height of the eight players on each squad likely to book the most playing time tomorrow, the teams measure out identically. we hope that patrick tape takes advantage of the cornell’s relative inexperience down low and continues to score in the paint – as well as convert free throws when fouled. randy brumant, jake killingworth and ike nweke should be able to control the backboards. these edges down low will hopefully offset the big red’s big advantage on the outside where two time ivy scoring leader matt morgan will make the lions’ lives miserable if they aren’t johnny on the spot attentive defensively whenever the nba hopeful has the ball. morgan went off for 38 last week against towson and that sort of performance would probably sink columbia. holding him to or under his usual portion of 23 points will go a long way to assuring a lion win.
the two games against cornell are columbia’s best shots at victories during the ivy campaign. they will battle everyone else, but with smith missing they are improvising offensively. tape has been scoring about 15 ppg since the chicagoan’s injury, but most of the three point shooters have been struggling to produce at last season’s pace. they just aren’t getting the ball where they want it, so quickly as they want it, on the perimeter. and they are all shouldering some of the duty at point guard (though gabe steffanini has assumed the bulk of this responsibility). last year’s most potent offense in the ancient eight is liable to be the least effective this season. the cornell games are opportunities to over perform in this regard. given the relative equality of the teams, they will also be good tests of coach engles’s effectiveness. the contests will be tight and in game adjustments by engles and coach earle will be important to their denouements. after these two battles the lions’ trail becomes quickly difficult. princeton and penn visit levien the first weekend of february and the killer p’s will no doubt drop the light blue. dartmouth seems to be on the upswing and will be harder to handle than they have been historically. brown features desmond cambridge who is the league’s signal offensive talent and the rhode islanders generally physical style of play will likely wear down our heroes. james jones’s yale crew will no doubt display its characteristic defensive staunchness while forwards miye oni and brandon sherrod and center paul atkinson are likely to brutalize the lean messr tape and his front court mates. harvard’s guard bryce aiken remains on the sideline where he has been joined by tommy amaker’s best player, forward seth towns. their absence allowed dartmouth to humble the league’s pre-season favorites up in concord. though hobbled, the cantabs probably have weapons enough to whip columbia. it could very well be that the lions will not beat any ivy squad other than cornell, all the more reason they have to win both battles with big red.
peace out and d up,
paulie b