two weekends ago, the lions traveled to ithaca and edged an improved cornell squad, 48 – 45. the savor of that valuable league road win was tempered by the unpalatable stats line posted by columbia’s offensive leader, maodo lo. the junior guard from berlin was not only shut out by the big red but also picked up four fouls and threw the ball away five times in a mere 17 minutes of play. those numbers made the blue’s win nearly miraculous and should have prepared the packed house at levien gymnasium for the difficulties their heroes would face saturday last against those same cornellians. ready or not, the lions fell 57 – 47 as the big red held lo to 11 points this go round. we trust coach smith is spending so many sleepless hours as allgame trying to scheme a way to handle a league leading yale crew and always combative brown squad this super bowl weekend.
it is a tough problem to solve, as messr lo has been much the most reliable scorer in light blue this season. cornell locked him down with frequent double teams when he crossed mid-court last saturday and the lions struggled to take advantage of the 4 – 3 situations this created for them. isaac cohen did contribute several long, though less than swift, drives to the hoop for a season high 13 points, but the floridian is far more comfortable passing and rebounding than scoring the ball. we hope that the staff can devise additional solutions to the doubles lo will undoubtedly face going forward. answering questions from spectator reporters concerned about a nearly seven minute scoring drought opening the second half of the cornell loss, coach smith voiced confidence in the offensive capabilities of first year kyle castlin as a scoring option. the georgian has shown flashes of talent taking the ball to the rim – a couple of such attacks against the kentucky gargantuans remain vivid – but he has yet to show a consistent jump shot to keep defenders honest. we’re unconvinced the frosh is ready to lead yet. steve frankoski’s three point shot has been largely under wraps this season, but coach smith continues to speak positively about the senior’s quality. we happily recall how “frankie” lit up yale at levien last season for 17 and a repeat performance is devoutly to be wished.
in any case, columbia’s bigs will face the greatest challenges this coming weekend . the bulldogs’ operation revolves around third year center justin sears. the junior from plainfield, nj is the best big man in the ivies, tallying 13 ppg while grabbing 7 plus boards nightly. cory osetkowski, columbia’s senior center, is going to have to make sears work on defense while working him over when the eli goes looks to score. we trust that cory will be assisted in this effort by sophomore luke petrasek, who has yet to have a complete game this season. the lions need the second year to step up versus sears. two other second year forwards, jeff coby and chris mccomber will also have to pitch in on the boards and in the scoring column. this quartet of columbia base liners will have little time to rest, regardless of their performance friday because saturday evening brings the brown squad to levien. the bruins feature leland king, rafael maia and cedric kuakumensah up front and that trio puts tremendous pressure on the backboard. messr cohen will have to contribute his usual solid rebounding effort to help defend the lion home court against the boys from providence.
the previous paragraph doesn’t even mention yale’s guard javier duren who lacerated the lions for 33 in last spring’s cit tournament match up nor brown sophomore steven spieth (brother of pga golfer jordan spieth – talk about the inequities of the gene pool) who has replaced the terrific, but thankfully graduated, sean mcgonagill as coach mike martin’s back court leader. coach smith cannot discount them in his preparations if the lions hope to emerge from the weekend at or, heart be still, above .500 in league play three weeks into the ivy campaign.
as levien’s clock ran down to the sad conclusion against the big red, and the catcalls of the always repulsive cornell fans rattled his ear drums, allgame was asked for some insight into columbia’s sluggish performance. we have no particular wisdom other than that league battles are always close run things. last season’s 8 – 6 ivy record was achieved by a team that outscored ancient eight opponents by a total of 13 points or less than a free throw per game. that slim margin was forged with both alex rosenberg and grant mullins in the lineup. without them, every one is going to have to pitch in for the lions to succeed in conference. gird your loins, columbia hoops fans. whatever coach smith figures out, whoever steps up to score, from here on out nothing comes easy.
peace out and d up,
paulie b
getting better all the time!!!