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Username Post: Harvard game-an opinion        (Topic#21077)
SomeGuy 
Professor
Posts: 6391

Reg: 11-22-04
02-03-18 10:28 AM - Post#245791    
    In response to Silver Maple

As for Amaker, I think he’s often underestimated as a coach, so I don’t want to play too much to that narrative. More than game coaching deficiencies, I think there are two fair questions/criticisms this year. First of all, I think the messing with the lineup and benching guys to make a point may have been counter productive this year. They might gel and have it all look like genius in the end, but i think he’s messed with the guys heads a lot and it may have been showing up in the results. My second question/criticism is whether the staff thought hard enough about how all of this fits together. Obviously the Aiken/McCarthy injuries expose this more, and it is possible the point guards coming in next year will make all of this look different.

 
Silver Maple 
Postdoc
Posts: 3765

Loc: Westfield, New Jersey
Reg: 11-23-04
Harvard game-an opinion
02-03-18 10:50 AM - Post#245796    
    In response to SomeGuy

  • SomeGuy Said:
My second question/criticism is whether the staff thought hard enough about how all of this fits together.



That's my big question as well. I wonder if Amaker and his staff haven't focused far too much on gaudy recruiting ratings and rankings, and not enough on who's actually right for their program.

If David Hume were a college basketball fan (not to mention alive), he'd be framing this issue within the context of "is and ought."

 
LionFan 
Senior
Posts: 398

Reg: 11-07-06
Harvard game-an opinion
02-03-18 10:53 AM - Post#245797    
    In response to SomeGuy

This was a fun game to watch. It looked like a blowout at first until Columbia's guys got their feet under them. They showed alot of guts coming back against a more athletic team. A fascinating part of the game was Columbia flirting with disaster up front. Tape had three early fouls, and Faulds ended up with four. Engels kept switching them back and forth to protect Tape, and keep a post presence to balance Harvard's bigs. If the Tape and Faulds had fouled out, the outcome would have been different. Just one of sevral matchup dramas that developed during the game.

Edited by LionFan on 02-03-18 10:54 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
Re: Harvard game-an opinion
02-03-18 11:03 AM - Post#245798    
    In response to Silver Maple

Harvard’s paying for the years it couldn’t get the guys with the high ratings, not the other way around. As Kevin Whitaker pointed out, and I’ve cited on here a lot, Harvard’s Top 10 2016 class is the most productive cohort in the league, even with many of the players combining to miss a lot of games this year. The problem is that other than Chris Egi, who was rated more as a projection than from output (he was a grinder at Montverde - got most of his points from OREBs and open chances around the hoop off feeds from their stars), Harvard whiffed on a ton of ranked prospects in the 2014 and 2015 classes.

Harvard is paying for that now. The players we all expected to be good based on ratings or offers are the ones producing (most of the 2016 class, Djuricic, Johnson).

Look at the kids that Harvard just missed on... Falzon, Turner, Metu, Roberson, Gray. All ranked and/or with high major offers. All would have made Harvard a lot better right now.

You just can’t whiff on a few straight classes and not pay for it.

 
Chet Forte 
Postdoc
Posts: 2958

Reg: 03-02-08
02-03-18 11:18 AM - Post#245800    
    In response to mrjames

From my perch in the Columbia stands I thought that Towns was easily Harvard’s most athletic and productive player. I also thought that Harvard was a phenomenal three point shooting team. But I was underwhelmed by Lewis, who is just plain huge but not all that mobile. I also was surprised by Harvard’s difficulty in breaking down the press. I really liked the way that Meisner opened up his offensive game and crashed the boards. While I still do not see why Castlin is not starting over Hickman, it is hard to quarrel with success and bringing both Smith and Castlin off the bench seemed to work. Finally, this was easily Tape’s best game and he and Faulds made fo a very good rotation. Faulds did not seem intimidated by playing in a big game.


 
mrjames 
Professor
Posts: 6062

Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
02-03-18 11:28 AM - Post#245802    
    In response to Chet Forte

The zone took Lewis out of it to start, and Harvard never really made an effort to get him involved when the Lions went back to man.

And without Aiken, ball pressure yields huge dividends against Harvard. Aiken and TMac are the only two really ball handlers on the roster, and the Crimson’s combo guards (Rio and Juzang) are extremely turnover prone. Would definitely use soft pressure playing Harvard with no Aiken in the game.

 
Dr. V 
PhD Student
Posts: 1536

Reg: 11-21-04
02-03-18 12:08 PM - Post#245807    
    In response to mrjames

Great tactical moves by Engles keeping Smith out of the starting lineup; for whatever reason, that seemed to help reset his game. Also the full court trap that seemed to bother H all night long, great substitution patterns etc. But in the end, the players had to and in this case actually delivered. If Castlin and Smith hadn't hit all of those FTs, we could just as easily have lost, and the conversation today would be very different. Being a coach must be a little crazy in that "your" performance can be dependent upon something over which you have zero influence: whether your guys can step up to the FT line and hit those free throws.

 
bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842

Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
02-03-18 03:46 PM - Post#245842    
    In response to Dr. V

Engles did a great job. Lions down by 15 pts early and Towns on fire and he got his team slowly back into the game. It certainly helped that the Lions are were at home.

Columbia did an excellent job in attacking Harvard's defense. Engles demonstrated good strategy as to how to get open looks against Crimson's defense. Harvard's turnovers certainly helped as well.

 
Chet Forte 
Postdoc
Posts: 2958

Reg: 03-02-08
02-03-18 04:16 PM - Post#245845    
    In response to bradley

This must be a weekend for NYC upsets. St.John’s took down Duke in the garden this afternoon. Hopefully that is the last NYC upset of the weekend.


 
whitakk 
Masters Student
Posts: 523

Age: 32
Reg: 11-11-14
02-03-18 05:41 PM - Post#245860    
    In response to Dr. V

Smith didn't start due to “basic team stuff” per Engles. Assume that meant conduct, not tactics.

 
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