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Username Post: NIT        (Topic#21329)
Chip Bayers 
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Chip Bayers
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03-11-18 08:50 PM - Post#252153    

From @THCSports:

  • Quote:
MBB UPDATE. Harvard Basketball will play Marquette in the first round of the NIT. Two former Dukies in Amaker and Wojciechowski



NIT even in its new format always shameless about working the story lines to attract viewers.


 
Big R&B Truth 
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Big R&B Truth
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Re: NIT
03-11-18 09:01 PM - Post#252162    
    In response to Chip Bayers

Would anybody ever watch the NIT unless they put together interesting story lines.
Penn State vs Temple is a nice idea.

 
Go Green 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 09:02 AM - Post#252274    
    In response to Chip Bayers

  • Chip Bayers Said:


NIT even in its new format always shameless about working the story lines to attract viewers.



I don't think Georgetown v. Princeton in 1999 was an accident either.


 
weinhauers_ghost 
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03-12-18 09:48 AM - Post#252297    
    In response to Go Green

Any word on Towns' injury? I hope it's not serious; if you guys are going to do any major damage in the NIT, you're going to need that kid. He is one tough cover.

 
digamma 
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03-12-18 10:02 AM - Post#252307    
    In response to weinhauers_ghost

I can't imagine him playing Wednesday night.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
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NIT
03-12-18 12:02 PM - Post#252363    
    In response to digamma

That's too bad. You guys may have to lean on Bassey a bit more. I was surprised at his offensive skill set. I hadn't seen enough of him to realize he was much more than a defensive stopper-type.

Edited by weinhauers_ghost on 03-12-18 12:04 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
palestra38 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 12:07 PM - Post#252367    
    In response to weinhauers_ghost

Really? He's the best all around player in the League. Guy has an NBA jump shot and can shoot over anyone. It would be a real shame if he has an injury that would carry over to next year.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 12:12 PM - Post#252371    
    In response to palestra38

  • palestra38 Said:
Really? He's the best all around player in the League. Guy has an NBA jump shot and can shoot over anyone. It would be a real shame if he has an injury that would carry over to next year.



Are you talking about Towns or Bassey? My comment was that it looked as if Bassey's role would have to expand a bit in Towns' absence.

 
palestra38 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 12:15 PM - Post#252372    
    In response to weinhauers_ghost

Oh, if you look at the pronoun progression, it looked as if you were talking about Towns.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 12:25 PM - Post#252375    
    In response to palestra38

  • palestra38 Said:
Oh, if you look at the pronoun progression, it looked as if you were talking about Towns.



I didn't really get that. First comment, "That's too bad" referred to Towns. The next sentence referred specifically to Bassey and his skill set, and a possible expansion of his role.


 
palestra38 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 12:26 PM - Post#252377    
    In response to weinhauers_ghost

If you read the prior message to which you were responding, "he" was Towns. But I understand your point and was mistaken.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 01:51 PM - Post#252426    
    In response to palestra38

  • palestra38 Said:
If you read the prior message to which you were responding, "he" was Towns. But I understand your point and was mistaken.



No blood, no foul. It's just that I do take pride in my ability to write clearly.


 
T.P.F.K.A.D.W. 
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Re: NIT
03-12-18 09:33 PM - Post#252609    
    In response to weinhauers_ghost

Speaking of Towns, any word on his injury?

 
penn nation 
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03-12-18 09:34 PM - Post#252610    
    In response to T.P.F.K.A.D.W.

Good luck to Harvard. We know you will represent the IL well.

 
digamma 
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03-14-18 08:11 PM - Post#253111    
    In response to penn nation

Just no flow offensively without Seth.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
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03-14-18 08:27 PM - Post#253118    
    In response to digamma

How much do you think the rule changes (wider foul lane, deeper three point line, four 10 minute quarters) are affecting the team?

I'm watching, and it looks as if Lewis in particular has never been able to get comfortable on the low block. He's about a foot farther out than he probably wants to be.

But yes, the entire team looks out of sorts.

 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
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03-14-18 08:41 PM - Post#253120    
    In response to weinhauers_ghost

Lewis is rushing things and starting further from the basket. As for the rest of the squad, playing without Towns and Aiken plus rule changes will do that.

 
TheLine 
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03-14-18 08:57 PM - Post#253126    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

A healthy Towns would've won this game.


 
penn nation 
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NIT
03-14-18 09:04 PM - Post#253129    
    In response to TheLine

Aint over yet. Harvard really putting on the screws defensively.

If not for some missed FTs in the past few minutes, this could be a 1 possession game.

Edited by penn nation on 03-14-18 09:04 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
TheLine 
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03-14-18 09:04 PM - Post#253130    
    In response to TheLine

Wow, Marquette losing composure. Not done yet.


 
weinhauers_ghost 
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NIT
03-14-18 09:04 PM - Post#253131    
    In response to TheLine

Bassey is doing everything he can to get his team back into this one.

Two missed FTs hurt, though.

Agreed about the way the outcome would have changed had Towns been healthy.

Edited by weinhauers_ghost on 03-14-18 09:05 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
palestra38 
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03-14-18 09:04 PM - Post#253132    
    In response to TheLine

What has been happening in the last minutes makes one wonder why Harvard never tried pressing Penn.

 
TheLine 
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03-14-18 09:06 PM - Post#253134    
    In response to palestra38

Foreman and Woods are both good at not getting trapped.


 
penn nation 
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03-14-18 09:06 PM - Post#253135    
    In response to palestra38

Maybe because Penn pushed the pace on them in Game #2 with great success.

 
penn nation 
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03-14-18 09:07 PM - Post#253136    
    In response to TheLine

Betley is not good at not getting trapped.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
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03-14-18 09:07 PM - Post#253137    
    In response to palestra38

That is indeed a good question. I was wondering about that one as well. The only real pressure they applied down the stretch Sunday was that double team of Betley that resulted in that (questionable) foul call.

 
TheLine 
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03-14-18 09:09 PM - Post#253138    
    In response to weinhauers_ghost

They kind of tried a few times but Penn read it except for when they played Betley in the corner.

Last few seconds have been a comedy of errors.


 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
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03-14-18 09:26 PM - Post#253143    
    In response to TheLine

Once Aiken got hurt Harvard stopped pressing - unless if it had to in final minutes. Without Aiken, McCarthy and Farley, Harvard had a shortage of guards this year. Juzang (4th string PG), Johnson and Bassey collectively only had one sub - the freshman Haskett. This starting 3 would play 35-40 minutes on back to back nights and so Harvard couldn't afford to press, or be too aggressive and pick up fouls.

With Aiken, McCarthy and Farley back, plus top 135+ ranked freshmen guards Spencer Freedman and Noah Kirkwood, Harvard will be much more aggressive next year. These are all additions as no one in the rotation is graduating. In fact, Corey Johnson was the only Junior.

Assuming good health, Harvard should be significantly better each of the next two years.



 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
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03-14-18 09:33 PM - Post#253145    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

By the way, I'm still amazed at how versatile this Harvard team is. Chris Lewis had what could be his worst game of the year, no Towns or Aiken, and they lose by the made free throw differential. If Harvard makes its free throws at the rate they'd been making them this month, Harvard wins or at least we're still playing. Remarkable.

Nice job guys! Gotta be over the top excited about the next two years.

 
digamma 
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03-14-18 09:51 PM - Post#253147    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

Hard not to like, ahem love, this team. Just so much fight in them. Can't wait to watch next season.

Maybe we'll even get to avoid the early season revolving door of starters, though I'm sure Tommy will want to see what Bacow can do to replace Faust.

 
penn nation 
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03-14-18 10:01 PM - Post#253148    
    In response to digamma

Well, you stole Faust away from us but at least you couldn't nab Rosen.



 
SomeGuy 
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03-15-18 07:22 AM - Post#253169    
    In response to penn nation

In Betley’s Defense, in those situations what we are trying to do is take the foul they are intending to give and get our best shooter to the line. Against both Harvard and Yale, we were running guys to the corner in that situation.

 
mrjames 
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03-15-18 07:53 AM - Post#253171    
    In response to digamma

It's the most talent Tommy will have ever had at Harvard and a team that can play so many different ways. He could have another Murphy's law year like this one, so that doesn't guarantee much. If Aiken never gets healthy, Towns has something that will creep into next season or any number of other unforeseen losses, who knows.

But if all return full strength, Harvard will only start two of the guys that started last night and likely only four of the guys who played last night will be in the Top 8 of the rotation. That's crazy for a team that didn't play any seniors last night.

 
SomeGuy 
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03-15-18 08:55 AM - Post#253175    
    In response to mrjames

It will be interesting to see how the mix comes together. I assume your view is that Lewis and Bassey are the returning starters? Who would be the 2 who stick in the top 8? Johnson and Djuricic? I really like Juzang and think his play was a big part of the story of Harvard’s strong play in conference. Doesn’t mean he has to play next year, but I think he should somehow.

On the earlier comment about lack of ball movement without Towns, I actually like the movement better. Bassey creates for shooters (though he turned it over way too much last night). With Towns, it sometimes feels like everybody stands around because Seth can shoot it over guys when he isn’t open. The game becomes purely how to isolate Towns and Lewis.

Which brings me to Amaker as a coach. It isn’t necessarily rocket science how you get a big guy posted up, but Harvard does a very nice job of moving the ball to get Lewis chances where he is hard to double. It’s not necessarily in game adjustments, but it is coaching. And last night, he certainly made adjustments in the 4th quarter (sounds weird) that seemed to work.

His reputation as a poor game coach may partially be that he was a comparatively weak game coach at the highest level. I don’t think he is a poor game coach at our level. I also think, as we’ve seen with Donahue becoming a defensive coach, that coaches change over time. So that old narrative may have been true at the time, but may not be what Amaker is today.

We can talk about recruiting advantages or whatever, but when I look at Harvard I see decades of lousy basketball right up until Amaker walked in the door. I don’t see how we can say anything other than that Harvard (and the league generally) is lucky to have him, and he has done a tremendous job turning around the program. I think the level of coaching in our league right now is very high.

 
mobrien 
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03-15-18 12:43 PM - Post#253195    
    In response to SomeGuy

Did we ever find out what exactly Aiken's injury was? I know it was a knee, but was it just a sprain, or something else? In other words, is there any chance he's going to need surgery?

 
bradley 
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03-15-18 01:10 PM - Post#253196    
    In response to mrjames

Harvard will indeed be the clear favorite to win the IL regular season next year. Amaker did an amazing job this year considering all of the obstacles.

Rather than relying on winning IvyMadness, I am sure that Amaker will be focused on having a strong non-conference schedule with the obvious goal to have an excellent record to minimize the risk associated with our beloved IvyMadness Tournament if it remains a one bid league. He is probably going to hope that the IL, as a whole, does much better than this year in non-conference play.

Will it all happen? You never know but the Crimson should be very strong next year but perhaps not quite as good as some Harvard fans envision -- time will tell.

 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
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03-15-18 02:49 PM - Post#253224    
    In response to bradley

You do have a point. Still missing a strong and athletic power forward. No Mondou-Misi or Casey with that unique combination of athleticism and size. Someone who can play with Chris Lewis.

Am I missing someone? Towns and Djuricic were forced into that position this year. I don't see that we have an incoming freshman in that mold.

 
SRP 
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03-15-18 07:24 PM - Post#253317    
    In response to HARVARDDADGRAD

Harvard should be excellent next year. This year a lot of guys had to stretch themselves into new roles and the team got used to bringing a strong defensive effort almost every possession.

I still am not enamored of a healthy Aiken as the primary PG, but if the highly touted freshman can step into that role, Aiken can be a small but deadly shooting guard. Don't know how the presence of those two guys would affect Harvard's D, however.

 
mobrien 
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03-15-18 08:07 PM - Post#253321    
    In response to TheLine

I guess the odds that Aiken is going to need surgery are pretty good considering that he had it today. Did everyone else see this?

https://twitter.com/TOMMYMAC_2015/status/ 974254498...

Any word on how serious it was?



 
HARVARDDADGRAD 
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03-15-18 08:25 PM - Post#253323    
    In response to mobrien

If you recall, Bryce was cleared to play after the initial injury and some rest. I believe a commentator suggested later that the knee wasn't responding. From what I've heard, I'd expect Bryce back at full strength next year.

Anyone know about Seth's knee issue?

Be nice to have Tommy McCarthy as well. A great kid and a leader.

 
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