mobrien
Masters Student
Posts: 402
Loc: New York
Reg: 04-18-17
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01-25-24 11:58 AM - Post#362098
It's been a long time since we've played anywhere close to a full 40 minutes of good basketball; we'll need to to beat Yale.
Yale tends to have their bigs drop down pretty far on ball screens, which is why stretch fours like Baker and Djuricic have historically given them fits on pick and pops. The game could easily come down to whether Okpara makes those shots this time (especially when we're playing small lineups with him at the five).
The big matchup on offense, though, will be Mack vs the reigning Ivy DOY in Mbeng. I'd be surprised if Yale starts the game out doubling Mack given how strong a defender Mbeng is, but they might throw a few at him on ball screens. We'll need to be ready to have Lesmond set some more of those again. In any case, there shouldn't be much of a feeling out process for either of them; Mack and Mbeng played against each in the WCAC, so they should have a pretty good idea about what the other likes to do.
Every home game is big.
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iogyhufi
Masters Student
Posts: 681
Age: 27
Reg: 10-10-17
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Re: Yale I
01-25-24 05:14 PM - Post#362109
In response to mobrien
You've sure got that ball-screen coverage point right. I've noticed less of a problem this year now that Yale plays a quick-footed center themselves, but it's still a concern in my mind.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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01-27-24 03:14 PM - Post#362181
In response to iogyhufi
Nice crowd. Defensive intensity both ways.
Yale guarding the 3 point line and Ajogbor has 2 blocks in the first 4 minutes.
Harvard with 4 sloppy TO’s though.
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mobrien
Masters Student
Posts: 402
Loc: New York
Reg: 04-18-17
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01-27-24 03:56 PM - Post#362208
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
Mack and Okpara are a combined 1-14 at half, and we’re only down 2. Just need to make some—any!—shots, and this game is there for the taking.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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01-27-24 03:57 PM - Post#362210
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
If announcers were right, Yale goes 16-4 once Wolf (and Ajogbor) are both out with 2 fouls. Means Harvard up 27-17 until then.
4 made 3’s by Yale later in half explains that. Feel that without Ajogbor Harvard defense needs to help/collapse, opening up the perimeter.
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CrimsonBlood
Freshman
Posts: 46
Age: 33
Reg: 03-15-18
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01-27-24 04:11 PM - Post#362223
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
Yes- I’m not sure why Amaker took Ajogbor out so early in the 1H?
We really struggled without him. He was the most dominant player on the floor when he played.
On offense, need to cut out the bad turnovers.
I’d like to see some more pick and roll with Mack, potentially opening up some penetration and Lesmond for 3’s.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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01-27-24 04:19 PM - Post#362230
In response to CrimsonBlood
Ajogbor picked up 2 fouls 10 minutes in
Harvard down by 12 now, but entirely due to Mack shooting 0-8 and Yale hitting 8 of last 10 3’s.
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CrimsonBlood
Freshman
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Age: 33
Reg: 03-15-18
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01-27-24 04:28 PM - Post#362238
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
Terrible called third foul on Ajogbor. That hurts. Looked like a clean steal to me.
Probably going to need some Lesmond 3’s to get back in this and loosen up the defense.
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mobrien
Masters Student
Posts: 402
Loc: New York
Reg: 04-18-17
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01-27-24 05:25 PM - Post#362264
In response to CrimsonBlood
Turns out the Ivy is a make or miss league too. From the last 5 minutes of the first half through the first 5 minutes of the second half, Mahoney and Poulakidas buried us under an avalanche of threes; I think they made 7 of 8 in a row at one point. Mack, meanwhile, couldn’t make anything, and we didn’t do a good job looking for Lesmond. That 10 minute stretch was the game.
One positive takeaway is that Ajogbor was able to almost completely neutralize Wolf. We can match up with these guys; just need to shoot better.
The best news, of course, is that Penn and Brown both lost. The “race” for fourth continues.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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01-27-24 06:21 PM - Post#362272
In response to mobrien
I had the save observations.
Harvard definitely played Yale more than even for much of the game. I believe Harvard had even outrebounded Yale for the first half.
Although Wolf will certainly be a force in this league, he was outplayed by Ajogbor who held Wolf to 1-7 shooting while Ajogbor was conservatively credited with 3 blocks. As with Spinoso, Harvard has a strong defense against teams that want to run through the post.
The margin was simply due to 3 point shooting, as Yale hit on 12-23 versus Harvard's 5-21. That more than explins the 13 point margin.
Harvard has its strengths, but they are too uneven to put us in the first tier.
Now all five "second tier" teams are 1-3. It's going to be a long, sometimes ugly, haul.
For what it's worth, Pigge had a strong first half, finishing with 13 points on 6-9 shooting, and Amaker decided to give Wojcik's minutes to Nesbit in the second half.
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CrimsonBlood
Freshman
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Age: 33
Reg: 03-15-18
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01-27-24 10:20 PM - Post#362289
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
A good chunk of our 3 point woes were Malik Mack at 1-8.
He had success driving to the basket and getting to the free throw line.
I think we needed more ball screen action to give him a lane to drive or dish. We also had a lot of turnovers when our other guards were forced to make something happen. A lot of our guards just don’t have the handles to be a primary ball handler.
Taking out Ajogbor with two fouls is what led to the Yale run.
I get you don’t want to pickup that third foul early… but Harvards defense couldn’t afford for him to not be out there.
They played hard today and if they can build on this effort, they should have a solid chance for the last spot in the ILT.
The team has a lot of glaring weaknesses though.
While injuries have hurt, it is unclear to me why we can’t recruit better year in and year out to have more depth. The program has sadly taken a meaningful step back the last five years or so.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
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Loc: New Jersey
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01-27-24 10:46 PM - Post#362291
In response to CrimsonBlood
Certainly we don’t have the depth of the banner years, but Evan Nelson at the 2 would be making a world of difference. Also, anything from Silverstein, Hemmings or Pitcher would be meaningful. Those are two starters from last season - a lot more depth.
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mobrien
Masters Student
Posts: 402
Loc: New York
Reg: 04-18-17
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01-27-24 11:10 PM - Post#362293
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
It was strange that we ran so few ball screens for Mack. Were we afraid he’d just get doubled hard off of them and wouldn’t be able to take advantage? I’m not sure I can remember more than a handful of ball screens from our bigs; Ajogbor got a dunk off of one toward the end of the game.
Nelson was a huge loss. He was miscast as a point guard, but would have been very solid as a combo guard who could drive or shoot against defenses keyed in on Mack; those just aren’t Pigge’s skills. And Pitcher is the great what-if. He seemed tailor made for this matchup where rebounding and three point shooting from your bigs can be so important.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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01-27-24 11:18 PM - Post#362294
In response to mobrien
Everything else aside, Nelson and Silverstein were started who could hit 3’s, make FT’s and pass the ball. The epitomy of depth is returning 2 more starters.
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CrimsonBlood
Freshman
Posts: 46
Age: 33
Reg: 03-15-18
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01-27-24 11:41 PM - Post#362297
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
Did anyone ever figure out what happened with Silverstein?
Is he playing somewhere else now? A Google search didn’t yield anything for me. Weird.
On Nelson, I guess he stayed in school since it still lists him with the team… which would make him a senior next year.
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Ever True
Junior
Posts: 255
Age: 28
Reg: 02-02-15
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01-28-24 01:12 PM - Post#362318
In response to CrimsonBlood
This is what Jeff Goodman said when he left the team/entered the portal: https://x.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1 656716599582130...
Haven't seen anything else, besides a couple tweets from his former coach at NMH who has said that he's graduating from Harvard this academic year.
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