Lionized
goober
Posts: 69
Reg: 11-23-04
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12-23-04 03:41 PM - Post#1546
Anyone have any insight after the Hofstra fiasco for those of us watching "blind" from afar? I think we all knew there was too much hype about this team, but were afraid to jinx them. Well, they've jinxed themselves. Long, long way to go, even for Ivy contention much less any NCAA recognition. Just being "cold" doesn't account for being that bad. Couldn't work inside for a layup once in 10 minutes? Or at least draw a few free throws? Makes me wonder about Jones too.
Granted Nwachukwu is a freshman, but it's a bad sign when the big man that Penn supposedly wanted so much is
benched a few games into the season in favor of a three-guard lineup. We'll see. Meanwhile, appreciate insight from
fans who've been eyeballing the team.
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internetter
Postdoc
Posts: 3400
Loc: Los Angeles
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: What's the real skinny on Lions?
12-23-04 05:30 PM - Post#1547
In response to Lionized
While there's no doubt Columbia isn't as good as the now 6-2 record suggests, they're not as bad as that fiasco at Hofstra. (It's very unlikely they'll shoot that badly again.) The initial hype and doubts today are equally unsubstantial. To give them a mid-year, let alone final grade at this point is premature.
A work-in-progress fits the team well. They have promising frosh who are learning everyday how to play college and Jones ball and seem to be catching on. Two started from the beginning of the season making many mistakes, as to be expected. And, one, of significant talent, has yet to play.
With the extended holiday break not over, I would wait until they play Canisius/St. John's, Lafayette, Army, Navy, and Cornell to begin to assess how well they'll do in the league.
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The Lion King
Senior
Posts: 394
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: What's the real skinny on Lions?
12-23-04 06:00 PM - Post#1548
In response to internetter
The bad news is that all Columbia's wins have come against mediocre-to-crummy teams from lousy conferences. The good news is that that's a pretty accurate description of the rest of the Ivy League, excepting one letter of the alphabet. Throw out the games against dreadful Longwood and pretty decent Hofstra and they're still 5-1 against Ivy-caliber opponents. So they could easily go 7-3 against the non-P's and 0-4 against the P's, for a 7-7 league record. Even something like 8-2 plus 1-3 is conceivable (remember, they took Princeton to OT last year), though I'm not exactly counting on it. Considering that roughly half the team is from the 2-25 squad of two years ago and half is freshmen, I'd say they're doing fine, despite their stumble last night in Hempstead.
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Dr. V
PhD Student
Posts: 1539
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: What's the real skinny on Lions?
12-24-04 01:16 AM - Post#1549
In response to Lionized
I've seen all the home games. The team has decent, but not great talent. Jones is doing a tremendous job in that (i)he is getting every ounce of effort out of the talent he has; (ii) his in-game adjustments and substitutions are good; and (iii) he recruits very well. Baumann, who is to return in Jan. had a double-double in the pre-season scrimmage against FDU; Montgomery is a keeper, he plays with total confidence yet never forces anything; Loscalzo has already improved and can be expected to continue to improve, but even now he can defend, hit 3's and shoot free throws; Big Ben just hasn't played ball very many years and I don't think much of his h.s. coach; it'll be interesting to see how much he improves by next year; still, he's the best looking freshman big man at CU in the 30 years I've been following the team. Re next year, Miller is thought to be the best inside player recruited thus far in the Ivies; Nolan has really shone against top flight competition; Bova is a real scrapper who was tourney MVP 2 weeks ago and is considered one of the 2 best players in central NY, the other being a top-100 player going to Saracuse; Trepanier is considered one of the best guards in Canada and Niko Scott a top-30 player in NYC. My guess is that the team will continue to improve--Kravic is still getting into the grove after his summer injury; Baumann should be able to contribute 10-15 quality minutes with pts and r's, and the rest of the frosh are likely to continue to improve.
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Lionized
goober
Posts: 69
Reg: 11-23-04
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Re: What's the real skinny on Lions?
12-24-04 02:34 AM - Post#1550
In response to Dr. V
Many thanks. It's hard to judge what you can't actually see yourself, and I appreciate the input. It makes me feel better. I knew we had a learning and experience curve that has to be mastered, but apparently the Hofstra game can be seen as a bad but not fatal stumble rather than an indication that no progress is being made.
It's just that when you see the score (or non-scoring by Columbia) come in like that, and you see that we have 21 points in the first 30 minutes of play--or something like that--you begin to wonder if we're under invasion by space aliens. That's why I reacted a bit too harshly. Let's hope they learned a valuable lesson.
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Rob
maximus
Posts: 327
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: What's the real skinny on Lions?
12-24-04 11:10 AM - Post#1551
In response to The Lion King
You are right in all that you say. One more good thing that Jones has done is schedule in a way that the team can gain confidence. It needs lots of winnable games where the players can run their stuff and get it down.
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