HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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02-03-24 12:20 PM - Post#362656
Both Cornell and Harvard coming off very sloppy wins last night. Tonight the Crimson (4.5 pt underdogs at home) have a chance to really stake a claim for 4th with a victory, but they’re going to have to play much better than they did against Columbia. Tough back to back against a much deeper opponent.
If Harvard doesn’t pull out the win, either Columbia or Dartmouth will pick up a second win and Brown (2 wins) is hosting Princeton.
Penn is -12.5 at Yale, but their desperation and Yale’s inconsistent play could lead to a surprise.
Again, any victory by the second tier against the three front runners would be huge, otherwise, I expect the scrum to continue with Harvard, Brown and either Dartmouth or Columbia tied at 2-4 after tonight.
Hosting a surprisingly resilient Dartmouth next weekend.
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mobrien
Masters Student
Posts: 402
Loc: New York
Reg: 04-18-17
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02-03-24 12:45 PM - Post#362659
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
The optimistic spin is that we’ve actually matched up pretty well with Cornell the last few years. They especially struggled against Ledlum—he was a little strong for Manon, and a little too quick for Ragland—and Okpara should, in theory, present the same kind of problems for them.
The more pessimistic view is that we only have one reliable ball handler in Mack, going up against a team that presses all game, a team that’s much, much deeper than us, which should be an even bigger factor when we both played last night. I don’t feel good about it.
We need to take care of the ball and guard the three point line to have a chance here.
The bigger picture story here is that we still don’t have enough shooting in our starting lineup. Pigge does so many little thing well, but his outside shot—which he still tends to release a little too high, not getting enough arc—is way too hit or miss, emphasis on miss. Add in his iffy ball handling, and I wonder if it’s time to give Simon some more chances with the starters. Just having someone who’s more of a threat from outside and can help break the press (not to mention fresh legs in a back-to-back) might be what we need.
I don’t think Mack has been struggling just because of the mono. I think Ivy coaches have been helping more off Pigge and Okpara, really clogging the paint, and not giving Mack anywhere to go with it even when he’s not getting doubled. We have to do something to try to get him more space. It seemed like he was able to get to the hoop easier the few minutes he did play with Simon and Nesbitt last night; I think slotting Simon in for Pigge, and then bringing Pigge and Batties in together off the bench when we take Ajogbor out might be a way to try to keep a modicum of shooting around Mack at all times.
The good news is we have a lot of shooters coming in next year. The bad news is we have to figure something out until then.
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CrimsonBlood
Freshman
Posts: 46
Age: 33
Reg: 03-15-18
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02-03-24 10:54 PM - Post#362720
In response to mobrien
Frustrating loss. Mack played well, but had very little help.
Harvard shot 26% from 3 and 55% from the FT line. That isn’t going to cut it.
If you exclude Mack (who was 3-6 from 3), Harvard shot 2/13 from 3 point land (15%). That just isn’t going to win.
Unfortunately, this is still an injury ravaged Harvard team with significant roster holes, no shooting, and one very promising freshman PG. He needs help.
About the game:
Ajogbor gets in foul trouble.. our rim protection is basically nothing when he is out. In one key possession, Cornell got 3 or 4 offensive rebounds in a row with him out.
Harvard again turned the ball over a lot against Cornell pressure. The Harvard guards (excluding Mack) just are not great ball handlers. IMO, Wojcik might be second best ball handler, but he was out again. Lesmond in particular just looks uncomfortable dribbling. I get he is a spot up 3 point shooter, but flow basically stops when he is passed the ball if he doesn’t shoot.
Isaiah Gray from Cornell just destroyed us, especially when Ajogbor was not in to protect the rim.
On the bright side, I thought Nesbitt looked good and gave them a spark. I wonder why he has not been given more playing time. He was a first team all state guard and set his HS scoring record. He had a great “and one” and hit a nice 3. He looked fast, athletic, and confident. That is rare outside of Mack for Harvard guards right now.
Pigge continues to have flashes. He is strong around the hoop and has some good moves. If he can develop his handles to be less turnover prone, he could develop into a solid player for us.
Overall, it feels like Harvard lacks an identity. We have Mack… and that’s kind of it. But we don’t seem to have a strategy on offense. I’d love to see more ball screens, better motion, etc. less standing around and hoping Mack does something great. This was in stark contrast to Cornell that has a very clear identity. They full court press all game, play a deep bench, and shoot a lot of 3’s in transition.
On to the next one…
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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02-03-24 11:34 PM - Post#362727
In response to CrimsonBlood
With the depleted roster, we are just not built for the back to backs. We are also extremely vulnerable to full court pressure and traps. Remember how Penn pressed its way back into that game in the second half?
Nesbit has had some moments, but he is vulnerable to defensive pressure and a real liability on defense. He appears very small and slight. Essentially, Nesbit can shoot whereas Wojcik can hustle and play a bit more physically. Both still leave us vulnerable. Look at Cornell with Gray and Williams.
Mack played his heart out and didn’t tire. Great effort. If only Evan Nelson was healthy and Sam Silverstein didn’t, well, elect not
to play at Harvard any longer. Mack and Nelson would, IMHO, be the best backcourt in this league.
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HARVARDDADGRAD
Postdoc
Posts: 2692
Loc: New Jersey
Reg: 01-21-14
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02-04-24 05:50 PM - Post#362768
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
So, our (reach) goal appears to be a 6-8 finish which should earn the final tournament spot. Even 5-9 might work if the tiebreakers fall the right way. To get there, we'll need to overcome our worst in conference three point and free show shooting percentages. Excepting the 9-18 outlier first half at Penn, we are otherwise shooting 23.8% from 3 in conference. Since we shoot 33.73% over the entire season, there is a hopefully fixable problem.
Similarly, despite shooting 68.2% on free throws thoughout, we have dropped to 62.2% in league play.
Hopefully, if the OOC was the 'norm' at around 35% and 70%, reversion would be welcome and significantly help our chances.
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digamma
Masters Student
Posts: 468
Loc: Minneapolis
Reg: 11-27-11
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02-05-24 11:24 AM - Post#362803
In response to HARVARDDADGRAD
I was really impressed with Cornell. They are a very difficult match up for anyone in the league (obviously), but particularly for us this year, as they are bigger at guard and their inside game (or really ability of their bigs to play outside) takes Justice out of the game. I have been trying to figure out how we beat them and it's less obvious to me than Yale, who I think is beatable, or Princeton, who also forces difficult match ups, but I think is less athletic.
Yes, we need to shoot better and make free throws. All of that too.
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CrimsonBlood
Freshman
Posts: 46
Age: 33
Reg: 03-15-18
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02-08-24 02:19 AM - Post#362878
In response to digamma
@digsmma, I agree they looked very solid and are a tough matchup,
I would think we would need to play more zone and hope they shoot poorly from three in any rematch against Cornell. This does two things for us: it allows Ajogbor to cleanup the defensive glass and not get stuck guarding on the perimeter. It also gives our guys a little bit more energy conservation, which will matter down the stretch against their full court press.
At the end of the day, if they shoot well from 3, they will beat us. But as an underdog, maybe not a bad gamble to take.
On offense, we have to get more ball screens and flow. And need to take some pressure off of Mack.
I’d like to see Lesmond get some 3 point looks from off ball screens as well. Too often he catches the ball and all motion dies. He’s a good shooter and we need to find more ways to get him looks.
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