the lions made their annual foray to the ivy league’s southern precincts where they lost games to penn and princeton. both contests demonstrated the blue’s current three point shooting woes with the quaker game on friday a piece de resistance in this regard as the boys went 3 -17 from beyond the arc. that kind of performance should spell utter disaster, but the hosts were almost equally dismal going 4 – 13. factor in the lions ten rebound advantage and the close loss (58 – 62) to a mediocre team comes into focus. saturday evening, they were only marginally better from three point range, but fought to the end of a highly entertaining game against an incredibly hot shooting, resurgent tiger crew that seems ready to challenge yet again for the league title. we’ll take a look at that tangle here.
reviewing the tiger roster on friday, i worried about their size advantage at every starting position. maybe the lions should go big with cisco, osetkowski and daniels up front at the tip off? throw in a bit of the 2 – 3 zone to minimize the size differential? consider my surprise when coach smith starts 3 guards (barbour, lo and mullins) alongside alex (the doctor) rosenberg and big number 55, and plays a frenetically switching man to man. my discomfort grew as the tigers worked steadily on offense and finished many a long possession, during which the blue had worked their defensive assignments rigorously, with a pass to an open shooter on the arc who drained a trey. given a quarter second to catch and shoot, princeton made mock of the lions’ relentless but finally imperfect defensive efforts. indeed, the stripers were criminally efficient out there in the first half, nailing all seven of their three point attempts. this sad tale took on a different character when, trailing 14 -27 at the 9:00 minute mark of the first period, coach smith subbed out cisco and barbour for cory osetkowski and grant mullins who joined isaac cohen, stevie frankoski and doc rosenberg to form an all underclassmen five. clearly, i should leave the personnel decisions to coach because there followed the most delightful six minutes of the young ivy season as smith’s cubs proceeded to run past and jump over the tigers.
cory osetkowski scored first, backing his defender down and spinning in for a layup at the 8:22 mark. a minute later rosenberg scored on the blocks garnering a free throw as well that he promptly cashed in cutting the princeton lead to eight. isaac cohen’s layup made it a six point game with six minutes remaining in the half. here, t. j. bray, always a thorn in lion paws, dropped his third trey of the period on the visitors and temporarily halted the rally. big cory o got the ball rolling again dropping another layup in past the tigers. steve frankoski’s three pointer followed by two osetkowski free throws and a trey from grant mullins brought the blue within one at 31 – 32. two minutes later, with 40 seconds to play in the half, maodo lo drained a trey and the lions had gotten all the way back and grabbed the lead at 36 -35. they gave it back on two free throws from ian hummer, but the lions were roaring as they headed to the locker room.
the second half lacked the kind of prolonged rally that so leavened the first half’s interest for lion rooters. princeton worked steadily to open a five point lead, whittled down by columbia at the 9:00 minute mark to a 50 – 50 knot. the boys could not quite get over the hump, though, despite holding the tigers to 1 – 4 from beyond the arc for the period. the hosts relied instead on senior leader ian hummer’s hard work in getting to and profiting from the foul line which is where the tigers ultimately sealed their triumph, 68 -61.
allgamers know paulie b’s especial unhappiness at any loss to princeton, but though he left south jersey disappointed he remained undismayed. only now is he beginning to appreciate the depth coach smith has assembled at guard as brian barbour nears the end of his notable tenure at the lion helm. in maodo lo, grant mullins and isaac cohen, the blue has three quick, dauntless backcourters who are capable of draining the trey or driving the lane. all three work tirelessly on defense – maodo’s end to end quickness in this regard is v impressive, while mullins’ quick hands let him specialize in tapping the ball away from a dribbler who thinks he has beaten his man. messr cohen has seen less time to date than his first year class mates but is a deft passer in traffic – check out his 7 assists up in ithaca – and has some hops – as indicated by his 9 rebounds in philly on friday night. coach smith was quoted pre-season about going “big” with the latest rendition of his squad, but it is his cadre of guards that will be crucial to lion success for the rest of this season. in a college basketball landscape that places ever greater emphasis on individual athleticism to create offensive opportunities, columbia is well situated to improve and succeed. the only fly in the ointment – is there enough playing time to go around and keep the young studs interested. we loss dyami starks to the bryant program because of too few minutes. let’s hope coach smith has brainstormed a rotation that will have everyone happy.
can’t quit without giving a shout out to pat forde’s minutes column on yahoo sports which says ivy league leaders harvard and princeton are unlikely to go undefeated in the conference because they have three games remaining with the lions. word up to the internet hoops journalist for his outstanding knowledge of the ancient eight.
peace out, d up, beat harvard this saturday!
paulie b