Bilas January: Harvard runs a very effective motion offense and has quality players at every position. As far as Ivy League clubs, this team may not be quite as good as Cornell was two years ago, but this is a team capable of winning one or two games in the tournament. Keith Wright is a terrific interior big and Kyle Casey is one of the more versatile players in the country. Harvard is balanced, unselfish and talented.
Could this be the 2011 version of Cornell? Eh, probably not. The Crimson do have nice wins over Colorado and Boston College, but I don’t believe that compares to how the Big Red scared the bejeezus out of Kansas early last year. Still, whoever comes out of the Ivy League could have another shot at taking down a big gun. Harvard is pretty guard-oriented, meaning a lack of height in the frontcourt. That could do them in against bigger teams.
I do like Tommy Amaker on the bench, though. He seems to have found his fit with the smart jocks. And I wouldn’t put it past him to pull out one shocker, that is, if they can beat out Princeton for the league title. It’ll be real fun to watch the Crimson and Tigers in two years (both teams are loaded with underclassmen). For now, the Crimson will leave the field with a taste of what’s to come.
Upset potential: Second round
Fun team. Athletic like a high mid-high A10 team. They have a decent big man in Wright. He is big and strong and has good if not sometimes clunky moves. He didnt own Princeton like I thought he should of, though. Other big man Casey is similar. Dont expect him to dominate the post in the tournament. Other than that, guards Rivard (whose 6’5) and Curry are solid. They can penetrate and can hit the three well. This team does well in transition but really looked “taught” in the half-court. There was no feel.
My Take: This team beat Boston College, which is getting some pub, but so did Yale. BC is learning a new offense with a new coach.. and oh yeah.. they also are marginal at best. So temper your enthusiasm on them but hope others dont. They are very young, they have better than Ivy League starters but an Ivy League bench. Expect them to lose by quite a bit… I guess 12+ and maybe more!
