CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – As Harvard now gets ready for a tough stretch of three road games against teams that were in the NCAA Tournament last season, one thing seems clear: the Crimson are about as ready as they can be for it.
The Crimson’s next three games are at Connecticut, Boston College and Georgetown. They enter that stretch at 6-1, which may be the best start in program history. It is certainly the best start since 1984-85, when they started 8-0 but had three wins against non-Division I opponents. In 1957-58, they started off 8-1, but with five wins over non-Division I opponents. Reasonable people can argue the merits of each start, but any way you slice it, this has to be at least in the top three and perhaps the best one.
“I think it serves our program well,” said head coach Tommy Amaker. “It’s a nice thing for our kids to hang their hats on now.”
Amaker has heaped a lot of praise on his players of late, and with the way they are playing one can’t blame him. The Crimson rebounded from a bad outing that resulted in a loss at Army with three solid games right in a row. A lot of things seem to be coming together for them right now, so those three wins aren’t an accident. Indeed, two were convincing wins if not blowouts, and the other, a come-from-behind win at Boston University last Sunday, was a solid win as well. They have held each of the last three opponents below 40 percent from the field and have forced nearly 16 turnovers per game in that stretch.
The defense is the big area where the Crimson has shined, and Amaker has talked about it extensively. He’s a real believer that the Crimson’s offensive improvement of late is directly related to their defensive success. On Wednesday, they shot nearly 61 percent from the field against Rice, although they did turn the ball over 21 times. They had 17 turnovers at Boston University, so the defense has truly won the games for them as it’s helped overcome some offensive miscues.
The Crimson have also seen their frontcourt come alive. The past couple of years have seen stretches where they have had to play small because of injuries, but right now they have four solid players inside in Keith Wright, Doug Miller, Pat Magnarelli and Kyle Casey. Wright had a big night offensively on Wendesday, going for 16 points on 8-10 shooting. Miller has been steady and makes most of his shots, though he won’t put up big numbers on the stat sheet. Magnarelli and Casey have given them a spark off the bench, especially the energy Casey brings.
“We expect to get that from Kyle,” said Amaker. “We’ll be very disappointed if we don’t get those kind of energy plays and effort plays from Kyle Casey. That’s what he brings to the table, a role that he fills for us.”
Amaker didn’t say as much about it, but the Crimson have also done a good job of moving the ball. In the loss at Army, they had just six assists on 15 field goals. In the six wins, the Crimson have had assists on at least two-thirds of their baskets. Oddly enough, the loss at Army was one of just two games in which Jeremy Lin didn’t lead the team in scoring (Wednesday night was the other, as Wright took that honor).
“I’m just pleased with the way our kids are being so unselfish,” Amaker reflected.
The Crimson have been winning games while improving, and Lin feels like they’re finding their identity right now. They’re becoming deeper, in part out of necessity with Max Kenyi out due to injury, and the younger players are showing promise. It’s all being reflected in the wins, and while their main goal is to get better, winning games while improving is always the ideal scenario for a team. That’s also not a bad way to go into a stretch of road games against teams from the Big East and ACC.
