CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard improved to 13-2 on Saturday by winning the first Ivy League game of the season. While the bottom line is all positive, the Crimson also lived dangerously for a while, more so than the 16-point final margin of victory might lead one to believe. Saturday’s game is not an isolated event, and with the full remaining slate of Ivy League games not far away, that is a concern for this team.
The Crimson didn’t start slowly, but Dartmouth was able to hang around and then took a seven-point lead early in the second half as they won the first four minutes coming out of the locker room. With the Big Green still up by six, Harvard went on a 16-2 run to take over the game, and offensively-challenged Dartmouth never seriously challenged them the rest of the game.
While head coach Tommy Amaker chalks some of it up to league play, where teams know each other better, one has to wonder if there is something different going on.
“Whatever league you’re in, it’s going to feel a little different,” said Amaker. “Conference play is always a bear, and our league is no different.”
It does say something about the Crimson that even while not playing well, they not only have won four of five but they have done that by comfortable margins in all but one. Only last Saturday’s win over Saint Joseph’s came by single digits (74-69). But the margins are deceptive, and say as much about the opponents as they do about Harvard. Those last five games have come against a Florida Atlantic team that isn’t what they were a year ago, a very young Boston College team, a good Saint Joseph’s team, a mediocre Fordham team and a Dartmouth team whose most talented players are freshmen.
This caught up to them against Fordham earlier in the week, a game that was on the road. The Crimson’s leader, Oliver McNally, minced no words about it at halftime of Saturday’s game and in talking after the game.
“He was being very adamant about what we needed to do and how we were going to do it, who needed to step forward,” Amaker said of McNally, who led the Crimson with 17 points and four assists, with no turnovers.
McNally understood that what was dogging the team wasn’t a talent or effort issue. It was all about the intangibles, as he sensed his teammates putting too much pressure on themselves and the play reflecting it. The Crimson had good practices leading up to Saturday’s game, but couldn’t put a complete game together although what they did was enough to win the game.
“We’re a real veteran team,” said the senior guard. “All the juniors have played a lot of minutes, the seniors have played a lot of minutes, and it’s about getting through all the dumb stuff. We were turning the ball over, giving up offensive rebounds, and really not focusing in.
“If we take care of rebounding the basketball, take care of the ball, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
Against Florida Atlantic, the Crimson had problems with turnovers at the beginning of each half. Then they cut down on turnovers in the latter part of each half, and when they did that they gained the advantage. Against Boston College, they ran into an upstart that defended them well and executed well on offense early on, before they clamped down with their trademark defense. In the Saint Joseph’s game, the offense kept them in it until they wore down the Hawks. And against Dartmouth, offensive rebounds were the issue, as the Big Green had eight in the first half (the Crimson had nine defensive boards) but none in the second half.
It’s a good sign that the Crimson have been able to fix problems within a game. But this team now has a target on their back, especially as Ivy League play will soon begin in earnest. (The Crimson have two more non-league games, at Monmouth and home against George Washington, before playing only league games.) Every team wants to beat them, and that’s not to be underestimated.
“We talk about it a lot, and it’s something that you can’t talk about enough,” said McNally. “It’s something that you can forget about. If you don’t keep that in the front of your mind, you can sleep on somebody and not give a great effort and get your butt beat, like we did at Fordham.”
One thing that is clear is that while this Harvard team is good, they aren’t perfect. They have continued to win, even when they haven’t played well, and that’s a sign of a team that can go far. But they have been living dangerously of late, and faced a bottom-line consequence once. In league play, they won’t be able to afford that very often.
