Life After Roby Not So Rosy

While the Harvard men's basketball team enjoys a 16-day hiatus, now would be a good time to examine what exactly has changed from last season's 9-17 record to this campaign's 1-11 standing.

The first factor to consider is the change in personnel. Last year's team featured the 16 points per game of Ralph James.

While freshman Jared Leake has performed more than admirably, the absense of point guard Tarik Campbell, for academic reasons, cannot be underestimated. Campbell brought experience to the point, while being the only major contributer on the team with more assists than turnovers.

Furthermore, two key players that Coach Frank Sullivan expected on the court at this time are inactive. Starting guard Matt McClain is out for the season with a knee injury. Junior college recruit Arturo Llopis was declared ineligible by the N.C.A.A.

Life Without Roby

But how well is this team doing statistically, compared to former coach Peter Roby's squad? The most obvious stat is the points per game for Harvard and its opponents.

Last year, the Crimson averaged 75 ppg, while allowing 82 per contest. This season the gap has widened, as Harvard scores only 68 points against 88 for opponents.

Harvard has improved its shooting from the field from 44 to 46 percent. The problem is that it can't seem to hold down the other team.

The Crimson's opponents have increased their field goal percentage from 47 to a startling 52 percent. While Harvard has improved some on offense, the defense is lacking.

This syndrome continues in three-point shooting. The Crimson's outside shooting has increased from 35 to 40 percent.

Yet again, the other team has fared just a bit better. Harvard's opponents now shoot 44 percent from three-point land as opposed to only 38 percent last year.

The turnover-to-assist ratio problem has not been resolved either. At the end of last season, the Crimson had 354 assists and 401 turnovers.

While this is certainly something to worry about, this year's 264 turnovers as compared to only 163 assists is even more bothersome.

The one category that the Crimson has turned in its favor has been rebounding. Its own totals have gone down to 35 rebounds per game compared to 36 last year.

But Harvard has cut its opponents glass-crashing from 39 last season to only 34 rebounds per game this campaign. Much of this can be contributed to a starting lineup that consists of four players that could be considered forwards.

Starters Tyler Rullman, Ron Mitchell, Peter Condakes, and Mike Minor are all listed at 6 feet, 7 inches or higher.

While it may be unfair to compare teams from year to year, it offers an interesting perspective on what has gone right and wrong.

This year Harvard has upped its level of play on offense. Things get sticky, however, when the other team has the ball.