Rullman Should Be the Other Man

...and Harvard's down by just one point with seconds to play. The shooting guard takes the inbounds pass near the sidelines and dribbles across the top of the key...he's looking for Mitchell down low...there's the pass to mitchell on the edge of the paint, and Mitchell is quickly triple teamed...Mitchell fakes, spins, and..

loss the ball as time runs out.

The Harvard men's basketball team (1-12, 1-1 Ivy) has been that close to a win twice so far this season.

Back in the second game of the season, Harvard lost 85-84 to Boston University after Mitchell lost his grip on a low pass from Matt McClain. Eleven games and ten losses later, Mitchell lost the ball and the game again. Against New Hampshire, the key pass was from Tyler Rullman, but the result was the same.

Can you say, "Choke"? The Crimson needs a collective Heimlich maneuver.

The result was perhaps to be expected. Harvard's money man has been Mitchell down low, so teams automatically assume the ball is headed for him in the closing seconds.

Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan knows that the team goes to Mitchell too much and purposely designs plays designed to go away from Mitchell. Against B.U., Rullman was wide open on the wing for the winning shot.

Tuesday night, Sullivan designed the play to go to either Peter Condakes, Eric Carter or Mitchell. Condakes and Carter were both having better nights offensivley, but Rullman played right into the Wildcats' hands and went to Mitchell.

It is a measure of respect for his talents. Mitchell is unquestionably. The Man. For Harvard to succeed, though, someone else has to step up and take some of the pressure off his shoulders.

Condakes is one possibility. Condakes has great offensive skills both under the basket and on the perimeter. he wants the ball every play. Definitely a money player.

But the player really missing from the clutch situations is Rullman, who scored a career-high 28 points against UNH. Rullman is the team's most consistent scoring threat. When he decides to take the perimeter shot, he is deadly, but his best work is down low in traffic. Instead of power, Rullman uses finesse and a soft touch to elude the waving arms.

Rullman has yet to take over a game the way he has potential to. Instead, he keeps the Crimson in the running until the final seconds, when Mitchell is supposed to take over.

This would be fine, except everybody knows the ball is going to Mitchell. The Crimson needs to have another go-to gun that it can rely on. It cannot win using Mitchell as a clutch crutch.

Mitchell is a money player, but he can only do so much with four defenders hanging all over him.

Somebody has to step up. That somebody should be Rullman.