Hoop Dreams

This is unreal.

In back-to-back games, the Harvard men's basketball team has won. By a lot.

First, there was Saturday's 108-60 destruction of Babson. Then came last night's 89-60 bombardment of Army. Two games, 197 points scored.

What the heck is going on here?

Something funny is going on in Lavietes Pavilion, for sure. Add last year's season-ending wins against Cornell and Columbia to an exhibition victory over McMaster, and that makes five consecutive resounding wins for Harvard at home.

Cameron. Pauley. Lavietes.

Yes, this is the same Harvard team that went 6-20 last year. That has never won an Ivy League title. That is off to its best start since 1984--with a 2-0 record. Isn't there some law against the Crimson basketball season beginning on such a positive note?

I guess not.

"This win right here is going to be a catalyst," junior forward Chris Grancio said after last night's game. "Even though we didn't play all that great, we still won by 30."

Catalyst? Didn't play all that great in a blowout win? Are there even bigger things on the Crimson horizon? Is such a notion possible for the Harvard men's basketball team?

As much as this cynical reporter hates to admit it, things sure look that way. Harvard didn't play all that great--the team committed 26 fouls and shot 41.9 percent from the floor in the first half. To make matters worse, the Crimson's only true center, sophomore Paul Fisher, fouled out by getting a technical early in the second half.

So how did Harvard win? The rebounding sure didn't hurt, as the Crimson pulled down 46 boards to the Cadets' 28--in fact, Harvard had as many offensive rebounds as Army did defensive.

Also, the Harvard shooters had a great second half, making 64.5 percent of their shots and two out of three treys. That opened up things a lot for the Crimson in the paint, where juniors Kyle Snowden and Grancio--who did well in Fisher's absence--15 second-half points.

And one cannot forget the presence of freshman point guard Tim Hill, who was a continuous spark plug for the Crimson offense.

But most importantly, the Cadets showed about as much skill as Iraq's infantry. Army shot 56.8 percent from the free-throw line--41.2 percent in the first half--and connected on less than 35 percent of its field goals.

It wasn't supposed to be like that. Army beat Harvard last year, 69-66 at West Point, so this contest looked to be a good one. But it became quickly apparent that Army had serious problems.

The Black Knights' best player, shooting guard Mark Lucking, proved beyond a doubt that the rims at Lavietes should hold up well for the rest of the season. The senior made only four of 16 shots and one of seven three-pointers, scoring 13 points. Last year, he knocked home 28 to send Army to victory.

At the line, things became silly. In the second half, a fan yelled "Go Navy!" as Cadet Alfred Forbes shot the first of two free throws. Of course, he missed both.

In its coming games, of course, Harvard can not expect all its opponents to aim shots at their feet. Cockiness is not in order.

But on the other hand, the Crimson did not sink down to the Cadet's level. Harvard was the better team on the floor and never let Army think otherwise.

Funny. The team was 6-20 last year, and now it has to worry about not sinking down to its opponent's level.

Strange things at Lavietes, indeed.