M. Hoops Hosts D-III Doormat Saturday

Last season, the Harvard Men's basketball team opened with a game against Boston College, pulling off a dramatic and unexpected 62-61 win.

This year, the Crimson starts out with a much easier opponent--Division III Washington and Lee, a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference that went 6-19 last season and has a 6'6 center.

With an extremely young and inexperienced team, including five new faces, the Crimson open up the season with little prospect of moving up from the middle of the Ivy League pack. But an easy win over a cellar-dwelling Division III team should boost Harvard's confidence.

This week, Harvard got good news. Sophomore guard Drew Gellert returned from a separated shoulder and will most likely start Saturday.

"Having Drew back has been really great for practice this week," senior guard Damian Long said. "He brings enthusiasm and a good work ethic. With Drew back in the lineup, the rest of us can return to our natural spots."

The Crimson starters for this weekend's game haven't been determined yet, but it seems safe to say that Gellert, Long and junior forward Dan Clemente will all be penciled into the starting five.

"I have no idea who will play," Long said. "It's liable to change by Saturday afternoon. Could be Onnie [Mayshak, freshman forward], maybe Tim Coleman, maybe Bryan Parker."

Whoever Harvard coach Frank Sullivan plays on Saturday probably won't matter. Washington and Lee boasts no players of any merit, no big man and no noticeable perimeter game. The Generals are literally playing out of their league. The last time the team played an Ivy League opponent was in 1956-57, when it defeated Columbia 69-63.

New coach Jeff Lafave doesn't have many options to choose from. Junior guard Will Ballard is the team's leading returning scorer. He averaged 11.3 points per game and also had 36 steals last season. Senior guard Walt Plyler, who had 251 assists, will play the point.

"With such a young team, I think it's smart to start out with an opponent like Washington and Lee," Long said. "We need to overcome the freshmen's jitters and play games we can handle. Basically, we need to grow as a team."

In exhibition play this past month, some upperclassmen were unable to play, giving time to the Crimson's newcomers. Elliott Prasse-Freeman played the point, but will likely return to two-guard with Gellert's return. The team Harvard puts on the floor won't be big or fast, but it should do the job.

The Generals' tallest player, center Brian Ricketts, stands at 6'6. That's in direct contrast to Harvard, which boasts 6'5 guards. Clemente, an honorable mention All-Ivy pick last season, should be able to score off any defender thrown at him.

"We don't really know about this team at all," Long said. "We're still doing some prep for it."

When told about the Generals' height problems, he added, "I knew there was a lack of big men in basketball this year, but wow."

The strategy for the Crimson is simple for this game. It will work with one or two big men in the post, and just keep feeding the ball inside until the Generals catch on. Then, the perimeter game will kick in and the guards shouldn't have a problem slashing their way through the defense.

Defensively, the Crimson will put pressure on the perimeter, basically attacking the point guard or whoever has the ball on the outside. With Washington and Lee likely unable to score from inside, its offense will be one-dimensional and predictable.

All this makes for a relatively calm and easy season opener for the Crimson, despite the lineup shuffling.

"This is the most shifting around for a Harvard team I've seen in all my career," Long said. "But it shouldn't be a problem for this game."

Game time is 7 p.m. Saturday at Lavietes Pavilion.