Notebook: Chambers, Saunders Lead Basketball Over Engineers

Going In To Get It Out

Despite not having much of a height advantage inside, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker’s squad looked to pound the ball inside in the first half of its season opener against MIT. On seven of its first nine possessions, the Crimson went immediately into the paint, even as MIT stayed even with the No. 25 team in the country.

The Crimson rotated a plethora of weapons in the frontcourt, as five different forwards saw minutes and scored. Nonetheless, field goal percentage was certainly a struggle for captain Steve Moundou-Missi, who was a mere 3-for-8 from inside the paint.

For a long time, it wasn’t pretty. In fact, it remained a one-possession game with under 10 minutes in the first half. Nonetheless, Harvard’s arduous effort to go inside eventually paid dividends.

“That’s the way our offense is set up,” junior captain Siyani Chambers said. “Whoever has the open shot is going to take the open shot, but it really helps when our bigs get the ball inside because it opens up a lot on the perimeter.”

After continuously throwing the ball inside, the Engineers switched to a 2-3 zone to provide some help defense on the interior. As a result, senior Wesley Saunders began to penetrate the lane, finding Chambers twice in the first half for two of his four three pointers.

“Our interior is going to determine how well we shoot from the perimeter,” Amaker said. “If we can become what we should become, we will be a little tougher, stronger, and more efficient around the rim and will open things on the perimeter which will hopefully give us some open shots.”

Chambers of Secrets

It’s really not a secret anymore. Two years ago, few people, if any, knew the name Siyani Chambers. Following the loss of captain and point guard Brandyn Curry, Chambers was thrust into the spotlight as Harvard’s starting point guard.

But the Minnesota native had no trouble taking center stage. Chambers went on to become the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, winning the Ancient Eight and upsetting No. 3 seed New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Fast-forward two years. Chambers has been rated the 34th best player in the country by ESPN and has been nominated to the Bob Cousy Award Watch List for the third straight year for best point guard in the Nation.

Friday night, Chambers reminded fans of why he has quickly become a household name in college basketball. The captain was simply electric.

After missing his first jumper of the night, Chambers was perfect the rest of the first half. His first points of the night encapsulated everything that he has become for Amaker’s squad. The junior extended his defense to half court, stealing the ball and speeding up the court for the And-1, to give Harvard its first lead of the night.

“Siyani set the tone for us defensively,” Amaker said. “When other defenders see how hard he is working out there on the ball, it picks us up and brings more energy to our team.

Despite not hitting a single three pointer against MIT last season, Chambers was a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc on Friday, pulling the trigger with no hesitation and daring the Engineers to extend their zone defense.

“I put a lot of work in during the offseason and during practice,” Chambers said of his success from downtown. “Give a lot of credit to Wes and the other guys, though, who were finding me when I was open.”

Don’t Wake A Sleeping Giant

While Harvard poured in 42 points in the first half, only five of those points could be attributed to senior Wesley Saunders. Saunders, who has led the Crimson in scoring the past two seasons, looked as if he could finish the game with no points and still be content.

A team-first mentality was evident in the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, who grabbed eight rebounds in the first half and dropped six dimes on the night, including a beautiful interior pass to senior Jonah Travis for a monster two-handed jam.

Despite a 15-point lead at the half, the game still felt close. The Engineers came out of the break firing and energetic, hoping to make a run and practically begging Saunders to take over the game. He did just that.

In a blur, Saunders poured in 10 points beating his man off the dribble with ease. The senior had no trouble getting to the exact spots on the floor that he wanted and, from there, was able to either hit his trademarked fade away off the spin or draw the foul.

—Staff writer Andrew Farber can reached at andrewfarber@college.harvard.edu.