Tommy Amaker – Page 12 – Ivy Hoops Online

A double OT thriller, trouble with triples and an Eli home run: A crazy week already

November 19, 2015 by Mike Tony

Yale – With Princeton missing Hans Brase for the 2015-16 season due to injury and Columbia’s defense still struggling to make an impact, Yale has to be considered the favorite to win the Ivy League title at this early point. The comfort sophomore guard Makai Mason has displayed in running this offense is perhaps the biggest reason why. Mason posted 21 points and five assists in 36 minutes in Yale’s 99-77 home win over Sacred Heart Monday, a game in which pretty much everything came together for the Elis. Yale notched 16 offensive rebounds, scored 27 second-chance points to Sacred Heart’s 10 and took 17 more shots than SHU as a result. The Bulldogs also enjoyed 24 bench points and shot 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from three.

A lot of Ivies can shoot the ball from deep and have offensive depth. None can hit the boards like the Bulldogs can, especially on the offensive end, and that will pay dividends for them come conference play. Yale proved in its season opener that it can win without reigning Ivy Player of the Year Justin Sears.

Reading the Ivy tea leaves – Harvard roundup

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 by Mike Tony

Thanks to all those who shared their thoughts on their hopes and expectations for the Crimson this season:

Jonah Travis, Harvard forward ’15: There’s a couple different things that I’m most looking forward to watching this season. I’ll be interested to see which one of our upperclassmen is able to take the reins and steer the team towards another championship. With so many seniors graduating, they’ll be able to influence the team in many ways they haven’t been able to before. I’ll also be interested to see which freshmen step up and put in the work to be a contributor. The opportunity is there for them, it’ll just take a high degree of work ethic to make it happen.

David Tannenwald, Harvard Magazine: I’m excited about a few things for the upcoming season:

Haiku Corner – Harvard season preview edition

November 9, 2015 by Mike Tony

Chatfield pulls a Wes? (link to roundup)
McCarthy pulls a Chambers?
Question mark offense

————————————-

By league play, defense (link to preview)
Will be lockdown, Amaker
Knows how to push them

————————————-

Tommy won’t wear a tie
Blazer buttons both buttoned
It’s creepy, that’s why

Steve Donahue: The Reconstructionist

November 5, 2015November 4, 2015 by The Ancient Quaker

Does this look like a man ready to turn around Penn basketball? Why yes, yes it does. — Does this look like a man ready to turn around Penn basketball? Why yes, yes he does.

It is ironic that Steve Donahue has become our new head coach.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with the choice. After all, this has to be his dream job. A Philly guy with Quaker DNA who has a deep respect, if not love, for the hoop traditions of the city, returns as leader to the campus that once nurtured his coaching skills as a young assistant. In fact, he was so enamored with his new position that in his introductory press conference he said, “This place is one that has everything I ever wanted in an institution. I am a Big 5 coach. There are only five of us. To imagine that I am one of them, at this institution, is just incredible.”

How will Harvard replace Siyani Chambers?

September 8, 2015 by Crimson Crawford

On Wednesday, Harvard lost its most important player to a devastating injury. The team announced that captain and starting point guard Siyani Chambers has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entire 2015-16 season. He will not enroll in school this year, and he will re-enroll in 2016-17 (his final year of eligibility).

Harvard freshman Weisner Perez: Economics major, rebounding machine

August 31, 2015 by Crimson Crawford

This past summer I had a chance to talk to Weisner Perez, a 6’6″ forward from Chicago who is one of six highly touted members of Harvard basketball’s class of 2019. This past spring, Perez graduated summa cum laude from Morton West High School, where he is the all-time leading scorer. A few months after leading his Morton squad to the Regional Championship his senior year, he played for the Dominican Republic U-19 National Team over the summer. Meet Weisner Perez.

Why did you choose Harvard, and what set it apart from the other schools recruiting you?

The first thing that set Harvard apart was the academics. It’s the best. If you go there, you’re set for life. But I actually got offered by every Ivy school. Harvard just gave me a better chance to be successful than anywhere else. I thought, I can go here and get a great education, and play basketball at a place where I’m going to get noticed. We have a good shot to make the NCAA Tournament, and I have a chance to play right away.

Was there a moment when you realized Harvard was the right place for you?

On my official visit, I knew. It was an amazing atmosphere and I loved it. A few weeks later, I committed.

From Serbia to L.A. to Cambridge: Meet Harvard freshman Balsa Dragovic

August 24, 2015 by Crimson Crawford

Balsa Dragovic’s stellar perimeter shooting should give him a chance to have an impactful freshman campaign at Harvard. (insidesocal.com)

Balsa Dragovic, a 6-foot-11 power forward, was born in Montenegro but moved to Serbia nine years ago. After attending grade school in Serbia, Balsa and his family decided that a U.S. high school would be the best choice for him. After enrolling at Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary in Montebello, Calif., Balsa was faced with not only the normal challenges of high school, but also a whole new language and culture.

Having to essentially be an adult at age 14, he adjusted well to these changes and thrived both in the classroom and on the basketball court. Basketball runs in the Dragovic family. Both of Balsa’s parents played professional basketball, and even his grandmother played basketball in her youth. Last fall, Balsa committed to continue his academic and basketball career at Harvard, where he will be a member of the Class of 2019. I had a chance to interview Balsa last month.

Harvard all-time moment No. 1: Crimson capture first ever Ivy title

December 23, 2015August 7, 2015 by Crimson Crawford

We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. We did the Crimson next because, hey, it”s their dynasty.

When Harvard players awoke on the morning of March 5, 2011, they were part of a basketball program that had never won an Ivy League basketball championship. That night, however, they would have a chance to make history. One win over Princeton would give the Crimson their first title and bury the demons of the past 50 years.

Princeton all-time moment No. 8: The last hurrah

June 18, 2015June 16, 2015 by Toothless Tiger

We’re counting down the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s history as part of our Ivy League at 60 retrospective. We’re starting with Princeton because that’s where House was set.

By the 2010-11 season, the Ivy League landscape had undergone a radical transformation, the extent of which could be anticipated if not clearly perceived. One thing was clear: The historical domination by Penn and Princeton, which had extended well into the previous decade, was no longer. Cornell, coached by Steve Donahue and led by the remarkable Ryan Wittman, won three straight titles, capped by a stirring run to the Sweet Sixteen, and thereby moved the axis of power northward. Tommy Amaker, a power conference wolf in the Ivy League henhouse, threatened to move it even further.

A product of the ultimate big-time program as a player, and after some stops along the coaching trail at Michigan and Seton Hall, Amaker arrived in Cambridge with his controversy-laden baggage. He was hired to do one thing: WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS. Supported by his administration and a booster organization with unlimited resources and the willingness to deploy them, Amaker set about to install a machine that would set the league pace for years to come. By 2010, Amaker’s recruiting methods were producing skilled players in numbers unprecedented in Cambridge. Could anyone stop the inevitable?

2015-16 IHO Powerless Poll

December 2, 2015March 23, 2015 by The Ancient Quaker

Now that Harvard has been vanquished by North Carolina, Ivy basketball is officially over for the summer. Since no one is still playing, you could say we are all equally impotent—or are we? Thus, I give you the first annual IHO Powerless Poll. Naturally, as is my custom, I will rank teams according to how I view them from most feeble to strongest.

8. Cornell: Now that Shonn Miller is headed to some Power 5 school, the natural order of the Ivy will magically be restored and the Red can return to their rightful place at the bottom. Yes, Bill Courtney did make a nice recovery from the disaster that was the 2013-14 season, but success in Ithaca is as fleeting as the four days of summer that town is allotted each year. Look out below.