Alex Rosenberg during his days at Millburn, NJ high school
Columbia
basketball got what I consider to be an important win last night in the last
serious game before Ivy play begins in nine days.
The
68-63 win over Stony Brook may have been
a little too reliant on 3-point shooting, but why quibble? Stony Brook is also
not as good a team as they have been the last few years, but the Seawolves
clearly came out fighting for the entire 40 minutes.
The
win pushes Columbia up a few notches on the RPI to #125, which is still the third highest ranking
in all the Ivies behind Harvard and Princeton. It’s amazing that the #4 team, Yale, is more
than 100 slots below the Lions right now. Remember, Columbia was picked to come
in last in the Ivies by the sportswriters in November.
This
is a team that truly plays like a team. There’s a different hero almost every
game. But lately the “grand old man” of a team with no seniors, junior Alex Rosenberg, has clearly decided to step it up with three
20-plus point games in a row. Many of us take for granted that players will get
better as they get more experience in the college game, but that doesn’t always
happen. I do think that Alex’s experience playing in Israel this summer, where
the level of international play is extremely high for such a small country,
clearly helped.
Again,
this game against Stony Brook was the last “real” non-Ivy game of the year
because Saturday’s matchup is against Central Pennsylvania and they’re a USCAA team, not in the NCAA.
The Lions begin the real season on 1/18 at home
against the 0-13 Cornell Big Red. Remember that Cornell was a sweet-16 team
just a few years ago, so this is a big comedown for them. Columbia needs to
sweep the home-and-home series against the Big Red very badly.
Now, here’s a VERY good assessment of CU hoops
right now from the Big Apple Buckets website. the Big Apple Buckets website.
My favorite part is this:
"They have 10 wins before conference play and will get to 11 after playing non-Division I Central PA on Saturday. A win like this goes a LONG way toward in playing in the postseason, whether it be the NCAA tournament, NIT, CBI, or CIT. Momentum is Columbia’s friend right now. They open up conference play against Cornell, who is 0-13, the only DI team without a win (though they should pick it up against Oberlin on Saturday). There’s no reason that Columbia doesn’t stay competitive in the Ivy League this season. I’m by no means predicting a magical run, but they definitely could keep things fun, and get enough wins to qualify for a postseason tournament."
4 comments:
Men's BB is keeping hope alive while we await an FB miracle, like maybe one win. This year's team is fun, and next year could take it up a notch. Go Lions!
Rosenberg, Mullins and Lo make up a very strong nucleus. The difference between Columbia going 8-6 in the Ivies and going 10-4 or better is the play of the freshman Petrasek.
What a refreshing change from the Fall. I'll be at the Ivy opener rooting the guys on.
It'll be fun seeing how the season goes.
Having said that, it occurred to me how refreshing and enjoyable it is to observe a team that, while not regarded as a true title contender, is none-the-less competitive and credible in its play and execution. Also, how great it is to be a part of a team like that.
I'm truly sad for our football team this past year, who ought to have had the same experience. These guys worked their butts off and sacrificed much; they deserved better.
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