March 20, 2019 - Today, Georgetown hosts Harvard during National Invitation Tournament first round play. The above link has information on the game, an opportunity for head coach Pat Ewing’s guys to extend their 2018-19 season.
But what about their opponent, the Crimson?
As previously reported, Tommy Amaker’s team is paced in scoring by junior guard Bryce Aiken, who in 16 games averaged 22.7 points per game. His game total didn’t qualify for Ivy League statistic inclusion, but that kind of production is prodigious nonetheless.
In terms of rebounding, junior Chris Lewis logs five boards a game, putting him 14th in the league.
From a unit perspective, Harvard manages 71.5 ppg on 45.7% overall shooting and 36.8% from beyond the arc. That’s eighth, second and second among Ivy League teams.
How does Harvard do things on the court?
Laidbackcoach, one of HoyaReport.com’s most valued members, shared his take on Harvard recently.
Against “Yale in the Ivy League final, it was mostly basic” said the Hoya graduate and present NorCal basketball coach, as “80 percent of it was run Aiken off high screens, try to get him going downhill or/and let him create or pull up for open threes, and not much more than that”.
Continuing, he said “During the season they also look to post up Chris Lewis and he likes to duck under and...position on low block”.
Defensively Laidbackcoach noted the Crimson doesn’t “press much and mostly run man to man half court”.
Interesting rules changes are a subplot of tonight’s tilt: The NIT is again experimenting with different configurations governing play, including a lengthened three point line (1 foot, eight inches to 22 feet, 1.75 inches) equaling FIBA international rules, a widened lane to the NBA’s 16 feet from college’s 12, offensive rebounds reset the shot clock to 20 seconds versus the typical 30, and team foul counts zero out after the ten minute mark of each stanza, with teams awarded two fouls on the foe’s fifth infraction during that period.
Also related to fouling, if a team doesn’t have five fouls in the ten minute block, yet commits one during the last two minutes of the half, two free throws are given to the opponent. Overtime brings another infraction tweek, as the team’s count is reset, shooting occurs after four fouls, or if the that quartet limit isn’t reached, after the second foul.
