MBB: NEWMAC

[Hugenerd]

Any word on early action basketball players?

I heard of one kid out of Oklahoma so far that has been admitted to MIT.  His name is Will Baysinger and he is a 6'2" very versatile player able to play either guard positions.  He averaged 15+ ppg (~55% FG) and almost 6 rpg last season at Owasso in Tulsa.  He is a 4 year starter, so he has a lot of game experience. Here are a couple releases:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/highschool/article.aspx?subjectid=230&articleid=20091104_230_B4_hDefen48597&rss_lnk=230

http://www.gtrnews.com/owasso-rambler/3603/OwassoRamsBasketballApproachesState

You can probably find more stuff on him if you search the web.

[Hugenerd]

Looks like Coach Anderson got himself a pretty big (literally) early Christmas present.  I just heard about another commitment for the class of 2010.  Will Dickson is a 6'9" 240 pound F/C out of St. Mark's in Dallas.  He is a complete player who can score inside, rebound, pass out of the high post, and even make the 3.  You can find the commitment on the following rivals.com page:

http://texashoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=971434

Looks like Dickson was First-team all-district lastseason:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/6415181.html

MIT already has two impact players committed for next year.  Both of the Will's (Dickson and Baysinger) will likely have the opportunity to make a significant impact on next year's team.

Exciting things happening on Vasser Street in Cambridge!  I hope there is more to come on the court this year and on the recruitng trail.

[Hugenerd]

Game notes for Monday's MIT-Harvard game:

http://static.psbin.com/p/1/04p7uopd34cxni/11_MIT.pdf

[ECSUalum]

The Engineers just need to keep the game relatively close, ie 10 points or less, and move in for the kill in last couple of minutes.

Keep it close and anything can happen.

Some tough D will help with a key on J. Lin

Good Luck to the Engineers!!

Will the game audio, video, or live stats be streamed on Monday??

[Hugenerd]

The Engineers just need to keep the game relatively close, ie 10 points or less, and move in for the kill in last couple of minutes.

Keep it close and anything can happen.

Some tough D will help with a key on J. Lin

Good Luck to the Engineers!!

Will the game audio, video, or live stats be streamed on Monday??

I think all 3, but it sounds like the video is not free.  Links are on the following page:

http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/releases/091226_MIT_Preview

[T990]

MIT Basketball article in the Boston Globe:

By Craig Larson
Globe Staff / December 27, 2009

"Bill Johnson recalls the scene playing out more than once in pregame warmups last winter, a referee approaching the 6-foot-8-inch forward or a teammate and inquiring, "Where's the rest of your team?''

The entire MIT men's basketball team was on the floor.

The Engineers were short on numbers - both in height and players in uniform - but certainly not in talent, or victories, or achievement."

Full article:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2009/12/27/mit_mens_basketball_team_off_to_11_0_start/?page=full

And reader comments:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/mens_basketball/articles/2009/12/27/mit_mens_basketball_team_off_to_11_0_start/?comments=all

[Emerson_fanatic]

Does MIT have a legitimate chance of winning this game? Jeremy Lin of Harvard is great, should cause a problem for the MIT guards.

[Hugenerd]

Does MIT have a legitimate chance of winning this game? Jeremy Lin of Harvard is great, should cause a problem for the MIT guards.

I guess we wont find out until they play but, as MIT's Associate head Coack Kevin Byrne knows from experience, it is not impossible.  Byrne was an assistant on the Carnegie Mellon team that beat Princeton in 05-06 and Princeton finished second in the Ivy League that year.  Although Lin is good, I doubt MIT will try to stop him with one guy, they will keep throwing fresh players at him and MIT has something they have not had, maybe ever, which is some depth and some size to matchup with Harvards bigs.  If MIT can rebound, slow down Lin (he can be turnover prone, he averages 4 per game but has had games with 6 and 8 already), force Harvard into being a jump shooting team, and knock down some shots themselves, they have a chance of being right there.  For another comparison from this year, Harvard lost at Army earlier this year by 3, Army recently only beat a d3 opponent (4-3)Mt. St. Vincent, by 6 at home.  What does that tell you?  Not much other than that anything can happen on any given day.  MIT has talented players, so if they play well they can compete with Harvard.  Who knows, if Harvard doesnt show up to play, they may be in for a surprise.  Is it going to be easy? No, but I think they do have a shot if things go well.

[Rick Vaughn]

Harvard by 18 with 68-50 left...Noticed that they are not the only Ivy taking on a D-III opponent tonight - Brown is playing Kean from out of the NJAC.

[JustAFan]

88-61 final. According to the box score the game attracted a pretty good (1,564) crowd for a Monday afternoon game.

It appeared to be a pretty close game at the half, with Harvard up 42-33.  MIT only got to the line 10 times vs. 22 for the Crimson.  Harvard shot over 50% from the flloor in each half and 55% for the game, while MIT had a terrible second half of shooting, going 28% from the floor and 25% on 3's.  Lin finished with 18, going 6-12 from the floor plus 6 FT's.  Overall, Harvard's depth showed, as 9 guys got solid minutes while MIT pretty much rode its starting 5 plus a little help from Burke and Montgomery.

A few telling tidbits from the boxscore: 

Points in the paint-MIT 18,HARV 54.
2nd chance points-MIT 8,HARV 22.
Fast break points-MIT 5, HARV 18.
Bench points-MIT 7,HARV 43
The only outlyer: Points off turnovers-MIT 16,HARV 11


Would be interested in the observations of those who attended the game.

[Hugenerd]

I didnt observe, but I tried to follow as much as I could via the livestats (on a phone).  My thoughts are pretty much the same:

MIT played with Harvard for a little over a half (6 point game with under 19 to go), but the depth, especially in the post, was too much for MIT.  MIT was outscored 43-7 off the bench and 54-18 in the paint.  Was a good test for the young team, but the important games start again next week.  The final score is a bit misleading because it was about a 15 point game until about 4 minutes left when the benches cleared and MIT was outscored by 12 in those final 4 minutes.  

I think that if MIT shot a little better it could have been a bit more competitive (which Harvard probably had something to do with), but Harvard just played better today.  I think that this was a good experience for the young team, and I would much rather have them get their first losing experience against a D1 team than against a d3 team where the game counts for a lot more.

[deiscanton]

I attended the game today, and my thoughts are pretty much in concurrence with Hugenerd.    I was hoping that the young MIT team could stay within 20 of Harvard, and for the most part, MIT did.    Harvard was only able to expand the lead signficantly beyond 20 points once the benches emptied with a few minutes left in the game.

MIT took an early lead in the game, and led 8-7 at the first media timeout.  Harvard then took the lead for good shortly after the first timeout, but MIT played scrappy and only trailed by 9 at the break.  The Harvard defense then made their adjustments for the second half and held MIT to under 30% shooting for the second half. 

All in all, though, I was not disappointed by MIT's performance.  MIT did not look intimidated against a stronger Harvard squad, and this game will help MIT down the road for the rest of the season.

The crowd of 1564 in attendance was helped by the fact that anybody who lived in the Allston/Brighton area of Boston could attend the game for free today with proof of residency.  (I had to pay the $10 for admission, however.)  The pub next door at the Dillon Field House opened at 2 PM, and tickets went on sale at the door at 3 PM, but most of the crowd arrived about 15 minutes prior to tip. 

I also got to have a short chat with Coach Anderson before the game and with Coach Byrne afterward.

[remsleep]

Also attended the game today at Harvard.  Actually, came away quite impressed overall with the energy that MIT played with.  The real tale of the tape was the athleticism of Harvard's bigs as compared with MIT's bigs.  No shame in that for the MIT group.  Kates may have been the second best player on the floor in this game......this kid has a great future with MIT and should feel very proud about his ability to compete at many levels.  All in all, a good showing by MIT against a solid Harvard team which may give Cornell a run in the Ivy.  Looking forward to the rest of the MIT season as the real games begin shortly.  One final note, I think it was great to see the turn-out for this game.  I would hope that MIT will be able to schedule one or two of these types of games in coming seasons....there is no downside to doing so.

[massballer]

wouldnt be surprised to see mit winning this game in 3 years, especially with the early 2010 commits.  Did both these kids actually get admitted, because MIT sometimes has trouble with admissions office? And any word on the total number of kids Anderson has committed and applying regular action?

[tball]

I thought MIT had a pretty poor outing today.   I expected a 15 to 20 point loss and I thought the guys played hard, however, they took a lot of bad shots and they were very impatient.   Harvard took the ball to the basket while MIT rushed shots and faded away from contact. The entire Harvard team went for rebounds and MIT did not.  MIT played their game.

It is hard to understand why this game was on the schedule with such a young team and I hope this does not have lingering effects for the rest of the season.