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Date Posted: 11:18:34 11/28/08 Fri
Author: LU 65
Subject: Dartmouth Basketball Preview

Sandwiched between a win over Rutgers on the road and a home date with St. Joe's next Tuesday, could this be one of those dreaded "trap" games for the 4-1 and suddenly improved Mountain Hawks? Dartmouth, a team picked to finish 7th in the Ivies, was 3-11 last year and is off to a shaky 1-3 start this year, having already loss to Army (48-63), Colgate (60-65), and Providence (82-100). Their only win game against winless Furman. For what's it worth, the Big Green RPI stands at 335 or about a half dozen from the national bottom. Lehigh, on the other hand, has seen its rating soar to 135 after its promising OOC play and, most notably, its win over the Scarlet Knights.
Let's hope Coach Reed has the team focused. One can only assume he'll be at the top of his game, looking for his first road Ivy win.

The schools' game notes tell the story and are linked below for your review.

http://www.lehighsports.com/assets/sports/mbball/Game%20six%20Lehigh%20at%20Dartmouth%20112908.pdf
Dartmouth Game Notes

http://dartmouthsports.com//pdf4/354064.pdf?SPSID=48790&SPID=4703&DB_OEM_ID=11600


Game strategy would seem to dictate taking their big man, Senior forward, 6'6" Alex Barnett, out of his game. Easier said than done, no doubt. The guy is on a roll with 48 career double-digit scoring games, 12 double-digit rebounding games and 10 double-doubles. He's hit for more than 20 in each of his last three. He averages 15 shots/game 11 from in close and 4 from deep. You might not want to send him to the line, either. There, he's a cool 19-22 (.864). Rebounding appears to be done "by committee" up in New Hampshire with no one averaging more than 6 per game. Lehigh should hold a distinct advantage here as well as in guard play - both in terms of depth and experience. That's not to say we have nothing to fear from their back line, we do. His name is Trotter and he averages 11.0ppg and carries and assist to turnover ratio of 2:1. I can only assume we'll put our top defender, junior guard, Dave Buchberger, on this freshman and challenge his every move. Sounds simple, but who knows.

Lehigh enters the game with three players averaging in double digit point performances. Right behind Hall, Carrington, and Anderson are Buchberger and Keefer. Were Dave and Rob to score 15 and 16 points, respectively, tomorrow while the top three continue there torrid double digit pace (I know that might be a lot to ask for), Lehigh would have each member of its starting lineup in double digits. Probably a first for the league. Some PL historian can look it up.

Good luck, Guys. Don't let up!

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Replies:

[> Re: Dartmouth Basketball Preview -- LU 65 (Mt. Hawks Win #5), 11:52:28 11/30/08 Sun

The best thing you can say about yesterday's game is that "it's behind us." Following a long bus ride and a night on the road, we somehow escaped the hills of New Hampshire with a "W" with what had to be our least impressive effort of the year (see numbers below). Now, it home to face the St. Joseph's Hawks in our marquee home game of the year on Tuesday night.

LU - Dartmouth

FG%: 38.3% - 32.9%
3ptFG%: 28.6% - 21.7%
FT%: 85.2% - 52.9%
TOs: 14 - 11
Steals: 2 - 8

How then do you account for our 13 point (73-60)win yesterday? Simple: The refs sent us to the line 10 more times 27 to 17) and we knocked down 23 compared to the home team's 9. Not only couldn't the Big Green hit from the charity stripe, they couldn't hit from behind the arc either - no matter how hard they tried. Eighteen of their 23 long range shots were off target. And, when it came to rebounding their own misses (2's and 3's), Dartmouth was no where to be seen as LU pulled down 33 of their wayward attempts.

As mentioned, we were lucky or maybe - as this year will prove - when one guy is down, two or more Mountain Hawks step up to take up the slack. It happened again last night when Marquis went AWOL hitting just 2 of 10 and dishing only 2 helpers in 27 agonizing minutes of play. Fear not, we got solid play (19 combined points) from our "2" and "3" guards, Buchberger and Keefer. The due are quickly becoming the team's most reliable shooters whether from the field (.463) or the foul line (.839). Hall's replacement on the point, Prentice Small, did his part, as well chipping in 7 points and 9 assists. The team also got unexpected help yesterday from sophomore Michael Ojo (2 for 3 from deep and a couple of key rebounds) and senior John Goulay (8 pts on 4 for 5 shooting and 6 boards). One can only hope this might spur the heretofore slow-afoot 7-footer onto greater things in the weeks to come. Fun to imagine, isn't it?

So, it's time to welcome into Stabler the Atlantic 10's St. Joe's Hawks this Tuesday. I assume they'll be accompanied by a few hundred loyal fans and their mascot Hawk - a guy/gal (who is it?) - that never sits down during play. It'll be a fun sight to witness. Here's hoping the Lehigh faithful will turn out in mass to support their team.

[Edit]
[> [> Re: Dartmouth Basketball Preview -- norcalfan, 22:54:32 11/30/08 Sun

LU 65,

Why the inconsistent play? Is this how it normally is in the league? Bucknell had a tough loss too. American lost to Fairfield. Was Fairfield a tough team? It's nice watching the league. Keep posting. I check the Bucknell site and they seem to have a lot of posters and fans.

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