Inactionable

Once more this Friday night, I was fortunate enough to find a last minute ticket to a sold-out (!) Harvard basketball game when I got a press pass thanks to my friend Kathy.  What luck that I got in because it was a joy to watch the battle between the athleticism of the Harvard squad and the experience of the Big Red.  The Harvard team, hyped throughout the pre-conference season, certainly has the talent and skill to not only own the Ivies in the future, but compete on the bigger stage.  However, at this stage in their development, they have a lot that they can learn from Cornell.  I would say how they play, but it’s more than that.   The thing that makes Cornell the best team the Ivies have had for a couple of years is exactly what makes a company great: culture.  In both settings, it’s the little things that matter the most and it’s those little things that they do so well.  Let me explain.

Coach Thompson used to always say that there’s two things to do: ‘make shots and guard your guy’.  If you do those two, you’re going to be in and win a lot of games.  Let’s go over the ‘making shots’ aspect of their team today by looking at three subtle things that Cornell does well on the offensive end.

• Know thyself – Each guy on the Cornell team knows his strengths and weaknesses.  And each guy knows those of the guys around him as well.  Dale gets the ball when something needs to be created.  Wittman spends half his life running off of screens.  Foote owns the block and clears out to set picks wherever needed.  Wroblewski (quite a good player though he might not show up in the box score as such) provides whatever is needed in the guard spot.  And any of they squadron of boys who assuredly spent half their offseason doing bicep curls in the weight-room come in, hustle, grab rebounds, and stand prepared to either pass or shoot immediately.   Each guy knows what he does, and does just that.  Contrast that with the Harvard team.  On that team, each guy is still figuring out how he fits in.  For example, Kyle Casey is a beast on the block, but he still spends a good portion of the game floating on the wing.
• Space the court – It’s a mark of a good team that the players away from the ball know where they need to be to open up the court for both themselves and others.  Let’s give a concrete example of how this actually manifests itself.  When Cornell guys drive the middle, the last man  stays in the corner ready to shoot.  This forces the defender to make a choice to help (it helps that Dale and Wroblewski can beat their men) or stick with the shooter.  Either way, it leads to a wide open shot for Cornell.  When Harvard guys drive the middle, their shooter slowly creeps up to the wing.  One defender can jab to stop the drive and get back to contest any shot on a kick.  You think open shots are easier than contested ones?
• Move the ball – The ball zips.  Each Cornell fellow who caught a pass already knew where they were going with it.  The beauty of this is that they slowly, throughout a possession, gain an advantage.  The first move in the offense gives a slight advantage though help-side stops any scoring position.  But with Cornell, the second pass comes before the defense can reset and get into good position and the advantage is widened.  These small gains add up into something bigger and by the 3rd or 4th pass, someone either has an open shot or an opportunity to play one-on-one with the help defense out of position.  It’s the mark of a team that knows what it wants to do.  Contrast that with Harvard’s guys.  Each guy went into the triple-threat when he caught the ball.  While that’s all well and good fundamentally, it takes time and gives the defense time to get back in the right position.  That 0.2 second advantage that is now lost.  Every shot becomes contested and every drive is into multiple people.  Again, a difference between an easy shot and a tough shot.

All of these are the mark of experience.  Harvard will get there (I’m an Amaker fan), they’re just young right now.  These little things come from playing together, growing together, and getting better together.  And as we can see, these little things add up to something much bigger.  They add up to half the equation.  Together, they come to a team that just makes shots.  It’s that simple.  Look at the stats.  Cornell is in the top 5 in the country in 3-point field goal shooting and makes (2 and 4 respectively), but isn’t even in the top 50 in attempts. That’s a winning team.

(Hat tip to Coach Donahue for pointing this out in his post-game)