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By
Jon Teitel
jonteitel@hotmail.com
October, 2004
2004-05
Columbia Basketball Preview
The Veterans: The
Lions will have strong veteran leadership this year: with six seniors
(four of them in the starting lineup) and four juniors, experience will
not be a problem for this team.
The Youngsters: Of
the six incoming freshmen, two are multi-sport stars: John Baumann is a
great baseball player, and Brett Loscalzo was a football star in high
school.
The Departed: The
player that Columbia will miss most is Maurice Murphy: he was not a big
scorer, but his 4.4 APG and spectacular three-point shooting will leave
a big hole at the point.
The Strengths and
Weaknesses: Going strictly by height, Columbia looks like a high school
team, with only one guy over 69 (Drew Baron) and three guards under
61. So, rebounding looks to be a weakness, although the Lions should
be able to put up a decent number of points.
The Star: Matt
Preston is the senior leader on the Lions, and was 2nd-team
All-Ivy last season. He was among the Ivy leaders in scoring and free
throw shooting, and is an incredible rebounder for a forward who stands
65 (5.4 RPG).
The Schedule:
Columbia has a relatively easy schedule, facing only two Tournament
teams from the spring (Princeton and Lehigh). The Lions have only one
home game between December 1 and January 15, but the real test will come
in the final month of the season, with six of their final eight
conference games on the road.
The Imports: New York
City is a melting pot: although only two of the Lions hail from foreign
lands, one of them will be a key to the teams success. Benedict
Nwachukwu is from Nigeria by way of London, but the man to watch is
Dragutin Kravic from Serbia. Kravic had the game of the year against
Yale on March 6, setting Ivy season-highs in points, field goals, and
three-point field goals.
The Coach: Joe Jones
is the leading man for Columbia, and his main claim to fame is that his
brother James is the coach of Yale.
The Prediction:
Preston and Kravic may be the best 1-2 punch in the conference, and they
have plenty of other juniors and seniors to help them try to win it
all. However, the Lions have yet to prove that they can challenge Penn
and Princeton, and they might not have much left in the tank at the end
of the season after a ton of road games down the stretch.
Learn
more about the author Jon Teitel and how to contact him here
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