W e are at the halfway point of the Ivy League men's basketball season, and so far it's been a memorable one. Princeton is in last place, only two teams are above the .500 mark in league play, and every team has either swept someone or been swept on a given weekend, except for Harvard -- who has split every weekend so far.
So, without further ado, here are a selection of awards from the first half of the season.
Player of the Year: Tim Begley (Penn)
In the mix is Brown's Jason Forte who leads the league in the scoring with 17.3 points per game and is third in assists, handing out 4.2 per game. Adding to his impressive resume is the fact that he constantly sees double-teams due to the lack of any other offensive firepower on a struggling Bears squad.
Honorable mention goes to Yale's Edwin Draughan who has helped the Elis rebound from opening weekend losses at Penn and Princeton to reach a 3-3 mark, good enough for third in the league. The slippery guard boasts second place in scoring and fourth in assists, averaging 15.4 and 4.2 per game, respectively.
However, the clear-cut choice (and I don't claim Penn bias) is Tim Begley. He is seventh in the league in scoring with 14.2 points, but more importantly leads the league in assists, handing out almost five per game. However, the key number here is zero. Largely because of his senior leadership, as well as outstanding play, the Quakers have not yet lost an Ancient Eight game. Never one to focus on personal accomplishments, Begley is surely most proud of that statistic.
Coach of the Year:Steve Donahue (Cornell)
We could conceivably give this award to Fran Dunphy every year. However, after leading such a successful program for so long, it's about as hard for Dunphy to win this award as it is for Joe Torre or Phil Jackson to win their respective awards. It's time to give someone else some recognition.
Columbia's Joe Jones deserves a great deal of credit for transforming the Lions from doormat status to a veritable challenge on any given night. That said, the Lions have faltered of late and are slipping away from title contention at 3-5 in the league.
Currently in second place at 5-3, Cornell has been the biggest surprise this season. Much credit has to go to coach Steve Donahue, a former Dunphy assistant at Penn. Donahue has never finished above .500 in the league and lost last year's leading scorer, Ka'Ron Barnes. To the surprise of many, this season, he has turned the Big Red into a contender and gave Penn a mighty scare last weekend at the Palestra.
Rookie of the Year:Noah Savage (Princeton)
The Princeton, N.J., native has started all 21 of the Tigers' games and averages six points per contest. Savage, a forward who was recruited by Penn, was highly touted coming out of high school and so far has met expectations.
Honorable mention goes to guard Brett Loscalzo of Columbia. A product of the exclusive Brunswick School in Greenwich, Conn., Loscalzo has started every game for the Lions and leads the team with three assists per game, while also averaging 5.2 points per game.
The Heimlich Award: Princeton
Much to the delight of Quakers fans, Princeton's need for the Heimlich Maneuver does not come in the kitchen or dining room, but rather on the basketball court. The Tigers currently sit alone in last place at 2-5.
To add insult to injury, Princeton has let three huge leads slip away. First, on Feb. 4, Dartmouth ended the game on an 18-1 run to beat the Tigers in Hanover, N.H. Four days later, a 21-3 run in the last seven and a half minutes propelled the Quakers to a memorable overtime win over the Tigers at the Palestra. And only three days after that, Cornell went on a 20-0 spurt to stun Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium.
However, perhaps the worst of the Tigers' chokes came against lowly Dartmouth, when the Big Green closed the game on an 18-1 run, handing Princeton the first of its two losses on the normally easy Dartmouth-Harvard road trip.
Maybe Pete Carril can come back to teach the Tigers how to chew and swallow before they choke.
Dunk of the Year: Nameir Majette (Penn)
Majette wins the award for his throw-down at the end of the Brown game. The reserve forward's dunk hit the rim, bounced up in the air for several seconds and finally fell through to the delight of his teammates and Palestra faithful.
Honorable mention goes to Yale's Casey Hughes whose jam over Penn forward Jan Fikiel made the "SportsCenter" Top 10 Plays.
Final thoughts
If these awards carry through to the end of the season, 2004-2005 will be remembered for several key things:
n The Ivy League's improved parity: The other teams appear to be catching up to the "Killer P's," with Princeton having fallen far and Penn being given tough games night in and night out.
n In West Philadelphia specifically, for Penn's third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years: If the Quakers do not choke down the stretch of the season like Princeton has in recent games, they will reclaim the top spot in the league and head back to the Big Dance.
Andrew Jamieson is a junior international relations major from New York. His e-mail address is jamiesoa@sas.upenn.edu.
