Let's talk about the mid-range jumper.
The what?
The mid-range jumper.
Never heard of it.
No? Well, do I have news for you. The so-called lost art has been found and will be on traveling exhibition for the rest of the season at gyms around the Ivy League.
The artist: Junior Brian Grandieri, who feasted on Columbia, nailing baseline jumper after baseline jumper en route to an unheard of 8-for-8 night from the floor.
In a game in which everything else was a dunk, a free throw or a three-pointer, Grandieri's performance was a welcome change.
"I don't know why people don't practice it, and if they do, I don't know why they don't shoot it," he said. "A lot of people don't understand that you have to shoot it, you can't just push it."
"That's been my game ever since probably sixth grade," the junior added. "My game really hasn't changed much since sixth grade."
One of his teammates had a theory as to why.
"Some guys learn how to shoot the three first, but Brian couldn't shoot the three last year," said Ibrahim Jaaber, who noted that No. 21's aptitude from behind the arc has improved. In fact, Grandieri is at 51.2 percent from three-point range.
As for Jaaber's assessment, it's the truth, says Grandieri.
"It's a shot I do practice a lot," he said. "A lot of guys are into shooting threes, but I've never really been a three-point shooter. I've always loved the 15-16-footer. I just have a knack."
One player who admittedly does not have that knack is senior Mark Zoller, who makes his living fighting for buckets in the post and has become a major threat from beyond the arc late in his career.
"I think it's the toughest shot in basketball," Zoller said of the mid-range jumper.
Whether it's the lack of depth perception from that spot or the seemingly small target, it's virtually disappeared from the collegiate game.
But as head coach Glen Miller noted, there are times when that skill is vital.
"When we go up against a zone defense, Brian has to be in the game," Miller said.
As Columbia's 2-3 zone shifted with the perimeter passing, it created space for Grandieri to sneak into the gaps on the baseline and burn the Lions.
"Whenever I look at the scouting report and they love 2-3, I lick my chops," he said.
While the zone-loving Lions and Big Red of Cornell are off the schedule, there should be more opportunities to see the newly-found art on display.
Just make sure you bring your kids to watch.
The rest of the Palestra chants "Ib-by-Jaa-ber" after one of Jaaber's fast-break dunks. But everybody under the age of 18 and everybody over 18 still trying to improve their game should watch Grandieri run the baseline, catch and shoot.
That kind of artist doesn't come along too often.
Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Grandieri.
Kind of a nice ring to it.
Zachary Levine is a senior mathematics major from Delmar, N.Y., and is former Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is zlevine@sas.upenn.edu.
