Yale trendspotting

In case you live outside the 203 and didn't read yesterday's New Haven Register, Casey Hughes, the star forward leading Yale's charge to steal the Ivy League title from Penn, might not be around for one of the Elis' most crucial games next week.

Hughes is questionable with a foot sprain and will not lace up until later this week.

That could turn out to be a shame for Elis fans, especially because of the rave reviews Andrew Naeve has been getting here in Philadelphia after his double-double against Penn Saturday.

Cornell comes to New Haven on Friday a game back of Yale and an additional half-game behind Penn. A win there helps the Big Red, but hurts Yale more, putting each school well back of the Quakers. Assuming the sky doesn't fall in and Penn loses in New England.

But Yale has a problem. With Sam Kaplan and Jason Abromaitis out in addition to Hughes, the Ellis frontcourt is looking awfully thin these days.

The only full-sized forwards capable of defending Naeve could be center Matt Kyle (18.4 minutes per game), forward Ross Morin (inexperienced despite his 24 mpg) and center Paul Nelson (12 mpg).

The Elis had better hope that another player can step up to keep the basket safe from Naeve, because from what I saw it took strong defensive efforts from Stephen Danley, Mark Zoller and Penn as a whole to prevent him and 6-7 Ryan Wittman from doing even more damage than they did.