Straight to the top

BY GEOFF CHEPIGA AND BEN REITER

JULIA TIERNAN/YH

LAST YEAR THE BULLDOGS JUMPED OUT TO A 3-0 league start, but ended the season a disappointing 5-9. "It was almost like we were satisfied being 3-0 instead of trying to be 14-0," Cavaco insisted. This year, Yale seems to have not only the confidence to keep its momentum going, but also the weapons necessary to usurp its co-league leaders and perennial favorites Penn and Princeton. "Now, we realize it's possible to win the league outright, to win 11 games," Cavaco said. "We know we have the ability, we know we have the potential."

Last year, on Sat., Jan. 15, 2000, the Dartmouth Big Green rolled into Yale's John J. Lee Amphitheater and took the Bulldogs into double overtime before succumbing 71-69. As the minutes wore on, the game turned into a personal battle between Dartmouth star Greg Buth '01 and former Bulldog Guard Onaje Woodbine, BK '02. The two shooting guards took their teams on their respective backs; the two traded baskets all night long, Buth ending the game with 21 points, Woodbine with 26. Shoves in the fourth quarter culminated in flying fists, a technical foul on Woodbine, and anti-Buth animosity on the part of Yale fans. In this year's game, neither Buth nor Woodbine dominated the hardwood.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH

On Fri., Feb. 16, 2001, with a retired Woodbine watching from the stands, Yale Head Coach James Jones displayed his team's shifting and surprisingly potent arsenal by hurling a plethora of new defensive schemes at Buth—at that point the league's third leading scorer. Guarded alternately by freshman defensive specialist Paul Vitelli, MC '04, much improved swing-man Ime Archibong, TD '03, and the now-healthy Cavaco, Buth, amidst a torrent of heckling from the crowd, managed to score only two points on 1-9 shooting. Far from needing double overtime, the Bulldogs handily squashed the Big Green by 28, 78-50, the team's biggest margin of victory in Ivy League play in 27 years. The Bulldog defense, especially their new and effective 1-2-1-1 full court zone press, was the star of the evening. "It was our defense. I think our defense and our understanding of what we're trying to do has gotten a lot better," Jones explained. "It's taken some time—a year and a half for some kids—to understand. The older kids are helping the younger kids, and we're more complete as a basketball team. I'm not sure why it is. We've come to an understanding. Guys are starting to realize how special they can be."

AFTER DEMOLISHING DARTMOUTH, THE BULLDOGS handled Harvard easily the next night, completing the weekend sweep with a 66-58 victory that was hardly in question.

The Bulldogs' offensive attack stole the show that night, as three-pointer after three-pointer enabled the team to pull away from the Crimson early in the second half. Four Elis scored in double figures, led by the 18 points put up by Ivy League Co-Player of the Week Neil Yanke, MC '01. This even distribution of scoring is perhaps the surest sign of the Bulldogs' improvement this season. Last year, the Bulldogs too often relied on Woodbine to carry the scoring burden, and earlier this year point guard Chris Leanza, SY '03, was shouldering most of the load. "[Now], it's not two guys like in years past, but pretty much 10 or 11," Yanke said. "Whoever's name is called will get the job done."

JULIA TIERNAN/YH

Jones singled out Yanke as being particularly crucial to last weekend's success. "Neil has been able to do some good things. He had a special weekend, hit some 70-odd percent of his shots," he said. Jones praised Yanke's offense as just one facet of his improved all-around game. "If he's consistent on the boards and plays good defense, that's what I'm most impressed with. He showed his defensive leadership, took a charge on the first play against Dartmouth. That set the tone for the entire weekend. We look to him; we always have."

Leanza, who has been willing to assume different roles as different games have required, also praised the team's versatility and more complete package. "You have to respect us inside and outside," he said. "I think inside, you have to especially respect Neil. I don't think there's a big man in the conference who's better than Neil. You almost have to double team him. Then one of us will be open, and we're all capable shooters. We have both an inside and an outside game. I don't think many teams have the same balance."

"We're definitely the deepest we've been while I've been here," Cavaco added. "We've been deeper in certain positions before, but our depth across the board is better than ever before."

"THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GOING ONE GAME AT A time," Jones said with all the skepticism of a former player who knows how hard it must be not to be thinking ahead to Selection Sunday. As he has been trying to convince himself and his players that "We're not taking it as five games. We're taking it one game at a time."

Leanza, on the other hand, could not show the same restraint. "Just to make it there would be a great opportunity," he said, and then continued his indulgence. "If we have to play North Carolina, Stanford, Duke, anyone, they can't take us as an automatic victory. I think we could surprise everyone in the country." Cavaco agreed that the nation's top squads can not overlook whichever team makes it out of the Ivies. "There's a different style of play in this conference," he said. "Penn tries to play the ACC, Big 10 style. When they try to play that style against Ivy teams with a funky style, they have all sorts of problems."

But even Leanza knows that in the next two weeks, absolutely anything could happen. Six teams can still win the League, and it is even possible that there could be a six-way tie for the title.

Jones is proud of the parity. "Speculating on those things is kind of difficult. The level of play in the Ivy League is very good this year. That's the reason for the parity," he said. The competitiveness, he thinks, shows that a rising tide has lifted most of the boats in the league. "Princeton beat Xavier. Penn had Seton Hall. We were beating California by five points in the first half. We played a tough game against Penn State without Yanke," he said. "We [the league] haven't had wins, but we've played tough non-conference teams. Yale's gotten a lot better. Brown beat Maine at home, played UConn tough. I just think some teams have gotten a little better, some have fallen back in the pack."

THIS WEEKEND WILL GO A LONG WAY IN DETERMINing whether Cavaco is making a poor decision in giving up his Hootie tickets. On Fri., Feb. 23, the Bulldogs travel to New York City to take on the Columbia, which is hot off a shocking home sweep of Princeton and Penn last weekend. Yale's newfound defensive presence will be tested as the team tries to contain Craig Austin '02 the league's third leading scorer with 17.4 points per game. In the teams' previous meeting, an 80-78, double-overtime squeaker taken by the Bulldogs, Austin kept the Lions in the game by scoring 31. He remained hot last weekend, dropping 25 points on the Quakers.

The very next night, Yale will go head to head with Cornell, a team that eked out a 73-70 win over the Bulldogs on Fri., Feb. 9. The Bulldogs will have to key in on star forward Ray Mercedes '01 and guard Ka'ron Barnes '04 if they want to have any chance to avenge that loss.

Both games are clearly must-wins. Despite the team's obvious improvement on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, one loss in New York might spell the end of any tournament hopes it may have, and could leave Cavaco muttering "about some team making him cry."

Carl Bialik contributed to this article.

Photos by Julia Tiernan.

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