So by now you're probably saying to yourself that this guy is crazy. But while very few people might think the Big Green can turn its season around, even fewer probably witnessed North Dakota State's upset of No. 15 Wisconsin, which snapped a 27-game home non-conference winning streak.
My point? Anything is possible. Especially since Ivy League play has just begun and with 12 league games left, believe it or not, there is still a chance for respectability -- and dare I say an NCAA birth.
Okay, maybe I'm painting a picture that looks a little brighter than it really is, because at 0-2 in Ivy play so far, the Big Green has a huge hill to climb.
So what's been the problem with the team this year?
"We're not putting an entire game together," said co-captain Mike Lang '06. "If you look at some of our recent games we'll play the first half real well and then we'll have lapses in the second half. Maybe defensively or we won't score for a while, or we'll score and then we won't stop anybody."
Stopping people has been a major issue, and you don't have to look any further than the paint.
In Dartmouth's last game, a 71-59 loss to the University of New Hampshire, 6'8" Blagoj Janev led all scorers with 22 points and seven rebounds, and had three of Dartmouth's men on the bench with two fouls apiece in the first ten minutes of the game.
In the previous game against Harvard -- a 65-53 loss -- 7'0" Brian Cusworth led all scorers with 12 points and 13 rebounds and disrupted almost every shot that came his way.
"The absence of an inside presence is probably a sore spot," admitted head coach Terry Dunn. "But I also think that we knew that we had to develop that position when we lost David Gardner ['05] last year, and if you remember, it took Gardner four years to develop into a dominant player. So we knew that wasn't going to happen overnight. As a result we have to live with our growing pains."
Certainly 2-13 can't be pinned on the backs of the big men alone. Co-captain Calvin Arnold '06 leads the Ivy League in blocked shots (37), and Paul Bode '07 has really stepped his game up this year and is second on the team in rebounds per game (4.0).
Another facet of the team that has to be looked at is its youth. Mike Giovacchini '08 is the starting point guard, and he's only a sophomore. The backup to him is rookie DeVon Mosley '09. And who's his backup? There isn't one.
"There are younger guys that have been thrown into the fire so to speak," said coach Dunn. "A guy like DeVon Mosley has come a long way because he has had to perform because of the shortage of guards at his position. Alex Barnett ['09] is coming. Obviously he has got to get stronger, but his instincts are taking over and he is understanding how hard he has to play and how important it is to defend his position."
The good news for the Big Green is that, despite all of the obstacles, the team has not packed it in yet.
"If we thought that we wouldn't be practicing hard, we wouldn't have had a two-a-day yesterday, or wouldn't be waking up at five in the morning to go practice at six," said Lang. "The season isn't over because the Ivy League season pretty much is our season."
"We're completely optimistic," said Mosley. "For a long time it seemed like in practice we really weren't enjoying the game; we weren't enjoying each other. But I would say the last week or two we have really come together as a team. We have worked hard, we have beat each other up in practice and we actually have a smile on our faces when we do something good."
Mosley and the rest of the team will certainly have those smiles on their faces if they can come back from this weekend's Ivy road trip with a pair of W's. The team takes on Brown at 7 p.m. Friday night, before heading to New Haven, Conn. for a matchup with Yale at 7 p.m. Saturday.
