Reactions to Harvard's Loss against UConn

Not really being a basketball guy, I don't have a lot of meaningful things to say about yesterday's basketball game against UConn (besides the obvious that Jeremy Lin is a good basketball player and the Crimson played well against a talented opponent), but I am good with Google and spare time, so I turn it over to the professionals for their reactions, be it from columns or from Twitter, after the jump...

(photo by Steve Slade of Jeremy Lin's block courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications and GoCrimson.com)

(all emphasis is mine)



Dick Vitale, ESPN College Basketball Commentator (via Twitter): "UCONN struggled vs Harvard winning 79 to 73-this AMAKER team is not a cupcake!Dyson &Walker had 44 between them 4 Huskies."


Jim Calhoun, Coach of UConn Basketball: “He [Jeremy Lin] reminds me of a little more athletic Doron Sheffer,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “He’s very, very good.”
"We got a win over a quality team, but we didn't play a whole game."
“He’s [Lin] one of the better kids, including Big East guards, who have come in here in quite some time.”
"First, congratulations to Tom and his team. They were better than I even thought they would be. They're a very good basketball team."
"They played 40 minutes the same way. When we let up, they took advantage of it, and that's what good teams do."
"I have a lot of respect walking away, for Harvard. They're good. They'll beat some people."
(note- Doron Sheffer was a UConn Husky from 1993-1996. During that time, he was Big East Rookie of the Year and is the only Husky to score 1000 points and add 500 assists in 3 varsity seasons. He was named to the UCONN All Century Team, and was drafted in 1996 by the LA Clippers, although he instead went pro in Israel. See here for more info)

Fran Fraschilla, Former Coach and now ESPN College Basketball Analysts (via Twitter): "Harvard's Jeremy Lin has been very solid today. No doubt he could be key contributor on every Big East team. 21 points, 9 rebounds late."
"Jeremy Lin, one of few Asian-Americans in Div 1, ends up with career high 30 vs. UConn as Huskies win 79-73. He can PLAY!!!"

Doug Gottlieb, Color Commentator, Big East Network (ESPN Affiliate): "It's one thing to get career high against Dartmouth, it's another vs UConn"- on-air regarding Jeremy Lin tying his career high of 30 points in a game.

Seth Davis, Sports Illustrated Columnist: "It has been a while since Penn and Princeton staged a dual for supremacy in the Ivy, but it looks like Cornell and Harvard are going to give us an ample substitute. Cornell, which has road wins at Alabama and UMass, beat Saint Joseph’s on Sunday to improve to 7-2, while Harvard played UConn tough in Gampel Pavilion before losing 79-73. Cornell and Harvard also have two of the better mid-major guards in America in Ryan Wittman and Jeremy Lin, respectively."

Mike Anthony, Hartford Courant: "Jeremy Lin, Harvard's spectacular guard, is perhaps the primary reason UConn had such difficulty Sunday afternoon... (he) streaked upcourt for emphatic dunks, played with grace and determination and gave the Huskies all they could handle right up to the final buzzer."


Andy Katz, ESPN College Basketball Analyst: "A player that continues to be overlooked nationally: Jeremy Lin of Harvard. All he did was go for a career-high 30 points, nine rebounds and three assists in a 79-73 loss at Connecticut. The race between Cornell’s Ryan Wittman and Lin for Ivy League player of the year will be quite a chase."

College Hoops Journal- "Around the Top 25: Harvard gets UCONN's Attention"
"No. 14 Connecticut 79, Harvard 73. This is the result you carry around in your pocket today. UConn had legit issues with Tommy Amaker’s Crimson. Jeremy Lin is a player you’ve probably heard about. Would love to get a feature on him here at the site. He’s the Ivy League’s best player, and he had 30 points in helping Harvard stay within striking distance. Jerome Dyson, a player I think is hindered in a few ways, was on assists away from a triple-double last night. I recognize his value and give him credit for keeping UConn from making headlines for the wrong reasons. Was this a look-ahead game for Kentucky on Wednesday?"

Jerome Dyson, UConn Guard: "He's [Lin] a great player. I'm definitely tired after this one."

Dana O'Neill, ESPN College Basketball Nation Blogger: "No one in the commonwealth of Kentucky will be shaking in their boots when they see this score out of Connecticut -- UConn 79, Harvard 73."
"It's also unfair to lay all of the blame on Connecticut without giving any of the credit to Harvard. Tommy Amaker's team plays hard, but also plays smart. Harvard players repeatedly passed up decent looks to make the extra pass for a guy with a better look. Junior [correcction- Lin is a senior-WHRB] Jeremy Lin is fearless in the lane and a legit playmaker, drawing so much attention as the Crimson's legit threat that he attracts a crowd, opening up his teammates for easy buckets. He finished with 30 points and nine rebounds, and for at least this game, was by far the best player on the court."
"Don't be surprised to see Harvard give frontrunner Cornell a run for its money in the hunt for the Ivy League's lone NCAA tourney bid."

Jeremy Lin, Senior Captain of the Harvard Crimson: "...our team did a good job of hanging in there. We went down early in the first half and clawed back within striking distance by the end of the first half, so just the fact that we were able to hang around and just continue to make plays down the stretch to give us a chance was key."

Tommy Amaker, Head Coach of the Harvard Crimson: "I was pleased with the great effort that we put forth here this afternoon. But certainly you need to play a flawless game to have chance to win a game against this kind of terrific opponent in their home environment."
"Some folks who haven't seen him play are probably wowed by some of the things he can do, but we aren't."
"That’s the best complement I can give him [Lin], that what you saw this afternoon out of him is who he is. I think he’s as good of a guard as there is."
"There’s a lesson in the loss. Sometimes we’ll find things that will help us get better down the road down the stretch. But we didn’t come here to hang around. We came here to see if we could compete and to see if we could scratch out a win."

For his efforts, the Ivy League named Jeremy Lin its "Player of the Week"- the 2nd time this season and 5th in his career that Lin has been tabbed for the honor.