The numbers: 0-6, 296th RPI, 332nd Sagarin, 330th Pomeroy
The recent results: lost 83-32 at Kansas (11/28), lost 60-50 at Hartford (11/25)
The upcoming schedule: at James Madison (12/10)
A much-needed respite
Dartmouth’s quarter system features exams in early December, so the Big Green will take an 11-day break for finals. Given the spate of injuries afflicting the program, this could be exactly what Terry Dunn’s crew needs. Dartmouth will return to action on December 10 down at James Madison, where they’ll look for their first win of the season against a Dukes squad currently 2-3 after a disastrous 5-23 season last year.
Health report
Normally this section appears toward the bottom of these articles, but in this case there’s no bigger story around Dartmouth basketball than team health. The ominous news began to roll in late in preseason practice, when Leon Pattman — the team’s top scoring threat and best all-around player — went down with a high ankle sprain. Pattman could make his season debut after the break at James Madison. Then Marlon Sanders — who was off to promising start, averaging 8.5 points and 4.0 assists in the first two contests — sustained a knee injury at George Washington on November 14 and is out indefinitely. Brian McMillan had earned the starting center job, but required surgery after breaking his nose and missed the past three games. He also is expected back after the exam break. The most recent injury occurred last week when starting power forward Dan Biber broke his left wrist in an on-campus bike accident, resulting in a six- to eight-week timetable for his return. In addition to all of this Adam Powers is out with an Achilles injury.
Not a pretty picture offensively
Forced to play a makeshift lineup and without its top scorer, it should come as no surprise that Dartmouth has struggled to score. Looking at the offensive numbers, it becomes clear why. The Big Green doesn’t rank in the Top 200 in any major offensive category except free throw shooting, and that’s neutralized by the fact only seven teams in the country get to the line less frequently than Dartmouth (6.33 possessions per attempt). The Big Green hasn’t been able to shoot (24.0 percent from deep, 36.3 percent overall), and doesn’t get many second chances (25.4 percent offensive rebounding). The turnover percentage is poor at 24.8 percent, and Dartmouth opponents get steals on 15.3 percent of possessions — easily the highest rate in the league. The result of all of this is a league-worst offensive efficiency of just 0.78 points per possession.
Not much better defensively
Dartmouth opponents are shooting 51.3 percent on the season and 36.8 percent from three-point range. They’re getting to the line often, averaging a free throw attempt every 3.13 possessions, and Dunn’s team keeps allowing additional scoring opportunities with opponents averaging 40.9-percent offensive rebounding. Also, the Big Green is generating very few turnovers (19.9-percent turnover rate). The net result is a 1.11 defensively efficiency — also the worst such mark in the Ivy League.
Ball a bright spot
John Ball missed the first two contests with a quadriceps injury, but returned to face Colgate. Ball has given the Big Green a lift, averaging 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in four games. Even more impressively, he is shooting 61.5 percent from the field by taking advantage of his slashing game. However, Ball isn’t going to be able to help out with the three-point shooting, as the junior has attempted no shots from outside the arc this season and has just eight attempts in his collegiate career. Perhaps a lingering consequence of the injury, fouls have been a problem, as Ball has fouled out of two of those four games, and picked up four fouls in a third game.
Barnett forcing things
With Pattman out, Alex Barnett has tried to step up into the role of scorer. Barnett has attempted a team-high 74 field goals, including 20 three-pointers. However, not many of these have found their way into the basket, as the sophomore is shooting a woeful 32.4 percent from the floor and just 10.0 percent from three. In his last two games, Barnett is just 3 of 22 shooting (13.6 percent).
Odds and ends
– DeVon Mosley was the only Dartmouth player to have a decent shooting night at Kansas. After going just 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) overall and 3 of 10 (30.0 percent) from three in his first three games, Mosley is 13 of 31 (41.9 percent) and 6 of 16 (37.5 percent) from the arc in the last three contests.
– The team’s poor offensive rebounding numbers aren’t Jarrett Mathis’s fault. The sophomore big man has 23 boards this year, and a startling 17 have come at the offensive end.
– Jason Meyer has seen an increase in minutes with Biber out. The redshirt senior averaged 22.7 minutes in the first three games, but that figure has shot up to 35.0 minutes per game since.
– After shooting 38.0 percent from three-point range his first two seasons, Michael Giovacchini is off to a rough start as a junior, hitting just 3 of 15 attempts from long range (20.0 percent).
