SHABAN: Avoiding the knee-jerk reaction to loss

It’s the beginning of February. Besides Black History Month and Valentine’s Day, that means the dramatic end to the transfer window for European soccer clubs.

For those who don’t know, during January, soccer teams are able to transfer players in and out of their clubs, in hopes of improving their rosters. Jan. 31 at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time proves to be the craziest moment for player movement year after year. What is now known as Deadline Day is the last chance for clubs to make these changes, which are usually done with haste and desperation. Teams sell disgruntled players damaging team chemistry, buy players as a cover for guys they lost through injury, and even loan out young players in need of first-team experience. Whatever the case, the reasons always the same: The team is underperforming, and the owners fear it won’t meet expectations.

There is a similar situation brewing in the Columbia men’s basketball camp. After a gloomy start in which its star player was injured, the team steadily rose throughout its nonconference schedule with an impressive streak of wins. But as soon as Ivy League play hit, the Lions have turned on a downward swing, dropping three of four. A pre-season poll for the Ivy League projected the Light Blue to finish seventh, and Columbia is currently tied for sixth in the league. The team members had to have had high hopes to finish in at least the top half of the league, especially after coming into Ivy play in great form.

So how can the Lions get this coaster of a season back in the up direction? I don’t think buying any big time players would help them, and I’m pretty sure it would open up some sort of NCAA investigation. Even if there were a mid-season transfer window for college basketball, I wouldn’t advise Coach Smith to dip into the market. When the they won 11 of 12 games, the Lions were definitely doing something right. It’s impossible for any team to play at its best throughout the course of a season, but the winning formula was there. It still is there, and it’s not too far off.

I don’t want to discredit the effect of the team’s recent losses by pointing out the slim point differential. Optimistic observers will turn to the fact that the Light Blue’s three Ivy losses have only been by the small combined total of 11 points. The fact remains that a 1-3 record is a 1-3 record, regardless of how big or little those losses were. It would be a dangerous thing to refuse to react to the poor record, but I have confidence that the Lions will make the proper adjustments because they have done it already this season. They lost their opening game against defending national champions Connecticut by a respectable 13 points, a game which was surprisingly close at times. Rather than resting on that decent performance, Columbia made enough adjustments (both needed and forced) and rallied off an impressive winning streak.

The difference now is the Lions don’t have four games to work those out—they have to start winning now. This weekend’s road trip presents the perfect opportunity for them to do so. Friday’s game against bottom-dwellers Dartmouth certainly cannot be overlooked and should be used to get their groove back. Saturday’s game against Harvard, at the opposite end of the spectrum, is the type of challenge that, if overcame, would change the entire outlook of the season.

The men’s basketball team needs to make adjustments, but drastic changes aren’t necessary. Get one back in the win column tomorrow, and then shock the league with a win the next day. Let’s hope a new month can breathe some new life into the Lions.

Ronnie Shaban is a senior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science majoring in mechanical engineering.
sports@columbiaspectator.com