The season started with high expectations for the boys from Worcester.  The Crusaders have been a major national player since their early days as the top Independent in the New England area.  As a matter of fact they were involved in the final four just a few years back and the nucleus of those great teams have one more year to go for the Gold.  It was not too long ago that the Crusaders had a shot to join the Big Dogs in the fledgling new Big East.  The administration decided that would not be a good idea to join this league due to academic reasons and they went with the Crusaders top rival, the Boston College Golden Eagles.  This has hurt Holy Cross’s recruiting and the Crusaders do not have the size or athleticism to hang long term with any of those Big East teams now.  But they do have skill, and loads of it and playing in the mid-level Patriot League these Crusaders were the Bullies of Broad Street.  And that does not look to change this season…They should easily earn another Dance Card and want to prove this old school style of play not only works against the ‘little Ivy’ schools but will match up with the elite teams in this country. 

 The Crusaders are led by one of the greatest point guards in the country.  Senior Bob Cousy in truly a magician on the court.  His no look passes and fast paced style have garnered quite a reputation.  He may be the best ball handler on the East Coast and is surely the most gifted passer.  He can also score a little as well.  He is not only the quarterback of this team but also it’s heart and soul.  Things were not always easy for the erstwhile man from Manhattan.  Cousy was highly recruited after a standout career at Andrew Jackson High and with his dribbling and passing skills set Worcester on fire.  He was one of the first players to ever dribble behind the back and give no look passes and the fans could not get enough of this ‘new style’ of basketball.  But not everyone loved his showmanship and crazy skills.  Coach Doggy Julian thought he was a bit too Hot Doggish for his style and he had other ideas of how the game should be played.  Julian ended up platooning the young stud his freshman year with veteran Joe Mullaney.  Mullaney of course went on to coach the Providence Friars but something must have worked as that was the season the Crusaders made the final four.  Cousy was not happy about this and thought about transferring back to the Big Apple and playing for St. John’s.  The fans of Worcester will forever be grateful the ‘Cooz’ did not go home.  The next two years the great point guard has become one of the greatest basketball players on the planet.  The Houdini of the Hardwood as he is now called has developed quite a reputation for his basketball wizardry and he was a second Team All-American last year after leading the country with almost nine assists a game.  He goes into this season with all of the hype that matches those kind of accolades and numbers and not only was he the odds on favorite to capture the Patriot League MVP (again) but some felt he had a shot at the national MVP if the Crusaders could dominate the opposition as many had predicted.  As you can see the Crusaders are in good shape at point guard but might have one just as good at the four.  

As important as Cousy is to the success of this program there may be no one more vital than the vastly underrated Tommy Heinsohn.  This senior has been playing along Cousy for three years putting up ridiculous numbers and earning the reputation as a guy benefitting from playing next to Cousy.  After all Tommy has said on several occasions that all he has to do is run the court and when he puts his hands up the ball is just there and all he has to do is make some easy shots.  That is not entirely true!  Heinsohn was a standout player in Jersey City, Jersey and chose the Crusaders over many suitors.  This six seven 218 pound bull of a man can also run the court like a guard and is a terrific board man.  Still, his best asset is a brain that seems large (can you say Stewie) even for his oversized noggin.  Heinsohn always seems to be one step ahead of whoever he is playing against.  That and his non-stop motor make him one of the most effective power forwards to ever lace them up.  Of course on this undersized team he had to play the center position far too often and guarding others was never Tommy’s strong point.  He is more your funnel your guy to the middle and then get to the backboard for a screenout for another board or start running the court and look over his shoulder for another Cousy pass.  Tommy showed what kind of potential he has when he had one of the biggest games of the year against rival BC.  Heinsohn scored 40 points with 32 boards in that quadruple overtime thriller though he did not once again get the glory as he fouled out in the third overtime and junior to be Chris Potter came off the bench to hit the game winner.  Heinsohn is not afraid to say what he thinks and will get on his teammates for not performing their role or being out of shape.  He will be a great coach someday but for now he is just one of the best forwards to ever play the game and is the true leader on the Crusaders.  And when we say leading we don’t just mean being the man in the locker room everybody looks up for but also leading the team in scoring and rebounding and earning yet another first team All-Patriot League honor and All-American honors.  

The Crusaders have two vastly undersized big men starting up front next to Heinsohn.  Seniors Togo Palazzi and George Kaftan wrapped up arguably the most experience starting five in D-1.  And when you include fellow senior Jack ‘the Shot’ Foley is the first guy off the bench on a team that does not rotate in many players than you can see how fortunate this team was the last few year.  Or you can look at it in another way that the Crusaders are going to have a hard time next year with basically an all-new team.  As you can see these Crusaders were all in for this year and were going with this group of veterans no matter how undersized they are.  And they are not big men.  Palazzi is only six four and Kaftan was even shorter at six three yet they would counted on to man the post positions.  When the Crusaders made their glory run three years ago this duo was more important than even the two All-Americans.  This Greek kid from the Big Apple came to Worcester and immediately made his presence known with his unique skill set and incredible drive to be the best big man in the country.  Kaftan was for that time the best post player in the tourney.  He could do it all.  Terrific using his quickness versus bigger men to get to the hoop for easy baskets, Kaftan led that team in scoring.  He had a variety of shots and could post up from on the box or on the elbow.  The ‘Golden Greek’ as he has been dubbed has always been a terrific leaper with a gifted ability to get off the floor quick.  This helped in both scoring and especially rebounding where he led the team.  Kaftan was also a terrific passer who played the high post like he developed the position.  There was no bigger star back in the day for the Crusaders but his time has come.  At his limited height he was overmatched most of the time against bigger post players.  He is not a wing and so his minutes reduced significantly as the season progressed.  Still, Kaftan had his minutes and he still gave the fans from Worcester some nights he reminded them how great of a player he was.  Pagazzi was also New Jersey born and bred and might be the most multi-faceted player on the roster.   Togo fits his name as he is always ready to go. Palazzi can play on the post and is a solid board guy who helps out underneath.  He is also best suited for a wing position of the starters and guards other team’s best wing players.  His offense is solid, his defense is solid and he is the type of player all teams need to win titles.  His play throughout his career has been nothing but exemplary and he has a great shot at moving to the next level though he knows he will never be a star.  He was elected the team captain before the season started and though he did not get near the accolades of his teammates he still averaged double digits in points and was second in rebounding and was as prepared to play every night as anyone on this team.  The Crusaders had enough stars but they only had one Togo!  Foley is another undersized wing at six three but is absolutely too skinny at 160 pounds for the fierce play of basketball.  But he has one skill that is irreplaceable.  The ‘Shot’ as they call him and rightfully so might be the best long-range shooter in the New England states.  He does not do much else but sit outside and wait for the ball and fire away.  He was doing this long before the three point line but found the perfect team to become the first guy off the bench as their instant offense.  Foley is not expected to do anything but catch a pass by Cousy from behind the arc and let it fly.  He will never get a real shot at the next level even though it today’s game shooting is valued more than ever especially from range but he just cannot fight off the guys defending him.  And on defense this frail kid really has no matchup that he can survive without being embarrasses quickly.  That is why he does not play big minutes and by the end of the year the Patriot teams were taking advantage of the Shot but no one cared especially when he would throw another one from about 28 feet.  Only one other senior, Ed Siudut, got any real significant playing time.  Siudut is a local legend from Everett who does have some size and was used well to relieve down low.  Siudut can score but was not counted on for that.  His main chore was to board!  And he did that well.  At six seven he had the size to hang down low and was thick enough to set some nice screens for the offensive players on the team.  The Crusaders were not embarrassed when Big Ed was on the court and some felt he should have got a little more playing time than just under thirteen minutes a game with this team’s problems in the paint.  Maybe they were right but whatever this team was doing something was working! 

Joining Cousy in the backcourt and the only non-senior on the starting five is junior Ronnie Perry.  Perry is as solid ball handler in his own right but understands he is second fiddle to the great and wonderful Cousy.  But that suits his game even better as Perry would rather score than pass anyway and he is one terrific scorer.  Perry is one of the best off the ball cutters in the country and knows how to finish at the rim.  He does not mind mixing it up in the paint and has a variety of shots to get the ball in the hole.  And nobody wants to foul Junior as he almost never misses from the free throw line.  This kid can also shoot and has kind of fallen for the three point shot though he would rather be hitting wide open 15 footers off great kickout passes from his sidekick Cousy.  The key to Perry’s success has been his willingness to play next to Cousy and accept being the number two dog.  That is not easy for a kid this talented with his kind of pedigree but he has accepted his role and had another terrific season in Worcester.  He and Cousy combine to give the Crusader a guard combo equal to anyone on the Right Coast.  And he has one more year left where he is the man and this could put up some ridiculous numbers with all of the seniors gone. 

The rest of the team featured a group of role players trying to find a place on this experienced roster where they could contribute.  With the obvious biggest need being more size up front Julian tried several options trying to get some help to battle the Davids of the world.  Senior Keith Hochstein was a carryover who once had a big role but is another six four guy and this team needed some real size.  A trio of juniors got shots and performed well in limited minutes.  Foremost of these is six eight Chris Potter who has a complete game and like Siudut could have played more.  A good board guy and a terrific passer Potter was not counted on for much offense but hit some clutch shots in big games (see the BC game) when he got on the court.  Bob Kissane and Gene Doyle are six eight carbon copies of each other who did not play much but showed they could hang in the trenches when called upon.  The Crusaders have recruited to their weakness and have four almost seven footers on their incoming roster but all of them are projects but Julian is really hoping one of them busts out and can guard a rim.  The Crusaders developed players the old way of earning your stripes through the JV team. That JV team will be loaded once again with players who have some talent but are not given much of a shot at playing over the experienced lineup.  Sophomores Glenn Tropf and Ernie Floyd have some size and Tropf is a heck of a three point shooter for a big man.  Hopefully, they will get a shot to play this year on the varsity as will junior Michael Vicens and fellow sophomore Gary Witts but man there are not many minutes left after that first six is done.  Speaking of leftover minutes, Seniors Earle Markey and Ron Perry are the returning backups on the perimeter and both are solid but are not beating out the starters any time soon.  Sophomore Guards Jim McCaffrey and Dwight Parnell will battle for the leftover minutes from the Perrys, Markey and Cousy.  Both are solid guards who can score a little and also set up teammates.  Another sophomore, Glenn Williams, is a Cousy clone who is pass first and could be a good point guard if they don’t move Perry over to that role.  He does not score and this team will need all of the offense it can get from these underclassmen with all of those senior studs moving on.  But that is next year and if any of these three hit the varsity for more than mop-up duty something has went terribly wrong in the city that spells like a sauce and sounds like a male chicken. 

The Holy Cross Crusaders have high expectations going into this season burdened by an experienced senior class that had already accomplished great things for the Boston area basketball scene.  Led by two studs who are sure to be stars at the next level the Crusaders almost met all of their goals after dominating the Patriot League and getting back to the Big Dance once again.  This time a near home game was not enough as Dave Bing and company showed this program is nowhere near the elite many have been acclaiming they were for the last three years especially in New England.  The Crusaders are going all in this season with their senior laden team and sooner or later not being able to recruit the kind of studs the Big East schools are getting will catch up with you.  Even in the Patriot League!  But nobody can ever take away the pleasure the Worcester fans have had over the last three years watching one of the great programs in college history continue to show the world this little catholic school could play with the Big Dogs!  Too bad though these Crusaders didn’t join those Big Dogs when they had the chance as this just might be the last hurrah for one of the great groups of players the New England states have ever seen and around Boston these kids are more than that.  They are the Kings of Beantown.