Princeton University topped Yale 66-49 Friday night and
defeated Brown (6-13)Saturday evening 52-37 to sweep an Ivy League weekend in
Princeton.Scott Greenman scored a career high 27
points to led Princeton past Yale. Yale (11-10) lost for the 13th straight
time at Jadwin Gym. Princeton took advantage of Yale's poor night at the free
throw line, making only 7-of-19 while the Tigers made 16-of-18 from
the charity stripe in the second half to clinch the win. Greenman, whose
previous career high was 17 points, was 8 for 11 from the floor and 6 for 6
from the line. Luke Owings added 10 points for Princeton.
On Saturday night, Noah Savage scored a career high 23
points to lead Princeton to a 52-37 victory over Brown. Scott Greenman and
Luke Owings each added 9 points for the Tigers (5-12), while Owings also had a
game high four assists.
Running the time consuming "Princeton Offense", the Tigers
scored a surprising 66 points against Yale. Two points shy of their season
high of 68 against Columbia.Under coach Joe
Scott, players think too much about what they should do rather than react to
what is taking place on the court. After 25 or 30 seconds of basketball tango,
one player takes a shot once he finds an open look. To me, it makes no sense
to kill 25-30 seconds off the clock, running with constant motion, passing,
back door cuts and then expect to get good look in the little time remaining.
I think that coach Joe Scott should take some lessons from
his predecessor at Princeton, John Thompson III now the head coach at
Georgetown. Apparently everyone assumed when Thompson arrived at Georgetown
with the "Princeton Offense" that the Hoyas would walk the ball up the court,
use up the 35-second clock on every possession and end each play with a
backdoor layup. Instead, Georgetown's style these days appears far removed
from coach Scott's "stall ball." The Hoyas push the ball up the court
and are as likely to attempt a three-pointer as a layup.
So it may come as a surprise to many that Georgetown is
running the "Princeton Offense." A John Thompson III version of it where
you're either going to get a backdoor cut or you're going to get a wide open
three. When you have an open shot, you have to take it regardless of the time
on the clock. The players are enthusiastic about this new style and why not?
They knocked off then number one ranked Duke 87-84 and beat number nine ranked
Pitt 61-58 yesterday.
Princeton now goes on the road for 5 straight games before
returning home to face Dartmouth on February 24th. With some lessons from
Georgetown and a few more victories, maybe the Tigers can make believers out
of their fans and chase Penn for the Ivy League title! And if there is any
reader out there who believes they can, please email me with the phone numbers
of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Steve Mergelsberg has coached professionally in the ABA,
USBL, on the college level at Rutgers University-Newark, and for 15 years on
the high school level in New Jersey and Nevada.
