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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJSportAction) caption: |
Tiger Men's Hoops Needs to Age Quickly As It Opens Season by Hosting Drexel
By Bill Alden
Plenty of fanfare greeted Joe Scott's return last season to the Princeton University men's basketball program as its new head coach.
Scott, a former Tiger star and longtime assistant coach at his alma mater, had just led Air Force to unprecedented success by guiding the Falcons to a 22-6 record and their first NCAA berth in more than 40 years.
The expectation was that Scott's fiery perfectionism and his respect for the Princeton way of playing basketball would yield an Ivy League title for the senior-laden Tigers.
The initial excitement of Scott's return, though, turned to frustration as Princeton stumbled badly in the defense of its Ivy title, posting its first-ever losing season in league play (6-8) on the way to a pedestrian 15-13 record.
With the Tigers opening the 2005-06 season this Monday by hosting Drexel in the Preseason NIT, the atmosphere around the program is one of quiet determination.
"We're trying to improve day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month so that we're good in late February," asserted Scott.
"The players and staff are ahead of where we were last year. They know our points of emphasis. Everybody is clearer about what we want to do."
Scott knows he faces a hefty coaching challenge with just one senior, Scott Greenman, on the roster. "It's a very young team so there will be two good days and then one bad day," said Scott. "Youth is good and bad. You always know it will take time for them to figure out how to do things."
One Tiger who knows how to do things is the gritty 5'9, 165-pound Greenman, the team's starting point guard and captain.
"Scotty is doing very well," said Scott of Greenman, who averaged 8.6 points a game last year, fired in a team-high 52 three-pointers last season, and spent his summer helping the U.S. men's team to a bronze medal in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
"He's taken on more responsibility and he's showing leadership. He knows what we want to do on the court and he's able to tell teammates the things they need to emphasize. He's gotten stronger."
Scott acknowledged that the choice for Greenman's running mate in the backcourt is still very much up in the air.
"We have four guys fighting for one spot," said Scott, noting that junior Max Schafer, freshman Geoff Kestler, and sophomores Matt Sargeant and Kevin Steurer are all in the running for the position.
Last season, Schafer played in 25 games and averaged 2.5 points while Sargeant started nine games and ended up with a scoring average of 2.1.
"Kevin has improved a lot; he's a more solid player," said Scott. "Geoff is big and strong and he can score in a lot of ways. It's a question of how quickly he can score in college."
Princeton knows that its starting forwards, junior Luke Owings and sophomore Noah Savage, a former Hun School star, can score.
The 6'6, 210-pound Owings averaged 6.3 points last year in an injury-plagued season while the 6'5, 230-pound Savage made a solid debut starting all 28 games and averaging 6.4 points a game.
"They are doing well on a consistent basis," asserted Scott, referring to Owings and Savage. "They have been doing the best of everyone, day-in and day-out. It's what you expect from guys who have logged a lot of minutes."
The other minutes at forward should go to freshman Alex Okafor, sophomore Kyle Koncz, and junior Edwin Buffmire.
"We're going to throw Okafor out there," said Scott. "Kyle looks good, he's really worked hard. Buffmire is tough and strong and can rebound."
Princeton's X-factor could be sophomore center Harrison Schaen, who showed shot-blocking prowess two seasons ago as a freshman and is returning to the program after taking a year off from school.
"Harrison is really like a freshman," said Scott of the 6'8, 205-poind Schaen, who joined Greenman this summer on the bronze medal squad at the Maccabiah Games. "We're going to ask a lot and he's dealing with that. He's young and he backslides but we want him to keep doing well."
Another promising prospect at center is 6'8, 200-pound junior Patrick Ekeruo. "Patrick is really committed to improving and he's done it in a really good way," said Scott. "We're really happy with him. He's junior but he hasn't played a lot of minutes so it's matter of getting time and being consistent."
The Tigers are focusing on fundamentals as they look to develop some team-wide consistency.
'We've spent a lot of time on the offense, going back to basics," explained Scott.
"The offense is ahead right now but the offense and defense go together. I think they'll be merging as we go on. We've done a good job of improving."
The Tigers will have to come of age quickly in order to beat Drexel. "It's a tough game, we know they are pretty good," said Scott, whose team would play the winner of the Missouri-Sam Houston State game in the second round of the Preseason NIT if it can get by Drexel.
"They won 19-20 games last year and they have a good program. We have to play our young guys to get them old. You don't know if you are really ready until the time comes and they go through the experience."
If those young players can come of age quickly, Princeton could make this season a positive experience.
