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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Scott Era Begins This Week for Princeton Men's Hoops; Tigers Aiming to Show Toughness From Opening Tip-Off
By Bill Alden
With his on-court swagger, Judson Wallace radiates a confidence that borders on cockiness.
The 6'10 center for the Princeton University men's basketball team has parlayed his physical gifts into a terrific career, having been named first-team All-Ivy last season as a junior and sharing the team's MVP award with Will Venable.
Coming into his senior year, though, Wallace is getting a lesson in humility courtesy of Princeton's new head coach, the fiery Joe Scott.
At the program's annual media day last week, Wallace admitted that Scott's white-hot intensity is a change from the cooler approach favored by the departed John Thompson III, now the head coach at Georgetown.
"People don't look at me as a humble person," said a grinning Wallace in the drawl of his native Atlanta.
"Coach Scott helps me a lot with that. I think Coach Thompson and Coach Scott are both great coaches, they are just different. I think Coach Scott helps you bring everything you've got everyday. If you don't, he is going to let you know about it."
Scott, a former basketball star and assistant coach for Princeton who gained national prominence last winter as he coached Air Force to the NCAA tourney for the first time in 42 years, is primed to get the best out of his new crew.
"When you walk out onto the court, the challenge is how can we get them to be better everyday," said Scott. "We have good days and we have bad days. Some days I see a ton of progress, other days we have taken a big step back."
Scott and the Tigers will get a chance to see how far they have come in the transition process when they travel to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. to open the 2004-05 campaign by competing in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Princeton tips off the Scott era by facing Bucknell on November 11. If Princeton wins, it will play the next night against the winner of the Syracuse-Northern Colorado matchup.
The survivor of the Syracuse opening round then advances to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the Championship Rounds on November 18 and 19.
The expectations are high for Princeton, which went 20-8 overall last year and won its 25th Ivy League title by going 13-1 in league play.
With four returning starters, including All-Ivy performers Wallace and Venable, Princeton has been chosen to repeat as league champion by the annual preseason media poll.
Scott, for his part, believes the team, which fell to Texas last season in the first round of the NCAA tourney, has scratched the surface of its potential.
"I think this team has had some success," said Scott, who helped the Tigers go 163-61 in his eight seasons as a Princeton assistant from 1992-2000.
"We're going to find out if it is the most success they can have. I think there is more in them to give. I think there is more in them to accomplish and that's what we are stressing. It's really one thing – mental toughness. We need more discipline, harder cutting, and to create turnovers with hard defense."
Scott is looking to the talented 6'3 Venable to emerge as the epitome of that brand of toughness. "I'm really pleased with him, he's done everything I've asked of him," said Scott, referring to senior co-captain Venable, who scored 10.3 points per game last season and was Princeton's top shut-down defender.
"I've turned up the heat on him the last few days because I think he is the guy from a toughness standpoint who can be our leader. He's fast, he's strong, he's the guy on our team who can determine what our presence is."
Another key to the Tigers' prospects will be co-captain Wallace, who averaged 15.3 points per game and 6.4 rebounds last season making him the first Princeton player since Bob Roma in 1978-79 to average more that 15 points and six rebounds in a single season.
Scott is looking for Wallace to diversify his game. "We know Judson can score, I'm looking for him to show me that he helps other guys score," said Scott. "He needs to move the ball more quickly."
The Princeton players will need to pick up things quickly as they deal with Scott's tweaking of their offensive and defensive approaches.
With senior returning starter Andre Logan out for three-to-six weeks with a knee injury, Scott said his starting line-up for the opener will likely include Venable, Wallace, sophomore Luke Owings, junior Scott Greenman, and former Hun School star Noah Savage.
Among the key players off the bench will be senior Mike Stephens, junior Edwin Buffmire, sophomore Max Schafer, and freshmen Matt Sargeant and Kyle Koncz.
Scott acknowledged that his team is definitely a work in progress as it winds up the pre-season phase of the campaign.
"Each offensive set is the same but once we are into those sets, the continuations are all different," said Scott, who will emphasize the backdoor cutting and outside shooting that are the hallmarks of the Princeton offensive style.
"It's a whole new defense. I've been really happy with the picking up of the offensive changes. It's blatantly obvious what I'm not happy about and that is the defense. We're ahead offensively, we're behind defensively."
Wallace acknowledged that incorporating the changes has been a challenge. "It's definitely been a change, I feel like a freshman again, just trying to learn the offense," said Wallace.
"We're having an easier time with the offense because the basics are there like backdoor cuts, three-pointers, and cutting hard. Defensively, it's a pretty big change. We played zone and man-to-man last year and this year we're playing an amoeba zone."
There is little doubt in Wallace's mind that Scott will do his level best to get the Tigers to master his approach.
"Coach Scott is an outspoken leader," maintained Wallace, who said he is looking forward to Princeton's brutal early schedule in which the Tigers play on the road for nine of its first 10 games with the home opener against Rutgers not coming until December 8.
"Everybody sees him getting down and yelling at the top of his lungs. He's a real intense guy, always giving 110 percent. He sets the tone."
Ultimately, Wallace believes that Scott will set a decidedly winning tone. "I think this team is real good, it's definitely the best team I've been on since I've been here," asserted Wallace.
"We definitely have a chance to do some special stuff. Princeton teams have been doing stuff like that for years. A few years ago, they were in the top ten. Hopefully, we can do something like that."
