PHILADELPHIA — I'll admit it. I was a doubter. I thought that Ahmed El Nokali couldn't carry the men's basketball team.
He couldn't create his own shot, make the big free throws, hit the open jumper. He didn't take control when it mattered.
But game by game, El Nokali proved his doubters, including me, wrong.
In the first 10 minutes of Princeton's home game against Yale, he scored from outside and inside, played stingy defense, and picked up rebounds and assists. In the teams' last meeting in New Haven, Conn., merciless Eli partisans had savagely insulted El Nokali, their words possibly including racial slurs. He didn't let the comments affect his game at Jadwin.
El Nokali also set up the Princeton offense and got the Tigers off to a good start against the Elis Feb. 22, which they were able to ride to a victory that put them back in control of their own destiny.
Friday night against Cornell, the senior had 11 points, including a key three-pointer as the Tigers came from behind to win on the road.
And last night against Penn, El Nokali was ready to play from the introductions. He was the last Tiger to be announced over the P.A. system, but before his name was pronounced, the senior was already on the court, jumping up and down and pumping up his teammates.
It was as if El Nokali knew that he would have to carry his team before the game started.
The same problems that plagued Princeton in the first Tiger-Quaker showdown reemerged last night. The Tigers couldn't make shots from the perimeter and went scoreless for long stretches, including a drought of nearly eight minutes in the first half.
But El Nokali wouldn't let the Tigers fall behind by too much. The senior has passed up his shot too often during the season, but last night, he realized that he was perhaps the only Princeton player with any rhythm from outside.
So he stepped behind the arc and launched three-pointers. He made two on back-to-back possessions with the Tigers down 17-8, cutting the deficit to a managable 19-14.
On both shots, El Nokali was near NBA three-point range, but there was no hesitation. He calmly set his feet and knocked down the jumpers.
The senior's biggest shot of the half came with time running out on the period. El Nokali raced downcourt, just crossing the half-court stripe, and launched a shot that found the bottom of the net. He was on — and Princeton was in the game.
In the second half, El Nokali scored another nine points, bringing his game total to a team-high 18. He also spent 38 minutes on the floor, tops among all players.
His contribution went beyond the stats. El Nokali played his characteristic tenacious defense throughout the game and also was Princeton's primary pressing guard when the Tigers went to full-court pressure late in the second half.
Sure, Princeton lost by 16 points. But it was a close 16, if that isn't an oxymoron. And El Nokali made sure it was a game for 36 minutes.
"It's definitely a tough loss," El Nokali said. "But we'll be back on Thursday."
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