M. basketball improves play after Gloger's ankle injury

ESPN.com writer Bill Simmons has created the Ewing Theory from years of observation. The theory is simple — when a team's star player goes down with an injury and the team is immediately written off for the rest of the season, it will inexplicably do better than it did before.

In men's basketball's 80-73 loss to Brown Friday night, junior forward Spencer Gloger badly sprained his right ankle on a routine cut through the lane with 12:39 remaining in the ball game.

It was immediately apparent that Gloger would not be able to attend the next game against Yale, and the immediate thought running through the mind of every Tiger fan was that the season could very likely be over.

How were the Tigers to overcome the loss of Gloger's team — leading 15 points per game, or his 5.4 boards, or his ability to shut down his man on defense?

The Ewing Theory came through, however, and Princeton avoided losing back-to-back weekend games, keeping alive the streak that has stood since 1966.

The recipe for the Tiger's success was a return to the fundamentals of Princeton basketball. This meant sharper cuts, making the extra pass, and hitting the boards hard.

Princeton did all three and won the must-win game, 56-49.

Head coach John Thompson '88 commented on the offensive execution, and specifically the cutting and passing: "That's what [Saturday's] shootaround was. Our offense looked much better tonight – we stuck with our stuff and made the extra pass."

The work the Tigers put in was apparent from the start. On the offensive end, Princeton overcame the absence of Gloger's superb outside shooting by earning more layups.

The Tigers offensive execution was the sharpest it has been all season. The team made a very conscious effort to look for the backdoor pass right off the bat.

Four of Princeton's first six points came via the backdoor. With the score knotted at two, junior guard Ed Persia found senior forward Ray Robins for a layup. On the Tigers' next possession, sophomore center Judson Wallace held the ball at the top of the key and found Persia slicing along the baseline for another easy two.

The connection between Wysocki and Wallace was present the entire game. After the Brown game, Thompson discussed the benefits of getting them both on the floor at the same time. Due to early foul trouble, however, Wysocki often had to replace Wallace instead of playing with him.

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"Both of them are very comfortable on the perimeter," Thompson said. "Both came in as forwards. We're asking them to play center, but they are comfortable. It allows us to get a little bigger. Konrad in particular is pretty good at guarding on the perimeter. Few times this year we've had a chance to do it."

Against Yale, Thompson finally got the two big men on the floor together and the results were immediate. Princeton went on a 14-2 run with both men in the game to take a 41-28 lead.

"It allows us to get a little bigger," Thompson said. "Both of them are comfortable on the perimeter."

Yale could not key on any one player in the post, but instead had to worry about both. Whenever the ball was fed inside, if Yale went to double team, the weak side was opened up for offensive rebounds.

It was on the inside that Brown was able to do much of its damage against Princeton on Friday night.

The Tigers were not able to deny the entry pass into the post, and with Wallace in foul trouble, Princeton was unable to stop Brown's Alaivaa Nuualiitia. He finished the game a perfect 8-8 from the floor.

The Ewing Theory may have worked on Saturday night but hopefully for Princeton fans it will not last much longer. Instead, they are hoping that the fire and execution the Tigers showed last night carries over after Gloger's return.

After the game, Gloger said that he could be back as soon as next week, but that the ankle was still very swollen. X-rays came back negative, but more tests were still being done. There is still a chance that the injury could be more serious.

The Ewing Theory predicts that after the star's return the team takes a step backwards. Princeton will need to disprove this theory if the Tigers want to have any shot at repeating as Ivy champs.