An Ivy League title cannot be won in a single weekend. But in a span of 24 brief hours, the men's basketball team made a surprisingly early break from the peloton of the league race.
In two of their best performances of the young season, the Tigers (9-6 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) swept Brown and Yale on the road. Meanwhile, two-time defending league champion Penn suffered heartbreaking losses to both the Elis and the Bears.
Princeton's emergence as the Ivy's team to beat was primarily the result of the team finally finding consistency in several areas that had eluded it early in the season. With that in mind, the 'Prince' pauses to meticulously break down the elements that have led the Tigers to success thus far — and the areas that they still must improve if they hope to march into March Madness.
Offense: finding balance
Over the past several seasons, Princeton has struggled to find an even balance on the offensive end of the court, often relying on just one or two players to carry the bulk of the scoring load — Spencer Gloger '05 last year, and Mike Bechtold '02 two seasons ago, for instance.
After Gloger's departure from the team last year, junior center Judson Wallace became the focal point of the Tigers' offense. The trend continued early this year, as Wallace scored points in bunches. But, when Wallace began to struggle — his average has now dipped to 13.5 points per game — the Princeton offense sputtered.
Against Brown and Yale, however, the Tigers' famous offense ran as smoothly as it had all season, even though Wallace scored just 11 points in the two games. Perhaps most importantly, Princeton's marksmen finally got hot from long range, shooting 46.4 percent from three-point range for the weekend.
"We're all feeling really confident right now," senior guard Ed Persia said. "We went through a shooting slump the first half of the season, but when we concentrate on our shots and know they're coming we're going to make them." Different Tigers have stepped up to shoulder the scoring load each night. Against Brown, junior guard Will Venable scored 17 points with a combination of outside shooting and backdoor cuts. And while Venable hit the game winner against Yale, it was his only shot of the night. Instead, it was junior forward Andre Logan who did the most damage against the Elis.
In addition, junior center Mike Stephens has emerged as a reliable low-post scorer. In combination with Wallace, who has yet to break out of his slump and return to his dominating early season form, Princeton boasts a physical presence no Ivy team can match.
Defense: making them miss
The Tigers' ability to harass Brown and Yale into subpar shooting performances was another critical factor in the victories.
Both opponents' offenses are built on a speedy, slashing guard — Jason Forte for Brown and Edwin Draughn for Yale. Head coach John Thompson '88 chose to defend each player straight up on the perimeter to prevent open threes for their teammates. At the same time, he hoped his big men could play strong help defense to prevent easy buckets off penetration.
His plan worked nearly to perfection. Forte and Draughn both had below average nights as they struggled to finish around the hoop. Meanwhile, Brown and Yale combined to shoot just three-of-23 from beyond the arc.
"We made a conscious effort to defend the perimeter," Thompson said. "I think we did a very good job in particular of helping on the penetration. We wanted to get them to make one or two extra passes."
The X-factor: team chemistry
While the Tigers struggled in close contests early in the season — excluding the Duke game, they lost five games by a total of 14 points — they demonstrated a remarkable cool under pressure against Yale. Princeton's last-second win was also the result of a bit of luck: Venable was in the right place at the right time, and Yale missed nine second half free throws. Still, the resiliency the Tigers demonstrated after falling behind late in the game was often missing last year.
Perhaps this new attitude stems from improved team chemistry. Although it sounds clichéd, Thompson has expressed such a belief several times.
"I think the feel, the camaraderie and the focus is much different this year — definitely in a positive way," Thompson said in an early January conversation.
"Cohesiveness has been a strength. They'll fight and stick together and find a way to get through things."
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