Sage advice for m. hoops' Joe Scott

Dear Joe,

Welcome home.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Let me just come right out and say it. The expectations for your arrival are on par with those for Bron-Bron when he made the jump to the NBA. As soon as Craig Esherick was fired as head coach at Georgetown and people started discussing the possibility of John Thompson III taking over there, your name was being thrown around the Princeton basketball world. There was a quiet buzz. People secretly and not-so-secretly wanted Thompson to follow in his "Pops'" footsteps. It was simply a matter of waiting. How soon until the "Great Joe Scott" would be coming to Princeton?

You've been made into something of a hero on this campus, at least among those who follow Princeton basketball. There are others who couldn't tell you from Pete Carril, but I won't get started on them.

Now, you might be thinking that I'm crazy. You might think, "How can I be a hero when I just got here?" Well, here's a story from yesterday. I walked into my room, tossed my bag aside, and informed my roommate that you were coming to Princeton. "Wonderful. We're going to the Sweet 16," he replied with a straight face (Granted, my roommate is a little crazy).

While not everyone is predicting a Sweet 16 berth next year — I'm penciling us in for the Final Four in St. Louis — everyone has the expectation that this team will be better under your tutelage and guidance.

This point might confuse you. After all, JTIII just guided the Tigers to an Ivy League title and the NCAA Tournament. How much better can this team be? Just what are the expectations for you?

The answer is easy. The expectation is greatness. This team is talented.

With Judson Wallace and Andre Logan we have two of the best big men in the league. Wallace was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. He played great basketball at the beginning and end of the season. Logan was a very good all-around player. His scoring wasn't what it was in the past, but his rebounding and ability to see the floor were fantastic. He can step out and make the midrange jumper and can still play with his back to the basket.

In Scott Greenman we have a reliable point guard and a good three-point shooter. He has already shown that he can handle the poise and pressure that comes with starting here at Princeton.

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In Will Venable we have one of the most versatile players in the league. He is willing to do whatever it takes to win, whether that's hitting a three, grabbing an offensive board, pushing the ball on the fast break, or playing tenacious, shutdown defense on the opposing team's top scoring threat. He is more than able to defend small quick guards or bigger forwards.

Then we get to the soon-to-be sophomores. Luke Owings already showed that he can shoot the ball and Harrison Schaen showed that he's ready to carry more of the scoring load. You also have a deep bench from which to draw players.

What's my point? This team has the potential to be great and people here expect you to tap that potential.

Above all else this was the one problem with JTIII's tenure here at Princeton. You never got the impression that he was getting the most out of the talent that he had. Thompson showed that he could recruit with the best of them — just look at the talent on this team — but he never seemed to put it all together. He never got the most out of his players. This is your challenge. I hope you accept it and thrive.

To that end, I have some advice for you. Don't chuckle — I think I might have a few good points in here somewhere.

The best piece of advice I have is to do whatever you need to do to be successful.

When Gary Walters hired you, he said, "[your] appointment also ensures that the unique genealogy of Princeton basketball that stretches back over 70 years will continue. Each successive coach was mentored either as a player or as a coach by someone within the Princeton basketball family."

Your way or the highway

I say we forget all of that. If you decide that what it takes to make this team successful is to scrap the Princeton offense, then do it. If you think we need to get out and run the ball, then do that. If you think we need to pound the ball down low to Judson and get him to play with his back to the basket for 40 minutes, then have Judson start practicing the baby hook.

Forget outside pressure from alumni who don't want to see the famed offense go. They don't know what's best. That's your job. Go with your gut.

My second piece of advice is that with whatever system you choose, make sure you get the players to buy into it. There were times this season — the first halves against both Yale and Brown at home come to mind — when it appeared that everyone on the team was on a different page. This team needs a common mindset and they need to play with a common goal in mind, something that was always present under coach Carril.

This needs to be the case regardless of what offense you choose to run. While its hard to tell without being in the locker room, it seemed that the players never fully bought into what Thompson was preaching. You can't have that. Every time a player makes a cut, he needs to think that he is going to get a wide open layup.

Now that we've covered how to run the team, we should talk about who the team plays. One of the best experiences of my college career was going to the Kansas-Princeton game at Jadwin Gym my freshman year. Please keep the connection with North Carolina coach Roy Williams alive and get Tar Heels to come to Princeton. One of the things that makes Princeton such a popular team is that it generally plays well against schools from major conferences.

Concentrate on pulling off one upset win every other year. Three years at Princeton, and I haven't experienced a single upset win over a big non-conference opponent.

Finally, Joe, don't leave. It's time for this program to get some continuity. After all those years under Carril, we've had two coaches who both didn't stick around.

People say that the job four years ago was yours if you hadn't gone to Air Force. The job was yours as soon as news about Thompson broke. The job will be yours as long as you continue to do what has made you successful.

Tiger fans don't ask for much. All we ask for is greatness.

Sincerely,

Anuj Basil