Passivity, not youth, dooms Princeton

Joe Scott '87 knew it might not be pretty. But he didn't imagine it would be this ugly.

Speaking to the members of the Jadwin Jungle a few minutes before the men's basketball team tipped off its season against Drexel last night, Scott essentially told the white shirt-clad masses that they would have to be patient this winter.

"We're a young team," he said over and over, reminding them that the young Tigers would go through growing pains early on. Still, he assured them, there would be plenty to cheer about.

There wasn't.

After Princeton jumped to a 13-5 lead at the first TV timeout, the Dragons dominated the last 35 minutes of the game en route to a 54-41 win, leaving no question as to which team was better.

It was no surprise, really, that the Dragons were bigger, faster and more athletic. Princeton is used to being the less athletic team on the floor — and has built a tradition of excellence on overcoming that disadvantage with toughness, smarts and flawless execution.

Last night, though, the Tigers didn't have a chance. Not when they were outrebounded, 46-17. Not when they turned the ball over on four straight trips down the floor in the first half. Not when they committed 13 first half fouls, leaving senior point guard Scott Greenman, junior forward Luke Owings and sophomore forward Noah Savage sitting on the bench for critical stretches of the game.

It wasn't youthful mistakes that killed Princeton on this night, not nearly as much as the Tigers' lack of physicality and aggression doomed them.

Scott never figured passivity would be his team's problem.

"I am expecting trouble on offense, trouble scoring, no doubt about it," he said afterward. "I never expected us to get brutally beaten on the boards on this night."

Given the circumstances, Princeton's only hope was to stay on fire from downtown for 40 straight minutes. Instead, the Tigers were hot for five minutes and lukewarm for 35. Going 10-of-30 from behind the arc isn't horrible, but a mediocre shooting performance wasn't enough — and won't be enough — for this Tiger team.

Princeton has always lived and died by the three, to an extent, but this year is different.

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Without Will Venable '05, the Tigers lack a player who can consistently create his own shot. Greenman and Owings tried to penetrate when possible, but their shots were swatted by the long-armed Dragons.

Without Judson Wallace '05 and Mike Stephens '05, the Tigers have the inside presence of a middle school basketball team. Princeton didn't sink a single hook shot in the paint all night, a stat that would have been unthinkable a year ago.

Sure, sophomore center Harrison Schaen and sophomore power forward Noah Savage were the Tigers' top two scorers, but all of their points came from beyond the arc — five treys for Savage, three for Schaen.

It's good to see them making those shots, of course. Savage looked far more confident from outside than last year, not hesitating to launch the open shots the team needs him to make, and Schaen seems to be a more complete player after his year away from Princeton.

But if Savage and Schaen can't score points in the paint in addition to bombing away from outside, the Tigers will be in for a very long winter.

"We can't shoot 30 three-point shots," Scott said. "We've got to throw the ball in to Schaen. We've got to throw the ball in to Savage. We've got to throw the ball in to Owings.

"We didn't throw the ball in to anyone. I've got to do a better job of getting them to understand what we want to do offensively."

In the postgame press conference, Scott kept repeating one word: "toughness."

"We have our issues — we're young and everything — but what it comes down to is who wants the ball," he said. "If you're going to get shoved around, you're not going to win any games."

It's too early to say how many games Princeton will end up winning this season. One game into the season, though, this much is clear: this Tiger team can't get by on talent alone.

Whether they can scrape by on heart and toughness remains to be seen.