Tigers look to rebound in second game

After being knocked out in the first round of the Preseason NIT, the men's basketball team will have almost a full week of practice before returning to the court to work on the many mistakes the team made in Monday's loss to Drexel.

On Sunday, the Tigers (0-1) will see if the long practice time paid off, as they travel to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on Lehigh (1-2).

Princeton certainly has plenty to improve upon. Despite opening the game with a 16-9 lead, including four three-pointers, the Tigers' shooting soon went south. At that point, Drexel went on a 17-0 run as Princeton continued to fire away threes with little success, and the Dragons pushed their defense outward to exploit the Tigers' lack of a strong inside game.

"We really need to play a more physical game," senior point guard Scott Greenman said. "We need to run our offense with more precision and really hit the boards a lot harder if we are going to be successful."

Without a low post presence, the Tigers were dominated on the glass and outrebounded 46-17 by a more physical Drexel team. Additionally, the Tigers only managed to get to the free-throw line three times, compared to 25 attempts for Drexel.

Similar teams

Like the Tigers, Lehigh came into last season with high expectations after winning the Patriot League Championship in 2004. And like the Tigers, the Mountain Hawks struggled throughout the season, stumbling to a sub-.500 record.

This season, Lehigh looks to return to prominence, and it fields a balanced team that could present problems for Princeton.

The team is anchored by its backcourt star, Jose Olivero, who leads the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game. Olivero is a dangerous threat to create his own opportunities by driving to the basket, though this threat could be neutralized by Princeton's matchup zone defense. During a tournament game against Coppin State, Olivero scored 25 points, including a turnaround three-pointer with .3 seconds left to give Lehigh the improbable win.

In addition to Olivero, the main outside threat of the Mountain Hawks comes from forward Kyle Neptune, who has made eight out of 19 three-pointers this season while scoring more than 12 points per game.

Six foot, nine inch center Mike Fischman provides size down low, though Princeton center Harrison Schaen should match up well and be able to fight Fischman for rebounds.

Inside presence

On offense, the Tigers will need to incorporate some inside presence into the offense.

"We need to be more involved in the low post, either throwing the ball in to our forwards or driving to the basket by our guards," Greenman said. "And once we get the ball down there, we need to be more aggressive and not just pass it back out right away."

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In order to do this, Schaen will need to play closer to the basket and look to create shot opportunities inside, in contrast to the Drexel game, in which all of his nine points came off three-pointers. Both Greenman and junior forward Luke Owings showed potential in driving to the basket during the Drexel game, but both players will need to drive in more often and finish those drives early on in order to open up the kick-out three-pointer later in the game.

While the Tigers should not shy away from three-pointers, they will need to try to isolate sophomore forward Noah Savage for an open look. Savage, who proved himself as a marksman from long range last season, made five of his eight attempts against Drexel, and was the only Tiger to shoot better than .500 from three point range.

Freshman guard Geoff Kestler and forward Alex Okafor will continue to become integrated into the offense, in which they looked uncomfortable at times.

Overall, the Tigers will try to incorporate a more balanced offense with a more physical presence down low. If they revert to the habits of the Drexel game, however, the Tigers will quickly learn that if they aspire to live by the three, they are likely to die by the three.