Turnovers plague talented squad

Correlation may not always imply causation, but in Ivy League women's basketball, there are certainly some interesting regressions to run. Cornell and Dartmouth rank the lowest in the Ivy League in terms of turnover margin, and not surprisingly, the Big Red and Big Green have a combined record of 1-12 and it looks as though they're getting ready to fight over space in the cellar when conference play begins in the first week of January.

Princeton (4-6) has a better record than those two squads, but it may need to take notice of its fellow Ivies' lack of success. The Tigers are giving up 4.11 more turnovers per game than they are forcing, a mere 0.06 less than Dartmouth and 1.32 less than Cornell.

Giving up turnovers is one of the most disruptive problems that can afflict an offense in basketball. It interrupts the flow of the game, prevents the team from taking a shot and gives the opponent another opportunity.

For this reason, head coach Richard Barron always devotes extra time to ball security. When asked whether he has shifted emphasis to that area this year, Barron shook his head and smiled ruefully.

"We've been emphasizing [reducing turnovers] every day here for the past six years," Barron said.

The low points of the season may have come in the team's 67-53 loss against Northwestern on Dec. 1, and its 66-55 loss against Cincinnati on Dec. 2. With a combined turnover margin of 29-43, the Tigers effectively prevented themselves from winning those games simply by giving their opponents the ball.

In the game against the Bearcats, Princeton shot an outstanding 50 percent from the floor — but turnovers limited the Orange and Black to only 48 shots compared to Cincinnati's 62.

Even for the best basketball teams, taking 14 fewer shots than an opponent is a recipe for disaster. As the game with the Bearcats demonstrated, an individual turnover may seem like a fairly innocuous event in the course of the game, but cumulatively, the effects can be devastating.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, this problem doesn't vanish when the team wins. In its 75-51 blowout of NJIT, Princeton turned the ball over 18 times. Many of the turnovers came on unforced errors like traveling violations and lost dribbles that had Barron repeatedly urging the team to slow down and play more calmly.

Solving the problem

The difficulty in curbing turnovers lies in the fact that the cause is often nearly impossible to isolate. Many times, a turnover comes about when a player attempts a careless pass or doesn't pay attention to her steps as she drives into the lane. These turnovers are often caused by being distracted or losing focus on the ball.

Many turnovers, however, do not come when players lose focus. In fact, it may be just the opposite for this year's Orange and Black squad.

"It's not that they're being careless," Barron said. "It's that they're being too careful."

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In this sense, decreasing turnovers can often seem like a Catch-22. If one emphasizes ball control too intensely, it only increases mental anxiety and leads to more turnovers. If one does not emphasize it enough, turnovers will come from sloppy or careless play.

Barron believes that the only real solutions will be time, experience and learning to relax.

"The natural instinct for most of these players is to try harder," he said. "So if they turn the ball over on a drive, the next time they think, 'I'm going to drive harder.' When they make a bad pass, [the] next time they try to make the same bad pass, only harder."

The good news for Princeton is that the team is hard at work ironing out these kinks before the Ivy League schedule begins. In its Dec. 12 game against Rider, the team turned the ball over 17 times — while forcing 21 turnovers from the Broncs.

Fundamentally, Barron knows the problem is correctable.

"It's not a talent problem," he said. "We've got the talent. It's just a matter of executing."

If the team can tighten its handle on the ball, it could well experience tremendous success against its fellow Ivies, as Brown is currently the only team with a positive turnover margin amid tough early season schedules. Indeed, it is highly likely that the squad that best secures the ball will, in the end, secure the crown.