Men's Basketball: High hopes for hoopsters

Last year, the men’s basketball team got off to a fast start in Ivy League competition with wins over Dartmouth and Harvard before hosting Cornell, the reigning league champion and winner of 19 consecutive Ivy contests.

Princeton never trailed in its 61-41 thrashing of the Big Red on Feb. 6.

As head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 and his players emphasized at the time, the victory was only one league win. And sure enough, Cornell still went on to capture the Ivy crown.

Nevertheless, the victory proved that the Tigers could compete with the cream of the crop. Fortunately for Princeton, nearly every weapon that played a part in the improvement from a 6-23 team to a 13-14 team will return.

Though the Tigers’ 8-6 league record last season got them a second-place finish, they did manage to close out their season on a high note, riding guard Dan Mavraides’ 17 points to a thrilling 59-56 victory over arch-nemesis Penn in The Palestra. It was the first time in five years that Princeton had won at the Quakers’ gym.

“I think last year was definitely something to build upon,” senior forward and co-captain Nick Lake said.

Experience should help, but Johnson is careful not to put too much stock into last year’s games.

“Being able to draw on those past experiences is supposed to help you and inform you for the future. We would love it to be that way, but you can’t rest on your laurels,” Johnson said. “You just can’t say, ‘We’re an older team, so we’ll be smarter.’ You have to continue to remind your guys about those setbacks as much as you talk about those breakthroughs.”

The question of this season, then, is how to take some of those successes and turn them into more breakthroughs.

“It will take a great deal of maturity, to be honest,” Johnson said. “I think that we have a nice group of players. They all accentuate each other’s skills, but I definitely think that besting what we did last year will take a real emotional commitment from our guys to pay attention to detail, be a very close team on the floor and in practice.”

Last year, Princeton jumped out of the gate to a 4-0 Ivy League record. The Tigers then traveled to Yale and Brown and dropped both games — two steps forward, one step back.

Senior guard and co-captain Marcus Schroeder said he also believes that maturity will be needed this year to prevent something similar from happening. Princeton won’t be creeping up on anyone this year.

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“It’s continuing to grow up and mature,” Schroeder said. “I think another big thing is being smarter as basketball players. Those two things go hand in hand, maturity and being smarter on the court.”

“Last year, we crept up on a lot of people,” he added, “and we went into that weekend at Yale and Brown when we were 4-0, and they beat us pretty badly. We had that tag on our back, and they smacked us around pretty good.”

Princeton’s health will also be critical to its success this year.

“We might have more depth than we’ve had in the past, but we don’t have so much depth that if any player goes down, we won’t miss him,” Johnson said. “We will.”

Still, the Tigers head into the season with an experienced group of players as well as a large stable of talented freshmen.

Lake and Schroeder will lead the team as co-captains this year. Lake averaged 3.6 points per game last year, while Schroeder put up an average of 4.9 points per game. Schroeder also led the team with three assists per game.

What makes the two stand out in Johnson’s eyes, however, is their scrappy, hard-nosed play, and he hopes those two will ensure that the entire team plays that way each and every game.

“We do want to get after it. We do want guys on the ground, getting loose balls. We want to compete. We like the idea of people seeing our team as one that’s passionate about competing and playing,” Johnson said. “Nick and Marcus embody that.”

Senior centers Pawel Buczak and Zach Finley, a formidable duo in the middle, are the other two seniors on the team. Buczak was third on the team in scoring, at 7.7 points per game on very efficient 55 percent shooting, while Finley averaged nearly five points per game.

And together, they accounted for a little more than eight rebounds and a block per game.

Last year’s starting backcourt returns intact as well. Mavraides and sophomore guard Doug Davis were key elements of the Princeton offense, as they had the top two scoring averages, respectively, on the team.

Though he was only a freshman, Davis proved he was capable of scoring with his ability to slash to the basket and create space for his shot. He led the team with 12.3 points per game.

Mavraides’ average also made it to double digits, at 10.3 points per game.

He was one of the Tigers’ better outside shooters — at a clip of 42.6 percent from beyond the arc, only Schroeder was better, with a 51.2 percent average — but he was also adept at putting the ball on the floor and getting to the charity stripe, where he converted almost 80 percent of his opportunities.

Junior forward Kareem Maddox is the last member of last year’s starting lineup. The athletic forward was the best on the team at converting free throws, at 83.6 percent.

Sophomore forwards Patrick Saunders and John Comfort also return. Both players usually came off the bench last year to make contributions. Saunders accounted for 5.2 points and almost four rebounds per game.

So while certain players generally accounted for more of Princeton’s offense, the team did not rely on one or two guys to carry the load night in and night out.

The Tigers employed a very team-oriented and unselfish style of play, one that requires everyone to step up and make a play when the opportunity arose.

Of course, the most important component of Princeton’s success was its defense. The Tigers held their opponents to a shooting percentage of only 40.1 percent. Though it won’t come as a shock, when Princeton’s opponents shot 45 percent or better, the Tigers were 2-8. In all other games, Princeton went a very respectable 11-6.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense. There’s going to be times where we’re going to have a bad shooting night,” Schroeder said. “Any basketball team is going to have that. I think we understand that, and that’s why we take a lot of pride in our defense, in stopping people. That’s one of our main focuses — defending and stopping people from scoring, and that will give us a chance to win a lot of times.”

When the Tigers were at their best, they played solid, fundamental and unselfish basketball. Turnovers, bad shot selection and poor defensive efforts were usually at the root of Princeton’s losses.

Six freshmen will join Princeton’s talented corps: center Brendan Connolly, guard Jimmy Sherburne, and forwards Will Barrett, Mack Darrow, Gus Gabel and Ian Hummer.

“It’s been great,” Lake said of the newcomers. “I remember when I was a freshman the older guys helped me along, and all the older guys are trying to do that, too. They’re picking it up really quickly, working really hard. I definitely think they have a chance to contribute and help us win.”

Hummer and Barrett, in particular, come as highly touted prospects: Both were recognized by the ESPN RISE magazine, which is focused on high school sports.

Johnson also noted that the depth of the team makes for a more competitive atmosphere in practice.

“I put a tremendous value on that,” Johnson said. I think that having a competitive team just builds a habit, and it just kind of frames the way you are every time you step out onto the court. I think competitive practices are a must in order for a team to be successful. Having played on some winning teams here, and having played on some winning teams professionally, and [having] been fortunate enough to coach on some winning teams — one thing that was consistent is that those practices were very competitive.”

With many weapons and talents, it remains to be seen just how playing minutes will break out. But one thing is for certain: The Tigers won’t sneak up on anybody this year.

Cornell remains the prohibitive favorite in the Ivy League, with All-Ivy guard Louis Dale and All-Ivy forward Ryan Wittman returning. As if it weren’t enough, the Big Red also has the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in center Jeff Foote and last year’s Rookie of the Year in guard Chris Wroblewski.

Princeton got a little taste of what Cornell has enjoyed for the past several years: success. Lake believes that last year’s breakthroughs have served to whet the team’s appetite.

“I think last year, we were OK in the Ivy League season,” Lake said. “We could kind of taste a little bit of being close to the top. It was encouraging, but we want even more.”

Aside from the Big Red, the league is wide open. The Tigers have proven they can compete with anybody. If they stay grounded, work hard and impose their style of play on their opponents, they just might find themselves in the thick of things as the season winds down.

It’s all about that next game, and the first one is quickly coming into focus. Princeton will open its season against Central Michigan at Mt. Pleasant, Mich., next Saturday.