The (possible) importance of the opening tip.

March 2, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Filed under Basketball, Luke Owings, Princeton

On the legal pad I bring to every Princeton game so I can take notes on the action, the words "lose tip" have started each game's scrawl so often this season that I had to go back game-by-game and see what the Tigers' record is on opening tips.

According to my calculations, Princeton is a woeful 4-22 when the official throws the ball in the air.

(4-20 at the start of the game, 0-2 in overtime.)

I'm not trying to be cute by pointing out the above struggles to control the game's first possession. Playing at a slower tempo - the Tigers' offensive pace is fourth-slowest in the nation - an extra possession can mean as much as a 4.9% increase in a team's chance of victory.

For more, see a 2005 KenPom blog post about the importance of winning the opening tip, especially when the two teams are statistically similar.

If Pitt and NJIT were playing, NJIT winning the opening tip would be less valuable than when two comparable teams like Princeton and Columbia face off on Friday.

Can a team be coached to be better at winning a jump ball? How much can be done beyond insisting "leap higher" or "tip the ball first?"

I know Luke Owings, not the world's highest leaper, had a strategy to steal the ball jumping center for Princeton that worked surprisingly well for him. He would try and time his jump so he could scoop the ball from below just at the moment it reached its apex.

Oh, the four games where Princeton has won the tip this season?: at Fordham, at Lafayette, at Dartmouth and versus Columbia.

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John Rogers speaks about Pete Carril.

March 2, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Filed under Basketball, John Rogers, Pete Carril, Princeton, Video

John Rogers talks about the lessons he learned playing for Pete Carril and the impact that Carril has had on Rogers' business.

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PAW story on Princeton basketball.

March 2, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Filed under Basketball, PAW Article, Princeton

I wrote a piece for the latest Princeton Alumni Weekly covering Princeton's Ivy play through the first Brown game. Enjoy! - JS

February surprise - Tigers return to the Ivy's top two
By Jon Solomon

Picked to finish last in the Ivy League by the conference's coaches and writers, the Princeton men's basketball team proved prognosticators wrong in the first half of the season, winning four of its first six Ivy games to move into second place.

The Tigers (9-10 overall) took an unexpected path to an unexpected record, winning their first four Ivy contests before being swept at Yale and Brown Feb. 13 and 14.

Part of Princeton's turnaround can be traced to late December, when freshman forward Patrick Saunders had to leave the team for a week to return home and deal with a family matter. In Saunders' absence, head coach Sydney Johnson '97 adjusted his starting lineup, adding Marcus Schroeder '10 and Dan Mavraides '11, and the two players provided a much-needed spark. Princeton ran off seven consecutive wins, its longest winning streak in five years. (Saunders returned as a reserve, contributing to six of the wins.)

Read the rest of this entry »

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The answer is "no."

March 2, 2009 at 10:37 am
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Princeton

After Georgetown's two point win over Villanova on Saturday, a reporter opened Hoya head coach John Thompson III's postgame press conference with the following question:

"John, you ever won a game before with 25 turnovers?"

Thompson paused, and then responded:

"I don't know. That's a hell of a first question. I'll take a win, and then we'll try and fix the turnovers."

It took me a few days, but I've looked at four seasons of Princeton box scores from when Thompson coached the Tigers and the last five years of game stats for Georgetown.

The answer to the reporter's question is "no."

The most turnovers in a victory during his time at each school:

Georgetown 72 Providence 62 - 22 turnovers - 1/5/06.

Princeton 75 Columbia 52 - 21 turnovers - 2/27/04.

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Monday News:

March 2, 2009 at 10:24 am
Filed under Basketball, Chris Young, Craig Robinson, Denver, Georgetown, Oregon State, Princeton, Recruiting, Today's News, Video, Will Venable

Craig Robinson was profiled on yesterday's edition of CBS Sunday Morning. Video is above.

Read about the Tigers' weekend sweep in the Daily Princetonian and the Yale Daily News.

Oregon State (13-14) led Oregon by 10 at halftime, but the Ducks' full court pressure overwhelmed the Beavers, who lost the 331st Civil War, 79-69.

Denver (14-15) dropped their regular season finale to North Texas, 73-59.

Princeton recruit Ian Hummer scored 22 points and had seven rebounds as Gonzaga advanced to the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship game.

Will Barrett had nine in Central Bucks South's PIAA District One Class AAAA seventh-place game loss to Lower Merion.

Many are hoping that Chris Young will have greater durability this season.

Two hits and a run batted in for Will Venable in Cactus League play.

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Iowa/Northwestern highlights.

March 1, 2009 at 8:43 am
Filed under Basketball, Northwestern, Video

NUBears has edited together all the best Wildcat plays from yesterday's triumph.

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Sunday News:

March 1, 2009 at 8:40 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Georgetown, Northwestern, Oregon State, Princeton, Recruiting, Richmond, Today's News

North Texas vs. Denver - 3:00 pm ET
Oregon State vs. Oregon - 10:00 pm ET - FSN

In addition to our recap, read about Princeton's Senior Night win over Yale on goprincetontigers.com, in the Trentonian, in the Trenton Times and on yalebulldogs.com.

Georgetown (15-12) finished strong and picked off #10 Villanova, 56-54.

Craig Moore and Northwestern (16-11) are assured of a winning season with a Senior Day victory over Iowa.

Richmond (15-14) shot a season-low 26.5% from the field, dropping a 66-57 decision to George Washington.

Oregon State visits Oregon in the 331st Civil War.

Denver closes out their regular season at home versus North Texas.

Princeton recruit Jimmy Sherburne led Whitefish Bay to the North Shore Conference title.

Brendan Connolly and Father Ryan lost 61-44 in the TSSAA Division II-AA state championship game. Connolly finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

Around the Ivy League: Harvard (13-13 / 5-7) surprised Cornell (19-9 / 9-3), 71-70. Dartmouth (9-17 / 7-5) defeated Columbia (11-15 / 6-6) behind 22 from Alex Barnett. Penn (9-16 / 5-6) scored the last 11 points of a 64-54 win over Brown (7-19 / 1-11).

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