Logan’s goals remain high for PU

Senior looks to help Tiger men win Ivies

By: Justin Feil
   Andre Logan may have lowered his own playing expectations, but that doesn’t mean he’s lowered those of the Princeton University men’s basketball team.
   "I’m not expecting to come in and do things like I did a couple years ago," said Logan, who continues to recover from his third surgery on his knee. "I just want to help the team as much as I can get to the end of the road and win the championship."
   Princeton, too, hopes that Logan can make it to the end of the road, which now is paved with the 14 Ivy League games beginning with Brown 7:30 p.m. tonight at Jadwin Gym. Even though the fifth-year senior cannot do some of the same things he once did, he has plenty to offer the Tigers in a limited role as they look for a repeat Ivy title.
   "I’m used to playing at a higher level than I’m doing now," Logan said. "I’m used to doing things with a higher skill level and being able to get by people a little better. It’s a difficult adjustment, but I’ve been adjusting. And I’m adjusting to what the team needs me to do on the court."
   Logan showed a glimpse of his old self with 11 points, four assists and three rebounds in 16 minutes during the Tigers’ 60-33 win over Division III Haverford on Monday.
   "It’s definitely good for my confidence," said Logan, who missed the first seven games this season after re-injuring his knee. "I’ve been taking it in steps. You make the first shot in practice, you start shooting even more. Then you make the first move, or drive or something and I’ve been progressively doing more in practice. Luckily, I finally hit a shot. It took me a while, just like last year. Hopefully I got that one out of the way."
   Logan was 3-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. He had not made a three-pointer in six previous attempts this season.
   "He did more (Monday) and it was good," said PU head coach Joe Scott, "but I need to see it every day in practice so he has that foundation when he goes into games when games are really on the line and they’re so much harder than they were (Monday)."
   Scott’s big demand on Logan is the big unknown — whether Logan can play effectively on back-to-back nights. Logan played just two minutes in the first game and none the second day of the Sun Bowl Tournament at the end of December.
   "How can you mimic Friday and Saturday if on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday you’re not doing it?" Scott asked. "To me, that’s the only way you can prepare yourself for what could possibly happen. When that does happen, when you wake up on Saturday after playing 20 hard minutes, he’s got to be ready to do what he has to do that day. He’s got to prepare himself. If he does that, I think he’s going to help us. Then we’ll be at full strength.
   "He’ll never be at full strength. That’s known. He has to be at mental full strength to get the most out of him personally and for us to get the most out of him."
   Logan’s knee got something of a break in the 19 days between the Duke and Haverford games. It certainly seemed to help against Haverford on Monday as the Tigers improved to 9-5.
   "It definitely gave me a chance to recuperate," Logan said. "It’s tough when we go a week or two in a row."
   The Tigers go six weeks straight beginning tonight. They’ll also host Yale 7:30 p.m. Saturday to complete the first Ivy weekend.
   "I’m real excited," Logan said Monday. "We have three days to get ready then it’s all out. We just need to go one game at a time. I can speak for everyone. We’re all ready to play this weekend. Four months of the season leads to (43) days. We do have a veteran team. We do know what it takes. Game by game, you play as hard as you can. Hopefully we’ll win."
   And the Tigers hope that Logan will give them another healthy body to help them accomplish their goal. The Tigers are as healthy as ever, according to Scott. Luke Owings returned to the starting lineup Monday after he had battled a stress fracture in his foot and is expected to start again tonight. But Scott is looking for performance throughout the week to feel confident on the weekends.
   "With Andre, I told him he has to compete every day in practice and show me every day that you’re ready to compete, that you’re going after the ball, that you’re all over the place," Scott said. "It’s not the dribbling and shooting and passing I’m looking for. I’m looking for the competitiveness, the toughness, the going after the ball because the next (43) days, that’s what it’s about. The more we do that, the more I see him doing that in practice every day, he’s into the game.
   "I still think that knee, understandably, poses him some question marks," he added. "That’s why it’s about practice. I’m not putting you in the game because I think you’re going to help us. I’m putting you in the game because I see what you do in practice. And you and me both know what you’re going to do when you get in there. I think he’s still trying to work that out from a health standpoint. But the time has come to say, this is it. You have (43) days. You have to lay it on the line so you know when I put you in exactly what you’re going to do. I think he understands that."
   Logan seems to be accepting of his new role. His knee will limit him, but he doesn’t want it to limit him from being a part of another Ivy championship. He’d like to be helping night in and night out, beginning this weekend.
   "Coming off this injury, especially in the Ivy League because it’s a tight season, it’s going to be difficult," Logan said. "Hopefully I’ll come in, get a hand on a pass here, get a rebound there and hit open shots when I need to."