Is time on PU’s side?
By: Bob Nuse
Everybody likes to kick a team while they’re down.
Princeton University’s record-setting 41-21 loss to Monmouth on Wednesday night brought all kinds of people out of the woodwork.
All of a sudden, the Tigers were being talked about on ESPN. The Associated Press was calling looking for photos from the game so everyone could see and read about the Tigers’ offensive futility.
Sure, only one other team had scored as few as 21 points in a game during the shot clock era which started in 1985. That was Coastal Carolina, which dropped a 61-21 decision to Georgia Southern in 1997. And sure, the last time Princeton scored 21 points in a game was in 1936, when the Tigers dropped a 44-21 decision to Penn.
But let’s not go crazy.
Princeton had a bad night. It came just four days after Princeton had a real good night.
When the Tigers beat Wyoming, 59-50, last Saturday night, everyone was quick to say it had all come together for Princeton. A starting lineup featuring three sophomores and a freshman had clicked just six games into the season. No senior took the floor that night and everything was fine at Princeton.
But it’s not that easy.
Everyone thought when Joe Scott came back to Princeton as head coach a year ago it would be a move back to the days of backdoor cuts, great three-shooting, and defense that wouldn’t let teams score. The problem was, when Scott got to Princeton, he didn’t have those types of players.
As the coaching progression went from Pete Carril to Bill Carmody to John Thompson, the Princeton offense started to look less and less like the Princeton offense. In fact, during Scott’s final year at Air Force, his Falcon team looked a lot more like the Princeton teams of old than the Tigers did that same year.
To be at its best, the Princeton offense requires a great passer at the center position. Right now, Princeton doesn’t have that. Patrick Ekeruo is a hard worker in the middle, but he’s not the kind of passer at the high post that Kit Mueller, Steve Goodrich, or even Nate Walton was. That center also needs to be able to knock down the three-point shot from the top of the key. Ekeruo has a nice shot, but not that kind of shot.
To be at its best, the Princeton offense needs an experienced point guard running the shot. Kevin Steuerer may eventually be that player. Right now he’s a freshman who has played three games. Scott Greenman is a senior with experience. But he has been hurt and this is just his second season under Scott’s version of the Princeton offense.
To be at its best, the Princeton offense requires deadly three-point shooters. Right now, Princeton doesn’t have that. Princeton has some nice young players who have shown they can shoot the three-pointer. Players like Noah Savage, Kyle Koncz and Ed Buffmire can shoot, but they’re not experienced shooters. In time, they will be.
And time is what Princeton needs right now.
It’s a young group that lacks experience. And it’s a young group trying to learn what is, arguably, the toughest offense to learn in basketball. When it’s working, as was the case against Wyoming, Princeton looks like the Princeton teams of old. When it’s not working, well, Princeton sets records for offensive futility.
As the Tigers slip below .500, fans jump off the bandwagon quickly. Princeton fans in general have always been drawn to the team when it wins. This season, attendance is way down. There has yet to be a crowd over 3,000 for any of the four Princeton home games. With each loss, that figure will likely continue.
Right now, Princeton is not a very good team. By the time the Ivy League season begins in January, they may be a good team. But throughout this season, chances are they will not be a consistently good team. There are too many players learning what Princeton basketball is all about. That will take time.
It will also take some time for Scott to get the players into the program that fit the system. Some are already in place. Others will follow. Eventually, everything will be in place.
Right now it’s not.
When it is, Princeton basketball will be something special again.

