Tigers opener tonight at Jadwin
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Kareem Maddox was sorry to see last season end for the Princeton University men’s basketball team.
The thought seems wildly counterintuitive in a 6-23 year, but it wasn’t until the end of the season that the then-freshman was starting to figure it all out. He scored 14 against Columbia, 16 against Ivy League champion Cornell and one game later the season was over.
”It was frustrating to wait that long to have a couple good games and then for it to be over,” said Maddox, the forward who played in 15 games last year. “But that was also really encouraging because I saw I could be that player to play well. I also knew the offense. It was encouraging because it made me work hard this summer. It wasn’t like it was a helpless feeling. I worked hard this summer and hopefully I start where I left off.”
Maddox looks to be one of the new starters for the Tigers, who tip off the season by hosting Central Michigan 7 p.m. tonight at Jadwin Gym. Maddox isn’t the only one expecting big things of himself this season.
”Kareem,” said PU head coach Sydney Johnson, “showed some tremendous flashes down the stretch.”
The Tigers are hoping those stretches are extended by the Oak Park, Calif. resident. Princeton was hammered by the graduation losses of Kyle Koncz and Noah Savage as well as Kevin Steuerer, who started 17 games, and the decision of potential starting guard Lincoln Gunn to leave the team. Gone is two-thirds of last year’s scoring including 160 three-pointers as well as more than half the rebounding.
”I’ll be able to contribute a lot more,” Maddox said. “I want to step up my rebounding since we lost Kyle Koncz, who rebounded a lot for us last year. I just want to step up and do what our team needs.”
Maddox feels better prepared to handle a bigger role. He took his late-season run and delved into offseason workouts. He is stronger — he’s listed as carrying 225-pounds on his 6-8 frame now — and shooting with more confidence. It’s a common theme among the Tigers.
”I don’t think we shot the ball well, obviously, last year,” Johnson said. “We also didn’t shoot it as well as we thought we could have. That still kind of hurts. That still stings. This year we have some guys that we feel can put the ball in the hole and they have to do that and we have a chance to win. And other guys play roles in terms of defensively and rebounding and what kind of bench contributions we get, but we really have to shoot the ball much better.”
The Tigers aren’t the biggest team, but they have more depth than usual at guard. Maddox has seen some changes in the offensive emphasis.
”Coach J is trying to get us to run his kind of style,” Maddox said. “It was hard last year because the old guys were so used to something else. I think we started to get into it at the end.”
And then the year ended, and the Tigers’ preparations began to put that season behind them, and move on to this year. Outside the team, expectations are low. Princeton was picked by the media to finish last in the Ivy League.
”I think you have to have a high standard for yourself regardless of what other people expect,” Johnson said. “And if you can live to that standard, you’re going to do all right in the long run.”
The Tigers return without a wealth of experience. Jason Briggs and Michael Strittmatter are the only two seniors. Briggs and junior Nick Lake are co-captains, but leadership will be by committee. Briggs and Lake are the two most accurate three-point shooters returning with 16 or more attempts last year.
Zach Finley returns as the leading scorer. He averaged just over 10 points per game, and the junior led the Ivy League in shooting percentage. He was in double figures scoring 15 times last season, but it’s in the other 12 games he played in that PU wants more consistency.
”As a junior, it should all start to come together,” Johnson said. “If we can kind of ride him, it makes us a lot stronger.”
Fellow juniors Marcus Schroeder and Pawel Buczak both have experience. Sophomore Bobby Foley saw some time as a freshman. This year’s top freshmen are guards Max Huc and Hun School graduate Doug Davis, as well as forward Patrick Saunders. Also new this year — banners from all the Princeton championship seasons are hanging from Jadwin’s ceiling, hanging over the Tigers as the long-range goal.
”What we see up there in the rafters, that’s what we’re trying to achieve,” Johnson said, “but we’ve got to take it day by day.”
The first day to show what Princeton has is here. Kareem Maddox couldn’t be happier.
”I think I’ll be able to help a lot more this year,” he said, “just in terms of now I know what the coaches expect and I know the competition we’re going to play against because we played against them last year. I’m feeling a lot better.”