Another Ivy League showdown is on the way

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The stage is set for another showdown on Friday night. Two familiar foes in recent years will meet in Jadwin Gym with first place in the Ivy League on the line, and that’s pretty much what was expected all along. The only question was the teams’ records coming in, and they will remain separated by a game in the loss column after Harvard pulled out a 72-66 win at Yale on Saturday night.

Princeton took care of their end of the bargain by blasting Cornell a night after they took care of Columbia. With the late start in New Haven, this was known well before the game was over. It was just a question of whether or not Harvard would hold up its end and head to Princeton with one league loss or two.

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Young Harvard takes the first Ivy League showdown

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Round one of the Ivy League battle for the top went to the home team, as tends to happen. Harvard, a young team that has grown up a lot during the season, used a big second half to knock off Princeton 69-57 and go up by a game in the all-important loss column. While they played like a championship-caliber team, Harvard knows a lot of basketball is still left to be played. With that, as well as the past as a guide, Harvard will take nothing for granted right now.

Ivy League play is just past the halfway point, but already is looks like it will once again be a two-team race between the teams that battled in Lavietes Pavilion on Saturday night. Both entered the night two games up in the loss column over everyone else in the league. That’s not the case now and not just because of this game’s result, as Cornell also won to go to 5-3, a game behind Princeton in the loss column for second place. Cornell has come to life in Ivy League play after some struggles in non-league play, but there’s every reason to think this will come down to Harvard and Princeton.

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Relief: Harvard gets past Princeton in the big game

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – This was no ordinary game for Harvard. This was a game against a challenger to their lead in the Ivy League, even if it was a team that sits two games back in the loss column and thus needs help. More importantly, it was against the team that has been a thorn in their side of late, and that includes this season as their only league loss came less than two weeks earlier on the road against this team. It was against the team whose heart-breaking defeat of them led to a constant mention of a simple number all season: 2.8.

And when Harvard walked off the court with a hard-fought 67-64 win over Princeton, the feelings about this one were not like the feelings after any other win.

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Baylor is clearly third in the Big 12

At this time of the year, we find out who teams are. The importance of each game in the standings is clearer, teams have injuries, seniors are playing their final games and freshmen have about 20 games under their belt.

Every season, there are some teams that look very good for a while, even good enough in our minds to be Final Four and/or national championship contenders. They have the talent, experience and early on a few good wins. They might not lose a game for a while, even beating some good teams. Then sooner or later, they get tested, and we find that they’re not quite at that level.

Enter this year’s Baylor Bears, 72-57 losers at Missouri on Saturday. … Continue Reading

Defense helps Princeton turn around after tough start

BOSTON – The start to this season wasn’t exactly how Princeton probably drew it up. The Tigers were 1-5 in the first six games, with three losses being by six points or less, and they had some question marks offensively. While the offense is always a subject of conversation, an improvement at the defensive end has helped changed the team’s success, as Sunday’s 71-62 win at Northeastern was their fifth in six games.

In the Tigers’ five losses early on, they allowed the opponent to shoot 45.6 percent from the field. In addition, two opponents made more than half of their shots from long range. While the Tigers struggled offensively in those games, topping 38 percent just twice, the impact of their defense could not be understated.

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Princeton gets first win, shows room for improvement

PRINCETON, N.J. – In getting the first win of the season and the first career win for head coach Mitch Henderson, Princeton certainly did some things well on Saturday. But there was also plenty to take away for future work from their 61-53 win over Buffalo that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

The Tigers started with a bang and were never seriously challenged in the first half, owing largely to their defense and Buffalo’s offense. The Bulls never got untracked at that end of the floor, and the first half numbers for them were ugly: 20 percent shooting and 12 turnovers. At one point, Princeton led 36-11 late in the first half.

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Quick Hitters – April 22, 2011

A few quick hitters as we head into the holiday weekend:

• Miami‘s hire of Jim Larranaga is an excellent one, and an interesting move for the 61-year-old coach. Larranaga was thought to be in his final job after turning down opportunities a few years ago, at a school where he could win every year and a conference in which he was the dean of coaches. The school paid him well and he made money as a motivational speaker after leading George Mason to the Final Four. But as one person pointed out, there’s no risk here. If things don’t work out and he is let go, he can retire in 4-5 years anyway and after picking up more money. … Continue Reading

Mid-April Rundown of the Latest NBA Decisions and Coaching Changes

1. Stetson is hoping that Casey Alexander can duplicate the run of success he helped establish at Belmont as the Hatters’ new coach, according to a press release from Belmont that announces the associate coach’s departure. In 20 years with the Bruins’ program, Alexander helped the team transition from NAIA to the NCAA and worked to position the Bruins as a mid-major powerhouse in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

2. As the deadline for early entrants to the NBA Draft passes, here’s a rundown of some of the recent announcements:

• Colorado’s Alec Burks: In draft, with agent.
• Kentucky’s Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight and DeAndre Liggins: All in draft, none with agent.
• Michigan’s Darius Morris: In draft, without agent.
• Northwestern’s John Shurna: In draft, without agent.
• Vanderbilt’s Festus Ezeli, John Jenkins and Jeffrey Taylor: All returning to school.

3. Among the coaching ranks, here’s some more recent movement:

• Penn State assistant coach Lewis Preston is leaving to coach Kennesaw State.
• Former Princeton player Mitch Henderson returns to his alma mater as head coach.
• Syracuse assistant Rob Murphy will move to Eastern Michigan as head coach.

4. And from the rumor mill, Miami’s coaching search continues, with George Mason’s Jim Larranaga as a new target.

Brown Makes Ivy Race More Interesting

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Ivy League race got more interesting on Saturday night.

With Brown’s convincing 75-65 win over Princeton, the showdown between Princeton and Harvard on March 5 just got a little bigger. If things hold to form – and the Bears’ win over the Tigers is just the latest example that one should not assume as much – that game will be between two one-loss teams in the league and very likely determine the champion.

Harvard has a half-game lead due to having played more games, but the Crimson and Tigers are even in the all-important loss column. Many have pointed to the March 5 game as having NCAA Tournament implications, and that may well stand up. But assuming as much isn’t a good idea, something both coaches would surely agree on as they try to go one game at a time.

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Time to Talk About the Princeton Defense

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Princeton offense is well-known.  It’s been talked about a great deal in recent years – one might even say it’s been discussed ad nauseum – and misconceptions about it abound.  Less talked about is the defense, but right now that’s the big reason why Princeton is on it is on a roll, improving to 3-0 in the Ivy League with a 56-53 win at Harvard.

The Tigers started the season by allowing each of the first five opponents to shoot at least 40 percent from the field against them.  That contributed to a 2-3 start, along with the fact that they didn’t shoot all that well in each game at the offensive end.  But since then, only twice has a team shot at least 40 percent against them, indicative of a defense that has come along since that time.  Behind it all is a simple philosophy, not unlike the offense, which is based on simple, fundamental basketball.

“I just think we’re really trying to focus on us,” said head coach Sydney Johnson.  “If they make tough shots, then God bless them, but oftentimes tough shots rim out, they find a way to rim out, and we’ve got to find a way to get those rebounds.  At least during this stretch, we’ve been able to make people take tough shots.”

In the win at Harvard, the Tigers did a good job on Crimson star Jeremy Lin, especially in the first half.  Lin was just 2-7 from the field in the opening frame and finished 6-16, and while he had 19 points and helped lead a comeback that fell short, he never took over the game like he has done on plenty of occasions.

Harvard shot 36 percent from the field, the highest percentage in the three Ivy League games thus far.  A week earlier, Princeton shut down Brown despite early foul trouble among their two best big men, with the perimeter players doing a great job of not letting the Bears get the ball inside.  They have shown that they can defend teams in more ways than one to win games.

“I think the team is really just starting to take pride in our defense and I think we’re all kind of coming together and talking on defense and we’re getting it a little bit,” said junior guard Dan Mavraides.  “I think it’s something we’re taking pride in and it’s working.”

The Crimson made a furious rally in the second half after Princeton had answers for most of it.  A three-pointer by Mavraides, who along with Kareem Maddox led Princeton with 14 points, put the Tigers up 47-33 with 4:55 left, and it looked like the Tigers were well on their way.  But the Crimson roared back with a 16-4 run to get within 51-49.  A four-point player with 12 seconds left made it 54-53, before Maddox hit two free throws and Lin missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Almost as impressive, the Tigers’ 3-0 mark has come with all three games on the road and one more to come (at Dartmouth on Saturday).  Then they go home for four of five, with the lone road game a weeknight trip to arch-rival Penn in between the two weekends.  Winning on the road is notoriously difficult in the Ivy League except for the teams that are far and away better from a talent and experience standpoint, so this is a good start.

“We knew we were going to have to go on the road anyways,” Johnson said.  “We’re just trying to grind it out.  I’m very proud of how they have responded to just trying to compete every time out, every time we play.  We’re just playing possession-by-possession and it’s been good so far.”

All along, Johnson is keeping it simple.  A soft-spoken and understated coach, he’s concerned with how his team plays and doesn’t sweat the small stuff.  His team reflects it; they strike you as low-key even on the court, even as the winning continues.  He wouldn’t mind if his team didn’t get the acclaim they deserve because the bottom line is all the acclaim he needs.

Keeping it simple is a key for Maddox, who had a big game with 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.  The junior forward has some good length, and against a Harvard team having to play without key big men Keith Wright and Pat Magnarelli due to injuries, that was a factor.  He played easily his best game of the year and continued to play well of late after not earning a lot of minutes early on.

“He’s really focused on what he’s doing,” Johnson said of Maddox.  “He’s keeping it simple.”

Keeping it simple has worked wonders for Princeton in the early going.  Johnson is quick to remind us that Ivy League play is just three games old, but the way this team is playing, especially defensively, would seem to bode well for them the rest of the way.  The offense is what people often talk about, but anyone watching Princeton these days has to talk about their defense.