Tale of the Tigers

Sporting News, The, March 16, 1998 by Steve Harrison

"If I'm posting up," Henderson says, "That means we're getting everything."

There are times, however, when scoring becomes so easy the Tigers wish to show opponents a full mosaic of passes and cuts, to show what a great offense really looks like. It's then, when, from across the court you can hear Carmody erupt and shout, "Don't get too cute!"

Because they spend most of practice scrimmaging against one another--with the first team desperately trying to outfox the second team--games are a welcome respite. When Princeton is at its best, the offense looks like the Harlem Globetrotters and the defense looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like a December win over Niagara, when all 21 field goals came off an assist. Or last month, when the defense, which has led Division I in fewest points allowed for the last nine seasons, held Dartmouth to 29 percent shooting (15-of-52) in a 71-39 win. Or in a victory over Brown when the Tigers scored their first bucket backdoor on the way to a 23-2 lead.

"I wasn't surprised when we played them," says North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek, whose Wolfpack lost to Princeton, 38-36, in November. "They aren't sneaking up on anybody anymore. But what they don't get credit for is their defense."

So how do you beat them?

Don't be spooked by the backdoor layup. Sure it's embarrassing, but it's simply how the Tigers score points. "We don't get down when other teams alley-oop on us," Lewullis says. "They shouldn't get down when we go backdoor." What happens is that players get so obsessed with stopping the Tigers' cuts, their game suffers.

Pick your poison. Take away the perimeter game with aggressive man-to-man, or play a sagging zone that takes away the backdoor. "The teams that take away one thing or another are the ones that give us trouble," Henderson says. "Drexel, Yale and NC State all packed it in. That makes it difficult."

But taking away the inside or outside isn't a magic bullet. Leonard and Penders chose to play Princeton man-to-man on the perimeter. Their philosophy? It's better to give up two points than three. Both still lost.

"I don't like to play a team hoping they're going to miss," Penders says. "But if you play man, it's got to be an old-fashioned man-to-man. Because if you trap--or go give help--they'll kill you."

North Carolina did the opposite--it packed it in--and Princeton would have won if not for a horrendous outing in the field. The Tigers were 4-for-26 from 3-point range.

If you choose to play a zone, a 2-3 matchup is effective. If your guards are aggressive--which they have to be against Princeton--one weakness of the 2-3 is the middle of the lane, a place the Tigers have trouble exploiting. Goodrich is not a great high-post player who can catch, turn and pop a 12-footer. Still, the Tigers can exploit the 2-3's other weakness: They can kill you with 3-pointers on the wing.

Rough 'em up. This is hardly a secret, but it's wise to play the Tigers tough. In the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers will be smaller than their opponents, so bump them and try and disrupt their passing lanes.