I don’t think Davis has a better chance for success anywhere else. He’s a very good player but he’s having a bad, injury-riddled year. Princeton remains the best place for him basketball-wise (guaranteed starting PG/lead scorer/ballhandler) and academically of course.
As for Jack Scott, he was not an impact player. In fact, his clumsy mistakes were a decisive factor in the disastrous 2024 ILT loss to Brown. He transferred to Duke for reasons that had nothing to do with his playing career. He clearly has his eyes set on a coaching career.
“No urgency” describes the team for the past 3 games. When Jack Stanton broke his foot at the Palestra, the coaches and players all agreed that the season was over. They’re just going through the motions, playing out the string. Mitch has already been talking about next year and how he hopes everyone stays, which, for the record, our players stated was the plan.
I get that this was supposed to be a down year, but I hate this kind of quitter’s mentality. Mike Martin’s 2-8 squad had no ILT hopes and they whooped our butts today with a smile on their faces.
Early in the season this team played hard every night, even without Davis for much of the time. But losing all those close games becomes a habit, especially for a team with lots of issues at both ends of the court. The lack of intensity lately is not surprising in view of the length of the season, the lack of success and the press of academic responsibilities. Losing Stanton was the last straw.
We should expect the players to improve although Hicke can’t get much better. Abdullahi has a high ceiling, will be a vital cog next year. Clark can be a real force as he matures physically. Still need a big presence at the basket but it’s not on this roster. Davis and Stanton will help the offense no doubt.
Last night we saw turnovers that would shame a high school team. Sign of end of season indifference.
We should expect the players to improve although Hicke can’t get much better. Abdullahi has a high ceiling, will be a vital cog next year. Clark can be a real force as he matures physically. Still need a big presence at the basket but it’s not on this roster. Davis and Stanton will help the offense no doubt.
This particular game was lost in the paint on both offense and defense. We do not have a rim protector, nor do we have a big with post moves. Nor is one arriving next year (so far at least).
Even with improvements and recovery from injury, this projects to be a team which could make the ILT, but unlikely to win the championship.
No panic. We have the youngest team in the league. If we keep our core players, get a true point guard (Clark should be on the wing not bringing up the ball) and get a physical center who can block shots and defend the rim (e.g. Richmond or Kellman), we will compete for the title. The NIL era is challenging for everyone (ask Penn, Harvard or Yale). This, however, is not the time to clean house. If players leave (and they might) that’s the new reality, Princeton is well positioned going forward to recruit top players who want to play right away and go to one of the best school’s in the country.
Interesting from Jerry Carino at the Asbury Park Press:
My takeaways from reading the article
Mitch gave up on the season several games ago due to youth and injuries.
He believes the team can be really good next year if he can retain everyone.
He believes being extra nice and not getting on players is the way to retain them.
I get these observations, but I hate them. This is NOT the way a coach should be thinking.
This “too young” “too injured” team started 2-0 with a 16pt win over Yale, then led Harvard on the road by 14pts with 3:20 left. And Dartmouth by 9 with 5m left. When they play tough on defense and confidently on offense, they can beat anyone in this league. They lost SEVEN straight games by <5 pts without Dalen Davis. Bullcrap that this team was incapable of being good this season. Absolute bullcrap.
Hey Mitch, Lee and Pierce didn’t leave because you weren’t nice enough. Players can and will leave if they get a million bucks to play for a power conference program. Or maybe high-six figures to play for a high major with great academics (Stanford, Duke).
These are not middle schoolers forced to play basketball for gym credit. These are elite athletes, 18+ years old, who push themselves to the limit to get where they are. They want to WIN and don’t mind a little fire and discipline from a coach. They’d all prefer to play for a taskmaster who gets them to the NCAA tourney over a nice guy who shrugs as they’re humiliated in games they could win..
I agree with you to a point but these players don’t want Pete Carril or Bobby Knight. Look what happened to Joe Scott. They want to make money and not get yelled at constantly.
I don’t see it a binary choice, all or nothing. I think there’s a happy medium that is needed. And the lack of that happy medium is holding Mitch and his teams back. Hearing that he’s just going to “double down” on his current approach worries me.
Doing the same thing and expecting different results. To many, that’s insanity. To Mitch, that’s a formula for success.
You’re too harsh. Princeton has had one or two down years in Mitch’s 14 years. Most Ivy teams would sign up for that immediately. Princeton did not lose due to a lack of effort. Those kids were trying their hardest. They lost last night because Landon Lewis, a senior, was the best player on the court and no one could stop him. I expect Davis and Hicke to dominate next year and Malik A. and Stanton to be really good as well.
As with the New York Yankees, I just don’t think Princeton basketball should consider a nice regular season W-L record as “mission accomplished.” I realize that many low and mid-majors would consider that successful enough, so people can call me overly demanding if they want.
If Mitch had reached the NCAA tourney in 2022 and 2024, you wouldn’t hear a single peep from me. If he had reached in 2022 OR 2024, it would take another 3-4 awful season for me to complain. Now obviously 2023 made up for a lot of seasons before it, but it was still sandwiched between two MH teams that were BY FAR the best in the league and fell short in the ILT.
Mitch once said in an interview that he thought he knew everything when he first took the job. Then he realized that he had a lot more to learn. Why has he stopped learning? When a head coach gets stuck in his ways and refuses to adjust, that’s a bad sign. On a related note, Harvard is whooping Cornell at Newman… Apparently, Amaker and McCaffery don’t think Cornell is an NBA caliber juggernaut that can’t be beat.
I actually think this team should be the favorite next year: Davis, Stanton, Hicke, Abdullahi, Huggins, Clark.
No seniors means no graduation losses. Transfer portal is a factor for every team, and for what it’s worth, our own players have already said they’re all returning. Even so, I have zero confidence that they’ll show up in Ivy Madness.
If Mitch would just adjust his approach, I’d be more optimistic about the future. But despite swapping out assistants, it’s just more of the same. I’m praying for Allocco to give up on G-League and join the coaching staff as the newest assistant.
According to Verbal Commits, not a single PF/C has committed yet. I don’t think they’re recruited a true center since Mason Hooks, who didn’t work out despite being highly regarded out of high school.