Road win! The start of the game was unbearable. It is well known that rebounding is all about effort and let’s just say the effort was lacking from the boys in the first 5 minutes of the game.. across the board. It was that lack of effort and physicality that had me befuddled watching the Cornell game.
I agree with the assumption that Davis has been playing hurt and his lack of lateral quickness has been blowing giant holes in our defense. IF it isn’t an injury then frankly it is a lack of effort. We are not good enough to have guys who are saving their gas only for offense. Again well known that if your team leaders are your hardest workers, coaches don’t have to coach effort. For all the back and forth on this string about MH… I think that is the underlying issue. Coaches of most successful programs believe that they should not have to coach effort or energy level, that is expected to be brought to the table. What I liked about last nights performance is we played through the whistle/horn. We didn’t give any appearance of getting tired. As Auriemma famously said when defining the difference between good and great, “Great players (teams) don’t get tired. They just don’t. And what makes them great is when the good players (teams) get tired, the great players (teams) kick their ass”.
It IS up the team leadership to bring the juice. That is a challenge this team continues to navigate. Davis came into the season as the clear anointed leader while Hicke was “going to have step up”. Leadership isn’t just who leads the team in scoring. Leadership and effort can’t just disappear when your shot isn’t falling. How many times in youth basketball do you see that kid who all the sudden starts playing defense after making his first shot versus the slumping shoulders and running back on defense at 50% because of the miss? Consistent winning basketball starts and ends with effort/energy level and I don’t think this team has been able to bring that or maintain that on the road.
The juice that Malik and Huggins brought on the defensive end and effort rebounds was key. Columbia was the top rebounding team in the Ivy coming into last night and we started the game down 6-0 on the boards. Ended the game down 6 on the boards and gave up 20(!) offensive boards…
It was just a matter of time for a shooting night out of Stanton like that. He is too good of a shooter and was sitting at 26% in conference play before last night. Also the play of Hammond on Friday night was a bright spot in an otherwise miserable game and it was good to see him rewarded with more time last night. He has the frame, strength, and athletic ability to provide some much needed help in the low post.
With Yale losing last night.. they control their destiny. Big game at Penn on Saturday and then 4 of the last 6 are at Jadwin.
Need I remind you that our 2 stars from last year who would have been on this team are not, due to the damn NIL/transfer tunnel that is beyond Mitch’s control?
You don’t need to be a “kiss the ring and obey” type to recognize that Princeton is fortunate to have Coach Henderson leading the basketball program. Since the fading of the P/P duopolgy glory years, he has consistently kept the Tigers in the hunt. His record speaks for itself and no other college would consider parting ways with a coach who has had so much success over many years and conducts himself with so much class and professionalism.
Can his teams sometimes play better? Of course, but I agree with the comment above that this year is an example of Henderson’s finest coaching as opposed to exposing his shortcomings.
Getting 40 minutes of consistent, intensive effort on both ends of the court has eluded this year’s team. That is a valid critique and I don’t doubt that both the coaches and the players fully understand that. The collapse against Harvard was a particularly painful example. Executing against teams that are equally talented and motivated in league where there is increasing parity and there are no easy Ws is the challenge. Yale and Harvard have also experienced those kinds of letdowns so far this season and we just saw it on the women’s side when Columbia soundly beat a 19th-ranked Tiger squad and then lost to Penn the next night.
I would have to go back and research the Basketball U archives to validate this, but my guess is that the godawful meltdown against Yale several years ago led to similar hand-wringing, recriminations, and doom-saying. And that was with a team that wasn’t lacking senior leaders with its best player hobbled. I’m not saying this year’s Tigers are going to respond by going on a run to the Sweet Sixteen however it is a reminder that it is premature to give into frustrations and lapse into “fire the coach”.
Mitch Henderson is a very good coach and we are lucky to have him.
Mitch Henderson is not the only good head coach out there. It’s okay to consider other options.
Losing is fine if you get outplayed. It’s not okay if you get outworked. If your players panic and lose focus under pressure. If you refuse to fire up your guys because hey, that’s not your job. And these are problems that have plagued Mitch’s best, most experienced teams, not just this year’s squad.
@gokinsmen you are entitled to your opinion and I can understand you frustration but I don’t agree it with it. I think your opinion is discounting that these kids are already exceptionally motivated or they wouldn’t be at Princeton. They are used to reasoned feedback, not fear-based motivation and I think constant yelling would reduce performance rather than elevate it. The most effective motivation for the type is clarity, trust, and accountability, not theatrics.
Since they don’t play in the portal if they miss on one recruiting class they may feel it for 4 years so recruiting is about fit, trust, and long-term development… not transactions. I would argue that you need to temper your opinion with that in mind. Overcoming losing your 2 leading scorers and really then entire class of 2026 recruiting class has required an on the fly rebuild and program focus shift. Remember that Lee went through NBA draft process after his sophomore year… that has impact on a program where development matters more than raw talent. Junior and seniors win games and now retention is as critical as recruiting.. so (my opinion) you are seeing a coach who has adjusted his approach with a high focus on culture, development, and retention. I see a team building to be smarter, unselfish, and brutally hard to beat in February and March.
Those are good points and I will try to keep them in mind. I should note that my frustrations don’t really stem from this season, which has obvious extenuating circumstances, but from previous ones where Mitch had by far the best team in the league and still came up short (e.g. 2021-22, 2023-24). If I get mad this season, it’s because I want to forgive an underperforming year in exchange for an overperforming one - just as 2022-23 certainly made up for the previous year.
As for how “tough” a head coach should be, it’s an age-old debate. While I’m decidedly NOT in favor of a Bobby Knight personality, I think Mitch could stand to turn up the heat to James Jones or Brian Earl levels. You don’t need to demean or threaten anyone. Just fire them up, challenge them, snap them out of a malaise when things are going downhill fast.
Agreed. Fine line for today’s coaches to walk. It might be why Mitch decided to part ways with MacConnell who was recruiting coordinator and the last couple of years the “associate head coach”. BM recruited Pierce & Lee and from my perspective came across as a coach who was far more “transactional”.