On one hand, that feels like self-flattery - we’re not Duke. On the other hand, I mostly agree. I’ve never seen such sideline intensity from opponents this early on. Loyola-Chicago is a high-quality A-10 team and they acted like they were playing a Big Ten team.
Princeton also ranks in the 300s nationally in rebounding margin (-4.6) and defensive rebounding (22.8 per game), while fouls per game are slightly up from last season (13.5 to 15.5) when it ranked sixth nationally in fewest per game.
“If you can hold a team to one shot, because that second shot, often, there is a lot of fouling that goes on. The other team gets an offensive rebound right around the basket and those and-1s really hurt you.”
They’re just gonna have to hustle harder on rebounds, even draw some over-the-back fouls. Pierce is 6-7 (probably 6-6) and routinely beats 7-footers on rebounds. At 6-3, Xaivian grabs 5-6 rpg. Height is not the be-all, end-all. We’re going to get beat on the glass, but it doesn’t have to be this bad.
I will say that the guys did a much better job on the boards vs. Portland, who is actually much bigger than the undersized Texas State. Made good use of tap-outs on the offensive glass.
Having finally watched all of the Myrtle Beach games, I think the issues and prospects are pretty clear:
There was a “win on talent” mentality that started to afflict this squad because of all the hype around Lee and Pierce. That affected effort, attention to detail, and judgment (e.g. going to the rim against well-positioned shot blockers).
The team is not very big, but guys need to play bigger and more physically around the rim. Way too many ORs given up in the losses (and even some of the wins), including when opponents miss FTs, which is inexcusable.
Pursuant to the above, adjusting to the absence of Allocco (vocal leader and offensive and defensive bailout option par excellence) and Martini (yeoman under the rim on D, freeing up Pierce to play an aggressive 4 position) has taken awhile. I kind of feel like Davis will eventually be a PG leader type, but he is more of an “ice” than a “fire” guy and he isn’t yet positioned as the leader, while Lee and Pierce don’t seem to have that personality at all.
The shock of the two losses at Myrtle Beach seems to have given MH the empirical demonstration he needs to get them to play better. For example, the second half of Texas State looked a lot more like the offense we’ve gotten used to over the last few seasons, mostly because of better spacing and consequent ball movement and driving lanes. Before that, we had possession after possession of overcrowded stagnant dribbling and total failure to account for help defense via decoy cutters, extra passes, etc.
I once again think that MH is going to be quicker to switch to ball pressure against big, strong teams when the Tigers are getting scored on easily by the opponent. Both Wright State and Texas State had more-experienced, older, bigger players and it showed in the straight position man defense, even when double-teams were tossed at the post. Pressuring on the perimeter and in full court, whether with the 1-3-1 or aggressive man trapping brought the Tigers back into the game.
I expect the team to be much better going forward, with a lot more confidence in its depth. They actually have a lot of guys who can do a lot of things.
Good takes, SRP. The biggest unanswered question for me is who will step up to become the vocal leader who will get after teammates who don’t box out on FTs, throw lazy passes that get picked off, shoot impatiently, etc. As you put it very well, this is a team full of “ice” guys. I thought Jack Scott would step up to be the “fire” guy. He seems to play with passion and has the coach’s son background (please forgive the reference to the one who darkened Jadwin with its worst performances in our collective memories). I don’t know what his teammates think of him after he bolted for W&M before coming back, though. And he has not exactly set the world on “fire” this year, shooting 23% from the field, 20% from 3-pt range and 50% on FTs. We really miss mush, who would have willed the team to at least play harder against Wright State. (The close loss to Texas State doesn’t bother me as much as some on here and I thought team actually looked very good in the pounding they gave Portland.)
The vocal leader has to be Pierce and/or Lee. They’re the only ones who have the standing to hold their teammates accountable. Before the season, both players talked about having to be more vocal but that hasn’t materialized.
I once again think that MH is going to be quicker to switch to ball pressure against big, strong teams when the Tigers are getting scored on easily by the opponent.
I definitely want to see more ball pressure and trapping, maybe even pick up full-court just to take a few extra seconds off the shot clock. Opposing offenses are way too comfortable right now.
-In theory, I agree with you, but full court pressure can backfire without a shot-blocker at the back end.
-I want to put in another word for Jack Stanton. He impressed me in his brief appearance. I looked back on Verbal Commits, and he ranked at 3.9, just shy of four star. In addition, we have no incoming point guard for class of 2026. I suspect he is the point guard of the future, but cannot find PT in our guard rich lineup. Maybe we’ll see him against Nazareth.
in the St. Joe’s post-game interview, Luke For
singled out Davis’s defense. Brown was 3-17
from Sheffield because Davis kept in front of him.
On a night his shot was not dropping, his
defense was a key for us.
Yeah, Northeastern has been very good so far (and beat La Salle today). And the road game vs. Furman on Saturday is currently a Quad 2 win opportunity.
This team has so much talent. They just need to play as hard as they did today to make up for their lack of size. It can be done… and today proves it.
Another crushing loss. I’ve already resigned myself to a 9-5 Ivy season and first-round ILT loss.
As the kids say, our guys are getting clowned on. Other teams must be laughing at how sloppy and stupid
“the smart guys” are. The opposite of last year’s squad.
Caden’s mental mistakes down the stretch were embarrassing. He’s regressed below his freshman self.
Also, if Pierce can’t/won’t be more aggressive, then Xaivian needs to take over earlier. Clear out the lane and let the one guy who can take his man off the dribble create.
MH seems to think Xaivian should spend every first half in foul trouble to set a good example for his lazy teammates who refuse to play defense. Enough. Unleash your best player and let him lead. I hate trailing big every damn game, win or lose.
If this team doesn’t magically flip a switch, we could see a mass exodus via the transfer portal. Why stick around for a non-NIL team that can’t win with an NBA prospect and another POY winner?
With NIL and the transfer portal, Ivy League basketball is probably in its swan song this year.
Our players and coaches have decided to go down with a whimper. They probably spent more time reading ESPN than us fans did.
I’m nowhere near as negative as you are but I am frustrated. Spotting the opponent a double digit lead seemingly every single game is on Mitch. The Tigers went down 13 points today and just didn’t look ready to play: woeful defensive rebounding, losing most of the 50:50 balls, etc. He’s gott get the guys to start better.
But they fought back nicely, played brilliantly for stretches in the second half, tightened up the defense, passed and cut more sharply, and ran out to a 7 point lead.
Sure there were some boneheaded moves. I don’t know what Cade was trying to do when he and X had a routine two on one break away. Was that an allyoop gone bad that he threw over X’s head out of bounds? Why not just throw the simple bounce pass for the deuce?
Malik made some terrific plays on defense but made some poor decisions on offense that cost us. I think he just needs more playing time.
X made some extraordinary moves for scores but seemed to tire down the stretch and dribbled into trouble. He can’t keep doing that.
I don’t know what prompted DD to grab the opponent’s foot when the two were on the floor under Furman’s hoop while the other 8 players were playing 4 on 4 on the Tigers’ end but you just can’t do that kind of thing, even if the other guy did something dirty first. Easy flagrant foul call against you.
But I do think the team is improving, albeit gradually, and should be ready for a strong showing in the league–right now I’d say 11-3.
Since Bret MacConnell is the lead recruiter who’s finding gems like Lee and Tosan, I’m not gonna shed any tears if Henderson leaves, though he’s not getting any high major offers at this rate. I’m so sick of Mitch’s teams playing soft every single season with no improvement.
I don’t see how this team goes 11-3 considering Yale and Columbia are better right now and Cornell and Brown are getting better every week. And Dartmouth somehow gives us 1 good game every year. Penn is the only team I’m not scared of. Harvard should be 2 wins if not for our lousy effort.
I don’t know what Cade was trying to do when he and X had a routine two on one break away.
Stuff like this scares me. The team’s struggles are getting to them mentally. The body language today and all season is lousy. They don’t believe in themselves. They second-guess themselves. They hang their heads and let opposing teams mock/taunt/push them around.
I just watched about 5 minutes of Yale struggling against a mediocre Vermont team at home. Not impressive and I don’t agree that they are better than Princeton right now. Columbia has beaten a lot of bad teams and just got waxed by Albany (they do have a nice win over Villanova, but this isn’t a great Nova team). We’ll see.
Yale is still way more consistent, win or lose. They’re not constantly falling behind big every single game. And James Jones has proven time and again that his teams overperform their non-conf slate (the one and only exception being 2023).
Mitch has the opposite reputation unfortunately. But yes, Ivy season and Ivy Madness will be the truest test.
I’m just open to other head coaching options - namely MacConnell and Earl. Give the brilliant recruiter a chance to lead or the other Tiger legend whose Cornell teams played so hard and well despite lacking a true star. Mitch is hardly Coach K or Mark Few. Other options should be on the table.
IMO this is overeaction in the moment. MH didn’t forget how to coach since the S16.
If you saw the women last night, you would know true frustration. Carla is obviously a terrific coach yet her team made 30 turnovers, many of high school JV level. It happens.
We lost to a very good team won the road
in a game where none of our shooters were
on. I don’t think that means we should fire
the coach, bench the POY or give up on the
Ivy season.
Henderson has created a great culture, which
is why our stars are still around. Let’s
give them some time get healthy and
figure out how the pieces fit together.