That’s where the longer, stronger, defensive-minded players come in. This means Happy and Hicke will play a lot more and Byriel and Davis will play less.
Because of our lack of size, we overreact with our double-teams in the post. Sometimes you just gotta guard 1-on-1 and be physical. Refs aren’t calling bumps and shoves anyway. Make them earn it.
I don’t want tp rain on the parade or knock a kid
I believe will be a good player for us, but we should
not expect Happy to be a defensive answer this year.
He has a nice offensive game, a decent shot and
practiced post moves.
On defense, however, he is neither quick nor strong enough
to make a positive impact. He got three fouls and one rebound
in his 21 minutes yesterday, and the tis in line with his earlier games
against D! reams. we are going to need some quality play from
Byriel or Huggins when we face legitimate side like Yale and Cornell.
Happy is a big strong kid who will get better every game he plays. He has 20 rebounds in 95 minutes against DI opponents, including 5 boards in 19 minutes against Yale. Let’s not count this kid out before he even has a chance. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do against Penn.
I just think it’s important to have a big strong body in the middle - someone who can’t be pushed aside easily and doesn’t always need help when guarding opposing bigs. Byriel and Huggins get pushed around so easily and it’s been killing us all season.
Also, fouls aren’t necessarily a bad thing. It means you’re being physical and not allowing easy buckets. I think Happy and Hicke use their fouls well - a very important skill on this team. Lee and Pierce can’t afford to get in foul trouble, so it’s important that everyone else step up their physicality.
a couple of things. First, fouls are a bad thing as you only get 5.
Happy will have a hard time staying in the game.
Second, I don’t see him as bulkier or stronger than Huggins
or Byriel. Third, Happy’s fouls are not because he is
aggressive: they have been because he was beaten and slow to recover.
I like his offensive game. I like his defensive effort. But this
year, we need hother guys to step up as well…
For a role player like Happy, I think picking up 3 fouls is fine. He’s not Lee or Pierce being relied upon for 34+ mpg and 15+ ppg. Teams that play physical defense are going to commit more fouls than those who don’t. As long as you’re not sending good FT shooters to the line in close games, I’m willing to pay that price.
Certainly, I want to see everyone contribute and Happy has his freshman limitations. But it’s clear the last couple of games have been an eye-opener (as Mitch’s postgame comments showed). It was time for a shakeup in the lineup and a change in approach.
You can’t give up on bigs. Byriel had a couple of tough games, Huggins has shown flashes, Happy has done pretty well but does have to work on his post defense. Rotate guys in at that spot. If you go small instead make sure that you are putting hard ball pressure on the opposition and then fight like crazy for DRs even if out of position after overplays.
Like most everyone here, I loved seeing Stanton and Happy having positive impacts, but they maybe more about the future than the present, of course, they’re freshmen.
The guy I think could be huge down the stretch is Hicke. He can shoot the 3, has a legit post-up game, helps their team defense. He reminds me of a past tiger star - Henry Caruso. Start him, and play him 30+
Yes, and even if Happy, Byriel, and Huggins guard Townsend without help, and are unafraid to foul, it’s better than allowing Yale starters to shoot 8 for 12 from the 3 point line. (Hack a Yalie?)
But I wouldn’t try that until the ILT. Use the current strategy at the next Yale game.
I think you guys hit the nail on the head. If you recall, the team that went to the sweet sixteen, had Pierce, 6’8" Tosan, and 6’9" Kellman. Kellman wasn’t much of a shooter, but he was big, strong and athletic. We have two relatively big men coming in next year. Together with Happy, things will improve.
The wrong kind of mainstream media attention today:
Princeton Tigers : With four of the six leading scorers returning from a Princeton team that went 24-5 last season, the Tigers were supposed to be one of the best mid-majors in the country. Instead, they’ve already suffered six losses, including home games against Cornell and Yale that leave them looking like not even a top-two team in the Ivy League. Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce have been great, but the whole hasn’t been anything special.
I hope stuff like this can be bulletin board material for the team. It’s been a disappointing season with thrilling moments sprinkled in, but there’s plenty of time for a turnaround.
Kellman was an absolute beast. His play in the 2023 NCAA tournament was terribly under-appreciated. His 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 14 minutes against Arizona and 8 points, 6 rebounds, and a block against Missouri were enormous and his physical presence sent a strong message that Princeton would not be pushed around. I was at those games and will never forget how surprised I was to see how well Keshawn matched up physically with the “bigs” from those major conference schools. With all due respect to our current players and the incoming recruits, none of those guys match up physically with KK.
You are correct. Hellman was under appreciated. CJ Happy the best we have at the moment
Penn’s Spinosa will be a good test on Friday in a game the Tigers absolutely have to win.
And lest we forget, Kellman got another year at FGCU due to injury. He’s averaging 12 and 7 this year (leading the team in rebounds), and FGCU is in first place in the Atlantic Sun at 8-2. Keeshawn may get one more chance to dance.
Glad that KK is having a good season. I really liked that guy and agree that he was a critical supporting cast member during the Sweet 16 run.
The KenPom rating of FGCU is about that of Princeton. Remove KK from FGCU and put him on the Princeton roster and I expect P would rise and F would drop.
Kellman struggled with injuries here until Senior year.
If healthy, he might have been close to Arirouguza in
terms of impact at Princeton.
Great to see him flourishing.
Ater the Columbia game, RIchmond Aririguzoh and Myles Stephens had lunch with Jacob Huggins, Malik Abdullahi and Dalen Davis (can be seen on current Hard Cuts video.
Myles basically told the current players they need to foul more. I wonder if Mitch saw this and made any comments pro or con.
BTW, I guess Myles and Richmonds overseas careers over?
I saw that! Glad to know they’re on my side 
I especially appreciated them noting the importance of being physical from the start: “The refs can’t call them all [fouls].”
That’s what Yale does and it works like a charm. They get away with a lot of contact because they play that way all game.