Henderson says Princeton needs to get defensive
PRINCETON >> Mitch Henderson didn’t mince words when asked where his Princeton team needs to improve the most this season.
“We got to defend,” the eighth-year coach said.
The prevailing thought entering the 2018-19 campaign, which begins Friday night against Division III DeSales, is the Tigers can score, but there are questions about how they will hold up defensively.
Princeton graduated Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Amir Bell and is set to run a relatively youthful group out alongside senior standouts Devin Cannady and Myles Stephens.
“If we’re going to be really good in this league, or really anywhere in the country, you have to play a hardnosed defense,” Henderson said. “We lost some really heartbreaking games, but when you look at the games toward the end, and even the overtime games where we struggled, I think it’s our defense. We graduated a terrific defensive player in Amir, but between (Devin and Myles), we have the ability to be a tough-nosed defensive team. I think that’s where you have to hang your hat in this league.”
The Tigers finished third in the Ivy in total scoring defense (71.8 ppg) and fifth in field goal percentage defense (44.9 percent), although it allowed 74.9 points per game in league play (that number is inflated by five overtime games, including a three overtime loss at Cornell).
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Series History: First Meeting
Background: Princeton opens its season against the Division III Bulldogs, who are 0-10 all-time against Division I opposition. DeSales hasn’t played a Division I school since the 199293 season when it faced Radford. This is the first of two games against Division III opposition for the Tigers, who also host Wesley following the exam break.
But it was those games in which Princeton went 1-4 in the Ivy that was the difference in a 5-9 conference record that cost it a place in the top four. Take the season finale at Yale in which a win would have secured fourth and a berth in the Ivy Tournament, only for the Tigers to allow 52.3 percent shooting in a 94-90 OT setback.
It wasn’t so much the overall numbers as it was not being able to get stops when they had to have them that troubled Henderson. Or as he put it succinctly after that loss at Yale: “All night we could not stop them.”
“The teams who win the league are usually the best defensive teams,” Henderson said. “And they play man to man.”
Stephens indicated it’s both his and Cannady’s responsibility to keep the team locked in on the defensive end.
“What happened last year, we don’t want that to happen again,” said Stephens, a Lawrenceville native. “We know we have the talent to compete within the league. It comes down to that focus and mindset that we are a good basketball team. Even though we have a lot of young guys, we all bring something to the table and I think that’s going to help us in the end.”
Added Cannady on the focus of defense: “It was one of our points in the spring before the freshmen came in, and even now going over our principles and all the small details, then constantly pounding that hammer on the nail. We take care of that in practice and then when we compete if someone doesn’t do one of our rules or principles, really grabbing them and telling them this is how we do things.”
Meanwhile, Cannady (16.7 ppg) and Stephens (15.3 ppg) should provide a 1-2 punch that scores plenty of points. Freshman point guard Jaelin Llewellyn was a four-star recruit, according to multiple services and ranked as a top-100 recruit by ESPN.
A sophomore group consisting of Sebastian Much, Jerome Desrosiers and Ryan Schwieger all played some significant time last season, while juniors Richmond Aririguzoh and Will Gladson bolster the frontcourt depth.
In addition to defense, the Tigers also have to rebound better. They finished with a minus-1.4 differential and ranked seventh in the Ivy in total rebounding (32.6 per game).
“I think rebounding is about having the tenacity to go up there in college,” Henderson said. “Going up there with two hands, having the discipline to box a guy out.”
Princeton plays four of its first seven games at home before the non-league portion of the slate finishes with five straight games away from Jadwin.
Henderson promised this team will be fun to watch.
“This is the one thing I like about the group: They like each other,” he said. “It’s a fun group to be around. We’ve had teams that have played hard with a lot of veterans, but what stands out is they’re fun to coach. I don’t know how many wins we’re going to get, but it’s going to be a fun season.”