By Charlie Leffler
When Louisville head basketball coach Rick Pitino thinks of Princeton (16-11) he also thinks of Saint Louis in some ways. It is not that the Billikens and the Tigers have that much in common but the coach thinks that Princeton’s style of play could cause just as many problems as the Saint Louis team that beat Louisville (18-12) twice during the regular season. In fact when Pitino learned that he would be playing Princeton in his opening game of this year’s NIT he joked that his first thought was to decline the invitation.
“They’re like 77 in the RPI and they’re not a good opponent for us,” said Pitino. “If you like passing and cutting and motion it’s a great game for the fans. It’s a bad game for us in terms of we have one day to prepare for them.”
Princeton’s slow deliberate style of play is one that has given the Cardinals fits not only this year but in season’s past. Unlike Saint Louis, the Tigers are a good shooting team that looks to pick their opponent apart through passing and execution. Princeton is averaging 59.8 points per game while shooting .446 from the floor and .342 from three point range. “This is really a tough opponent for us because we have a tendency to lose sight of the ball,” said Pitino. “If you lose sight of the ball against these guys you’ll have a difficult night.”
“Saint Louis is looking to take time off the clock before they shoot then penetrate and get fouled,” said Pitino. “This team (Princeton) is not doing that at all. Against Columbia, 43 shots were taken in the game and 28 were threes. They’re much more fluid than Saint Louis in terms of their cutting. They’ll throw some passes that you can’t believe.”
The Ivy League school comes into the NIT with 11 losses but nine of those have come against teams that are in post season play. Two of which came against No. seeds in the NCAA tournament, Kansas and Maryland. The Tigers lost to the Jayhawks at home by 16 points, but they played the Terrapins tough on Maryland’s home court. At one point in the second half Princeton led Maryland by 15 points only to lose by eight in the end.
“They do so many things that can hurt you,” said Pitino. “They had Maryland beat… they played Kansas a tough game at home. At Cal they played Cal tough, they shot 52% against Cal… Close to 49% of their shots are threes. If you pressure the threes they’ll back door you to death.”
“This is probably going to be a three-point barrage tomorrow night,” said Pitino. “We’re not shy and they’re certainly not bashful.”
Louisville will try to get Princeton to play it’s up tempo style but they know that Maryland also tired to up the tempo and press the Tigers and nearly lost in doing so.
“They’re man to man but they will play zone,” said Pitino. “They attack the basketball. I think Maryland shot 24% in the first half against them.”
The one advantage that the Cards could hold over the Tigers is the game being played in Freedom Hall. The Cards are 14-2 on the season at home with wins over Cincinnati, Ohio State and Charlotte. “We know it’s a tough game and we need a real home court advantage,” said Pitino. “I think if our fans come out like they have all season we can be successful. If not it will be a difficult game for us… If we’re not at a sell-out, if we’re not in a frenzy, that home court advantage is what’s made us a real good basketball team this year. It’s going to be tough for us to turn this whole thing around in one day.”
If the Cards do play well enough to make it past Princeton things could not get much better. They would have to play the winner of the Fresno State vs Temple game and the Owls of Temple are the same type of deliberate team that Louisville has problems with. And while Louisville is not guaranteed a second round home game the coach indicated that a large crowd on Tuesday will help. “If you’re at 19,800 tomorrow night then I think you’re chances are pretty darn good that you may get another shot at it,” said Pitino.
Louisville did get some good news in the fact that freshman point guard Carlos Hurt could possibly return to action to play in a second round game if the Cardinals manage to win against Princeton. “If Carlos can lose eight or nine pounds, he’s overweight, he will play in the second round more than likely,” said Pitino. “He’s put on a lot of weight which is normal from being inactive. He’s been going about three full practices and been getting his cardio in the last eight or nine days.”
Tuesday’s 9:00 game against Princeton will be televised on ESPN.
