The Princeton Offense: Is it really good?

[the_way]

I really want to pose this question about the princeton offense, and what is JTIII bringing back to the program. I understand his offense is a derivative of the one he played in as a player. Does the princeton offense really work? What I mean is, has a team won an NBA championship or an NCAA title running this offense. I think not. Another thing, if you have great athletes, is there a need for that type of offense. I think if you have inferior athletes using the Princeton offense helps compensate for that problem.

Ultimately, what will JTIII do. Will he buck the system he is used to, to suit the type of players he has now, like his Dad did when he bucked the big man offense so Iverson could run wild, or will he try to fit square pegs into a round hole. What do you guys think?

-way

[Deleted]

Considering the way he is recruiting (best athletes, guys who can run and rebound) I think that while there will be a Princeton flavor to the set offense, I think we will be getting back to the running and pressing style that we were famous for and that he can now recruit for at a big time program. So I would expect to see many things out of us offensively, some Princeton motion, some post up, some high-pick and roll...everything to take advantage of what III is recruiting: ATHLETES.

GO HOYAS!!!

[the_way]

Sorry about the repeat post. I don't know what happened with that.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

I don't think he's going to run a straight Princeton, because he didn't at Princeton. In fact, PU fans are excited to have Joe Scott coming in because he ran the "pure" Princeton offense when he was at Air Force.

Based on past experience, I find it hard to believe that III wouldn't adjust the system to the players he has, just as NC State, Sacramento, and the Nets have done. And I'd say those three teams have been reasonably successful.

In terms of whether or not a princeton offense has won a championship, I don't think the sample size is large enough. I don't know when the Princeton offense spread to other programs, but if it was in the last 15 years (for example), there are only about 10 NCAA teams and 5 NBA teams that have won championships.

[SFHoya99]

Well, one, I think it is silly to judge an offense based upon our knowledge of championships. I don't think anyone on this board knew the offense the '63 Celtics ran, nor is a Championship the only measure of success.

Sacramento & New Jersey run the Princeton. They are very good teams. Northwestern has implemented it, and they were a surprise team in the Big 10 last year. Princeton has run it for years, continually beating better teams. Joe Scott put it in in Air Force and got a team to the tourney -- a hopeless team that hadn't had a winning team for twenty-five years. A winning team. In the Mountain West. That often played DIII schools before he got there.

Furthermore, if you know anything about the Princeton, it's a motion offense that allows for player decision-making. Lots of motion offenses have won titles, and the motion offense closest to the Princeton is probably the triangle (same focus on post passing, cuts, and spacing). And the triangle has won a few titles.

The Princeton will bring spacing, structure, fundamentals to our offense. No more players standing around. No more players not knowing what to do. And while it has had a lot of success for teams with less talent, Sacramento and NJ have proved that it works with superior talent and at the highest level.

Or yeah, we could go back to NO offense, which is what we've run for years.

[PushyGuyFanClub]

My buddy went to the meet and greet with JTIII in NYC last week. He posed the question about GU's future with the Princeton O. JT's answer was essentially that he wasn't wedded to the Princeton, and that he was going to design offenses at Georgetown that took advantage of his personnel.

I think that means we'll see the backdoor cut when we need a quick two, but we'll also see a lot of isolation with Brandon. I do hope the Hoyas hold on to that ally-oop play that they run once a year, but they should run it more. (I believe to call for that JTIII will need to put up one fist and then look confusedly at the inbounds passer.)

[aggypryd]

It will take awhile for our guys to get use to it.

It's based on a lot of movement without the ball. Our guys were really 'Suspect' in that department last year.

Remember, it took N.C. State a few years to get use to the Princeton style offense...Will you guys have that much patience with JTIII?

[SaxaCD]

Yep.

[FreeNachos]

The Princeton offense is a motion offense. And Duke and Indiana (under Coach Knight) all ran motion offense and were successful. So to answer the original question - teams win with motion offenses, a la the Princeton Offense.

Personally, I am looking forward to the Princeton offense at GU. But you don't run a motion offense against a zone defense....so unless we can hit jumpers and force teams out of zones, it will not be a discussion.

[hoyalove4ever]

Good point about NCSU's slow adjustment to Sendek's Princeton-based system. That program went to zero NCAAs in Sendek's first five years. Hoya fans were unsatisfied with superior results from Esherick. I doubt that most fans will have five years of patience for JT III, although I'll give him the eight to ten years that I allow any new coach in an adverse situation to fully turn things around. I hope that this is all a moot point, though.

[aggypryd]

FreeNachos said:

The Princeton offense is a motion offense. And Duke and Indiana (under Coach Knight) all ran motion offense and were successful. So to answer the original question - teams win with motion offenses, a la the Princeton Offense.

Personally, I am looking forward to the Princeton offense at GU. But you don't run a motion offense against a zone defense....so unless we can hit jumpers and force teams out of zones, it will not be a discussion.

Have you watched Duke's offense?

Duke doesn't have a motion offense. Duke has their best or fastest player run and dribble the air out of the ball while his teammates are spread out along the perimeter. And when he finally tires that player out and someone leaves their man to help out on defense, the Maniacal Dribbler hits his teammate that is now open because of the help defense. This is especially effective because they've managed to have decent 3 point shooters over the years to punish defenses for helping out...

It's been done before...The offense has a lot of the principles of the 4 CORNERS...

Yes they get a lot of points off transition and an un-Godly amount of points from the Free Throw line, but I will not give Coach K props for being an offensive mastermind.

It's amazing that nobody complains about the fact that Duke, year in and year out, makes more free throws than their opponents attempt...

Do we attribute that to Coach K's superior coaching ability?

Signed,

Rabid Duke and Coach K Hater...

[hoyalove4ever]

In regard to dook...coach katan is a good coach (Xs and Os, motivation, etc). Nonetheless, by far and away his greatest and most important achievement is his dominance of the recruiting landscape. He not only lands top-tier players, but also grabs players who fit his system perfectly (i.e. Reddick, Langdon, Battier-- it is the players who make the system look good).

We can discuss the Princeton offense to death, but what will ultimately determine JT III's success or failure will be his ability to recruit. Period.

[Deleted]

Hi Guys!

I'd like to put in my two cents. I graduated from Princeton and then GU Med and have followed both teams for several years

First of all JT will tweak the system depending on two factors

!. The quality of the athletes
2. The opponents

This past year, Princeton had an excellent rebounding team (by Ivy standards). The next thing you knew, Princeton was fast breaking. Of course in the NCAA, they played a slow down game as they were obviously outmatched.

One thing about JTIII is that he adjusts and he is an excellent game coach. Princeton played 6 extremely close games including 3 that went into overtime and won every one. That is not an accident.

Lastly, you have two excellent recruiters in Burke and JTII.

I don't think it will take 5 years to come back

BTW, the_way, I believe that last year the Nets won the NBA title using the Princeton type offense.

Regards

Jerry

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Thanks Jerry, great to hear from someone who's watched 3 in action, especially the affirmation of 3's game coaching ability and flexibility, both of which have been in short supply around here in recent years.

The Nets, however, only won the NBA "minor league" conference title last year, as the year before, although we'll see how this year's win by the Pistons, and the ensuing off-season carousel, affect the balance of power in the League.