The next Know! Your! Foe! for 2010-11 is up, previewing a future Princeton opponent with someone who knows the team well. This time out I exchanged emails with Monmouth beat reporter Tony Graham, who covers the Hawks for the Hawks Nest. My questions and his answers follow in advance of Wednesday night's intrastate matchup at the shore.
The Hawks appear to have had some difficulty putting the ball in the basket through seven games. How much of that is pace-related and how much of that is an inability to shoot well?
This team does not have a "pure shooter.'' Frankly it just is not a good shooting team. MU shoots 40.2% from the floor and a miserable 28.1% from three point range.
Is it fair to say the Hawks guard the perimeter fairly well but have difficulty from behind the three point line?
True. MU is ninth in the NEC in three point defense. Princeton will have its fair share of good looks.
Monmouth is coming off of three games in three days last weekend at the Basketball Travelers Classic in Moscow, ID, where they won two of those contests. What went well for the visitors from New Jersey?
It helps when you play fellow teams wallowing in the depth of the RPI - Eastern Michigan (330), North Dakota (301) with Idaho the "power'' of the group at 229. MU also got some clutch shots from Will Campbell and Jordan Davis and the best games since his freshman year from junior forward Mike Myers Keitt. 7'0" St. John's transfer Phil Wait had his best game - ever (13 points) vs. Idaho.
Can you tell me a bit about 5'10" leading scorer Will Campbell's game?
Campbell is quick. He can slash to the basket and also hit from deep,  but his long range game has been off so far this year (5-28).
The Hawks have nine different players averaging between 15.6 and 30.9 minutes, with only one player (James Hett) on the floor for at least 3/4 of the action. Is the coaching staff trying to find different combos that work or is the team really this deep?
Different combos. With many new faces this season coach Dave Calloway has seen searching for answers. This really is not a very deep team ability-wise and Calloway did shorten the bench during the BTC.
This will be Princeton's first visit to the relatively new Multipurpose Activity Center, which opened last year. What is the building like?
Any MAAC, Ivy, even A-10 team would be thrilled to call this "home.'' A stunningly beautiful  4.100 seat bowl-like arena  with a huge scoreboard with replays and the works.  Jadwin is certainly bigger but lacks the aura of this place. Could be an imposing home floor if/when MU has a team to play to the level of its building.
I saw on your site that you predict Monmouth's chance of success in Wednesday's game as "doubtful." Why is that?
Simply this: Princeton has better players and MU is offensively challenged. MU may hang in there for a while, especially playing at home..but on a level of 1-10 (1 being the lowest ) of MU actually winning I would say a 2-3. Now, please note, I have been known to be wrong!
That being said, what goes right for the Hawks to beat Princeton?
MU would have to shoot better than it has all season, also make free throws, and neither have been strong points. MU would need at least one or two players to perform well above their norms. But MU will be coming into this game with some confidence from the BTC so it's not impossible...just not very probable.
What do the Tigers have to focus on for a victory?
Since there's not one specific thing that MU does exceptionally well,  that's a hard one to answer. MU does play some some decent defense with its matchup zone and is a very scrappy club...they battle and give effort. No question about that.  Five of their games have been decided by five points or less and they have won two one-pointers. So it would behoove Princeton to not let MU think they have a chance.
Coach Johnson has talked about how Monmouth, who is always very well-prepared for Princeton, is an important non-conference game to play because it gets his team ready for conference play. Do you think the reverse is true in Dave Calloway's mind?
Absolutely. Calloway has set up this semi-suicidal non-conference schedule with just that in mind but I think he overdoes it. None the less that's what he''s always done with some success. MU has posted some notable upsets over the years: Rice, Vanderbilt and Pepperdine to name a few - though that's going back many years. More recently they beat UNC Charlotte and Wyoming. MU has won as few as two non-conference games in the past and still has gone to the NCAA,  but this club is not of that caliber.
Thanks for your time, Tony. I'll see you tomorrow at the MAC.
