Coach Sydney Johnson - 11/19/09.

November 19, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Filed under Basketball, Coach Johnson Interview, Princeton

Tigers head coach Sydney Johnson and princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon met at Jadwin Gym this afternoon to record their weekly interview. Audio from this Q&A runs 14:00+ in length.

Following a successful 2-0 start to open 2009-10 with wins over Central Michigan and Manhattan, Johnson and Solomon reviewed both games in detail, discussed the success Princeton has had inside by playing both Zach Finley and Pawel Buczak at the same time, talked about the team's ability to get to the free throw line often so far this season and previewed this weekend's home game versus Army.

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Syn Tai e Epi Tai.

November 19, 2009 at 10:07 am
Filed under Basketball, Princeton

When reviewing photos from the Central Michigan game, I noticed something new on the inside of Dan Mavraides' left biceps. It was impossible to make out clearly, but I was pretty confident that it was a tattoo.

After last night's Manhattan game, I had a chance to ask Mavraides about what I saw.

The answer? It is a tattoo (enlarged in the above photo) in Greek of a Spartan quote, paying tribute to Mavraides' Spartan heritage.

It reads Syn Tai e Epi Tai, loosely translated to English as "with it or on it."

If you want to read more about this phrase, its meaning and its origins, see this 2002 column from "The Straight Dope."

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Bill Bradley & Ken Dryden video.

November 19, 2009 at 10:03 am
Filed under Basketball, Bill Bradley, Video

If you have 87 free minutes today, you can stream Bill Bradley & Ken Dryden's panel from September at Cornell entitled "Lives on the Run: Sports, Service and Leadership" in its entirety.

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Thursday News:

November 19, 2009 at 9:56 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Northwestern, Princeton, Recruiting, Today's News

MCCC vs. FIT - 7:00 pm ET
Richmond vs. William & Mary - 7:00 pm ET
Montana vs. Denver - 9:00 pm ET - FSN Rocky Mountain

In addition to our recap you can read about the Tigers' comeback last night against Manhattan on goprincetontigers.com, in the Trentonian, in the Trenton Times, in the Daily Princetonian and on gojaspers.com.

Undermanned Northwestern (1-1) was no match for Butler.

Princeton recruit T.J. Bray talks about his decision to become a Tiger.

Richmond travels to William & Mary for their first road game of the season.

Denver plays host to Montana tonight.

Around the Ivy League: Cornell (2-0) defeated UMass 74-61 in the first night of the Legends Classic. Rhode Island pulled away from Brown (1-2) in the second half, 78-57.

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Manhattan pictures.

November 18, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton, Stephen Goldsmith

Photos from tonight's game courtesy of Stephen Goldsmith.

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Princeton 61 Manhattan 54.

November 18, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Filed under 09-10, Audio, Basketball, Princeton

Box Score

Postgame audio - Coach Sydney Johnson:

Postgame audio - Dan Mavraides, Ian Hummer & Zach Finley:

Three quarters of the way through Princeton’s home opener against Manhattan, it looked like the story was going to be the potential points the Tigers left just short of the rim or a fraction off the glass. Stuck searching for a foothold after falling into an early 18-6 hole, Princeton repeatedly teased taking control of the game, yet point blank misfires left them down with time rolling off the clock.

The Jaspers were holding a 50-43 lead when the plot changed. With less than seven minutes to go, Darryl Crawford, who led Manhattan with 14 points and 10 rebounds, sped down the baseline unobstructed and reversed the ball in off the glass.

It was the type of deficit and the sort of situation that Princeton will face when the calendar flips to February but this early season test of the Tigers’ mettle saw Princeton go on a narrative-altering 16-2 run that helped the Tigers improve to 2-0 for the second time in three seasons.

Zach Finley, continuing to put last year’s frustrating junior campaign behind him as he now plays confidently alongside instead of behind fellow senior center Pawel Buczak, had 16 points, going 8-10 at the free throw line. Dan Mavraides and Buczak added 13 and 11 points respectively to aid the comeback.

Mavraides’ catch-and-shoot right angle three off a pass from Marcus Schroeder with 3:26 to go gave the Tigers their final lead and Princeton would close the book on Manhattan from the free throw line, a perfect 8-8 from the stripe. “Schroeder lined up the laces nicely for me,” said Mavraides of the shot.

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Wednesday News:

November 18, 2009 at 9:36 am
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Northwestern, Oregon State, Princeton, Today's News

Today's Game: Manhattan (1-0 / 0-0) vs. Princeton (1-0 / 0-0)
Location: Jadwin Gym - Princeton, NJ
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Radio: 103.3 fm WPRB
TV: N/A
Internet: goprincetontigers.com
Series History: Princeton leads 15-3.
Last meeting: Manhattan 70 Princeton 60 - 12/14/08.

Butler vs. Northwestern - 8:00 pm ET - Big Ten Network

Rhode Island vs. Brown - 7:00 pm ET
Cornell vs. UMass - 7:30 pm ET - Legends Classic

Douglas Davis is the centerpiece of a well-executed article about how Princeton is looking to show they learned lessons from certain losses last season.

It wasn't pretty but a Greg Monroe layup with six seconds left gave Georgetown (2-0) a 46-45 win over Temple - the first time in 69 games that the Owls lost when they held their opponent under 50 points.

Soft Pretzel Logic has postgame audio from John Thompson III, Chris Wright and Greg Monroe.

Northwestern hosts Butler in Evanston. Jon Greenberg from ESPNChicago.com talks to Bill Carmody, trying to figure out if the Wildcats are cursed.

Forward Devon Collier officially signed his National Letter of Intent with Oregon State.

Around the Ivy League: Yale (1-2) defeated Colgate 65-55 in the second day of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Columbia (0-1) missed a shot to tie in the final minute at DePaul, falling 59-53.

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VMI/Richmond highlights.

November 17, 2009 at 10:00 am
Filed under Basketball, Richmond, Video

The Spiders set a school record with 31 assists.

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Tuesday News:

November 17, 2009 at 9:48 am
Filed under Basketball, Georgetown, Northwestern, Princeton, Richmond, Today's News

Temple vs. Georgetown - 4:00 pm ET

Yale vs. Colgate - 4:30 pm ET - NIT Season Tip-Off
Columbia vs. DePaul - 9:00 pm ET - SNY

Douglas Davis made the Honor Roll of the Ivy Weekly Men's Basketball Report.

The Daily Princetonian writes about Princeton's successful trip to Michigan.

Would you believe more bad news for Northwestern? Jeremy Nash, who led the Wildcats in scoring with 20 points in their season opener, is suffering from a heart ailment and was sidelined during practice on Monday.

Richmond (2-0) went on a 20-0 first half run and cracked the century mark for the first time since 1996, blitzing VMI 103-59.

Georgetown hosts Temple in a late afternoon start as part of the ESPN 24 Hour College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

Around the Ivy League: Penn (0-2) was on the wrong end of a 103-65 decision against Villanova. Yale (0-2) remained winless, falling by five to Hofstra.

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Monday News:

November 16, 2009 at 8:46 am
Filed under Basketball, Denver, Northwestern, Oregon State, Princeton, Recruiting, Richmond, Today's News

VMI vs. Richmond - 7:00 pm ET

Yale vs. Hofstra - 6:30 pm ET - NIT Season Tip-Off
Penn vs. Villanova - 7:00 pm ET

Central Michigan Life reports on the Chippewas' loss to the Tigers.

SportsProf has a couple nice words about Princeton's season opener (and this site).

The bad news continues for Northwestern. Andy Katz from espn.com reports leading scorer Kevin Coble is done for the year and fellow senior Jeff Ryan tore his ACL on Friday and will not play again this season.

Denver (1-1) entered the win column with a 75-66 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Oregon State (1-2) fell in the final four minutes to Texas Tech, 64-60.

Richmond hosts fast-paced VMI this evening. Chris Mooney announced the signing of three recruits to National Letters of Intent.

Around the Ivy League: Harvard (2-0) won at the buzzer in triple OT over William & Mary. Jeremy Lin hit a three point shot (video) and was fouled as time expired on a wild 87-85 game. Brown (1-0) battled but came up short at Virginia Tech, 69-55. Dartmouth (0-2) lost on the road to George Mason, 60-44.

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PAW season preview.

November 15, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Filed under Basketball, PAW Article, Princeton

I wrote a piece for the latest Princeton Alumni Weekly previewing Princeton's prospects this season. Enjoy! - JS

Basketball Seniors Shoot For Ivy Title
By Jon Solomon

Last year was a good year - but not a great one - for the Princeton men's basketball team, according to head coach Sydney Johnson '97.

"We were pleased with the forward progress that we made, but we want to keep things in perspective," Johnson said. "To truly be considered great here on the basketball floor - I think that comes with a championship."

Expectations are raised for the Tigers, who return their top nine scorers from a team that went 8-6 in the Ivy League and finished tied for second behind Cornell.

Unseating the two-time defending champion Big Red will be a challenge, according to Johnson. "[Cornell] has talented players who have played several years, and then they have transfers that have been exposed to a bigger-game environment and can add a year or two of experience," he said.

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Central Michigan pictures.

November 15, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Filed under Basketball, Photos, Princeton

Here are some pictures I was sent from yesterday's game.

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