“Como siempre, no cuenta qué conoces, sino a quién conoces.”

- José “Pete” Carril

My current view of this team is somewhat skewed by the fact that they’re an NBA worst, 14-52, heading into an almost guaranteed loss playing versus the Hawks tonight.  The funny thing as we move forward, is what direction this team has, and what players does it need to take the Kings there, is that the upcoming 2009 NBA draft will mean so much more than anything else moving forward.

Center Position: Obviously, games like, having a career high vs OKC a week ago, or a game like the other night vs Washington, helps.

My general feeling is that while Spencer generally has improved; his greatest weakness at the beginning of the year still exists today. He needs to develop a quality go to move, and he needs to figure out where he wants his shots to come from. Some of that is coaching, and the expectation the coaching staff has when asking Spencer to do things. More than that though, if anything, he needs to have a feel for what he should be doing offensively when he’s on the block, at the top of the key, and everything else. He hasn’t quite developed that. Also, TZ did an incredible job using the NBA hot spots highlighting where Shawes most effective shooting is coming from. Surprisingly, or maybe not I suppose when you watch Mr Hawes closely, what you see is a player who slows down is the most effective. In the mid range game, he’s rushed his shots more often than not.

Power Forward: Jason Thompson is an interesting case study in how a player’s development is crucial to the franchise, both in the decision making the franchise will undertake, and to the player’s ability long term to be counted upon as a player in the rotation. There is some questions whether JT can make that leap. That’s really not the question I have at this point. My question is can Kings fans be patient with JT if the Kings don’t take Blake Griffin in this draft? After all, there are memories of not taking Karl Malone because the team had Otis Thorpe.

Speaking of Griffin, I don’t know that Griffin is going to have the career that people are hyping him for. He doesn’t seem to have the length to be a very good shot blocker (and JT is scratching the surface here as well), and his rebounding, while astounding, is not necessarily going to be a huge strength if he suffers in the low post defense and shot blocking department that he is clearly suffering from. His defense will take awhile to catch up, and there’s a chance, if nothing else, he may not having anything to give beyond what his gifts will give you. He’s probably going to be a 20-10 guy if healthy for a number of years, but I’m not sure that’s what the Kings really need at this point. Particularly since I believe Jason Thompson could get there with time given how little he touches the ball now in this offense, and how much growth he has in several area’s to do offensively. One area is that he needs to get better footwork when he makes moves on the block. You often see him spread his lower body making a move and it’s symptomatic of several things. One, his footwork is not what it should be because his feet (credit to David Thorpe for pointing this out) often point in different directions.

I believe that JT is making nice progress. The question is whether that progress translates to a good player, very good player, or something beyond. Nobody knows that answer, and if somebody says they do, they’re lying. My personal feeling is that JT’s ceiling is David West level talent with less offensive firepower and more defensive firepower (which doesn’t bother me with Shawes around).

Small Forward: Donte Greene has not played very much, or, most of the time, that well so far this season. Depending on whom you believe, and if you ask me Jerry Reynolds is worth believing, is that Donte is the type of 2 positional player that can burn bigger players outside, and punish smaller players inside. What does this mean position wise? Well, vs Power Forwards, he takes them outside, and against Smaller Forwards he takes them inside. That’s what the Kings see. It’s a potentially lucrative matchup. It’s even better when you consider that Jason Thompson is 6′11, Spencer Hawes is 7 feet, and Donte Greene is 6′10. However, unlike Thompson and Hawes who’ve made serious strides, Greene is still seeing a lot of stumbling blocks as some are questioning his maturity and ability to work on his game. (Watch the clip I linked to on StR–there’s a great shot of Donte working with Pete Carril, and looking interested in doing so. I don’t think that was by accident. The team recognizes that are subtle ways to show the kid is making improvements. That’s one way.)

The rest of the team is pretty much what anyone thinks. Nocioni is tough. Martin is super efficient offensively and, not right until the off-season heals his ankle. (When he has that rest he is a different player.) Udrih has disappointed. McCants, is, umm McCants. I do not hold out hope on him. I’ve always considered it a bonus if he played well, which he has had his moments. Will Solomon can fade away as soon as April 20th comes. Who is Calvin Booth and Cedric Simmons? I kid, but for the Kings purposes, that’s pretty much it. Even if they won’t officially say it. Bobby Jackson is probably out for the rest of the season assuming he cares about his face. Bobby has gutted out this awful season. I say the Kings should let him rest up and decide on his future. What happened to his cheek was just bad luck. Francisco Garcia actually deserves his own post, and I don’t feel like doing that right now. Let’s just say that the difference between good and bad Cisco is small, and the difference means everything to the Kings.

Thompson, Hawes, Martin, Greene, Garcia, Udrih, and Nocioni will all be under contract next season. The Kings have options for Ike Diogu (who hasn’t played much), and Rashad McCants. They will also have a minimum of 3 draft picks heading into the June draft (their pick, Houston’s selection likely to be anywhere from 18-25), and their own 1st round (likely to be 31st or 32nd overall). The important point is that this team has one chance to get a franchise altering player, and 2 chances to pick rotation players. Regardless of Trades or Free Agency, this draft will chart the important course for this team over the next 10 seasons. Are you, as fans, ready to deal with that reality?

Bob Scrabis

Interview Conducted 10/28/2008

Princeton Athletics

Before the 1988-89 college basketball season, the NCAA considered removing automatic NCAA Tournament bids of teams from small conferences.

These teams were generally non-competitive in the first round against their opponents, who were #1 and #2 seeds.

The #16 seed Princeton Tigers of the non-scholarship Ivy League forever changed the thinking of the NCAA hierarchs.

Led by Ivy League Player of the Year Bob Scrabis, the 1988-89 Princeton Tigers nearly pulled off a monumental upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against the #1 team in the nation, the Georgetown Hoyas.

The final regular season game before the NCAA Tournament seeding was the Big East Conference Championship between Georgetown and Syracuse. The Princeton Tigers watched the game on television waiting for the selection show. The Hoyas’ won 88-79 with a pressing defense that overwhelmed Syracuse.

SCRABIS: “When the selection show started, the first game they showed was Georgetown and us. I think we were excited and me being the only senior and captain of the team, I had to sort of keep my composure.”

During practices leading up to the tournament, Head Coach Pete Carril instructed Princeton’s second team to mimic Georgetown’s pressing defense against the starters.

SCRABIS: “They were told just to press us all over the place. We were having all kinds of trouble getting our offense to function against our second team. We knew we had a tough game ahead of us.”

Princeton held their final practice at the Providence Civic Center, home to the tournament game the next day.

SCRABIS: “The Providence Civic Center’s floor had so much spring on it. I remember the night before shooting from way beyond the pro three point line and having unbelievable spring. It just felt like something special was going to happen.”

Carril emphasized to the Tigers that they weren’t just playing in the game to make a good representation of the Ivy League. He told them not to change anything they did on either the offensive or defensive ends just because they were playing Georgetown.

Still the reality of the situation was the Tigers were 23-point underdogs and would have to face the Hoyas’ star freshman center Alonzo Mourning.

Ebullient ESPN analyst Dick Vitale was so sure of a Georgetown victory, he famously remarked before the game, “If Princeton can beat Georgetown, I am going to hitchhike to Providence which isn’t that far from here. I’m going to be their ball boy on their next game and then I’m going to change into a Princeton cheerleading uniform and lead all the cheers.”

Princeton did not show any fear of Mourning. The Tigers’ first four baskets were all right over him.

SCRABIS: “Just taking it at him was how we had to do it. If he blocks our shot, he blocks our shot. You got to do what got you there.”

Princeton extended their lead to 15-10 with 7:51 to go in the first half.

SCRABIS: “As we got into the first half, we realized we could play with these guys. We were amazed we were able to run our offense with the ease we did. We got a bunch of backdoor layups, we were making our shots, and they weren’t pressing [us] yet.”

Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson called a timeout with Princeton ahead 19-14 at the 4:12 mark to settle his team down.

SCRABIS: “I don’t think they were taking us too seriously, but they realized towards the end of the first half that they were in for a game.”

“I could see in their eyes they were pressing. Mark Tillmon was pressing. Charles Smith was pressing. Jaren Jackson was pressing.  You could see there was fear. Once they knew they were in for a game, you could see the infighting and the nervousness.”

Georgetown turned on their full-court press defense to no avail.

SCRABIS: “We were just sitting there waiting for their press. We saw them destroy Syracuse with it. Syracuse turned the ball over so much against it.”

“When they put the press on, nothing changed. We brought the center to the frontcourt and Alonzo Mourning wouldn’t follow him, so we had no problem getting the ball up the court.”

At halftime, Princeton took a 29-21 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Alonzo Mourning almost single-handedly willed the Hoyas back into the game. He finished the game with 21 points, scoring seven of Georgetown’s final nine points, and hitting crucial free throws. On the defensive end, he blocked seven shots and altered others.

The game remained close the entire second half, with Princeton continuing to get good open shots in the paint.

Princeton Leads 49-47 with 1:41 to go. Photo/Joe Shlabotnik

With 15 seconds to go, Princeton was down 50-49. Carril called timeout when the Tigers crossed halfcourt. He wanted the ball in Scrabis’s hands on the last possession.

Scrabis, who led all Princeton scorers with 15 points, launched a three-pointer from the key with five seconds remaining. The shot was blocked by Mourning.

SCRABIS: “You dream of it as a kid and when you are on your driveway or in the playground, you don’t go inside until you make that shot. Then again, you don’t have 6′11″ guys jumping out of the bushes to block the shot. It always goes in at the end.”

In a scrum for the loose ball, Georgetown’s Sam Jefferson stepped on the out of bounds line with one second to go.

Princeton had one final chance on a side-out throw in.

SCRABIS: “We’re all scrambling. There’s about a second left and [Matt] Lapin is waiting to receive the ball. Alonzo Mourning is playing in front of Kit Mueller and there’s nobody behind him. So if Matt Lapin could lob it over Mourning’s head, we would have had a layup to win the game.

“He sees this and he’s trying not to tip off anybody and the ref is just about to give Matt the ball. You hear the Georgetown bench yelling. The ref pulls the ball back, and they yell at him to play behind Kit Mueller.”

“That split-second coaching move by the Georgetown bench saved the game.”

Lapin threw an inbound pass to Mueller who had Mourning posted up on the right elbow of the court. Mueller took a turnaround shot that was blocked by Mourning.

Many Princeton basketball fans and other basketball aficionados insist twenty years later that Kit Mueller was fouled on the final shot.

Scrabis remains diplomatic.

SCRABIS: “There was no way the [referees] would call that. I could understand why they wouldn’t.”

Condensed video of the game between
#16 Seed Princeton against #1 Georgetown

© 2008 Interviewbasketball.com

Excerpts from this interview may be reproduced by other blogs, message boards, and other texts, provided there is a link or a trackback to my website. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of Interviewbasketball.com is unlawful.

Jimmy Tillette

Interview Conducted 10/17/2008

Getty Images/Doug Benc

The Samford Bulldogs run a variation of Pete Carril’s Princeton Offense.

And it’s all because 12th year Head Coach Jimmy Tillette doesn’t play golf.

TILLETTE: “I needed something to do in the spring, so when I was an assistant coach [at Samford in the mid 1990's], I decided I was going to investigate the Princeton system. I spent four or five hours a day looking at tapes. I initially took 99 pages of notes trying to figure out the Princeton Offense.”

“It has Plato’s definition of good judgment, the ability to discern the  difference in similar things and similarity in different things. So many things look the same, but are different, and vice versa.”

Tillette put together 20-30 offensive concepts on transparencies.

However, he ran into difficulties getting in touch with legendary Princeton head coach Pete Carril. During his coaching career, Carril refused to consult with opposing coaches about the Princeton Offense due to concerns that they would work to implement defenses designed to stop it.

TILLETTE: “Years ago, you’d call him saying ‘I want to talk about your offense’. He’d say ‘figure it out yourself’ and hang up the phone.”

“You had to fight. He’s a crusty old guy.”

“They got calls all the time from people saying ‘listen, I’ve been playing golf all summer, would you mind giving me all your hard earned ideas?’ They don’t have a lot of tolerance for that.”

Eventually, Tillette finally was able to convince then-Princeton Assistant Coach Bill Carmody to allow him to come up to share his ideas and learn more from the Princeton staff.

TILLETTE: “I put together 20 to 30 concepts on some transparencies. I really went up there like a geek bearing gifts. I showed them my work.”

Carmody and fellow assistant Joe Scott looked at Tillette’s work and explained the sophistication and nuances of the Princeton Offense.

When LSU hired John Brady in 1997, Samford promoted Tillette as Head Coach. Tillette’s 1997-98 Bulldogs were the youngest Division I team in the country. He had only one senior. The rest of his players were sophomores and freshmen. Tillette decided that season was a perfect time for the Bulldogs to implement the Princeton Offense.

TILLETTE: “Of course, we adapted it to our own style and the way we like to play. There’s a lot of ways to play it.”

“”I don’t think there’s one Princeton Offense. It’s constantly in flux and constantly changing. One of its strengths is its malleability. You can change it, but still retain the essence of it.”

He called his offense “SAM,” an acronym for spacing, angles, and movement, the three cornerstones of the Princeton Offense.

After going 14-13 his first season, Tillette and his Bulldogs made the NCAA tournament as the TAAC-auto bid the next two seasons.

Today, Tillette is the only head coach running the base Princeton Offense who was not a former assistant or player for Carril.

Tillette has two new adjustments for the 2008-09 basketball season.

First, his Bulldogs are moving from the Ohio Valley Conference to the traditionally stronger Southern Conference.

TILLETTE: “Obviously, there are a lot of challenges. First of which is Stephen Curry and Davidson. I don’t know what’s more difficult to guard, Stephen Curry or the Olympic torch.”

In addition, the NCAA men’s basketball rules committee voted to move the three-point line one foot back – from 19′9″ to 20′9″, effective for the 2008-09 season.

Tillette is not concerned about his players having difficulty shooting from longer distances. He will have to adjust the “SAM” offense during fall practice.

TILLETTE: “The biggest effect [the rule change] will have on us is  angles, because now you’re setting your screens and cutting different from where you are cutting from. For us, it’s more about spacing and angles.”

So what is Tillette’s outlook for the 2008-09 season?

TILLETTE: “My expectations are for us to improve and develop good judgment in running offense and making decisions and effort. We really have to play committed because we’re not the most gifted team physically.”

Jimmy Tillette Links:

Official Samford Biography

Sports Illustrated: Sept. 27, 1965 “Faces In The Crowd”:
15-year-old Jimmy Tillette

© 2008 Interviewbasketball.com

Excerpts from this interview may be reproduced by other blogs, message boards, and other texts, provided there is a link or a trackback to my website. Any other reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of Interviewbasketball.com is unlawful.