To some it is confusing, to others it is tiring just to watch but to those who play it, it is called the Princeton offense. There are the back door cuts, the loops, the numerous outside shots and, most of all, the constant movement running down of the clock. And every Pioneer basketball fan should start getting used to it because it is the system that the DU men’s basketball program will be built on.
“I think everybody has the connotation that it is back-door cuts and lay-ups and holding the ball as long as you can, but I think what we have learned is it is being accountable for yourselves and your teammates,” said senior David Kummer.
The lesson is repealed by Head Coach Joe Scott at every game and every practice.
It is a lesson that Scott was first taught during his freshman season on the Princeton basketball team by Head Coach Pete Carrill, the inventor of the system.
“It is a system about fundamentals, being together, skillful guys, five guys that can play together and don’t care who gets the shot and all believe in the same thing,” said head Coach Joe Scott.
The Princeton system requires time to teach to players and have the team practice.
“I say you have to be in shape. You are cutting so hard and moving so fast and if you are not in shape you could possibly be dead in the first two minutes of the game. The whole point of the offense is to wear other teams down when you are still cutting hard,” said freshman guard Kyle Lewis about the hardest part of the system.
Most people call the system the Princeton offense, but when it comes down to it, it is as much about defense as it is offense.
“People always talk about the offense, but our guys are learning that it is not the offense, it is the mental toughness that goes into the offense and the mental toughness that goes into the defense,” said Scott.
Scott not only played for the inventor of this system for four years, but then went on to be Carril’s assistant at Princeton from 1992-96. After four more years as assistant for the Tigers, Scott got his first head coaching position in 2000 at Air Force, where you guessed it, he installed the Princeton offense. It wasn’t all about the offense for Scott as the Falcons led the country in scoring defense from 2000-03.
Scott returned to his alma mater in 2005 where he coached the Tigers to the best scoring defense in the country during the 2006-07 campaign.
It is a system that cannot just be run by anybody.
“You want guys that want to develop their skills all the time. You want gym rats and guys that love to play,” said Scott.
The Pioneers did not have much of an offensive system or defensive system, for that matter, last season and were in for a big change when Scott came to DU.
“I think we kind of lacked in offense last year which made it a little easier to learn, I think it has been a learning process for everybody and it is really not that hard,” said Kummer.
“It is very easy to learn when you are fundamentally sound. Guys that are fundamentally sound pick up what we do real quickly. Look at David Kummer, and if you look at us in general we have picked it up fairly quick,” said Scott.
As the Pioneers continue to build their program, it will be a process learning fundamental skills, toughness, teamwork, back door cuts, and most of all, the Princeton offense and, yes, defense too.
“It is five tough guys who believe in winning and playing together, knowing that this is our way of winning and we are going to do it at both ends of the court and you have an unbelievable passion for it,” said Scott.
