- Hugs for the departing seniors as they walk off they walk off the floor.
- No hugs for the 2-12 Ivy finish.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Game over, 64-48 Penn
Senior Love
- With 1:02 on the clock, Scott takes out Buffmire, Conway and Owings together, giving the fans a chance to give them one last standing ovation.
- I'm not kidding when I say the Penn players got a longer ovation, if not a louder one.
- The Jadwin Jungle seems more interested in chanting "Next point wins" than cheering for the Class of 2007. Buczak hits a free throw and the Jadwin Jungle erupts (next point won). The three seniors deserved better.
64-44 Penn
- With 1:30 to go in the game.
- Penn empties the bench, the huge section of Penn fans in attendance gives their seniors a round of applause in their final moments of reguar season action. 15 seconds into the possession, the standing ovation continues.
A hugely overweight Penn fan...
- Repeatedly shouts "DO NOT MAKE THE SHOT" as Pawel (sorry, I was calling him "Pavel" before, I think that's how you pronounce it) Buczak stands at the free-throw line. Buczak obliges, missing the shot.
- Tigers get the rebound, Buczak is fouled again, heads back to the line. Big man starts shouting again. I mean, he is about to have a heart attack now, he's all veiny and his face is purple. He looks like he wants to eat Buczak more than anything.
- Buczak makes the first, but, visibly shaken, misses the second, fearing for his life.
Cheerleader haters
- One of Penn's male cheerleaders shouts out some smack talk at Princeton male cheerleader Dan Sharpe while he lifts three other Tiger cheerleaders on his shoulders during an on-court routine.
- The Princeton-Penn rivalry has been reduced to this. Yes!
Grandieri almost gets T'ed up
- The Quaker guard yells, "Are you serious?" at an official after teammate Jaaber gets called for a foul, then shoots the ref a glance that says, "I lack any semblance of respect for you." The ref puts his whistle in his mouth like he's gonna call Grandieri for a technical foul, but Grandieri walks away quickly and one of his teammates apologizes to the ref on his behalf.
Freshmen connection
- Buczak gets an easy layup off an inbounds pass from Schroeder.
- Penn answers, leads 60-39 with 5:23 on the clock.
- Buffmire cruises in for a cutting layup off a pass from Buczak, who really looks like he has some potential. He clearly was a step behind Finley in the coaches' eyes early in the season, but lately he's been getting some actual minutes at center, putting himself in the running for a spot in the big-man rotation next season.
Ugly sequence for Schroeder
- With the shot clock winding down and no one else making much of an effort to score, Schroeder drives the lane and gets his shot stuffed really bad. The ball bounces back to about ten feet behind the three-point line, where Schroeder recovers with about three seconds left on the shot clock. He gets set and launches up the deep, deep three, which he airballs.
- Schroeder ends up putting up a lot of ugly shots for the Tigers, but you really can't blame him--he's usually the only one willing to do anything with the ball in situations late in the shot clock, and gets stuck having to create something out of nothing.
Ibby Jaaber with the ink job
- Sporting a tattoo on his left arm that appears to feature some sort of robed figure. Ready for the big time in more ways than one.
- A WPRB announcer just sprinted by the scorer's table, all in a huff. WPRB couldn't possibly be experiencing technical difficulties, could they? That would be unheard of.
"Come on Tiger fans, jump around"
- "Get up, get up and get down"...this is what that guy who was dueling with the Penn cheerleaders before is yelling now.
- Finley scores again, this time on a pretty hook shot after taking his time in the paint. The Tigers might as well keep featuring Finley, not only for this game since nothing else is working, but with an eye to getting him ready to be a post presence in the future as well. He's been pretty up and down this year, but as a freshman, the ups have stood out and its been good he's gotten so much experience this year (although it took away playing time from more versatile, experienced players).
- Savage nails a three, cutting the Princeton deficit to 17.
- 54-37 Penn with 8:35 to play in the game.
Princeton seven fouls, Penn one
- Ibby Jaaber hits both ends of a one-and-one after the Tigers go into the penalty with over 11 minutes still to play in the game.
- Penn picks up its second foul of the half on an and-one move inside by Strittmatter, who hits the layup but comes up way short on the free throw attempt.
- Tigers grab the rebound, run some time off the clock, then freshman guard Lincoln Gunn hits Finley darting into the paint for an easy layup.
Princeton women's basketball
- The other Tiger team plays Penn tonight, too, following the end of this game.
- All the women's basketball players are gathered together in the stands rooting on their male counterparts.
48-28 Penn
- Now you know why we've been steering clear of the on-court action. Things are getting ugly out there.
- Steuerer misses yet another wide-open layup. Wow. The crowd screams in anger and disbelief.
- 11:48 left in the game.
ESPN U
- Like last year's classic (which, again, is immortalized on YouTube), tonight's game is being broadcast on ESPN U. I hear a lot about this channel, but I still don't believe it exists.
- All I know is, last year, one of the ESPN U announcers for this game was my main man Hubert Davis, former Washington Wizard and New Jersey Net.
- Hey, don't you think Hubert Davis looks like former "In Living Color" star David Alan Grier?
Conway to the scorer's table
- The senior forward is ready to check in for his last collegiate game. Nice to see he's gonna get some action when the Penn lead is only 12 (after a Finley hook shot), rather than garbage time. It's been a tough senior season for the former-walk-on-turned-captain, but last year he gave us a really memorable, all-Ivy League campaign--one of the best stories in Division I basketball last year. Of course, this time last year, he scored the game-winning layup against the league-champion Quakers in the final seconds of the last game of the season, off a pass from Scott Greenman '06.
- Check it out on YouTube.
Quaker lead at 12
- After an easy layup for Zoller.
- Next time down the court, Zoller curves around a defender for a circus reverse layup, plus the foul, plus the free throw. 15-point lead.
- Owings responds by hooking his way around Darren Smith for a reverse layup of his own.
Justin Conway, anyone?
- The senior forward still hasn't seen any court time. He's been injured, so it'll be interesting to see if he gets any career-ending garbage minutes, assuming garbage minutes ensue.
Crashing the boards
- Penn out-rebounded the Tigers, 17-8, in the first half.
- Both teams were sloppy with the basketball, amassing 21 turnovers combined.
Stat me!
- Penn shot 57 percent in the first half next to Princeton's 32 percent clip.
- Noah Savage led Princeton with six points, hitting two of four three-point shots in 11 minutes off the bench. Zach Finley shot two-for-seven and finished with four points.
- One other bright spot was Schroeder, who had four assists (on seven Tiger field goals).
- For Penn, Jaaber has his season average of three steals per game already, reaching that number in 16 minutes of floor time.
- Jaaber has six points along with guard Darren Smith, while Zoller leads the Quakers with seven points.
- Princeton shot four-of-15 from two-point range in the first half, including those missed layups by Finley and Steuerer (who only saw four minutes of court time).
Buffmire getting some minutes
- Not showing any ill effects of the injury, locks down on Penn star Mark Zoller outside the three-point arc, forcing him to commit a 24-second violation.
- Schroeder airballs a floater at the first-half buzzer.
- Princeton down 28-17 at halftime.
The Penn Quaker almost stepped on a little girl
- Then, he shook her hand, pointed to the "P" on his chest, nodded excessively, and raised another #1 finger.
28-17 Penn
- Three minutes until this half comes to a merciful end.
- Princeton hasn't been playing awful, the team is just really outmatched. Penn's got two or three subs in now, but they are still scoring relatively effortlessly, and keeping the Tigers from looking very comfortable on the other end.
Old people playing knockout
- Some kind of promotion during a break in the action. Just four random middle-aged dudes playing knockout and airballing a lot of free throws. The winner got a stay at the Princeton Club in New York City. Wooo.
- Meanwhile, the Penn Quaker is harassing the Jadwin Jungle. Lots of chest-bumping and #1-finger raising. The Jadwin Jungle doesn't have much of a comeback for his silent posturing, just yelling "Safety school!" and "Get out of here!" over and over.
Will Buffmire play tonight?
- The senior has been out the past few games with a sprained ankle, but its Senior Night, it'd be nice to get him a few minutes on the court. He's in uniform, so its possible. If this turns into a blowout, Scott would almost have to put him out there.
- So far, the Tigers have been through a few sets of subs and the Arizona-native remains on the bench.
Jaaber with another steal
- Out-races a couple Tigers down the other end of the court for an absolutely effortless dunk.
- Brian Grandieri gets another fast-break layup on Penn's very next possession. 23-15 Quakers with 5:24 to go in the half. This could be getting out of hand.
Freshman center Pawel Buczak is in the game
- This is the third or fourth straight game in which Buczak has seen action. The freshman epitomizes "lanky," making Kyle Koncz look like an obese gentleman.
- Buczak's wingspan has got to be over seven feet. He stands six feet, nine inches.
- In his first appearance of the season (garbage time in a blowout win over Rice) Buczak attempted a three-pointer. He missed it, but the prospect of having a center who is willing to shoot from the outside is an encouraging one. It looked for a while like sophomore forward Mike Strittmatter could fill that role, but he really plays nothing like a center. Still, he could really be a valuable wing player if he picks up his inside scoring a bit.
- In my face, Strittmatter drives in for a pretty baseline floater, pulling Princeton to within two. The shot came right after Buczak absolutely stuffed Penn's 6-7 Tommy McMahon on the other end of the floor. McMahon thought he was wide open for a layup after cutting to the paint, but when he turned around, Buczak was there to launch the ball right back into his face.
Zoller cruises in for a wide-open fast-break layup off a Jaaber pass
- Layup lines were scheduled for before the game, but apparently they have been moved to the middle of the first half.
- Junior forward Noah Savage connects on a corner three with the shot clock winding down. 12-10 Quakers with 9:37 left in the first half.
Jaaber cruises in for an uncontested layup
- This guy is way too good for the Ivy League. He'll definitely be at one of the big NBA pre-draft camps, probably won't get drafted, but I can really see him catching on somewhere eventually. At the very least, he will tear up Europe. How do you say "Ibby" in French?
"Stay awake, stay awake"
- Junior forward Kyle Koncz yells this out to his teammates as the Quakers get into their offensive set. The Tigers force a turnover, apparently not while asleep.
- The Penn Quaker mascot is nodding his head furiously at no one in particular and pointing to his boys in the stands.
8-4 Penn with 13:26 to go in the half
- The Penn Quaker mascot has a huge rat-tail of an early 90s haircut. He claps softly with his chubby hands.
- Junior forward Noah Savage hits a three-pointer, cutting the Quaker lead to one.
Penn's cheerleaders
- They have, like, more male cheerleaders than female ones...that is, if you count this huge Penn Quaker mascot, which would be a dubious act of gender categorization at best.
- The Penn cheerleaders are chanting "D-D-D-Defense" as the Tigers take control of the ball on the far end of the court. Meanwhile, a Princeton alum seated in the first row behind the Quaker Girls is chanting "O-O-O-Offense." All the cheerleaders are giggling at him. He is very loud, and sitting right next to the male cheerleaders for Penn, who look like they want to place a beating on him.
- The Tigers end the possession with a 24-second violation, and the "O-Offense" man appears to have been defeated.
- I wonder if other people have called them the Quaker Girls before.
Honoring the band
- The Princeton band's senior members are out on the court, being honored over the PA system. Their loudness will not be missed.
- The cheerleader seniors are also being honored, including Dan Sharpe, who has been the only male member of the squad the past two years. Props.
Jaaber forces a steal
- Leading to a wide-open Darren Smith layup on the other end. Jaaber ranks fourth in Division I basketball, averaging three steals per game.
New low for the Jadwin Jungle
- Definitely the smallest turnout ever for a Princeton-Penn game.
- Quakers win the tip. Penn superstar guard Ibby Jaaber opens the game by missing a wide-open three.
- On the other end of the court, Steuerer misses an absolutely wide open layup. There was no one within 15 feet of him as he caught the pass underneath the hoop.
- Finley hits a layup to open the scoring, Zoller hits an easy layup to respond, then Finley misses Princeton's second gimme layup on the other end of the floor.
Steuerer, Owings, Finley, Gunn and Schroeder
- Those are your starters, as they have been for the past four or five games.
- "1-2-3, Win!" the players chant breaking out of the huddle in front of their basket.
Senior Night is under way
- Senior guard Edwin Buffmire and senior forward Luke Owings are out on the court, having already been honored for their contributions to the program over four years. The PA announcer is just finishing up the accolades for senior forward and captain Justin Conway.
- Head Coach Joe Scott '87 joins the three members of the Class of the 2007 on the court for a photo op.
- This game will definitely have a lot of meaning for these three guys, but also for the rest of the Tigers, who are definitely seeing this as a chance to send off their outgoing teammates with one highlight for a majorly disappointing final Ivy campaign.
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