A Game of Character by Craig Robinson

Author:Craig Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

8

LEARN THE GAME, NOT JUST YOUR POSITION

What is the Princeton offense? Well, without giving away too many of Pete Carril’s trade secrets—or, for that matter, tipping my hand as to what extent my own coaching does or does not borrow from the Princeton offense—I must answer this frequently asked question by at least noting that it is as much a mind-set as it is a set of strategies designed for winning the game of basketball. Let me also add that just as Marian Robinson once told me that she and Dad weren’t magic but were only trying to find what worked in child rearing, Pete Carril likewise never set out to discover the basketball Holy Grail; he, too, instead, was only trying to find what worked.

Once he found what worked, he developed a framework for his strategies that could be adapted and improvised upon—depending on all the different circumstances that a team encounters in any given game. Now, as to what that basic framework is, many expert observers would say that it is a slow-down offense that is deliberate and methodical, requiring both patience and skill, and tends to result in lower-scoring games that are the opposite of run-and-gun or “showtime” basketball. Such descriptions miss the mark—but neither Pete Carril, who started coaching at Princeton in 1967 (and who sometimes credits his predecessor, Butch van Breda Kolff, with coming up with the underpinnings of the Princeton offense) nor any of his coaching protégés would bother disagreeing. In fact, if anyone is responsible for the myth that the Princeton offense slows down the game rhythm, it’s probably Carril himself. Many an opponent walked into that trap because their coaches read the wrong scouting reports that perpetuated a limited understanding of what was in store for them.

Others will talk about the Princeton offense as being good use of fundamentals—passing, moving without the ball, and backdoor cuts. Yes, those are some of the strategies. In the Ivy League, when no one could figure out how Princeton managed to kill allegedly much stronger teams, the saying to describe the unrelenting offense was “death by a thousand cuts.”

All of that obscures what the real Princeton offense is. Bottom line, it comes down to playing unselfishly, passing and cutting until you get open for a shot—as a team. It is a way of thinking. You not only need very skilled players with a level of precision required for making that perfect shot, but they also need to be patient—hence what may parade as slow isn’t necessarily. Parts of this approach became second nature to me as a player and certainly became a foundation for my coaching philosophy—especially the unselfishness and the emphasis on passing and cutting while giving yourself up for the other guy. In other respects, my approach differs and is my own, including my preference for a decidedly up-tempo athletic rhythm and for cultivating players who can score under pressure even when it isn’t the perfect shot—who are confident enough to make plays that might not be correct but are right.

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