Not just nitpicking over NET-picking

NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt (MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference)

Editor’s note: Dan Gavitt is NCAA senior vice president of basketball.

Hey Dan, I’m back. It’s been a few weeks since my last note to you on the repugnant new NIT policy eliminating the automatic bid for mid-major conference champions who do not win their conference tournaments.

I have another request. It’s about that NET thing. Time to scrap it, or at least modify it. It only favors the big boys. You know that. We know that. Everyone knows that.

The biggest problem is the TVI (team value index), which is meant to reward teams for beating quality opponents. How does it work with teams who can’t get quadrant-one and even quadrant-two-type games out of conference, even on the road?

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Princeton women’s basketball decimates No. 22 Oklahoma, falls short to No. 19 Indiana at Fort Myers Tip-Off

Princeton sophomore guard Madison St. Rose is averaging 17.7 points through six games this season. (ESPN)

The Princeton women’s basketball team split a pair of Thanksgiving weekend contests against two nationally ranked opponents from power conferences at the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida. 

Playing on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in coach Carla Berube’s career, the Tigers dominated No. 22 Oklahoma, 77-63, at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.  Then, on Saturday morning, the Tigers fell prey to a hot-shooting No. 19 Indiana Hoosiers squad, 72-63.  

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LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball postgame presser following 80-66 win over Northeastern

Editor’s note: Princeton men’s basketball cemented a 6-0 start with an 80-66 win over Northeastern at Jadwin Gym Saturday. Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark brings us the audio of the postgame press conference featuring Princeton coach Mitch Henderson, senior guard Matt Allocco and sophomore guard Xaivian Lee. Lee notched 30 points on 11-for-21 shooting, six rebounds and four assists, while Allocco posted 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting and six assists.

Princeton women’s basketball shuts down San Diego in 62-51 road win

Princeton women’s basketball returned to its winning ways by knocking off the University of San Diego Toreros, 62-51, on Sunday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.  

The matchup was the second of two weekend games the Tigers played on their Southern California road trip, which served as a homecoming for three Princeton standouts – Kaitlyn Chen and freshman Ashley Chea, both of whom played high school ball at Flintridge Prep, and Skye Belker, a Los Angeles native who played at the Windward School before coming to Princeton.  

Coming off a nail-biting, near-miss against No. 2 UCLA on Friday, the Tigers made quick work of the Toreros.  Madison St. Rose led the way early for the Tigers, notching eight points in each of the first two quarters.  The story of the half, however, was Princeton’s stifling defense, which forced the Toreros into a horrid 5-31 shooting performance.  The Tigers led 31-18 at the break.

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Princeton men’s basketball stifles Monmouth, 82-57, to improve to 4-0

Princeton men’s basketball is the only unbeaten team in the country that hasn’t played a home game so far this season, according to basketball analytics expert Ken Pomeroy. Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark breaks down how Princeton stayed that way in an 82-57 victory at Monmouth Saturday:

Princeton women’s basketball falls just short at No. 3 UCLA

The Princeton women’s basketball team nearly pulled off an upset for the ages as the Tigers fell on Friday afternoon, 77-74, to the No. 3 UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion.  It was Princeton’s first loss of the season.

Five days earlier, the Tigers had visited Middle Tennessee State and ended the Blue Raiders’ 49-game homecourt winning streak.  On Friday afternoon, in the first game of a two-game West Coast swing, the Tigers entered the Bruins’ den at Pauley Pavilion in hunt of another statement win.

They almost got it.

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Four reflections on Princeton men’s basketball’s 3-0 start

After defeating the Duquesne Dukes of the Atlantic 10 Conference, 70-67, Wednesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Princeton men’s basketball is off to a 3-0 start, its best beginning since the 2015-16 campaign, when the Tigers won their first four games.  

Here are four reflections on the season so far for the two-time defending Ivy League champions:

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Takeaways from Princeton men’s basketball securing 3-0 start with 70-67 win at Duquesne

Listen to Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark analyze Princeton men’s basketball’s 70-67 win in Pittsburgh over a KenPom top-85 Duquesne squad, the Tigers’ second win over a team in that echelon away from Jadwin Gym in three games to become one itself:

Rookies Belker and Chea pull Princeton women’s basketball past Middle Tennessee State

In winning its season opener at home against Duquesne, Princeton women’s basketball witnessed the blossoming of Madison St. Rose as a new superstar for the Orange and Black. 

It was time for another coming-out party Sunday, this time by rookies Skye Belker and Ashley Chea, in a 65-60 comeback win to remember at Middle Tennessee State.

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