Ready for the Bingo offense?

Designed by former Princeton coach Pete Carril, the Princeton offense powered the Tigers to several NCAA appearances and upsets over high-profile basketball teams. The offense was designed to let nerdy, non-scholarship Ivy Leaguers beat the big boys with their brainy style of play. Georgetown coach John Thompson III coached at Princeton before GU, and he brought a variant of the offense with him. Because his Hoyas were so tall, strong and athletic, Thompson modified the offense to allow his athletes some freedom. Known as the ‘Princeton on Steroids,’ Thompson’s modified offense propelled Georgetown to the Final Four last year ‘ and led assistant Kevin Broadus to his first head coaching job at Binghamton University.

The new Bearcat head coach will probably bring elements of the offense to the Southern Tier with him. While he has resisted labeling his new system as such, Broadus will mix the Princeton with other systems he learned in all his coaching stops.

‘You can call it whatever you want,’ said Broadus at his introductory news conference. ‘Call it the Bingo offense.’

What will the Bingo look like?

The most important part of the Princeton offense is backdoor cutting. A player on the wing without the ball will cut to the basket as hard as he can. If he is a step in front of his defender, the ball-handler will throw him a leading bounce pass that should result in an easy layup. If the defender sags off him to prevent the cut, he either runs through screens to the other side, or takes the open 3-pointer.

All the players on the court, therefore, need to be able to pass the ball. That includes the big centers, like Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert, who knows how to make the backdoor pass from the high post. At Binghamton, it will be important that centers Giovanni Olomo, Jaan Montgomery and Minja Kovacevic, who used to stay under the basket, learn how to make that pass.

Another crucial component to Princeton’s success is 3-point shooting. If the guards cannot make the 3, then the defense can sit back in a zone or sagging man-to-man offense, allowing them to prevent the backdoor cut.

The Princeton offense usually results in long possessions where the ball is passed around the perimeter. The emphasis is on quality shots rather than a large quantity of them. Broadus, however, may allow his players to attack the basket in transition before settling for the half-court game. Above all, the Bingo will require discipline, which is something Binghamton sorely lacked last year.