AIR FORCE FLYING HIGH.Byline: BRIAN DOHN The focus of college basketball College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. History
But the Mountain West Conference also is home to one of the more remarkable and unanticipated stories on the court. After decades of losing, Pete Carril Peter J. "Pete" Carril (born July 10, 1930 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States) is a former professional and collegiate basketball coach. Son of Spanish immigrants in the USA, Carril is a graduate of Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where he was an protege Joe Scott Joe Scott (born July 28, 1965) is an American college men's basketball coach. The Pelican Island, New Jersey native is the current head coach at the University of Denver, replacing Terry Carroll on March 20, 2007. Scott had a 38-45 record through three seasons at Princeton. has transformed Air Force into an NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament-caliber team. After defeating Utah 62-49 Monday, with an NCAA selection committee member in attendance, Air Force (14-2, 4-0) finds itself with more league victories than it had in any of Scott's first three years. That win gave Air Force a school-record 12-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" . ``The place is going crazy,'' said Scott, who was 29-56 his first three seasons. ``Sold-out arena, louder than you can imagine. You can't hear a thing in our building. The whole community, the Cadets are going nuts. It's an unbelievable student section. It's really something special.'' Not surprisingly, Air Force is doing it with an offshoot of the Princeton offense The Princeton offense is an offensive basketball strategy that was used and perfected at Princeton University by Pete Carril. However, its roots may be traced back to Franklin “Cappy” Cappon, who coached at Princeton in the late 1930s. , featuring plenty of motion versatility at every position. Air Force leads the nation in defense, allowing 47.1 points per game. Although the Falcons play tough defense, it is their patience on offense that enables them to control tempo. ``You're constantly changing and adding things to it, but it's basically the same things, the same ideas and same concepts,'' Scott said. ``It used to be just us, but now everybody runs it. What happens is the more people run it, the more people see it, the more people figure out this is how you guard against it, and that means the more things you see on tape to sort of counteract what they're doing.'' Air Force, which leads the country in field-goal percentage (63.7), is led in scoring by guard Tim Keller Timothy J. Keller (born 1950) is an American author, speaker, and the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City, New York. Biography (11.1 points). Guard Antoine Hood is second (10.3 ppg) but a key is big-man Nick Welch. The system relies on a deft passer in the high post, and Welch is averaging 9.9 points and 2.7 assists. Forward Joel Gerlach and wing A.J. Kuhle round out a starting five in which each player has made at least 16 3-pointers and is shooting a combined 41.1 percent (98 for 238) from behind the arc. ``They're running it about as well as I think you can,'' said Scott, a 1987 Princeton graduate. ``The '97-98 (Princeton) team is still better, but if we keep doing what we're doing, then that would be the only team that I would put ahead of this one. Right now we have five guys that can score in every which way. ``Everyone can score in the post. Everyone can make a 3. Everyone can drive around their man, and they're doing all those things in the context of our offense.'' But one thing Air Force has that many of the Princeton teams lacked is depth. It was common for many of the Princeton starters to play more than 35 minutes, but Air Force has just two players averaging more than 30 minutes. Just how dry has it been for Air Force in the high altitude Conventionally, an altitude above 10,000 meters (33,000 feet). See also altitude. of Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, city (1990 pop. 281,140), seat of El Paso co., central Colo., on Monument and Fountain creeks, at the foot of Pikes Peak; inc. 1886. It is a year-round resort and a booming military, technological, and commercial city. ? The last time the Falcons had a winning season was 1977-78, when they went 15-10. The norm for the past decade was single-digit victory totals. For the first time since 1975-76, Air Force has five road victories in a season, including a dramatic 49-44 victory against California in Berkeley. Scott said the confidence gained from that late December victory carried over to a 65-57 win at Colorado State, which ended Air Force's 27-game conference road losing streak. CAPTION(S): 2 boxes Box: (1) FAST BREAK (2) Daily News/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS |
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