A Game Of "Who Am I?"

Remember how TigerBlog said yesterday that he couldn't really think of another men's basketball player at Princeton who had made the kind of jump from his first two years to his third year the way current junior center Richmond Aririguzoh - named the Ivy League Player of the Week yesterday - has this year.

Then he thought of one. It's led to one of TB's favorite games to play, a little game of "Who Am I?" He'll give you the stats, and you try to figure out who it is.

Here are his numbers from Years 1 and 2:
Freshman year - 11 games played, 11 points, 1.0 points per game, eight rebounds, three assists, three blocks
Sophomore year - 22 games played, 39 points, 1.8 points per game, 28 rebounds, 12 assists, four blocks

And then here is Year 3:
Junior year - 28 games, 313 points, 11.2 points per game, 117 rebounds, 52 assists, 22 blocks

That's a pretty good jump.

As for Year 4, here's that one:
Senior year - 29 games, 310 points, 11.9 points per game, 169 rebounds, 58 assists, 22 blocks

In the end he worked himself from a player who made limited contributions to a second-team All-Ivy League selection as a senior. His career high would end up being 24 points, something he did twice, including once in an NCAA tournament game.

Also, he never attempted a three-pointer in his career.

Any guesses as to who it is? TigerBlog isn't sure if he should tell you the answer later or wait until tomorrow to see if you can figure it out on your own. He'll think about it for a few minutes.

In the meantime, speaking of men's basketball, the next home game isn't until Jan. 27, when the men's team returns from the coming exam break against Division III Wesley.

That game is one of two remaining in January for the men's team, who also has its rematch against Penn Saturday at the Palestra in the final game before exams start. Those two games are exactly two more than the women have remaining this month, by the way.

Princeton's women's basketball team is off until Feb. 1 and 2, when Columbia and Cornell will be in Jadwin. The Tigers will be well-rested, which is good, since there will then be nine games in February and then four more in the first nine days of March - and that doesn't include the Ivy tournament.

In the meantime, that doesn't mean that Jadwin Gym will be silent now for the foreseeable future. In fact, there will be two intense Princeton matchups there this weekend, just not in basketball.

The wrestling team will be in Jadwin this weekend for a pair of matches against nationally ranked opponents, as North Carolina and Oklahoma State will be here Friday and Saturday. Both matches are in Jadwin, not Dillon, and there will be an admissions charge for the OSU match only.

Those should be two great events, and TB will have more on them as they get closer. To get started, you can listen to this week's edition of "The Higher Standard" podcast with Midlands champ Patrick Brucki HERE. Brucki, of course, was one of two Princeton champs at the prestigious event at Northwestern, in addition to Matthew Kolodzik, the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 149.

Meanwhile, the women's hockey team stretched its unbeaten streak to 16 straight games, extending the school record, with a 4-1 win over Harvard and 5-2 win over Dartmouth, both on the road. Sarah Fillier was the nation's leading scorer the past week with five goals and three assists (that includes the Dec. 31 game against Merrimack), earning her ECAC Hockey Player and Rookie of the Week honors.

Princeton also moved up to No. 5 in the Division I rankings. The Tigers have only lost two games this season, both to No. 1 Wisconsin back in mid-October in the first two the team played.

Keeping the streak going this weekend won't be easy, as Princeton is back on the road, at No. 4 Cornell Friday and No. 9 Colgate Saturday. 

Princeton is nine points ahead of second-place Cornell (and Quinnipiac) in the ECAC standings with 22 points to 13 for the Big Red and Bobcats. The Tigers have played four more games than the Big Red, and Princeton is of course off for the next two weekends after this one for exams.

And so that brings TB back to the "Who Am I" question. Should he give you the answer now, or should he wait to see if anyone figures it out.

Hmmm. He'll wait til tomorrow and see if he hears from anyone.