Princeton is out of March Madness because it took ‘shoot your shot’ to heart

Sometimes you don’t need to shoot your shot. Sometimes you just need to be smart.

With five seconds left in the game between the 12-seed Princeton Tigers and the five-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Princeton’s Amir Bell dribbled up the left sideline and passed the ball to Devin Cannady, who was on the left wing, some three feet behind the three-point line. As soon as he caught the ball, Cannady shot the deep three. There were still four seconds on the clock and Princeton was only down 59-58. A layup would have done the job. Cannady missed his shot and Princeton lost.

The Tigers made 8-of-31 three-point attempts in the game. The three accounted for 41% of Princeton’s scoring coming into the tournament, but Notre Dame switched to a zone defense in the second half and all but nullified that facet of the Tigers’ offense.

Princeton seemed to adjust. As a tradeoff, it was able to score inside to bring the game close after Notre Dame had built a double-digit lead early in the second half. Cannady made a three-pointer with 8:40 left to pull Princeton within six points. After that, the Tigers feasted on free throws, dunks, and layups. Their next three-pointer came with 3:22 left when Steven Cook pulled the Tigers within one point, 55-54.

And yet, the Tigers couldn’t stop shooting the three.

Princeton shot five threes from the 2:30 mark until the end of the game. They missed every single one. Their only other shots — two, for four points — were putbacks after missed three-point attempts. Princeton was a perfect example of what happens when shooting your shot goes wrong.

To shoot your shot is, as Shea Serrano wrote at The Ringer, to “go for it, to do something crazy, to fear no consequences.” It’s a laugh at the status quo. It’s gunning the engine at a green light. Sometimes you succeed. Often times, you embarrass yourself.

And that’s all right sometimes. Shooters shoot. The notion behind shoot your shot is that many times in life, like when you’re a 12 seed playing against a five seed, you need to be a little fearless and reckless to succeed.

The patron saint of shoot your shot is Kobe Bryant, a man who lived for difficult and ill-advised jumpers. He took Michael Jordan’s quote that “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” to heart and missed more shots than anyone in NBA history. His name is synonymous with shooting shots of any kind in everyday life. You shoot a piece of paper into the trash from far away? Kobe! A fadeaway jumper with a defender’s hand in your face in a game of 21? Kobe!

In the NBA today, no one exemplifies shooting your shot like Stephen Curry. It doesn’t matter if he’s 38-feet from the basket or facing multiple defenders off the dribble: He just lets it fly. One of the best college equivalents was BYU’s Jimmer Fredette, back when he looked at the halfcourt line like it was the charity stripe.

What Cannady and Princeton didn’t realize is that shooting your shot is a mantra for when things seem impossible, best used by people who can do impossible things. It is well-suited for when there’s nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Unless you’ve made a living doing the absurd, shooting your shot should be reserved for when your back is against the wall and you have no choice. Otherwise, you’re just being dumb.

You can shoot your shot by asking out that really pretty girl in school who has never noticed you or your thick glasses. If she says no, your life doesn’t change — you still live in obscurity. If she says yes, you hit the jackpot. What you can’t do is ask her out while you have a girlfriend, because then when she says no and your girlfriend finds out, you’ll be left with nothing.

Which is to say that taking a deep three-pointer with almost four seconds still on the clock, when you need two points to win and your team has missed 22 three-pointers including its last four, and your best attacks have come from going inside to Spencer Weisz — who could try to draw a foul or create confusion before kicking the ball out — is a bad decision.

Princeton could have beaten Notre Dame — and perhaps Vanderbilt could have beaten Northwestern, too — if it had abided by an even more profound saying than “shoot your shot,” one that has existed as long as man has been on Earth and partaken in recklessness. It is a saying that sober people with drunk friends know all too well: “Chill out.”

Princeton would have had a better chance if head coach Mitch Henderson had asked his team to chill out over the last three minutes of the game. If Bell could have pleaded with Cannady, after passing him the ball, to just chill, the Tigers might still be dancing.

The Tigers gave an example that we all can use. Rather than shooting your shot for the sake of shooting your shot, calm down and think it through. Yes, that three-pointer for the victory would have made for an awesome story, but you only need two points and you have a lot of time left. Pass the ball inside, make the defense commit, and if you can’t get a clean shot or foul, pass it out and then shoot your shot. Exhaust all options first. Just relax and work out the problem before heaving up the ball.

In basketball and in life, sometimes you need to chill out. Understanding that can take you further than trying to make the impossible happen all the time.