COLUMN: UMass shows some respect

From Jed Walentas's "A Front Row View," Fall '95 Upon reflection, however, there is one bright spot, and it's kind of ironic. Throughout the ascent of the Penn program, Quakers players and fans have clamored for national respect. Slowly but surely that respect has come in the media. It culminated in a No. 21 national ranking in both polls last week. Saturday night, for the first time, that respect came from an nationally prominent opponent. "The last few days we really focused on Penn," Lou Roe said after the game. "We wanted to make a statement with this game." The Minutemen came prepared to play. They came fired up. They came to prove something against a Penn team they truly respected. They came to play swarming in-your-face defense. They came to dive for every loose ball, concentrate on every free throw and contest every shot. As a result the Quakers did not have a chance. Often overmatched physically, Penn relies extensively on heady play, precise execution, Coach Fran Dunphy's coaching brilliance and sheer desire. The Quakers do not have athletes like Lou Roe or Marcus Camby. Dunphy can't teach height. He can't teach strength. He can't teach leaping ability. Already this season, Penn has shown the nation that it can compete with national powerhouses. The Quakers won at Michigan and knocked off St. John's at Madison Square Garden in the finals of the ECAC Holiday Festival. Regardless of how often their respective coaching staffs warned those teams, the players showed no respect. I sat in Crisler Arena the day of the Michigan game and watched coach Steve Fischer and his staff explain to his players that Scott Kegler will knock down every open three he is given. Jimmy King wasn't impressed. When Ray Jackson was asked which side of the basket he wanted to run a set play from, he simply shrugged Fischer off: "I don't care." St. John's left Matt Maloney open throughout the entire first half at the Garden. It took 21 first-half points for the Red Storm guards to get the message. Somehow, UMass Coach John Calipari got the message across loud and clear. All-America candidate Lou Roe got the message. Marcus Camby, a future NBA first round draft choice, got the message. Donta Bright, the highest rated high school player ever, got the message. Dana Dingle got the message. Mike Williams got the message. Derek Kellogg got the message. Even the UMass students, who packed the Mullins Center to the rafters in the middle of their winter vacation and stood screaming their lungs out during the entire contest got the message. Calipari told those fans to come out in force. He told everyone that the Quakers would be the UMass' toughest game in Massachusetts since the Arkansas game. In both games, Calipari's Minutemen came ready to play. They played with intensity and something to prove. Just like the Quakers, the defending national champion Razorbacks were blown out. Both teams were humiliated and embarrassed on national television. Upsets in the world of sports have two ingredients. Of course, the underdog must play better than anticipated. But the favorites must also not play to their potential. Even though the Quakers played a miserable game Saturday night -- they failed to execute the offense, they did not box out and they did not make open shots -- it just didn't matter. The Minutemen played as well as they could play. When that happens, nobody in the country can beat them. Not in the Mullins Center. Perhaps not anywhere. So, at long last Penn got the respect it deserves. It absolutely killed them. Jed Walentas is a College junior from New York, N.Y. and sports editor-elect of The Daily Pennsylvanian.