COLUMN: Little Things prove costly in big games

From Jeff Wieland's "Peanuts and Cracker Jacks," Fall '95 The Quakers may beat up on the crew-cut kids of the Ivy League, but the fact is they are only 1-3 against Philly's big boys, if you ignore all the garbage about "official" and "unofficial" Big 5 games. St. Joseph's was too strong, Temple too savvy, Villanova too good. Penn did blow out La Salle by 19, but it's no secret Speedy Morris has more ponies than thoroughbreds this season. So before all ye Quakers faithful buy the beer and gas up the car for the road trip to the NCAA regionals, consider Penn hasn't won nearly as many games this season on the hardwood as it has on paper. What about the 79-73 victory over St. John's at the Garden or Jerome Allen's miracle toss in Ann Arbor? You might be surprised to find neither Michigan nor the Red Storm is worth even a single vote in the AP poll anymore. For all the talent of Felipe Lopez, St. John's is a year or two away from the big time, while the Wolverines are at best a mediocre team in a weakened Big Ten. Next to the disaster at UMass, Big 5 basketball created the closest thing to a tournament atmosphere the Quakers have seen all season. And when the boys of Philly turned up the heat, Penn withered under the pressure. Missed free throws. Missed blockouts. Late turnovers. The tale of the Quakers' Big 5 adventures reads like a textbook in losing basketball. Yesterday's loss to Villanova was only the latest chapter. Didn't Jerome Allen's miss at the charity stripe in the closing moments last night sure look a lot like Tim Krug's pair of bricks against Temple? Or was I thinking of the front end of a one-and-one Matt Maloney sent clanging off the rim at St. Joe's with 57 seconds remaining and the Quakers clinging to a three-point lead? The stories are so familiar they begin to run together. Where was Tim Krug when Derrick Battie's put-back broke the Quakers' hearts on Valentine's Day? Probably the same place he was last night when Jason Lawson pulled down a missed free throw to preserve a critical possession for the Wildcats. It isn't supposed to be this way. Penn's veteran cast is supposed to revel in the pressure, not shirk it. After all, the Quakers start five seniors, and with the occasional exception of Nat Graham, nobody who sees significant minutes is younger than a junior. Last season, Allen's last-second heroics, like his bomb in the closing moments against St. Joe's, were commonplace, while Maloney was automatic from the line. And wasn't it Krug's blocked shot in the final seconds that preserved Penn's perfect Ivy record at Harvard? With March Madness looming on the horizon, it's time for the Quakers to rediscover their cocky swagger of a year ago. It's time to remember that in the eyes of the nation -- and the tournament selection committee -- Penn is nothing more than the team who happened to beat Princeton this year, and might outsmart Syracuse or Purdue long enough to steal a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. Ask a West Coast sports writer what he thinks of Penn's tournament chances, and it's likely he'll tell you that given the strength of the Big Ten this year, it's doubtful the Nittany Lions will make the NIT. For all ye Quakers faithful searching for a glimmer of hope, or even those restless pessimists with one foot already off the bandwagon, it is satisfying to know Penn has five relatively easy Ivy League games to pave its way to the tournament. And nothing could be a better emotional springboard for the Quakers than to waltz into Jadwin Gym and embarrass Princeton on national television to complete back-to-back-to-back perfect Ivy League seasons. But as the tournament draws near and the pressure mounts, we wonder which Penn team will show up for the stretch run. Will it be the loose bunch that beat Big Eight champion Nebraska last year by 10, or will it be the flustered team that blew a 14-point lead to Canisius to open this season? For now, the doubts linger. Jeff Wieland is a College sophomore from Aptos, Calif., and a sports writer for The Daily Pennsylvanian. Peanuts and Cracker Jacks appears alternate Thursdays.