M. HOOPS NOTEBOOK: Quakers ready for national television

The Penn men's basketball team did not answer all the questions in its season opener Monday night, but the Quakers showed they can perform with the team they have. "There were a lot of doubts about everything but myself and Ira," Penn co-captain Tim Krug said. "As a team we didn't doubt ourselves, but other people doubted us. We showed that experience doesn't always count." While the Quakers may not be looking backwards, the programming department of ESPN certainly is. Penn's reputation, along with the Missouri Valley Conference's television contract, got the Quakers and St. Louis onto national television. "There's nothing wrong with basing programming decisions on past reputation," said ESPN senior publicist Dean Diltz. "It's not the most obscure game." But it's not the network's marquee matchup for the day, either. With Illinois-Duke and Arizona State-Oklahoma State set to be televised later in the day, ESPN has not assigned one of its top broadcasting teams to the game. Color analysts Dick Vitale and Bill Raftery, who called Penn's contests against Michigan and UMass last year, will not be in St. Louis Saturday. Instead, Jim Durham and Larry Conley will announce the game. "It's great exposure for us. It's an opportunity that's hard to replace," Quakers coach Fran Dunphy said of Penn's national television appearance. "We have to make sure we take advantage of it." · The St. Louis game takes Penn to the home state of forward Cedric Laster. This will be the first game in Laster's four-year college career that his parents will see in person. He plans to pack the stands of the Kiel Center with Quakers faithful -- up to 45 friends and family members are planning to make the trip from Clayton, Mo. Dunphy has already named Laster a member of Penn's starting five Saturday. However, the senior feels little added pressure. "I got some of the jitters out last game," Laster said. "I'm not looking for anything. I'm not going out there to score 1,000 points or get 18 dunks. I just want to play and help my team win. It's all about winning." Laster got the first start of his career Monday in place of shooting guard Donald Moxley, who had been slated to start. Laster did not see any action after the first four minutes, while Moxley ended up playing 30 minutes. "Donald and I had a lack of communication about timing," was all Dunphy would say about the lineup change. · Krug and fellow co-captain Ira Bowman challenged sports tradition following the Quakers' loss to USC Monday. They met the media and took the blame. "I didn't do a good enough job on the boards," Krug said. They crashed the boards harder and I didn't do my job." "Not getting the other players where they needed to be on the court is my fault," Bowman said. "Making sure people get to their places is part of our leadership role." And this year's Quakers need a lot of guidance. Penn's freshmen were expected to make instant contributions. Forward Paul Romanczuk performed adequately Monday night, pulling down four rebounds. Guard Frankie Brown, who has already established his own mini-cheering section -- "Frank Brownz Boyz," located in section 215 near the Penn band -- chipped in three points in limited action. Freshman forward Jed Ryan has not seen action since the Red and Blue scrimmage Nov. 4. After sitting out against the Russian Select squad with an injured ankle, Ryan returned to practice with the team, only to sprain his other ankle. Team doctors have cleared him to play, but Ryan is still feeling tenderness in the ankle and has remained out. He is expected to return to practice any day, Dunphy said.