COLUMN: Quakers learning from losses

Miles Cohen, Commentary With the heart of the Ivy season about to unfold, Dartmouth's record of 11-5, Princeton's 12-3 along with Harvard's and Cornell's 10-6 mark, make the Quakers' 6-8 record appear shabby. But that is hardly a concern for Penn, who entered last season's opener at Princeton with a 1-5 mark. It's a natural consequence of playing a big-conference schedule with Ivy League athletes. What the Red and Blue has going for them in 1997 is the luxury of playing against three of the elite college teams in the nation. In each of their tough defeats to top-10 teams (Villanova 89-62, Arizona 93-51 and Maryland 103-73), Penn put up a valiant effort and was taught many important lessons. With each loss, Penn was drilled on the fundamentals of basketball. The sloppy ball-handling which Penn displayed in getting the ball into the frontcourt culminated in 60 turnovers during the three games (31 of which came against the Terrapins last Tuesday night). But for all of Penn's careless play, the Quakers entered halftime in all three contests with the chance of making a run at their opponent in the second half. In addition to keeping the game close in the opening 20 minutes, two players emerged to give Penn a formidable inside-outside game. Junior Garett Kreitz nailed five of nine three-pointers against Villanova, before cooling off in the next two games. And Jed Ryan is also an offensive threat. The forward knocked down 17 points against Maryland. While Ryan has added some nice low-post moves to his game this year, Penn coach Fran Dunphy still considers him more of an outside shooter. For Ryan and his teammates, it would have been far easier to fold up early against all three top-10 teams who physically towered over them. This was not the Ivy League season and these games would not determine whether Penn would be heading to the Big Dance come March. As a young, inexperienced team, remaining focused and ready to play is often a difficult task. However, to many Quakers fans' delight, no matter who the foe has been this season, Dunphy has had his team prepared to put up a fight (if only for one half). Meanwhile, forget about the Big Green's, the Crimson's and the Big Red's pretty records, because for the most part, the competition they have faced borders on a joke. Of Dartmouth's eight non-conference wins, only two occurred versus teams over .500. And it only gets worse with Cornell (one lonely victory over a .500 team) and Harvard (no wins against winning clubs). Even with Dartmouth off to its best start in eight years, one has to wonder what exactly the hoopla up in Hanover, N.H., is all about. The real test for the Big Green, which is 2-10 versus the Quakers in the '90s, has yet to come. As for the always-hyped Princeton squad, the Tigers can boast that two of its three losses have come at the hands of top-25 opponents. But at the same time, only three of Princeton's ten non-conference wins have come against squads above .500. The records of the teams the Tigers battled (No. 19 North Carolina, No. 21 Indiana and No. 25 Marquette) were nowhere near the same caliber as Penn's top-10 opponents. Monday night, Princeton continued to fatten up, beating Division III Hamilton. With only two non-Ivy wins against teams over .500, the Quakers' record is also nothing to brag about. But that is exactly the point. Unlike in Hanover, N.H., or in Princeton, N.J., everything in Quakersville has remained very quiet. Especially after the disappointing loss to Lafayette (83-79) two nights ago. Aware of the team's sub-par record, Penn has decided to focus on the Ivy season instead of dwelling unnecessarily on the past. The Quakers are all breathing a sigh of relief, knowing the rest of their schedule will not include going against players like Villanova's Tim Thomas, Arizona's Mike Bibby or Maryland's Keith Booth. Certainly, after playing these future NBA draft picks, the Big Green's Seamus Lonergan and Princeton's Sydney Johnson look a lot less imposing. Battling against teams whose destiny could be the Final Four should have Penn more than ready for its remaining 12 contests.