Quakers frontcourt finally finds a confidence zone

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- It's pretty obvious the Quakers have a problem facing teams that have a hefty height advantage. Especially when the squads the Penn basketball team has played include two nationally-ranked opponents and the always defense-intensive Temple. Villanova's Tim Thomas strolled to the hoop as he pleased. So did Temple's Marc Jackson, Arizona's Michael Dickerson and Rice's Shaun Igo. Florida's Greg Stolt only lit Penn up for 10 points. However, those marquee players combined for 87 points at the expense of the Red and Blue. Penn's three forwards and centers only scored 66. But after winning only one of those five games, the Quakers got an instant shot of confidence with their inside game entering the Ivy season this weekend -- simply because Penn no longer gave up several inches to their opponents. "I'm used to playing against quick-transition, 6-10, 6-11, big, wide, 240 to 250 guys night to night," said Penn's 6-foot-11, 210-pound center Geoff Owens. "It's not like in the conference. Those guys I can shoot over? the average center is about 6-8. That will give me a few inches to work with, and it's a lot better." To say Owens effectively used his height advantage would understate what he accomplished. The freshman recorded four blocks and ten points in New Haven -- both highs in his nine-game career, and would chalk up five more points and two more blocks in Providence. Owens is still collecting fouls as fast as opponents drive at him, a situation he may be able to correct with a height advantage. "I think it's all mental right now," Owens said. "I've got to play smarter and try to stay out of [foul trouble] in the first half so I can be more aggressive in the second half." At Yale, Owens had two fouls in just 11 minutes. At Brown, he was called three times for fouls by the time the second half was just two minutes old. Despite the fouls, however, the difference in non-conference Owens and in-conference Owens is great enough that even coach Fran Dunphy took notice. Dunphy, however, attributed the change to experience. "Geoff Owens is getting older and more mature playing more games," Dunphy said. "I think that's the biggest thing." But Owens' accomplishments were overshadowed by sophomore Paul Romanczuk, who also felt that he represented a team confidence in his game in the frontcourt. Friday at Yale, the inside game was dominant offensively -- keyed by Romanczuk's career highs 19 points. In Providence, Romanczuk chalked up another 11 points after going scoreless in the first half -- keyed by bucketing nine of nine attempts from the charity stripe. "I think the confidence stems from the team's confidence in me. Maybe that translated into now we're playing in the Ivy League and playing against people who are our size, and get a comfortability factor," Romanczuk said. So what about the other member of Penn's frontcourt who sees quality minutes? According to the box scores, George Mboya is struggling. The Rice transfer scored two points on one-of-four shooting, committed three turnovers, had one assist, and only grabbed three rebounds -- in two games. And that is just fine with Penn. "George, I thought, gave us a fine defensive effort," Dunphy said after Saturday's contest. "He plays defense and rebounds and gets follow-ups and tip-ins and that'll be just fine. He's starting to develop a role for us, and I think that is important for us to do well."