Another exercise in futility?

The coaches of Dartmouth and Harvard have never won a game in the Palestra. Harvard coach Frank Sullivan and Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher have the misfortune to share one dubious distinction when playing in West Philadelphia. Neither of them has ever managed to grab a victory at the Palestra. And according to both, nothing would make them happier this weekend than to walk out of the oldest court in Philadelphia with a big 'W.' "I know I have been here 12 years and I have never won a game at the Palestra," Faucher said. "There is no, to me, light at the end of the tunnel. And if we ever won in the Palestra I would be the happiest coach in the country." Sullivan echoed the sentiments of his New England rival when he commented on what a tough place the Palestra was to play. Between the "great" fans and the level of intensity displayed by the Quakers, Sullivan felt that no matter who enters the Palestra "it surely will be a long night." It is obvious that all three teams recognize the importance of this weekend. Dartmouth (13-5, 5-1 Ivy League), Harvard and Penn all have one conference loss and need to keep winning in order to hang with Princeton -- the only remaining undefeated Ivy League team. For Harvard (12-6, 5-1), the key to a successful weekend, according to Sullivan, will be a balanced attack on the offensive end. Led by senior Kyle Snowden's 16.6 points per game, the Crimson's offense is currently ranked first in the Ancient Eight in three-point field goal percentage (41 percent). More importantly, Harvard is ranked second in offensive boards and third in overall rebounding, a category in which Penn (7-10, 3-1) finds itself last. Quakers forward Paul Romanczuk thinks he might have the answer to some of Penn's problems on the offensive and defensive glass. "This weekend we need to pay closer attention to the little things," Romanczuk said. "Things like checking out and and crashing the boards with authority should help us." Romanczuk, the Quakers' leading scorer averaging 11.7 points per game, felt that shutting down Snowden will be a key in stopping the Crimson tonight. Against both teams, the sophomore out of West Chester, Pa., commented that coming out strong and playing consistent basketball for 40 minutes is the goal. "Hopefully this weekend we are returning home and there will be a good crowd," Romanczuk said. "That should be enough, but certainly being more focused and intense will help, too." Penn coach Fran Dunphy agreed with his new source of offensive power, citing the two keys to Penn victories this weekend as "consistency of effort" and "playing smart, which means minimizing our turnovers." In this phase of the game, the Quakers are only plus .19 in turnover margin, ranking well behind the Crimson and Dartmouth. For Penn to cut down on these giveaways, Dunphy believes certain things will need to happen. "We need to take better care of the ball," Dunphy said. "As well as make good passes and take good shots." Cleaning up the Quakers' sloppy tendencies is all well and good. But last weekend Penn was overwhelmed by the 6-foot-6 Cornell forward John McCord (23 points, 20 rebounds) and facing the likes of Harvard's Snowden (6-foot-6) and The Big Green's Brian Gilpin (7-foot-1) will not bring any relief to the undersized Quakers. Last season, Penn was lucky when Gilpin pulled a Houdini act at the Palestra. The center from Fortville, Ind., finished that night with zero points on 0-7 shooting and only four rebounds. Faucher is hoping that Gilpin and the rest of Dartmouth will be able to put the 80-51 drubbing by the Quakers behind them on Saturday night. "Last year we definitely did not play well at the Palestra," Faucher said. "Gilpin had an off-night, and we didn't respond well to Penn's aggressive defense." When asked what his strategy would be to slowing down this years' group of Quakers three-point shooters, Faucher joked, "Hope they miss. "No to be honest with you, I respect all their players. I know they are a good three-point shooting team, but if you give them too much space they have a couple quick kids that can go by you." No matter who the opponent is this weekend, Dunphy and Romanczuk are united in what they want to see out of Penn against Harvard and Dartmouth. "I would like to see this team come out and build a 10- to12-point lead and really take it from there," Romanczuk said. Two Ivy League wins would be nice, too.