Penn turns 100 vs. Yale, Brown

With Penn enarly eliminated from the Ivy title race, the main attraction may be special prices. An estimated 5,000 fans will be sitting, munching on their throwback-priced concessions, while 1970s Penn superstars Tony Price and Bob Morse will be featured in the honorary tipoff. Free posters will be given out, new banners and Quakers hoops memorabilia will be on display and little kids will be paying a quarter to enter. It's almost enough to make you forget about the game. Maybe even Willard Scott will make an appearance to celebrate Penn basketball's 100th birthday. Tonight, while preparations are still being made for Saturday's pomp and circumstance, the Quakers (8-11, 4-3 Ivy League) will host Brown to finish out this year's home-and-home series with the Bears. Tomorrow night, while distractions run rampant, the Red and Blue will be playing Yale in the second of the seven remaining Ivy League games this season. The festivities should distract enough fans from the fact that the Quakers have three Ancient Eight losses with only seven games to play -- essentially putting them out of contention for the title. Similarly, the attitude Penn coach Fran Dunphy is taking matches the sentiment of the evening. "We get a chance to play seven Division I basketball games," said Dunphy, teeming with enthusiasm. "We're going to try our best to win both games and play like crazy. That's how I'm looking at it. If someone manages to knock Princeton off and we're still there at the end -- who knows? But the bottom line for us is to get better." If Dunphy's attitude is effectively relayed to the team, then the Quakers may have some pressure taken off their shoulders and have the opportunity to have some fun. But the main emphasis this weekend is improvement. According to Dunphy, he has seen improvement in the offense, as he claims that the Quakers have been running it effectively for a few weeks. "I see certain things that we do better," Dunphy said. "We ran our offense pretty well against Princeton -- that was pleasing. The defense, particularly in the second half in the first 10 minutes, wasn't." Dunphy continued to say that he simply is looking for a consistent 40 minutes of solid defensive basketball. If January's 59-53 victory over Brown (3-17, 2-6) in Providence, R.I., gives any indication, Penn will have to step up defensively. Although Brown has consistently been involved in mid- to low-scoring games, Penn, who trailed 29-22 at the half, needed Jed Ryan's 11 second-half points to pull off the victory. Dunphy has toyed with the 1-3-1 zone, as seen minimally in both halves of Tuesday's loss. With the 1-3-1 being the only zone in the Quakers' repertoire, Dunphy is hesitant to use it. "I'm fearful about playing zone against a team that can make shots," Dunphy said. "We're on TV enough times that people can scout us and say, 'When they do go to trap, this particular area may be open.' If you're anticipating the trap coming, and you throw out of the trap before the double-team arrives, you leave yourself susceptible. I don't want to give up any easy baskets, let alone any easy shots." In the loss to Princeton, however, Dunphy reverted to it because he said his man-to-man defense was doing a poor job. Whether or not Brown has improved at the same rate as Penn is questionable, but if the Bears can limit Penn's outside shooting ability, then the Quakers will have lots of trouble, especially with Brown holding a significant height advantage down low with Oggie Kapetanovic (brother of former Penn center Vigor Kapetanovic) and Paul Krasinski. Despite the centennial sideshow and the recent slump, Penn still has the horses to handle Yale (8-12, 1-7), much like the Quakers' 14-point win in New Haven, Conn., last month. But even in that contest, the Red and Blue came out sluggish -- having a 13-4 deficit to start the game.