Is size going to matter?

The Penn men's basketball team will face top players of all sizes versus GW. For the first six games of the season, the Penn men's basketball team has been losing the battle around the basket. The Quakers have been outrebounded, outshot and generally outplayed in the paint in most of their games. The Quakers (3-2) travel to Washington, D.C., Sunday, to play in the Franklin National Bank Classic, where they will literally meet their biggest challenge so far in the form of all 7 feet and 285 pounds of George Washington center Alexander Koul. "The very large individual," as Penn forward Jed Ryan called him, is averaging 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds so far this season. He was considered one of the top centers in college two years ago, but has failed to improve in recent years. Still, Koul has the size and ability to take over Sunday's game. "Our strategy has to be to move Koul away from the blocks," Ryan said. "It is physically impossible for us to block his shots if he gets the ball down low." Penn's best defense may be disrupting the rhythm of the Belarusan giant. Ryan and the rest of Penn's low-post players, including Paul Romanczuk and Josh Sanger, will be called on to harass Koul throughout the game. "We have to just move him off the block, take some charges," Ryan said. "We have to do all the little things that make playing basketball annoying for someone who is 7 feet tall." While Koul has the potential to score at will against Penn -- he towers over any Quaker by at least four inches -- he could prove to be a bigger disturbance on defense. Again, Penn's best chance is to move Koul away from the basket. "Something you have to deal with," Penn assistant coach Gil Jackson said, "is, are we going to decide how we want to attack them or are they going to have to figure out how to defend us?" Penn will try to draw Koul to the outside by sending its big men to the perimeter. But the Quakers' big men have to prove they can hit their shots before the Colonials (5-2) will defend the outside. Not one of Penn's post players is hitting above 46 percent of his shots, and Ryan has slumped to 33 percent. "If I made a shot," Ryan said, "it would be a blessing. We will not have a lot of success in the low blocks. We have to make shots so we can play our game." Yet Koul can not be Penn's only concern in Sunday's game. The Colonials' leading scorer is Yegor Mecheriakov, a 6'8" forward also from Belarus and also a force in the low post. At the short end of the spectrum is 5'4" point guard Shawnta Rogers. While he averages 12 points and 4.9 assists per game, Rogers' most impressive stat is his four rebounds per game, even though he wouldn't have a height advantage on most junior high players. "He penetrates well," Penn point guard Michael Jordan said. "He's not that great of a shooter, but he's a real good player, especially for being so short." Jordan has played against Rogers in summer league games, but there is some question as to whether Jordan will be able to use his experience this Sunday. Jordan's ankle is now at about 40 percent after he sprained it in Puerto Rico. "I can't say specifically how much he'll play," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said. "Right now he's shooting a little, then he'll start jogging. I'm hoping that soon he'll be at 50 percent, then at 75 percent before we play." Penn is undoubtedly a better team when Jordan is on the court. Not only do the Quakers need his 14.7 points per game, but Jordan has the unique ability to make the players around him better. Regardless of who is running the show, Dunphy is convinced the Quakers have to stick with their usual game plan despite the height mismatches. "Once you do something out of the ordinary," Dunphy said, "you are playing right into their hands." While Penn will face either Maryland or Kansas, ranked second nationally, in the second game. The Quakers are not too concerned with who their opponent will be. In fact, Penn will probably not prepare for the second game until after the George Washington game. "Typically, what will happen is an assistant coach will have one team," Dunphy said. "We will be prepared to face either Maryland or Kansas." The coach covering Kansas (7-0) will have the unenviable job of trying to figure out how to stop the Jayhawks front-court tandem of Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce. Both are arguably among the top five college players and average a total of 40 points and 20 rebounds per game combined. "We are going to try like crazy [to stop them]," Dunphy said. "LaFrentz may be the best player in America, so whatever we do won't be easy." While some Penn players want a shot at Kansas, others are seeking redemption for last year's 30-point loss to Maryland (3-1 pending the result of last night's game with Clemson). Almost all of the players from last year's team returned for the Terrapins, who are led by Laron Profit and his 21.8 points per game. Yet Penn would be happy to face either of the dangerous opponents, as long as it was in the winner's bracket. "You can't concern yourselves with who you'll play," Ryan said. "or you'll lose your focus and you never get a chance to play them."

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