Drexel's Linderman aims to be king of the block

Drexel men's basketball forward Joe Linderman hopes to dominate scoring and bragging rights at the Palestra. Tonight's battle for 33rd Street supremacy between Drexel and Penn shouldn't be considered a city block fight, rather it should be termed a fight on the blocks. The small, blue rectangle at the side of the key will be a prized possession for whichever team, and player, can claim dominance over it. Although both teams have reliable outside shooters, neither team will be able to free up those players unless their inside game draws in the defense. If Dragons forward/center Joe Linderman controls the blocks against the Quakers in the same fashion he has in his team's first 14 games this season, it will be a happy walk home for Drexel students. Linderman, a 6'9" sophomore, is Drexel's leading scorer with 17.4 points per game and its leading rebounder at 7.9 per contest. His skill and production is unquestioned, but for a young Drexel team struggling through its conference schedule, his coach needs him to contribute more than just points. "He puts numbers up, he's our go-to guy inside, but right now what we're really searching for on our basketball team is leadership," Drexel coach Bill Herrion said. "We have nobody stepping up as a leader, and a lot of times your leaders are most of the time your best players." Penn coach Fran Dunphy left Herrion to be the one challenging Linderman to step up his leadership. Dunphy commented that he was impressed with Linderman's poise and thought he played with the confidence of a senior. While the sophomore has time to become a leader, he doesn't have time to take a break from being the team's main focus on offense. Without his ability to collapse opposing defenses inward, outside threat Mike DeRocckis would not have nearly as many open shots. "If I didn't have him, we might be 0-14," Herrion said. "He's only a sophomore, but I think he's obviously proven he's a pretty good basketball player. His strength is a back to the basket, finishing scorer inside. I think that's what a lot of the programs at our level don't have -- that legitimate inside guy. That's what he brings to the table." What Linderman brought to the table at Boston University Sunday night was a variety of post up moves which he used to carve up the Terriers defense. Drexel led 35-31 at the half after getting 19 from Linderman, before falling 69-62. Linderman finished with 27 points on 12-for-19 shooting in 34 minutes. Responding to the challenge of facing Linderman will not be easy for Quakers forward Paul Romanczuk, but the 6'7" junior hopes to keep Linderman away from his home on the blocks as much as he can. Romanczuk will also enter the game coming off a fantastic performance of his own. He scored a career high 25 Saturday against Bucknell. "What we have to do is deny him the ball every now and then, and maybe show some double team," Romanczuk said. "He'll get his points, we just have to contain him." Part of the Quakers plan will be to move Linderman away from the basket and push him outside -- both on offense and defense. "We need to try to get him off the block, but a lot of teams try to do that," Dunphy said. "He's got a myriad of low post moves, so you can't focus on one thing. He's starting to get such a tremendous repertoire of moves down there that he is difficult to defend." Moving him away from the basket while he has the ball will not only keep him from making easy layups, it will also allow Penn to extend its defense to cover Drexel's three point perimeter game, which has been making 33.8 percent of its shots. On defense, the Quakers hope Linderman might lose his place on the court when he wanders outside of the paint. "I don't think he is as comfortable away from the basket," Romanczuk said. "We'll see what he can do out there defending us." If it's up to Drexel, no one in the Palestra tonight will ever know if Linderman can play from the perimeter because they will be too busy watching him score from inside. "Our game plan on the offensive side of the floor is to pound it inside," Herrion said. While the students at the game are hoping for bragging rights over West Philadelphia, Linderman and his teammates will be satisfied if they can claim domination over a square foot of real estate on the Palestra.

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