COLUMN: Need scoring? Call Frank Brown.

From Rick Haggerty's, "House of Haggs," Fall '99 With Franklin Field's eastern goalpost still settling into the bottom of the Schuylkill, this campus was ready for hoops. So were the Quakers, who nearly knocked off the then-No. 8 Jayhawks. Do you remember the leading scorer for Penn in that game -- the man with the sweet jumpshot who came off the bench to ignite the Red and Blue with 17 points and 3-of-4 shooting from three-point territory? It may be difficult to recall, because that man has not been on the court very much lately. Where have you gone, Frankie Brown? To the bench, that's where. After averaging more than 23 minutes in Penn's first eight games, Brown's playing time has dwindled significantly. In last Tuesday's disaster at the Palestra, Brown sat for all but five minutes. He sat there watching helplessly as Princeton slowly chipped away at Penn's seemingly insurmountable lead and pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA history. While both the time remaining and the size of Penn's lead evaporated before the stunned eyes of 8,722 fans, anyone could see that the Quakers needed some offense on the floor. This was made even more clear by the scoreless night Jed Ryan was having -- the worst night of the year for the senior tri-captain. Despite this, Frank Brown remained on the bench for nearly the entire second half. Only two of his five total minutes came in the second 20 minutes. Even if Brown had seen more playing time against the Tigers, the Quakers still might have lost. So many things went wrong in that game, it is impossible to pinpoint one decision as the reason for Penn's collapse. But it was also clear that Penn was dying for offense. And Frank Brown provides offense. He is the Ivy League leader in three-point shooting percentage at an even 50 percent. But he has also taken only 18 shots from beyond the arc this season. You would think that someone with a shot as pretty and accurate as Brown's would be on the court for more than five minutes a game. If you were thinking this during the Princeton game, however, you would be wrong -- despite the fact that Penn was in a scoring drought as dry as the Sahara Desert. Penn coach Fran Dunphy felt that Mike Sullivan's defensive presence on the court would benefit Penn more than Brown's offensive firepower. Sullivan has done an admirable job for the Quakers this season. The senior forward has provided Penn with excellent defense, and he is one of the hardest working guys on the floor. However, he also is one of the least effective Quakers on the offensive end of the court. Although he did show some scoring abilities when he elevated for a dunk against Yale last Saturday, he usually does not add too much to his team's offensive game. Dunphy says that Brown is not in his doghouse. And after the Princeton game, he acknowledged that there were times when he could have had Brown on the court. During the game, though, his decision was to go with Sullivan instead. He also added, "I'm hoping now that I can get [Brown] some real meaningful minutes over the weekend." If there was an adjective to describe Brown's minutes this past weekend against Yale and Brown, "meaningful" would probably not be it. Brown played 13 minutes against the Bears, followed by only three in Saturday's game with the Elis. After throwing an errant pass in the first half of the Yale game, Brown was yanked and did not return until garbage time. Yes, Ryan was having the night of his life, hitting 7-of-11 from downtown and scoring a career-high 23 points. But Brown could have spelled shooting guard Matt Langel, who only scored six points in 28 minutes of action. This Penn team is extremely deep, with all five starters capable of leading the scoring charge on any given night. The Quakers can win without Frank Brown on most nights, but it is nights when they cannot find the basket -- nights like last Tuesday -- when they do need him. On these nights, the Red and Blue cannot afford to have the guy who scored 17 against Kansas sitting on the bench. Penn heads to Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend with a number of scoring threats. Frank Brown is one of those threats -- but not when he's sitting on the bench.