COLUMN: Three-guard set is answer for M. Hoops

From Will Ulrich From Will Ulrich There was an obvious hole in the Drexel defense last night.From Will Ulrich There was an obvious hole in the Drexel defense last night. As the Voice of the Palestra, John McAdams, announced Penn's neighborhood rival's starting frontcourt, it's likely that more than a few of the 2,409 hardy, snow-braving souls in attendance thought the the Dragons' big men might still be caught in the elements on the way over from Market Street. The Drexel front three, consisting of 6'6" junior Petrick Sanders at center, 6'7" Mike Kouser at power forward and 6'5" senior Chris Burch at small forward, looked to give Penn 6'11" center Geoff Owens something of a Gulliver complex. Drexel rookie coach Steve Seymour knew his kind-of-big men were outsized in the box, so he had Sanders and Kouser double down on Owens from the get-go. "We were concerned with Kouser starting on [Owens]," Seymour said. "He's one of our two best offensive weapons, and we didn't want him to be in foul trouble. I thought they were going to go right into Owens as soon as they saw Michael [Kouser] on him, so we wanted to provide some help right away." Owens didn't touch the ball immediately following the tip, as Penn shooting guard Matt Langel missed the first shot of the game for the Quakers, a running one-hander in the lane. On the next Penn offensive possession, however, No. 51 got the call. And once Owens caught the ball, Sanders and Koucher descended like a pair of famished piranhas. The Red and Blue's center, who has been turning the ball over under duress lately, didn't panic and saw Penn forward Koko Archibong open on the opposite side of the key. Archibong converted the dump-off from Owens with a layup for the first Penn points of the contest. It looked as if the Quakers had happened upon a winning formula: when Owens gets double-teamed, have him dump it off to one of his two freshmen frontcourt mates for the easy bucket. That sounds good on paper, but as last night's 54-46 Penn victory proves, this Quakers team shouldn't really look to Archibong and Ugonna Onyekwe for a solution to its recent offensive foibles. Granted, both first-year forwards have shown themselves to have the skills necessary to be in the elite of the Ivy League, and Onyekwe's lefty baby hook was silky smooth last night, as he shot 5-of-10 from the field. Nevertheless, neither of these recruits has the sort of offensive polish that the Quakers should bank on in a high-pressure situation. Thus, for the vast majority of the games remaining on Penn's schedule, the best move for Quakers coach Fran Dunphy to make is utilize a three-guard lineup of Langel, senior co-captain Michael Jordan and freshman David Klatsky as much as possible. Onyekwe is impressive when he can work on his man one-on-one eight or nine feet from the basket, and Archibong's explosiveness toward the cylinder is something that is sure to make most Ivy power forwards quiver in their high-tops. All in all, though, there are just too many times when either Archibong or Onyekwe make the Palestra faithful wince at their offensive rawness. Last night, each had his fair share of unimpressive touches. There was an airball three-point attempt in the first half for Onyekwe that caused more than a few unhappy faces. For Archibong, there weren't too many bright spots offensively, considering the fact he was a mere 1-of-5 from the field. One mistake sticks out, however. With just under ten minutes left in the first half, the Quakers led 12-9 and Drexel had possession. Kouser made a terrible pass that Archibong picked off with ease, but rather than slowing it up and waiting for his teammates, the Penn freshman forced the issue and wound up getting called for an obvious charge. These mistakes hurt, and they will hurt more during league play. A three-guard attack seems to be one way of preventing them. Dunphy himself recognizes the kinds of things that only this three-pronged backcourt can do. Even though Drexel was significantly undersized near the basket and -- as one might first assume -- things should have been easier for the Quakers big men, Dunphy elected to give young Klatsky 29 minutes of playing time. The Holmdel, N.J., native responded with a career-best 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting. All three of these field goals came from behind the arc. Last night's outing simply reinforced the image that most Penn fans have of the slight point guard. When Klatsky gets the ball, fans start to perk up; arms prematurely raise in preparation for a three-point celebration; and, most importantly, hearts can rest a little easier than when his classmates handle the ball. Klatsky helps the team in a number of intangible ways as well. "He's a good basketball player," Dunphy said. "He allows Mike [Jordan] to get off the ball a little bit?. With all three of those guys in the game -- with Matt [Langel] and Mike and David [Klatsky] in the game -- they all provide a sense of what our offense is all about and of making good decisions." Now, there are myriad reasons why the Quakers will need to have three big men down low at certain points this season, and that's not to suggest that Klatsky is the answer all the time. In a game against a team like Kentucky or Kansas, where rebounding against the nation's best wide bodies is at a premium, it makes sense for both Onyekwe and Archibong to hoard most of the minutes. In most Ivy League contests, however, Owens and just one of the freshmen big men will suffice. At 6'5", Langel can guard almost any Ancient Eight small forward, and Jordan rebounds better than almost any point guard that I have ever seen. Klatsky starting is no panacea for Penn, but it needs to be an option for Dunphy to consider.