Glen Miller may still be the new kid on the block in the Big 5, but his navigation around Philadelphia's most athletic and talented teams was more like that of a seasoned veteran.
Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli was impressed by Penn's offensive schemes on Saturday night, saying that he "would like to one day coach offense the way Glen Miller has been able to coach offense with that team."
Although he wasn't sure what to expect initially, Miller made a point of adjusting in response to the heightened atmosphere and expectations surrounding Philadelphia college hoops.
"It was a great experience for me," Miller said. "The reason why I left Brown to come here was because of the Big 5 and the national schedule that we play, so I really enjoyed it."
And although the Quakers weren't able to come out with a winning record for the fifth year in a row, the even split with a win over Drexel suits the players just fine, and is an improvement from their 1-3 record of last season.
"We lost some games that we felt we could have won and that's frustrating but at the same time we won some big games," senior tri-captain Stephen Danley said. "I had never beaten Temple before. And I know they're not Big 5, but Drexel is a heck of a basketball team this year, so we have positives to take out of it."
Now that the city series is over, it's time to focus on the more pressing matter of the Ivy League schedule, armed with the experience that the cross-town matchups had to offer - no matter how different those games are from league play.
On the glass. Not the least of lessons learned from the Big 5 was the need for Penn to step up its box-out efforts.
The inability of the team to grab critical rebounds was a major factor in the Quakers' loss to St. Joe's on Saturday and has plagued the team for much of the season.
"We work on it here in practice and sometimes, whether it's fatigue or lack of focus, we just don't carry it over into the game," junior Brian Grandieri said.
And while the Ivy schedule will not feature the height and athleticism of Penn's non-conference opponents, rebounding and defense are issues that Miller feels still need to be addressed.
"It concerns me and no matter who we're playing, we have to able to box out and secure the ball. We have be able to make stops," Miller explained.
Miller added that increases in both of those areas would lead to an even more productive Penn offense that is already shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor.
Injury Report. Unfortunately, the Quakers won't quite be firing on all cylinders as they head back in to Ivy League play. For one, Darren Smith is still nursing the partial tear in his labrum muscle.
The freshman guard has played through the pain so far this season, and put in some quality minutes despite the injury against La Salle as a defensive specialist.
Saturday night, however, Miller and Smith decided it was best if he did not dress for the game.
Smith's status is day-to-day, and due to the nature of the injury, Miller expects it will stay that way for the rest of the season.
"He didn't practice yesterday but I'm hoping that he'll practice today and show some improvement, and it's going to be like that for the entire year," Miller said. "You just never know when he's going to get hit the wrong way so hopefully after the year he'll have it repaired and he won't have the problem anymore."
Michael Kach's minutes have also been markedly diminished due to foot soreness lingering from his surgery, but the guard has been feeling better the last few days.
Miller expects that Kach will see much more playing time against Yale and Brown than he has lately.
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