M. Hoops: In 2007, Danley goes from main man to also-ran

Tri-captain Stephen Danley was an integral part of former coach Fran Dunphy's offense last season, leading the team in assists from the center position.

But this season, especially as of late, has been a different story.

Danley has averaged 9.5 points per game on the season, but only 2.2 assists. Those numbers aren't anything to shake a stick at, but the senior has not been as involved lately.

One might think playing Ivy League teams would bring his stats up, but thus far through four conference games, Danley has scored 6.25 points per game and 1.5 assists - a far cry from his 8.9 and three of last season. Looking at the last five games, with three Big 5 games and a 4-1 record, Danley has only scored five points per contest.

Judging by his stunted assist numbers and less than six shot attempts per game in league play, the captain is not getting the touches he did in Dunphy's inside-outside offense.

This could be due to the emphasis on the perimeter attack this year. The majority of the inside scoring hasn't been on post-ups, but on backdoor cuts and drives to the hoop. Danley spends a good amount of his time at the high post position, while the dimes are coming off of cuts for layups and skip passes for threes.

Miller knows the team must dump it inside a little more, but hasn't seen it happen.

"We didn't get the ball inside enough," Miller said after the loss to Yale Saturday night. "We come out loosey-goosey and rely on the perimeter shot, that's not the way to be effective offensively."

Against some of the smaller frontcourts of the Ivy League, Penn can really utilize its forwards inside, especially if the outside shots aren't falling.

A little nylon. An exclusive outside game is not what Glen Miller would like to see, but the improvement in distance shooting this year has allowed him not to rely on the inside for points.

Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller have stayed around their fine averages of last season. And the other starters, Tommy McMahon, Brian Grandieri and Danley, have drastically improved their three-point shooting.

After shooting a combined 24 percent last year (20-for-82), the three are lighting it up - combining for over 40 percent this season (51-for-127). Grandieri's 21-for-39 is a bit of a shock considering he made only seven a year earlier, but he's provided a key outlet to make opponents that double-team ballhanders pay.

Can we get a box out? It will go under the radar as a contributor to the loss against Yale, but once again athletic swingmen destroyed Penn on the boards.

The four guard/forwards on the Elis' roster - Casey Hughes, Travis Pinick, Caleb Holmes and Nick Holmes - played for 38 percent of Yale's total minutes and grabbed 64 percent of the rebounds.

The athletic Hughes did the majority of the damage, grabbing a massive 13, with six on the offensive glass.

The four average a combined 14.2 rebounds per game overall this year.

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