The Brown men's basketball team currently has four players near the top of the Ivy League in minutes played. With this weekend's back-to-back games against defending Ivy League Champion Cornell and Columbia, those high totals could equate to sheer exhaustion for the Bears' starters as their Ivy League season gets underway.
"It's a category we don't want to win," said coach Jesse Agel, who after two years of assisting Craig Robinson enters his first season at the helm.
With the losses of two 2007-08 first team All-Ivy guards, Mark McAndrew and Damon Huffman, the underclassmen had no choice but to step up. Forward Matt Mullery has certainly managed to fill their shoes. The junior currently leads the Ivy League in shooting percentage at 61 percent, which places him at 13th in the nation. He is also fourth in the Ancient Eight with an average of 16.3 points per game and has clocked 525 minutes of play this season.
"As the season goes on, I think it's going to be more important to find that spark off the bench," Mullery said.
The Bears (6-10, 0-2 Ivy) have been unlucky in this department thus far. Agel said that his squad's promising substitutes, Garrett Leffelman and Chris Taylor, were both injured for a significant part of the season. Miller, however, is rehabilitating and looking to return soon to alleviate his teammates.
The Bears have already started their Ivy League season off on the wrong foot. For the first time in three years, they dropped two consecutive games to Yale by scores of 70-62 and 57-55.
"We have our work cut out for us," Agel said. "There are a lot of very good teams that we'll be chasing."
Brown's defensive rebounding will have to continue its high level of play. It tops the league in this category due in part to senior Chris Skrelja's 6.6 rebounds per game. The Bears will need to maintain their strong statistics, and more importantly improve their minutes-played dilemma if they want to improve upon last season's second place finish - without tiring their starters out.
"I think this year isn't going to be like last year," Mullery said. "I think any team can win on any night."
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.