New slate in Ancient Eight

Technically speaking, the Penn basketball team plays one season for every academic year.

But for sophomore point guard Zack Rosen and the Quakers, this weekend’s contests at Yale (7-12, 1-1 Ivy) and Brown (7-12, 1-1) present something of a clean slate.

“0 and 0,” Rosen said, stating Penn’s current Ivy record. “It’s two separate seasons, whether anybody likes it or not.”

And whether they like it or not, the Quakers (1-13, 0-0) will be starting their fresh campaign in the Connecticut lair of one of the Ivy League’s biggest threats.

Yale senior guard Alex Zampier is having a stellar final season, posting career-high averages in both points (18.6) and free-throw shooting (86 percent).

Zampier should provide a terrific matchup for Rosen, who has emerged as the Quakers’ go-to scorer.

“I gotta do it all for us,” Rosen said. “I gotta know when the right time is to score and when the right time is to facilitate. I have a big responsibility on this team.”

Rosen may carry the biggest offensive burden for the Red and Blue, but head coach Jerome Allen contends that it will take a huge defensive effort from the entire Quakers squad to keep Zampier in check.

“It takes a lot of guys,” Allen said, “to be a good defensive team.”

Still, Allen admits that he’ll use Rob Belcore — regarded as the team’s best defender — to put pressure on Zampier.

Yet there may be times when the senior outfoxes the 6-foot-6 sophomore.

That is when the new-look team defense will have to come out and bare its teeth.

The Quakers’ interior players must collapse in on the paint if Belcore loses a step to Zampier, or the Red and Blue will get sliced to ribbons.

Good cohesion in protecting the basket may be even more significant against Brown.

While it won’t have to deal with a dynamic outside scorer like Zampier when they face the Bears, Penn will need a strong inside presence to repel a dominant front line.

Brown’s top four scorers are all forwards, led by junior Matt Mullery, who is posting 15.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

But Allen is confident in his team’s ability to slow down the impressive frontcourt of the Bears, as long as it can “take time [and] focus on every possession.”

And better concentration is exactly what Allen is hoping a distraction-less road environment will provide his players.

“I think this is a good opportunity in the sense that … hopefully we can focus a little more,” Allen said.

Yet with two important Jan. 28 birthdays — his and his daughter’s — fresh on his mind, Allen may have trouble focusing on basketball.

But if the cold, steely gaze of Zack Rosen is any indication, his players have not given up, despite their nonconference record.

“Whatever happened up to League play, it matters,” Rosen said. “But it doesn’t matter.”

For Penn, the next several weeks are all that matter, and the team is not taking its Ivy schedule lightly.

If the Quakers manage to string together a few wins, they can erase some of the disappointment from their woeful start.

And why stop there?

After all, the Quakers are just as close to an NCAA tournament bid as they were when they started the season.

Yet in order to get back on track, they’ll need to start with a strong showing this weekend.

So how about a win?

For Allen’s birthday?

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