Seifter | Change in community, not on court

Winter break may have brought the men’s basketball team its first win of the season, but there’s little reason to believe that interim head coach Jerome Allen has made a huge difference on the court compared to predecessor Glen Miller.

Penn has certainly made some adjustments. Allen has run a higher percentage of set plays on offense in order to slow the pace of the game, and has been mixing defenses, utilizing everything from man-to-man to a somewhat unorthodox 1-3-1 trap zone.

As Allen explained, teams get comfortable playing to a certain rhythm, much like dancing, and “what we want to do is stop the needle.”

But Penn hasn’t usually been able to dictate the pace or successfully execute a gameplan. Last week’s victory came against University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a team with an even worse record than Penn. Two blowout losses to Duke and Davidson prove that the Quakers, especially with such an injury-depleted lineup, don’t have the horses right now to hang with elite programs or even strong mid-majors.

But if you listened carefully to the statements made to the press after Miller was dismissed, you’ll notice that nobody promised an instant improvement in competitiveness.

Perhaps because Allen’s greatest strengths lie off the court.

Athletic Director Steve Bilsky made a point in his conference call to explain that he was more worried about the deterioration of the “Penn family” than that of the product on the court.

It is in those areas of community building and outreach that Allen seems to be making rapid improvements.

Allen is more personable than Miller in interviews, replacing Miller’s mumbling and short temper with consistent eye contact and forthright answers. And he has also made an impression on fans and alumni off the court.

Before the UMBC game, a Penn alumni basketball reception was held in a nearby restaurant. Speakers included Bilsky, prominent alumnus Rick Rockwell and former Penn basketball star Corky Calhoun, who graduated in 1972 and whose teams amassed an incredible 99-6 record.

Everyone was surprised when Allen made an appearance a mere hour before gametime to say a few words of appreciation. One of the event’s organizers said that she never remembered Miller making an appearance at such a function, and that, as far as she knew, an appearance an hour before tip-off was unprecedented.

In the grand scheme of things, this outreach is only one small gesture, which in the long run will ultimately be overshadowed by the program’s on-court success. But it is the type of gesture that Miller, for whatever reason, was too aloof to think he ever had to make.

“Sometimes it’s not just about the game itself, it’s about the people and the lives that are affected by how the team does, or the people who make sacrifices for us to have the opportunities that are afforded to us,” Allen said.

“One of the things I learned from coach [Fran] Dunphy is that, even the ones you don’t see, people matter,” he added. “Things just don’t happen because they’re supposed to happen.”

Regardless of Penn’s finish in the standings — and it will probably be ugly when all is said and done — the program once again has a head coach who appears to understand what it means to be a leader, even if only on an interim basis.

ARI SEIFTER is a junior computer and information science major from Ellicott City, Md., and is former Associate Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. He can be contacted at dpsports@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.