Silcox | Penn has a lot riding on the bench

Coach Jerome Allen and I are going to have to agree to disagree.

I don’t think his bench is contributing enough.

He does.

The exact numbers are unclear because the Quakers have had a variety of starting lineups lately. But by my calculations, Penn’s available, non-injured bench is averaging about 15 points per Ivy game.

“That’s a solid number,” Allen said.

But with junior Dan Monckton pounding home 8.6 of those points, Penn’s bench numbers aren’t necessarily representative of the team’s depth.

The contribution from the bench may soon look a lot smaller, as the forward had a solid performance in his first ever start Saturday against Yale.

“From a motor standpoint, we just thought that Dan was ready to help us get off to a better start,” Allen said.

And Allen’s decision to start the junior worked.

Monckton more than doubled his scoring average off the bench, racking up 18 of his team’s 81 points against the Bulldogs.

The change in the starting lineup jumpstarted a Penn team that has rarely gone into the locker room at halftime with a lead. Against Yale, the Quakers broke for intermission ahead 8 points.

“Dunkin’ Dan,” as volunteer assistant coach Vince Curran calls him has been a major surprise the season for Penn fans and opponents alike.

But whether he will be a sixth man in the remaining five games remains to be seen.

Though if Monckton, who is playing with a broken finger, can consistently raise his average point total by starting, I see no reason to move him from that position.

But no matter where Monckton sits the rest of the season, his development as a player provides an example that the other players on Penn’s bench should strive to match.

Allen needs to see more points from his available replacements — Justin Reilly, Brian Fitzpatrick, Zach Gordon, Malcolm Washington and the rest.

These players are averaging just a handful of minutes per game and have hardly made a significant impact on Penn’s point tally.

Allen did agree that there is work to be done.

“I think as a staff we have to do a better job of developing some other guys because [the starters] can’t play 80 minutes over the course of 48 hours,” he said, specifically talking about Zack Rosen and Jack Eggleston, who average about two minutes of rest per game.

“But on the flip side of that, it’s a testament to how well they are playing and how valuable they are to us,” Allen added about his dynamic duo.

With 61 percent of Penn’s scoring in conference play coming from that pair and sophomore Rob Belcore, it must be a difficult decision for Allen to take his top scorers out for a rest — especially when Penn is trying to mount a comeback.

While today Allen might have too few scoring threats coming off his bench, Penn’s problems with scoring depth this season are likely to be short-lived.

The commitment of Marin Kukoc ­— the son of former Chicago Bulls sharpshooter Toni Kukoc — is a step in the right direction.

Though the Athletic Department can not comment on recruitment until the prospective players are officially accepted to the University, it appears the hoops class of 2014 consists of seven players that could go a long way towards boosting the future offensive production of this team.

With at least two of these recruits (Kukoc and Fran Dougherty) listing good relationships with Allen as a factor in their commitments, it would be an egregious mistake not to keep Allen at the helm to sculpt a team that has potential to be even better than the ones he played on.

CALDER SILCOX is a sophomore science, technology and society major from Washington, D.C., and is Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is silcox@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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