Kotloff | Stars need supporting cast

Jordan and Pippen. Shaq and Kobe. Even Ibby and Zoller.

Basketball history tends to glorify pairs of teammates in their quests for championship rings. There’s even a catchy name for them: dynamic duos.

The names of the two members of Penn basketball’s dynamic duo happen to rhyme — Jack ’n Zack — making it all the more tempting to rest all the hopes and dreams of the Quakers on the shoulders of Eggleston and Rosen.

Resist the temptation.

Because on any title-winning team, it is those ‘other guys’ that make the difference. Especially in the Ivy League.

Just look at the Ancient Eight’s current leaders, Princeton and Harvard. The Tigers and Crimson represent the ultimate in balanced scoring output, boasting four double-digit scorers apiece — two guards and two forwards.

Yes, it’s true that the Quakers also have four. But delve deeper into the numbers and it’s easy to see why the Red and Blue have dropped from contender to pretender in a week — mainly, those elusive X-factors known as depth and consistency.

Though swingman Tyler Bernardini and guard Miles Cartwright appear to be holding their own at 12 and 11.3 points per game respectively, they have been hot and cold throughout the season.

Bernardini has failed to reach double-digits in nine of Penn’s 21 games, while Cartwright has attained the mark just 11 times. For a comparison, Princeton’s third and fourth scorers, Dan Mavraides and Douglas Davis, have failed to reach double digits a combined ten times all year.

That stat defines the difference between the two rivals as much as any.

There is no question that Jack and Zack stack up with any duo in the league. But they both know that they cannot carry the team by themselves, and their play shows it.

Both have sacrificed shots to accommodate for their teammates. Instead of dominating the ball, they choose to stay within the flow of the offense.

It’s the role of the supporting cast to fill in the gaps — that’s why they’re called ‘glue guys.’ Cartwright provides the ability to penetrate off the dribble. Bernardini chips in with sharpshooting from the perimeter. Rob Belcore plays lock-down ‘D,’ and Conor Turley and Fran Dougherty do the dirty work down low.

But when the captains are having an off game, someone needs to carry the load.

The Quakers’ fatal flaw is that they don’t have the necessary depth to win on a regular basis. The team reaches its peak when the third and fourth options get going — Bernardini and Cartwright combine to average 26.1 points in wins and 21 points in losses. With Penn playing such tight Ivy games, five points become crucial.

When the Quakers lost to Harvard on Feb. 5, it was the Crimson’s fourth-leading scorer Kyle Casey who made the difference with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Fifth-leading scorer Oliver McNally hit the game-winner in double overtime.

Three days later, Princeton’s Patrick Saunders and Mack Darrow — not the Big Four of Ian Hummer, Kareem Maddox, Mavraides and Davis — burned the Quakers with 11 points apiece.

The lesson is clear: the Dennis Rodmans, Robert Horrys and Steve Danleys of the world may work behind-the-scenes, but their supporting roles lift teams to championship heights.

BRIAN KOTLOFF is a junior communication major from Elkins Park, Pa. He is Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His email address is kotloff@theDP.com.

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