Calder Silcox | A splash of cold water to the face

It may be the beginning of my final semester at Penn, but every time the first day of classes rolls around, I get a little nervous. Will my classes be hard? Will I know anyone? Will I be able to find Fagin Hall?

The Quakers, too, appeared to have a case of the pre-semester jitters last night. They simply couldn’t execute with any regularity, and now will likely be relegated to another winless season in the city round robin.

As coach Jerome Allen pointed out afterward, his team simply didn’t value the basketball. Passes sailed off hands and out of bounds. Easy layups rolled softly off the rim, and loose balls were quickly corralled by La Salle players.

To top it off, the Quakers shot just 34 percent from the field. Allen hopes to guard against an off-night shooting with defense. But when La Salle scores 20 points off turnovers, defense is not the issue.

(Sidenote: defense was also an issue.)

The tone was set early in the game when the Explorers opened an 8-0 lead and on the Quakers’ next possession — at a time when Penn desperately needed to stop the bleeding— an errant Rosen pass to Bernardini went out of bounds at half court, La Salle ball.

At this point in the season — in a Big 5 game, no less — it’s too late for Penn’s veterans to be stumbling through a home game.

Seniors Zack Rosen, Tyler Bernardini and Rob Belcore shot a combined 6-for-25 from the field.

Miles Cartwright, who has shown that at any moment he can confidently assert himself over any opponent, gave up five costly turnovers to an athletic Explorers team that was ready to capitalize.

“I thought we played horrible in terms of valuing the basketball,” coach Jerome Allen said.

Rosen, Cartwright and Bernardini were expected to be the team’s breadwinners this season, not freshmen forwards Henry Brooks and Fran Dougherty, who scored an efficient nine and 14 points, respectively.

After a start that earned Rosen props as one of the best guards in the nation and even a potential NBA prospect, he’s cooled off considerably.

Every team targets Penn’s star guard, but with more experience, the learning curve to shut him down is becoming less steep.

Rosen needs no motivation for the Ivy League season, which begins in just two short days. In his final year, he’ll rise to the occasion.

But for the rest of the team, especially young players like Brooks, Dougherty and sophomore Marin Kukoc, this loss needs to be a splash of cold water on the Quakers’ faces.

If Tuesday’s Penn team shows up for the Ivy League season opener Friday at Columbia, we’re all in for a long semester.

CALDER SILCOX is a senior science, technology and society major from Washington, D.C., and is Senior Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His email address is silcox@theDP.com.

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