Red and Blue Scrimmage: Room for Improvement

While the fans that came early for Penn men's basketball season tickets saw a strong offensive performance Saturday, the Quakers still have room for improvement.

After the team came outside Saturday morning to thank fans in The Line waiting for season tickets, they put on a three point show for the first scrimmage of the year. The game featured a plethora of three pointers from junior captain Dau Jok and sophomore Patrick Lewis-Perry, along with head coach Jerome Allen working a double shift as he also took over as referee for the 20 minute scrimmage. The scrimmage ended with a close 39-37 finish that resulted in a victory for the Miles Cartwright-led blue team.

The opposing team was led by Jok, who drained six three pointers, including four in the first five minutes of the second half. With only one senior on the team, Jok, Cartwright and fellow junior Fran Dougherty have taken over as captains this season. However, despite his quality offensive performance, Jok critiqued his own leadership and the team’s defensive action.

“I wouldn’t say we played well at all because defensively we gave up a combined 80 points, which is a lot. We are a team that is predicated on defense and to win we have to play defense,” Jok said. “In terms of the leadership, we just try to get guys' encouragement but I think we have a lot of work to do.” After getting just 37 minutes of playing time last season, Jok is expected to take on a larger role this season. Saturday, he displayed his solid jump shot that should be a large part of the Quakers offense this year.

“We have a lot of weapons. Everyone is starting to know what their roles are,” Jok said. “My role is not to go between my legs and create for other people, but to help the team the best I know how.”

The other two team captains, Cartwright and Dougherty, led the blue team. Cartwright ran the point for his side, displaying adept passing the entire game. Cartwright handled the ball to end the first half, making a skilled pass to an open Patrick Lucas-Perry, who missed the attempt. Dougherty displayed a strong presence inside the paint for the blue team. However, he thought his performance as captain, along with Cartwright and Jok, can improve.

“I think we did more with leading by example and I think we need to be more player-coaches out there,” Daugherty said. “There are a lot of young guys out there and we need to help coach them through some emotions that they may not be used to out there."

One of those young guys is sophomore forward Greg Louis, who scored five early points before displaying a strong passing game in the second half. One of the best plays of the game was a Louis pass from the top of the key that squeezed past two defenders for an easy layup for freshman Darien Nelson-Henry. Louis’s game ended on a sour note, however, with a late pass going for a turnover while missing a potential game-winning three to end the game. Despite the ending, Louis looked impressive coming back after missing his freshman year due to injury.

Senior Larry Lougherty did not receive the chance to shine coming out of a season lost to injury. The lone senior is a question mark for the Red and Blue, as he has not played in a game since January of his sophomore year. What the Quakers get out of the 6-foot-6 forward remains to be seen.

The main thing that coach Allen took away from the game was the lack of execution defensively, echoing comments from Jok and Dougherty. While the fans may have been entertained by the barrage of three pointers, Allen was thoroughly disappointed in what that meant defensively.

“Two weeks is our first game but I wish we had more time. I think we need a lot of work on the defensive end. The reality, if the cup is half full or half empty, is that there is nothing in the cup at all from a defensive standpoint,” Allen said. “We gave up roughly 40 points for a half. That’s 80 in a game and we’re not that good to play games in the 80s and expect to win.