Roundtable: What's left to watch about Penn basketball?

Last weekend against Brown and Yale, Penn basketball suffered its third weekend sweep of the season in Ivy play, an ugly mark on an even uglier season. With one more Ivy weekend remaining against Columbia and Cornell, in addition to the season finale at Princeton, what’s left for Penn fans to watch? Our editors discuss:

Sports Editor Ian Wenik: There’s one question that’s pressing on my mind. What happens if Penn loses all three games to end the season and finishes 7-21? It seems to me that a loss at Levien Gymnasium to Columbia is inevitable, considering how good the Lions are on their home court. Cornell is a should-win game and the Quakers already have a win over Princeton, but we’ve seen this team lose eminently winnable games before.

A 0-3 finish to the season would mean that Penn would end the season having lost eight of its final nine games. At that point, I would imagine that with a new AD coming on board to replace Steve Bilsky, serious questions about the state of the Penn program would need to be asked.

Sports Editor Riley Steele: Ian raises a good point regarding the state of Penn basketball and the questions that will need to be asked if the Quakers end up dropping their final three contests. But I know for a fact that Jerome Allen is trying to keep his team focused on these games and not worrying about what lies beyond the end of the season.

One thing that I am intrigued by is whether or not Allen will alter his lineup and rotation at all as the team enters the homestretch. By this point, it is clear that the players being relied upon are not getting it done. While I don’t think drastic changes are needed, I think it’s time for Allen to allow some of the freshmen to see increased playing time.

Once these three games are over, Miles Jackson-Cartwright and Fran Dougherty won’t put on a Penn uniform ever again. If Allen is to be the coach of this team next season, he needs to figure out who will fill the gaps left by the seniors. Is Tony Bagtas suited to take over for Jackson-Cartwright running the point? Can Dylan Jones develop into a formidable big man? Allen should use the rest of the season to evaluate his talent moving forward.

Senior Sports Editor Steven Tydings: Forget the Athletic Director search. Forget the state of the program. Those are topics for after the season.

As Riley said, after these final three games, we won’t see Jackson-Cartwright, Dougherty or any of the five seniors put a Penn uniform on again, excluding the annual Alumni Game. And watching Jackson-Cartwright and company over the last few weeks tells me the senior class will get the most out of their final three games.

After dealing with injuries and being relegated to limited minutes off the bench, it is a shame that there are only 120 minutes left for Steve Rennard to play, considering how well the senior guard has played in recent games.

Since joining the starting lineup, Rennard has done a solid job of shutting down the opponent’s top guard while regaining his three-point shooting stroke that was key to Penn’s Ivy title challenge in 2012.

While I think Rennard and his fellow seniors will be giving their all for these final three games, that effort likely won’t be enough.

Despite losing to Penn four weeks ago, Columbia has dominated its home court as Ian mentioned, losing just once in Ivy play at Levien (a double-overtime heartbreaker against Harvard). And Princeton has shown some of the fight that had the Tigers riding high before losing to Penn in January, having won five of its last seven games.

So predictions-wise, I’d say Penn wins only one game (Cornell) in its next three, but I think the senior Quakers will go out with their heads held high.