Calling all seniors: Penn can clinch the Ivy League title at home tonight, and this would be the only time in your four years that you could see it.
Penn clinched last year's title with a 57-55 squeaker over Yale in New Haven. The year before that, it was a more comfortable 80-72 win over Columbia, but it was in New York.
As of the early morning hours, Penn is an even 10-point favorite, with an over-under of 140 -- slightly lower than the last game against the Elis, which Penn lost 68-77. Interesting to see if the odds move at all as the day goes on.
Yesterday was a tough day to be a Penn opponent, which hurt the Quakers' RPI a little.
Penn foes from this season went 2-6, with the wins coming from Villanova (@UConn) and Fordham (@St. Bonaventure), and losses from Navy (@Bucknell, Patriot League tourney), Seton Hall (@Cincinnati), La Salle (Utter destruction at UMass), Temple (vs. Dayton), Saint Joseph's (@Xavier) and Elon (vs. West Carolina, SoCon tourney).
The Quakers' RPI dropped a little as a result, but it wasn't so bad.
Tonight, there are two more games from Penn opponents. St. Francis (NY) plays Central Connecticut State in the first round of the Northeast Conference tournament, and UTEP hosts No. 7 Memphis. Tough road for these two tonight, but you never know.
If Penn clinches the Ivy League title this weekend, we'll get into more detail about RPI implications and games to watch and whatnot.
In other news, Penn did not retain football offensive coordinator Shawn Halloran after one season.
I talked to Halloran a few times before last season, and he said he wanted to emphasize a more balanced attack and run the ball more. I thought this season that the Quakers didn't stick to this plan and should have run the ball much more, especially with the good numbers that Joe Sandberg put up.
Halloran seemed like a nice enough guy, but for whatever reason he couldn't get his team to do what he wanted. Either that or he got overruled by head coach Al Bagnoli, but I really have no idea what the reason is. I tried to ask a few times during the season, but I got a bunch of typical football team answers, i.e., not really substance.
Basically, Halloran's unit didn't do a good job, but I wonder how much this is a desparate move by Bagnoli to energize the program (see Coughlin, Tom). Because say what you want about coordinators, the ultimate responsibility rests with the head coach.
Finally, I thought I'd weigh in on the controversy surrounding the baseball team. I can't speak to whether Kenny Yoo's comments were taken out of context or anything like that, but covering the team last year, I think that coach John Cole was trying to revitalize a team that was completely lethargic the previous few seasons.
Also, I was a pitcher in high school, and from everything I've heard and done, it's much better to run and do light weight lifting than serious heavy lifting. If you lift weights, your whole timing and release is thrown off by too much new strength. And besides, if you want to ever go deep in games, you need to have strong legs and endurance. By the fourth or fifth inning, the adrenaline is gone and you have to go to your second wind. If you're not in good shape, you have no chance to last longer than that.
In a battle between two teams with votes but not in the insidelacrosse.com top-20, Penn squeezed out a win, 13-12. It was an interesting game in many ways, one of them being the amount of clutch goals.
Lehigh went down 13-9 and it looked over. Despite Penn's efforts to run out the clock, the Mountain Hawks scored on what looked to be about half of their posessions inside seven minutes to nearly make the huge comeback. Because there's no shot clock the leading team can take huge chunks of time before getting hit and losing the ball, turning it over, or missing a shot. This is what made Lehigh's three goals in five minutes pretty impressive. I guess that's why Princeton's so good at lacrosse - it's all about holding the ball and making backdoor cuts.
In addition, three out of the four periods saw the final shot tickle the twine, all going in in the final two seconds. Penn scored this way in the first, and Lehigh in the next two quarters.
This game was all about runs. Up 4-3, Penn scored four straight goals in the next 3:30, but after a timout, Lehigh responded with four of its own to get it to within one.
This was highlighted by a nasty goal from the visitors' Stephen Marino. About 8 yards out, he faked a pass to a teammate behind the net and slinged a shot behind his back the found its way in.
In a year where the offense couldn't score when it needed to most, coordinator Shawn Halloran has been let go after his first year with the Penn football team.
Halloran came to Penn from his former head coaching position at Franklin & Marshall, trying to get Penn back on top of the Ivy League. But the offense wasn't enough to get the Quakers back to where they want it to be.
Penn averaged 22.8 points per game, and failed to score 20 three times in the Ivy League.
Barring some big, big wins for La Salle, the first Philly team is going down in its bid to make the Tournament. And no not even the NCAA Tournament, if the Explorers (10-18, 3-11 A-10) can't beat the top two teams in the Atlantic 10 -- Xavier and Massachusetts -- and get a lot of help from St. Bonaventure (4-10) it won't make the conference tourney.
The Explorer's are all but eliminated from the A-10 tournament in Atlantic City, which takes all but the bottom two teams in the league, and La Salle is tied with Richmond for that dubious spot. The North Philly squad looked like even at 3-10 it had a chance, but it lost to George Washington, while Richmond pulled of an upset over St. Joe's (by shooting 62 percent) to pull even and the Bonnies eked out a win over Duquesne.
Meanwhile, Temple and St. Joe's have already punched their tickets to A-City, and the Hawks have a slim chance of securing one of four 1st round byes, but that loss to the lowly Spiders hurts. The Hawks are tied with GW for the final bye, but they also face the pair of conference leaders to finish the season.
Atlantic 10 Standings (16-game season)
Xavier 11-3
UMass 11-3
Rhode Island 10-5
GW 9-5
St. Joe's 9-5
Fordham 8-6
Saint Louis 7-7
Dayton 6-8
Charlotte 6-8
Temple 6-8
Duquesne 6-9
St. Bonaventure 4-10
___________________
La Salle 3-11
Richmond 3-11
Although Steve Danley's baseball pass to I believe Darren Smith for a quick layup by I think Ibrahim Jaaber (I'm going from memory here so don't quote me) was pretty sweet, and Danley's free throws against Dartmouth were huge, in my mind the most important play was when Aron Cohen picked up his technical foul late Friday night at Harvard.
I was watching on the Internet, and I saw Cohen come to the bench (coaches almost always pull players after T's) and see the little-used sophomore guard be vociferously congratulated by the starters, who were at that point on the bench.
Cohen was sticking up for Joe Gill, who is one of the most popular players on the team, and although it was a little rough stuff during garbage time, Cohen's words or actions or whatever it is that he did (it was hard to tell exactly what got him and Harvard's Ndubuisi Okereke T'ed up) went a long way with his teammates.
That's the kind of thing you like to see -- team unity and a little fire -- as the calendar eases towards that month known as March.
Penn: 80 Dartmouth: 78 End of 2nd Half
Danley makes both his free throws. Pattman runs down the court after the inbounds and heaves up a meaningless three from just inside halfcourt. It swishes, but the buzzer sounds before Dartmouth can do anything else.
If Glen Miller was upset after last night's double-digit win over Harvard, he is going to be absolutely irate after tonight's performance.
The Quakers were completely unable to stop Dartmouth inside the three-point line in the second half. It seemed like the Big Green was making just about everything, which is easy when you're able to get so close to the basket.
But what is really important about this game is that Yale lost 82-64 at Columbia, so the Quakers are 1.5 games up in the Ivy race. They'll have a chance to clinch when they host the Elis this Friday.
Penn: 78 Dartmouth: 75 :02.6 2nd Half
Pattman gets a good look from three but misses. The Big Green grab the offensive board but miss again from three. Danley grabs the board and gets fouled.
Penn: 78 Dartmouth: 75 0:15.6 2nd Half
Danley beats the press for an easy dunk, but Dartmouth comes right back with a baby hook inside. After the inbounds, Danley gets fouled and goes to the line. He misses the first, but makes the second. Dartmouth calls a timeout after it crosses midcourt.
Penn: 75 Dartmouth: 73 0:37 2nd Half
McMahon gets fouled and goes to the line for two clutch free throws. He misses both. Jaaber almost gets a steal but loses the handle. Alex Barnett hits a tough leaner in the lane. It's not nearly over yet.
Penn: 75 Dartmouth: 71 1:00 2nd Half
After the foul on Jaaber, the Big Green turn it over on an unforced backcourt violation. Penn is taking its time in the halfcourt offense, but Mosley grabs a steal. Zoller picks up his fifth foul stopping the easy basket, and Mosley makes both from the stripe.
Penn: 75 Dartmouth: 69 1:41 2nd Half
Ball fouls out as Zoller goes up for two. His solid self, he makes both free throws. Dartmouth takes another quick three and misses. Jaaber gets fouled going for an offensive board, and hits both shots.
Penn: 71 Dartmouth: 69 2:40 2nd Half
Danley picks up his fourth foul on a questionable call as Pattman drove to the hoop. He hits both free throws.
Penn: 71 Dartmouth: 67 3:00 2nd Half
Dartmouth is starting to get very pesky. They wrung a shot clock violation out of the Quakers and then went down the floor for an easy two. Miller calls a timeout.
Penn: 71 Dartmouth: 65 4:32 2nd Half
Solid play down the stretch is what defines good teams. Dartmouth is starting to look uncomfortable as the Quakers are starting to assert themselves. Penn is getting to the line and getting fast breaks while the Big Green missed a quick three coming down the floor.
Penn: 68 Dartmouth: 65 5:43 2nd Half
Jaaber pump-fakes Pattman at the three-point line and hits all three free throws. Pattman picks up another foul as Grandieri sinks one of two.
Penn: 62 Dartmouth: 61 7:21 2nd Half
In such a close game, all it takes is a stop and some good offensive execution in order to close a gap or open up a lead. Right now, Dartmouth is executing and the Quakers aren't. Even the typically-tiny Hanover crowd is getting really into it, and all the momentum is going against the Quakers.
Zoller picks up his fourth foul and has to be replaced by Tommy McMahon. Grandieri hits two at the line.
Penn: 55 Dartmouth: 51 11:54 2nd Half
Grandieri gets a tip-in on an offensive board and Dartmouth makes a free throw. Not much else to report.
Penn: 53 Dartmouth: 50 12:51 2nd Half
If the Quakers want to win this game, they're going to have to start playing some defense. The Big Green have no problem getting open on the baseline or getting deep in the post.
Penn: 46 Dartmouth: 39 15:57 2nd Half
Zoller comes back in and makes a statement with two strong post-up baskets and a jumper from the top of the key. The game is starting to open up as both Penn and Dartmouth are running, but the score isn't getting any closer. Neither team can get a stop.
Penn: 38 Dartmouth: 32 Halftime
Good defensive play now on both ends. Dartmouth gets a couple big blocks inside and Penn gets a pair of steals. It's going back and forth as each team trades shots or stops. Grandieri hits a patented midrange baseline jumper for his first field goal of the game. Dartmouth goes to the line and makes both.
Glen Miller cannot be happy with his team's defense. Dartmouth is getting lots of second-chance opportunities and weak interior D is leading to post-up opportunities and fouls.
Zoller, who sat out all but three minutes of the first half due to foul trouble, should return to start the second and may help get things back on track for Penn.
Some notes:
Jaaber leads all scorers with 12 points of 5-8 shooting.
Pattman seems to be a non-factor. He has six points on 3-8 shooting, and has two turnovers and one assist.
Penn is 7-10 from the line tonight, meaning it's already hit four more free throws than yesterday.
As usual, the Quakers are suffering from a negative rebounding margin. Dartmouth has three more offensive boards.
Good news for Penn out of N.Y. Yale is down 15 at the half against Columbia.
Penn: 32 Dartmouth: 25 3:55 1st Half
The Big Green are really breaking down the Quakers' shifting zone. But Jaaber helps keep some distance with his baseline driving and he's also guarding Pattman now. Reilly hits two free throws and Danley comes back in to replace him.
Penn starts throwing a few different defensive looks to try to get a stop; Dartmouth keeps getting to the line. Just as it looks like Miller is going to call a timeout, the Big Green turn it over and Kach gets two free throws.
Penn: 26 Dartmouth: 20 7:27 1st Half
Jaaber makes a beautiful left-handed reverse layup and also makes the and-one. Coach Miller goes to his bench early, as Justin Reilly, Tommy McMahon, Michael Kach and Kevin Egee are all on the floor right now. They're not helping, as Dartmouth keeps penetrating and grabbing offensive boards. Zoller is stuck on the bench with his two fouls.
Penn: 17 Dartmouth: 11 11:34 1st Half
Penn goes to a 2-3 zone and Dartmouth finds the seam in the high post. The Quakers go back to a man defense, and find Smith open on the fastbreak for another corner three. But the Big Green take it right back inside and keep driving and grabbing offensive boards. So far Jonathan Ball is sparking them with his aggressiveness.
Penn: 12 Dartmouth: 2 15:30 1st Half
Dartmouth starts taking it inside on the drive and gets a couple points and some free throws out of it. Mosley is about to shoot two for the Big Green. Votel replaces Zoller.
Penn: 8 Dartmouth: 0 16:50 1st Half
Darren Smith hits a three from the corner to open up the scoring for Penn. Smith, not Jaaber, has drawn the assignment of guarding Pattman. Jaaber hits a three off a screen and Dartmouth calls a timeout.
Penn is a half-game up on Yale coming down the stretch in the Ivy League. Last time around, Penn beat Dartmouth 73-53 at the Palestra. However, the Big Green's star player, Leon Pattman, missed that game. He'll be starting tonight, though, so let's see what kind of an impact he has.
Starters:
Penn
F Steve Danley
F Mark Zoller
G Ibrahim Jaaber
G Brian Grandieri
G Darren Smith
Dartmouth
F Jonathan Ball
F Jason Meyer
G Alex Barnett
G Leon Pattman
G DeVon Mosley
BOSTON -- Several people have asked me how Aron Cohen managed to get a technical foul in Boston last night. I'm not exactly sure myself, but here's what I saw:
With less than two minutes to go in the game, there was a loose ball at Penn's end of the court. Joe Gill, who had just come in, went for it with Harvard's Ndubuisi Okereke. Gill lowered his head to go after the ball just as Okereke extended his elbow, and the Penn man took the hit squarely in the front teeth. (I'll be nice and speculate that it wasn't intentional, but one wonders what Okereke's elbow was doing up there...)
As Gill walked away making sure his teeth were all there, Cohen came up and exchanged words with Okereke (who has played a total of five minutes this year for the Crimson). The situation diffused quickly but the head referee assessed technicals to both of them.
And Gill appeared to be OK, although he missed both of his free throws.
BOSTON -- Our appologies for not having live updates not running, due to some internet complications.
As for the game, the Quakers looked good from the start, and cruised to a 83-67 win over Harvard.
Penn jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a Darren Smith three sandwiched by baskets from Ibrahim Jaaber and Mark Zoller, but thanks to some balanced scoring -- 13 points from five different players -- Harvard cut the deficit to three nine minutes in.
Then Penn turned it on. From the 11:28 mark of the first half until 5:11 was showing on the clock, the Red and Blue poured on 18 points, while the Crimson had a measly four. In that span, the home team had five turnovers and three rebounds, while Zoller alone for Penn had eight points (on 3-for-3 shooting) and three boards. This run made it 34-17 Penn and essentially sealed the deal, as the Crimson never cut the lead to anything less than 13.
They threatened late when Mike Kach -- who played a solid game notching 14 points on nine shots -- fouled Jeremy Lin on a three pointer, with the free throws cutting the deficit to 73-60. But again Penn turned it on for a 9-0 run, sparked by quickly getting the ball to the outlet man and pushing it in transition for layups. Smith had two nice assists to Ibrahim Jaaber (though one was completely unnecessary; Smith had a path for his own layup) and a Kach three finally sparked some major substitutions from Penn coach Glen Miller.
Key Stats
Harvard: 8 asst, 21 TO, 2-for-13 from three, 21-for-23 from the line
Penn: 22 asst, 16 TO, 12-for-23 from three, 3-for-11 from the line, 55.7% from the field, seven blocks
Smith (Penn): 6-of-10 for 17 points, 3 asst, 3 stl
Jim Goffredo (Harvard): 3-of-13 for 10 points, 2 rbs, 1 asst, 3 TO
Players on Harvard with multiple turnovers: 7
Kevin Egee (Penn): 6 mins, 3 fouls, 3 TO
Cameron Lewis (Penn): 1 minute, 2 blocks
So you all already, I'm sure, know what I think about Penn's opponents' uniforms for this weekend.
But some of you had some good observations in the comments section of this post about the manufacturer of Harvard and Dartmouth's uniforms and shoes.
That manufacturer is none other than New Balance.
I called New Balance today to see what other teams they supply, and I was told by spokesperson Amy Vreeland told me that the company had supplied sneakers for many years, but has launched an aggressive team apparel campaign in the last couple years.
Vreeland said that the company works with over 60 men's basketball teams in the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA.
What's different about NB is that, Vreeland said, "these are all team sales based-programs - there are no contracts."
She also pointed out that New Balance emphasizes its multiple widths for its sneakers, which probably is important for basketball players.
Interesting to see if New Balance becomes more of a force in the next few years.
I just came across two interesting stories about the Ivy League -- one on si.com, and one on espn.com via the Associated Press.
First, Seth Davis on si.com writes about the potential Ivy League conference tournament. The article itself is old news, especially to devoted Ivy fans, but the real good stuff is a paragraph on the second page.
Apparently, Jerry Palm, who runs collegerpi.com, has some sway over the NCAA. He convinced the Association to change the Jan. 27 game between Penn and Saint Joseph's from a St. Joe's home game to a Penn home game. This hurts Penn's RPI (giving the Quakers another home loss) and helps the Hawks' (giving them a good road win), and we will see what kind of impact it has on any seeding.
That game was technically hosted by St. Joe's, and the crowd was split, so I'm not sure whether I agree with the decision. I think probably it should have been called a neutral site game. SJU uses the Palestra as a home court for some games. I don't know of any other arenas that are like this (used as home arenas by multiple teams) and if St. Joe's uses the Palestra as a full-time temporary home court in the future, then it will get even more complicated. The NCAA needs to make a ruling on this situation once and for all so that it is never complicated.
The second story talks about Brown recruiting former Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann. While the Bears and Blue Devils are not in the same league, they do compete with one another in the smaller world of NCAA lacrosse. Therfore, I think it's a case involving some stones being thrown by folks in glass houses in Providence.
I know the circumstances surrounding Seligmann are different, but after the whole Keenan Jeppesen affair last summer, where Penn refused to even consider a transfer application by the now former Brown basketball player, where Brown seemed angry with the thought of Penn taking him, it's at least a little ironic that the Bears are involved in this.
Sportswriters love speculation, so naturally I pounced on this interesting article in today's Crimson. Apparently the Harvard lady squashers defeated Yale last night in a match that was pushed back eight days because of snow.
The kicker is that in those eight days happened to lie the Howe Cup, the women's national championship meet. And check out this quote from Crimson senior Kyla Grigg about the mother of all lame-duck matches.
I think it was actually to our advantage, because if we had played [last Wednesday] and lost, we would have had a worse seeding at the Howe Cup.
I'll say. As it stood, Harvard got the third seed while Yale took fifth, and the Crimson shocked No. 2 Penn in the semifinals.
If, say, Harvard had lost that match, Yale would have taken the No. 3 seed, with Harvard at No. 4 and Trinity at No. 5 (because of Harvard's 5-4 regular-season win in that series).
And not only did Penn beat Yale 6-3 early in the regular season, it topped the Elis by the same score a day after that crushing Howe Cup loss.
So I can't help but wonder what that Valentine's Day snowstorm did to the University's chances for a legit national champion. But I guess that's just speculation.
When the DP published its
article in Tuesday's print edition about Pat Knapp's heralded women's hoops recruiting class, Knapp had snagged four confirmed recruits, and a fifth was trying to get in through the regular decision process. For that reason, Knapp didn't release the fifth name.
Now, we might have it.
Lauren Dandrea, of Our Lady of Mercy Academy in South Jersey, is the latest to be swayed by Knapp's recruiting pitch. The Gloucester County Times
quoted her coach, Steve Wescott: "To have someone going to Penn, the publicity can only help us."
Apparently, at least one person thinks it's a done deal. Stay tuned to The Buzz and the DP for updates on Dandrea.
Do you see the Penn basketball team winning the Ivy League this year, then Ibrahim Jaaber dropping 25 and 8 assists on Jamaal Tatum and No. 3 Southern Illinois in the first round of the Tournament, then Mark Zoller and company bodying up Josh McRoberts and No. 6 Duke, then slowing down Greg Oden and No. 2 Ohio State, and in a thriller stopping Philadelphia native Sean Singletary's No. 5 Virginia squad, 69-66 to head to the Final Four in Atlanta?
We'll if the Quakers make it to the semifinals you can buy tickets for $9.87.
The web site yOOnew.com (like "you knew") offers tickets for 123 NCAA teams, where if they make it to the Final Four, you get to go. But if they don't, you've wasted your money. It's been around for a few years, offering the same deal to the Super Bowl, World Series, etc.
Oddly enough, Drexel was not an option and yet Princeton was -- at four cents less than Penn. Here are a few notable teams, and the prices you can grab their tickets for. The rates change often, as teams' chances of winning change every day. The more popular teams are higher prices, sometimes very different from how good they actually are.
North Carolina - $389.97
Florida - $331.72
Kansas - $231.58
Maryland - $89.45
Duke - $120.15
Villanova - $40.96
Marquette - $32.50
Texas - $30.10
Kansas St. - $10.70
Penn - $9.87
Princeton - $9.83
St. Joe's - $9.71
Temple - $9.23
Syracuse - $7.77
There wasn't quite enough space in today's paper for everything I wanted to say about The America Channel, so here are some more details.
First, the channel will also be in 50 million homes in Europe and the Middle East via telecom giant BT. Second, CEO Doron Gorshein told me, there will be more deals being announced in the next few weeks with more NCAA conferences. Clearly, Gorshein is not holding back on trying to make his network a success, something that could either be really good or blow up in his face if he overreaches his channel's capabilities.
From the Ivy League side, Executive Director Jeff Orleans confirmed what I had suspected -- that there is no money being exchanged on either side of the deal. The Ivies only get exposure, which is significant.
As for the games being streamed by the schools, Orleans told me that initially the video streams will be part of the schools' respective online packages, and not a separate free service. However, he hopes to also get the games on the Ivy League Sports Web site, which would be free.
When the football team went down to Easton, Pa. and beat then-No. 22 Lafayette this season, I saw it as a moderate upset. But apparently, there's no reason Ivy League teams should be "upsetting" Patriot League counterparts in the first place.
Fresh off a year in which the Ivies beat the PL 14-4 in the season series, Leopards coach Frank Tavani is crying uncle.
"If Harvard wants someone, they are going to win 10 out of 10 battles, even in their own league," Tavani said in the Morning Call, a Lehigh Valley newspaper. "I don't think we've ever landed a kid when it was between us and Penn."
Tavani's been at Lafayette since 1999. Between 1999 and 2007, Penn's Al Bagnoli has apparently beaten him to every mutual recruit. So how on earth can Tavani's team even challenge Bagnoli's? I see two possible answers:
A: Tavani is an incredible coach who is a great talent evaluator.
B: Bagnoli is a poor coach who somehow ignores all the best players and lets Tavani get them.
I'm not sure what other inference to draw from Tavani's comments. Which answer is it? Your guess is as good as mine.
(And for the record, Lafayette kicker Rick Ziska was 38 for 38 on extra points this year. Just sayin'.)
If you thought Penn's constantly-switching man defense was hard to follow, Cornell's is not for you.
Against the Quakers, Steve Donahue employed an array of sets, often switching from zone to man and back. This certainly isn't rare for basketball on the college level, but Cornell took it up another notch.
"I was really anticipating that they would play a lot of zone against us," Penn coach Glen Miller said after the game. "They've showed a little 2-2-1 three-quarter court. They didn't play that against us, it was mainly 1-3-1, and they were switching their zone defense into a man-to-man part of the way into the possession."
Cornell also had multiple versions of the zone in the half-court set, often playing in a 2-3 (two guards, three forwards) but switched it up for a few possessions into a 3-2.
After this, John Chaney's matchup zone is a piece of cake.
In case you live outside the 203 and didn't read yesterday's New Haven Register, Casey Hughes, the star forward leading Yale's charge to steal the Ivy League title from Penn, might not be around for one of the Elis' most crucial games next week.
Hughes is questionable with a foot sprain and will not lace up until later this week.
That could turn out to be a shame for Elis fans, especially because of the rave reviews Andrew Naeve has been getting here in Philadelphia after his double-double against Penn Saturday.
Cornell comes to New Haven on Friday a game back of Yale and an additional half-game behind Penn. A win there helps the Big Red, but hurts Yale more, putting each school well back of the Quakers. Assuming the sky doesn't fall in and Penn loses in New England.
But Yale has a problem. With Sam Kaplan and Jason Abromaitis out in addition to Hughes, the Ellis frontcourt is looking awfully thin these days.
The only full-sized forwards capable of defending Naeve could be center Matt Kyle (18.4 minutes per game), forward Ross Morin (inexperienced despite his 24 mpg) and center Paul Nelson (12 mpg).
The Elis had better hope that another player can step up to keep the basket safe from Naeve, because from what I saw it took strong defensive efforts from Stephen Danley, Mark Zoller and Penn as a whole to prevent him and 6-7 Ryan Wittman from doing even more damage than they did.
have plenty on the actual basketball events of the weekend in Monday's DP, but here's a look at what else you missed if you couldn't make it to the Palestra this weekend.
Play of the weekend: A much tougher play than most people realize turned in by Ibrahim Jaaber.
In the second half against Cornell, Jaaber threw an inbounds pass off Andrew Naeve's back, caught it and went up for an easy deuce as Naeve and the rest of the Big Red tried to figure out exactly what happened.
The key to that play, though, if you have alert officials, is that Jaaber had to establish both of his feet completely inbounds before he could touch the ball again. So if the striped ones were on their game, kudos to Ibby for the footwork on that one.
Yiddish lesson: The strangest rollout of the weekend was two words, the more difficult one spelled right and the easier one spelled wrong.
Nwachukwu... Gazoontite!
My bubbe wouldn't like that one. It's always been Gesundheit in our house. And in reality.
The main event: Finally to everybody's favorite event, the sorority tug-of-war, won by Chi Omega.
X-Horseshoe goes back-to-back with a truly epic win over Alpha Chi Omega in the finals. Sans-A got an early lead, and A-plus battled back, but in the end Chi-O and their tryout-approved roster prevailed.
Meanwhile, the story of the day was the ladies of Tri-Delt, whose newest pledges didn't Tri very hard at all. As soon as Rich Kahn gave the signal, the freshwomen just dropped the rope and went down faster than...
Probably shouldn't go there.
NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 18 -- Even though the Quakers lost in the semi-final of the Howe Cup yesterday, there was still a lot of squash to be played today.
The team demonstrated a remarkable amount of mental toughness and killer instinct in bouncing back from an upset at the hands of Harvard. This afternoon, Penn beat Yale 6-3 to capture third-place, the best finish for the team in seven years.
Victory never seemed to be in jeopardy, as the Red and Blue jumped to a big lead on newfound energy, enthusiasm, and mental focus. By the time they started losing matches, the Quakers had already won the meet.
Other stuff:
No. 1 Princeton defeated Harvard 6-3 to win the National Championship. It was a tough but quick match. Despite the fact that the Crimson took three of the top four, the Tigers were too deep down the lineup and won spots five through nine.
For the National Championship, the atmosphere is pretty unimpressive. Some scoreboards were blank and awards are given out as matches are played (rather than in one big ceremony). It's odd to be watching the best young players in the country and have it feel like a lower-level high school sport. The whole thing needs some pizzaz.
There is a lot of gamesmanship in squash. If you think that basketball has a lot of flopping and acting, you should see how players in squash maneuver to get in each other's way and still get a let called.
To go with the above two points, it's also weird that there are no professional judges or referees. Instead, two people -- one player from each team -- work together on lets and other calls.
For all that weirdness, squash is very exciting to watch. And as others have pointed out , it's worth going to support one of Penn's teams that actually has a chance of winning something meaningful.
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