We're excited to have a new segment on The Buzz called Recruit Roundup, in which we recap how each of the Penn men’s basketball recruits have done in their high school games recently.
This week, we have updates on Dave Winfield Jr., Matt Howard, Preston Troutt and Dylan Jones.
6-foot-9 center Dave Winfield Jr.: In the past two weeks, Winfield, a senior at the Harvard-Westlake school in Los Angeles, has played in five games. On Jan. 14, he scored two points while providing 10 rebounds, a season high, which helped Harvard-Westlake to victory. On Jan. 16, he added two points and two rebounds and on Jan. 21, he scored four points while posting five rebounds, including four offensive rebounds.
On Jan. 25, he had another strong performance as he had six points, six rebounds and was a perfect 3-3 from the field. In his most recent game, he contributed six points and three rebounds despite his team’s loss. Harvard-Westlake is 15-7 on the year and Winfield has played in 11 of those games, averaging 3.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.
6-foot-4 guard Matt Howard: Howard, a senior at A.C Flora in South Carolina, has played well on the season, especially recently. On Jan. 18, despite Flora losing by two in overtime, Howard put up 23 points. More recently, on Jan. 25, Howard helped Flora to a decisive victory over nearby Chapin by leading his team with 29 points.
Furthermore, the senior guard has been named as a nominee for a possible spot in April’s McDonald’s All-American game. The official 24-man roster will be announced on February 14.
6-foot-0 guard Preston Troutt: The Trinity Christian senior is currently dealing with an injury and hasn’t played since Dec. 18. Before his injury, he played in 11 games and averaged 15.9 points per game to lead his team. In addition, he also put in 2.8 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game. Coach Randy Feemster indicated that he would not be back soon from his injury.
6-foot-7 forward Dylan Jones: Jones, a senior at the Village School in Houston, Texas, has strung together three straight solid games over the past two weeks. On Jan. 15, Jones posted a double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds as his team won by 24 points. In his team’s 53-45 win over RCHA on Jan. 17, Jones had another strong performance with 10 points and 13 rebounds. In his most recent game, Jones put up 14 points and 20 rebounds in a 77-56 victory over Kelly Catholic.
Though Penn commit Matt Howard can finish at the rim with an emphatic dunk, his offensive prowess truly lies in his well-developed mid-range game and disciplined decision-making, according to ESPN. Perhaps his high basketball I.Q. should come as no surprise for a player with multiple AP courses under his belt. With his combination of athleticism, scoring ability and basketball intelligence, Howard attracted offers from Stanford and Virginia Tech, but ultimately chose to become a Penn Quaker. A day after a 84-58 blowout of Chapin High School by Howard and his teammates, I caught up with him to talk his decision to commit to Penn, the challenges of juggling school and basketball and highlights from his senior season.
What were you looking for in a school during your college search and the recruiting process?
I was always looking for a good balance between good academics and a good basketball program, and I found that Penn.
Why, among all of the schools that you looked at, did you choose Penn?
I had the best relationship with the coaches, and it was probably my best visit that I went on too.
Do you have any connections to Philadelphia that drew you to a city?
My great-aunt used to live there . . . I have a grandparent in New York, so I passed through Philly a lot on my way there.
From what I’ve read obviously you’re doing pretty well on the basketball court, but you also have to be doing really well in the classroom to be able to come to Penn. Is it a challenge to balance your commitments to academics and basketball?
Yeah, all the time because when I’m tired from basketball I have to study for a test or something like that, but I think I have a pretty good balance between the two.
What are some of your favorite honors courses that you’ve taken?
BC Calculus and AP Physics are probably my favorite courses right now.
To talk a little bit about basketball now, tell me a little bit about senior season with A.C. Flora this year. Have you been pleased with the way the year’s gone and how you’re playing?
Yeah, I’m pretty pleased with how I’m playing right now. I’d like to have a few more wins — I think we’re 12-8 or something like that. But so far, this is my best season by far.
What are you hoping to improve upon even further as you prepare to play at the college level?
Just staying aggressive, my three-pointing shooting and being aggressive on the defensive end.
I saw a clip of a game-winning shot you had against Hillcrest back at the Chick-fil-A Classic in December. I was wondering if you could take me through that play and what your thinking was, if you can remember it.
On that play, there was like seven seconds left, so once I got it out of bounds, I just thought to get it down the court as quick as I could and then once I got it down the court I thought I’d do a fadeaway because I know nobody could block that. And it went in.
See the shot for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDzdA7IwU8g
Mark DeRosa, a big league utility man who graduated from Penn in 1997, signed a 1-year, $775,000 contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. The contract includes a club option for the 2014 season.
DeRosa played for the Washington Nationals last season, posting a .188 average with six RBI in 48 games. Although his numbers were limited, DeRosa brought veteran leadership to a young and inexperienced clubhouse in D.C., and served as a mentor to many of the Nationals who helped lead the team to its first playoff appearance since its relocation to Washington in 2005.
DeRosa graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 1997. He has played for seven major league clubs over his 16 seasons. Though he will come off the bench in Toronto, manager John Gibbons will likely rely on DeRosa to bring experience and steady leadership to a Blue Jays squad with high hopes for 2013, especially after acquiring SS Jose Reyes, SP Josh Johnson and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey this offseason.
Penn was not able to close out the final Big 5 matchup in the way it had hoped in a 76-69 loss to Temple. The Quakers (3-15) jumped to an early lead, which got up to nine points in the second half at the Liacouras Center. But midway through the frame, the Owls went on a 27-12 run, allowing them to take the lead and clinch the victory.
THE GOOD: PLP. Sophomore guard Patrick Lucas-Perry was on fire for the Quakers Wednesday night. When he was on the court, he made himself noticed. Going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc during the first half in addition to netting three free-throws for 12 first-half points. For his 27 minutes on the night, he went 4-for-5, making another trey in the second. Temple coach Fran Dunphy was disappointed that the Owls had trouble containing Penn's "best jump shooter."
THE BAD: Coverage on Wyatt late in the second. Looking at Khalif Wyatt's five first-half points, you might wonder why Penn was unable to pull away with the win on such tight coverage of Temple's main man. But midway through the second, the senior forward exploded, and the Quakers couldn't answer as he notched 21 second-half points for a total of 26. After sinking a three-pointer five minutes into the frame, the Red and Blue just could not stop him, especially after he scored nine straight points for the Owls in less than two minutes midway through the half.
THE UGLY: 27-12 second-half Temple run. The Quakers just couldn't keep up with the Owls after the shift in Wyatt's game and a set of threes from graduate student guard T.J. DiLeo in addition to a ten-point second-half performance from sophomore forward Anthony Lee completely turned the tide of the game. The Red and Blue got up to a nine-point lead, but just started to run out of exhaust on the defensive end, as the Owls took the lead and ultimately the 'W'.
Follow along as Penn (3-14, 0-3 Big 5) takes on Temple (12-5, 1-0) in the Quakers' final Big 5 contest of the season, live from the Liacouras Center:
The lovechild of a T-Rex and a cheetah: Colin Kaepernick
Locked in the basement Quakers' only thought: "oh crap, we're playing Temple"
Jerome lies in wait for the day he can finally grow a Dunphy 'stache
No Giroux, no Schenn no Hartsy could dent the big brick wall of Brodeur
The Quakers (3-14, 0-3 Big 5) will be taking on Temple (12-5, 1-0) Wednesday night in their final Big 5 contest of the season. Though this is Fran Dunphy’s seventh year as coach of Penn's Big 5 foe, this will be the first time he takes on former player Ira Bowman, who has latched onto fellow Dunphy alum Jerome Allen as an assistant coach. Both squads have faced a lot of a changes in the past year, but the Owls have continued to dominate. I spoke with Temple coach Fran Dunphy about this familiar matchup and what his plans are heading into this local game.
After your first year as coach of Penn, you lost your top three scorers and struggled the next year. Do you think the situation faced by Coach Allen has any parallels to what you inherited when you took the Penn job in 1989?
Dunphy: I hadn’t given it a lot of thought, but as I go down Penn’s roster and I see the young guys that they have and the hope for the future that they have, I think Jerome and everybody at Penn should feel very encouraged. I think that they are on their way to building a terrific basketball program and I think the future is very bright.
After 7 years, do you still get any special feeling when you play Penn?
Dunphy: You can’t be somewhere for as long as I was — and in this case the University of Pennsylvania — and not feel a special affinity for the place and the program and everything that it is about. Of course, then you add to it a guy that played for me and who I learned so much from as a person and as a player, so that’s a very special feeling for me. And then of course now you have on staff Ira Bowman, who also played for me. They were two great guys to coach and they have become two great friends as well.
I have tremendous memories of my days at Penn. I was the luckiest guy in America then and I am just as lucky now to have an opportunity to coach another team in the city of Philadelphia, so I feel very fortunate.
We just saw a sold-out Big 5 game at the Palestra between St. Joe's and Penn. Though now some of the games have moved to campus sites, do you ever wish that the Big 5 went back to playing all of the games there?
Dunphy: Well that’s certainly how I grew up and how it was when I was a player at La Salle for three years as well. All of the games were in the Palestra, so that’s what college basketball in Philadelphia was all about. Certainly the Palestra was college basketball’s arena. But now, times have changed, and we have all had to adapt to it. We have a very nice arena on campus. For us to go back to the Palestra to play all of our Big 5 games would be difficult for our university and athletic department at this point. Yet, I think the purist in all of us appreciates everything that went on back in the day. Would it be great to go back and do that again? Sure it would, maybe on a one year occasion or something like that if we could interrupt things. A number of years ago we tried to have all six teams play in the Palestra on a given day as a celebration of sorts, but there were too many other complications or things that got in the way to allow that to happen again.
You've had tremendous success at Temple and have won over 20 games for 6 straight years. This year, you lost two very important players in Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez but still have won 12 of 17, including a win over Syracuse. How have you managed to replace the scoring and ball skills of these two guys?
Dunphy: I gave that some thought the other day actually. Khalif Wyatt is now our leading scorer and leading assist-maker. That’s a hard thing to do, whereas last year he had two other guys with him who could not only score, but make plays as well. Having to do a lot of that on his own, as a result I think our shooting percentage is down as a team. If you’re looking for things to point to as the reason why that may be it, that he’s kind of doing a lot of things on his own and we haven’t been shooting the ball. As a team, we have to improve that. We’re winning some games, although we lost Saturday to a very good St. Bonaventure team. We need to play better basketball. There’s no question about it. We’ve won our share, but we’re not playing great at this moment.
How do you think Khalif has progressed in his 4 years at Temple?
Dunphy: I just spent some time with the coach of St. Bonaventure after we played them, just a debriefing of the game, a very short time, but he was very impressed with how difficult Khalif was to guard. And he is. He can make shots and make plays. He’s got a very intriguing game. He’s not the fastest guy you’re ever going to find, but he’s very intelligent and very crafty with the basketball and really understands the game very well. I think he’s progressed tremendously on the offensive end. As I always bust on him with, I would like him to be a little more progressive on the defensive end — take care of his teammates just a little bit more. But he’s a good man — Khalif — and I am very happy for his success. He will continue to grow as a player and hopefully he will have the opportunity to play professionally very soon.
How do you think Khalif has handled the national attention this year?
Dunphy: He’s done a very good job. He understands the limelight that he’s in and he’s playing well in big games and we need him to continue to do so.
Were there any other gaps or weakness that you saw in Saturday’s close loss to St. Bonaventure that you will be focusing on heading into Wednesday?
Dunphy: I didn’t think our defense was very good. I think we got caught in compromising positions too many times. While they shot the ball extremely well, we weren’t there to contest it quite as well as we had in previous games. St. Bonaventure deserves a lot of credit for how well they played, but we certainly contributed to it by not arriving on the scene quite quickly enough.
What else do you think Temple will have to do to ensure the win on Wednesday?
Dunphy: We have to play as a good a basketball game as we can. We need to really solid on the defensive end, we have to take care of the ball and we need to make shots. I’m sure the Penn Quakers will have a lot to do in trying to impede our progress in those regards, so they’ll be ready and we better be ready as well.
Turnovers, among many other problems, have plagued the Quakers this season. What, if any, strategies do you have planned for targeting this weakness?
Dunphy: We’re not a team that necessarily does that kind of thing where we’ll turn up the heat, lay full-court pressure or any of those things. That’s not what we do. I don’t think we’re going to change our spots for this particular game. We know who we are. We have to play good, solid defense. We can create some turnovers on occasion, but that’s not our game plan and we’re just going to be as solid as we can be.
Last season Penn came close to getting the Big 5 win against Temple, fueled by a 27-point performance by Zack Rosen. Though the Quakers jumped to an early lead, they ultimately lost in overtime. With the loss of last year’s seniors, how will Wednesday’s game plan differ from that of last season? Is there anything that stands out from this year’s squad as a threat?
Dunphy: Were going to play like we play. We’re going to be solid on the defensive end, take care of the ball and we’re a team that really has to do a good job in the half-court and hopefully we will do that.
We’re just who we are and I don’t think they’re going to see a whole lot of difference here. We just have to play better. And again, I appreciate who Jerome is and how his program is and how they play. As I’ve watched their team this year, I think they are getting better. They’re missing a big piece to it in Fran Dougherty, who’s a very, very good player and he will get back soon, but I think a kid like Nelson-Henry is really arriving at this point. He’s a big, big dude and we’re going to have to play our best in order to stop him as well.
Ten point loss for Penn: OVER
Temple (12-5) plays Penn (3-14) in its last matchup before traveling to No. 9 Butler. A trap game for the Owls as they keep their attention focused on playing a national powerhouse in just three days? The problem with this theory is that Temple has already played then-No. 2 Duke, then-No. 3 Syracuse and then-No. 6 Kansas. In the so-called “trap games” right before those matchups, Temple is 2-1. Although history suggests that if Temple hopes to beat Butler, then the Owls should drop this game against Penn. Their lone victory over a top-10 opponent this season came against Syracuse after losing to Canisius three days earlier.
Still, Temple is in the hunt for a Big 5 title with a 1-0 record at this point in the season. The wheels are falling off for a Penn team that will most likely be without leading scorer Fran Dougherty for the eighth straight game. Even an unfocused Temple team, Fran Dunphy, would secure a comfortable win over the reeling Quakers, who are 0-3 against Big 5 opponents this season.
Double-double for Darien Nelson-Henry: UNDER
Freshman big man Darien Nelson-Henry recorded his first collegiate double-double last week against NJIT. He followed that up with 17 points and seven rebounds against St. Joseph’s. But this time around, DNH will be going up against Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson and Anthony Lee, who will provide a much tougher test for the Quakers' new offensive weapon. With Miles Cartwright struggling and Fran Dougherty sidelined, Temple will try to shut down the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week and force other Quakers to score. The story might be different if Nelson-Henry were a threat at the free throw line, but Temple won't be scared of his 54.8 percent mark at the charity stripe. Look for the big bodies inside to be physical and force Darien to earn his points.
His season average is 6.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Expect his production to exceed those numbers, but a double-double will be tough sledding against the talented Owls frontcourt.
0-4 Record in Big 5 next season: OVER
Penn is one of a handful of programs in Division I college basketball that boasts no seniors. That means that we can expect all 61.6 points per game to return with another year of experience. For a team that has suffered some heart-breaking losses and is just 38 total points away from a winning record (assuming they came in the Quakers' closest losses), there is great reason to be optimistic about the return of some old Penn basketball magic.
With a healthy Fran Dougherty, a talented rising sophomore class, a huge junior class with six players finally becoming upperclassmen, and another recruiting class to fill in the gaps, expect Penn to be able to keep up with the Big 5 and probably secure a victory…wait for it…or two. At the very least, the Red and Blue should have a much more respectable record than the 3-14 that currently unfairly characterizes them.
Sure, at the end of the day, wins and losses are all that matter, but this team has played some close games and unfortunately hasn’t had enough in the tank to turn those games into wins. The last reason that Penn will win a Big 5 game next season is stability in the assistant coaching situation. This is an entirely new staff and getting used to their coaching style takes time. Look for the players to have a better feel for their coaches next season and improve drastically in that regard.
After Saturday's loss to St. Joseph's, the Quakers take to the road to face off against Big 5 rival Temple, led by former Penn head coach Fran Dunphy. Here are some predictions for the final non-conference match up for the Red and Blue this season.
Three Up-
Darien Nelson-Henry: Over the past five games, the freshman big man has averaged 13 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Nelson-Henry’s progression has been easy to notice, especially in the second half against St. Joseph’s, where the Quakers ran the offense through him in the post. Look for more of the same against Temple, especially since the only players above 6’9 for the Owls, Jimmy McDonnell and Devontae Watson, have combined for just 4.2 minutes per game.
Three point defense: Penn’s defense behind the three point arc on Saturday was well below par, giving up 11 three pointers and letting St. Joe’s take over the game. However, Temple is a very different Big 5 team, as they are 14th in the Atlantic 10 in three-point percentage, giving the Quakers a better chance of limiting long-range opportunities.
Tony Hicks: Hicks has looked like a completely new player in 2013. After being inconsistent at times in the first half of the season, Hicks is starting to tap into his potential, scoring 10.7 points per game in January. While the freshman usually comes off the bench for the Red and Blue, he uses his ability to drive to the basket to help provide a spark for the Quakers' offense. If he can continue to stay out of foul trouble as he has done in 2013, he will be a key part of Penn’s offense at Temple.
Three Down-
Penn’s starting guards: With the rise of Nelson-Henry, the Quakers have found an answer to some of their problems inside. However, the team continues to struggle in the backcourt. Their three starting guards— Steve Rennard, Miles Cartwright and Jamal Lewis— have been a large part of that problem, as demonstrated by their performance on Saturday, where they combined to go 6-20 from the field and 0-7 from three-point range. Facing off against Temple’s Khalif Wyatt won’t help, as the three will have to put in more energy defensively in order to contain the senior guard.
Fouling related issues: On Saturday, the Red and Blue limited themselves to just 15 fouls. However, they have been averaging over 20 fouls per game. If the foul issues flair up, not only does it hurt Penn’s depth, but also plays to Temple’s strengths, as they lead the Atlantic 10 in free throw shooting. Furthermore, after shooting just 35.8 percent from the free throw line against St. Joe’s, the Quakers need to improve. However, with more touches going to Darien Nelson Henry, who's just a 55 percent free throw shooter, Penn will struggle to rectify its foul-shooting issues.
Penn's ball handling: Last game, the Quakers seemed more in control on offense, as they limited themselves to just 10 turnovers. The team has dealt with ball-handling issues all season and Temple poses a large threat in this regard. The Owls are second in the Atlantic 10 in assist to turnover ratio and also force 8.4 steals per game. While it is unlikely that the Red and Blue will turn the ball over 26 times again as they did against NJIT, expect them to still have problems holding onto the rock against Temple.
Penn will play its final Big 5 opponent in its last non-conference game of the season against Temple on Wednesday. Penn (7-7, 0-1 Ivy) will be looking for its first win against Temple (7-10) since 2003. For this edition of Behind Enemy Lines, I spoke with Owls' head coach Tonya Cardoza about notching her 100th win in less than five years and the youth of her 2012-2013 squad.
This season, you reached a landmark, you got your 100th win. What does that mean to you?
Cardoza: It means a lot. Obviously every game that you go into you want to win and the fact that I’ve been able to do it in four and a half years, it’s just a credit to the kids that I’ve coached and the staff that I’ve had surrounding me. It feels good to get that out of the way. The last month or so, knowing that we were so close, it was finally good to get that one win. It means a lot because it’s a milestone a lot of people are not able to reach and the fact that I’ve been able to do it, like I said, in four and a half years I’m happy with that.
You’ve obviously had a very successful couple of seasons at Temple and I know this season is a little different. You have a very young team. It’s the second most inexperienced in Division I. How has that affected your level of play and goals for the season?
Cardoza: Obviously our goals have to change and as we came into the season our expectation was to still do the same things we’ve done in the past and we haven’t been able to do that. We haven’t reached the same level of success up to this point but everyday, we are young, and everyday we have to get better because we’re also building for the future. We haven’t had a lot of wins but everyday in practice we’re trying to get better with the hopes that it carries over down the stretch and that we’re able to make a run for it.
But it’s been something different, something that obviously none of us have been used to because we haven’t lost many games here so we’re not going to be accustomed to losing as well. We know that we are young, and we do have a lot of inexperience but sometimes it’s not about inexperience it’s just about what effort you give and I think there’s sometimes that we’ve lost games this year, not because we were young, just because we didn’t do little things.
And has it been particularly tough this season because the beginning of your schedule was against such difficult opponents?
Cardoza: I mean we played difficult opponents but we also had opportunities to win some of those games. I think it’s the little things we did not so much we were playing tough opponents. I felt that we kept ourselves in games but whether its turnovers or missing box-outs or little things like that. Things that we can control, we didn’t control them. So it wasn’t so much that the opponent was tough I felt like it was things that we did.
And moving towards your game against Penn this week, you haven’t lost to Penn since you’ve been coaching Temple. What are you expecting for the matchup on Wednesday?
Cardoza: I’m expecting it to be a good match-up. I mean they have some really good players, especially in [Alyssa] Baron. Someone that can really score and she’s hurt us a few times. Two years ago she really gave us a fit. So I know she’s going to come out and want to play well against us. We have to defend them. They’re really smart. They know how to play. They play well together and we have to be on our toes because we’re going to have to defend them. We’re going to have to be smart and that’s something we haven’t been doing well and in order for us to win the game we’re going to have to defend them.
In the four and a half years you’ve been coaching Temple, how have you seen the Quakers change over this time?
Cardoza: To be honest, every year that we’ve played them, even my very first year, in every game that we played against them has been a battle. Except last year. I think last year was probably a game that probably was more than 10 points, but every other game since I’ve been here has been really close. You can never look at their record and expect that you’re going to take them lightly. They’re going to fight you right from the start and every game that we play them has been a battle. I remember one year, we were down a few players and we had a walk-on come on and she had to score a career high in order for us to win. So I’m definitely expecting a battle on Wednesday.
This week, we feature Penn Curling Club President Elizabeth Shay, who breaks out the brooms and breaks down curling.
How did the curling club get started, and what does it consist of currently?
Shay: The curling club started a little over 10 years ago because there were students who had curled while growing up and wanted to continue the sport. Currently, we have about 10 people that show up consistently to practices as well as several others that stop in occasionally. Most of us never curled before college.
Why curling? It's not a sport that is on most American radars except during the Olympics.
Shay: Curling is a really fun sport that is easy enough to pick up that you can play a game in your first practice, but challenging enough that you can continue to improve your skills for the rest of your life.
Do you mind having to travel to Villanova to practice, or do you see it as a bonding experience for the group?
Shay: We actually travel to Paoli, to the Philadelphia Curling Club and practice every week with Villanova. Since this is the only place in the area with curling ice, we really don't have a choice in traveling. It does impact our practice schedule over having closer ice, but the train ride out allows us all to talk. Although we have a friendly competition with Villanova, it's really great to practice with them.
What are the competitions like?
Shay: The bonspiels (competitions) are typically over a weekend, with the first draws (games) on Friday night, ending either Saturday night or Sunday morning. In most tournaments, teams don't play all of the games, so when you aren't playing you can talk to the other teams who aren't playing, as well as watch the draws being played. We also do homework if it's a busy weekend. Since the curling community is pretty small, you start to see the same people at every bonspiel, so it's fun to talk.
Why should someone come out and sign up?
Shay: As I said in an earlier question, curling is really easy to pick up and it's a lot of fun. We teach newcomers how to play, so you don't have to already know the game. We're a really casual group, so there's no pressure to make every practice if you get busy. Besides, saying you've been curling is a really good icebreaker!
We practice on Saturdays from 12-4. Contact us at penncurling@gmail.com and we'll let send out the details!
Where do you think the club is headed in the future?
Shay: In the near future we're preparing for various bonspiels and potentially Nationals. In the long-term, it would be great to have a larger team and we would like to host our own bonspiels.
This weekend was one of the more eventful travel trips the men’s and women’s teams have experienced, at least in my time here at Penn.
We traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to take on Brown and Harvard at the brand new Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center! Though the pool is an amazing facility, I cannot say the same for our athletic performances at the venue. With many of us sick with what our coach is calling “the plague,” we journeyed to Providence missing many key team members leading to our pretty terrible loss to both teams.
The men put up a better fight, but they too ultimately fell to Brown. (SEE RECAP) Their meet against Harvard is not for another couple of weeks.
Though the loss put a damper on the weekend, we were all still really excited about swimming in the new pool at which men’s Ivies will be hosted during the first weekend in March.
The highlight of the weekend however, was definitely staying in the Biltmore Hotel, or so we thought. Traveling as a team can be expensive, so we do not typically stay in lavish hotels, but this weekend we thought we were living in the lap of luxury because each room had two king-size beds, and huge living room furniture sets and elegant looking décor. We came to find out that the reason this hotel was so cheap, allowing us to stay there is because it is actually the most haunted hotel in America! The Overlook Hotel from Stephen King’s The Shining was based off this exact hotel.
One of the freshman men said the lights in his room flickered and the coffee pot turned on in the middle of the night. Thank God I didn’t know about this until we got home, or I wouldn’t have gotten a wink of sleep!
We all know you've had ample basketball coverage this weekend, but you can only read so much about Penn's 20-point loss to St. Joseph’s. So what about the rest of the Red and Blue? For recaps of Penn's other squads, look no further than this week's edition of Weekend Wrap.
Women’s squash
Led by the efforts of freshmen Haidi Lala and Camille Lanier, the No. 5 Quakers narrowly defeated No. 4 Trinity, 6-3. With only one loss so far this season, the Red and Blue are looking to win a national championship, but first will have to prove themselves against the first-ranked Princeton Tigers on Jan. 30.
Penn women's squash wins with mental toughness
Men’s squash
There wasn’t much to hope for Penn men’s squash team entering their contest against No. 2 Trinity, and that was confirmed as the Bantams blanketed the Quakers, 9-0. Notable, though, was No.1 Danny Greenberg’s 11-7 win in his third game against Reinhold Hergeth, and Daniel Judd’s two wins at No. 9 against Juan Lopez.
Penn men's squash falls to undefeated Trinity
Swimming
Plagued by some key absences, both the men’s and women’s teams failed to score a victory during their weekend trip to New England. The men (2-5, 1-5 Ivy) fell to Brown (4-3, 1-3) while the women (3-5, 2-5) were defeated by both the Bears (5-2, 2-2) and the Crimson (7-0, 5-0). Interestingly, the men’s meet took place at Brown’s brand new aquatic facility, where the Ivy League Championship will take place in March.
Penn swimming undone by key absences
W. Tennis
In their first doubleheader of the season, the Quakers easily defeated Lehigh and St. Joseph’s, shutting out both teams, 7-0. While the Red and Blue will only be back in action on Feb. 9 against Rutgers, they will be able to carry the momentum from their convincing start to the year.
BRIEF | Penn women's tennis sweeps Saturday doubleheader
Gymnastics
Competing in a field consisting of Rutgers, Bridgeport and Ursinus on Saturday in New Brunswick, N.J., Penn attained a third place finish with a final score of 190.525. Senior Dana Bonincontri shined once again, ranking first overall with a 39.125 total.
BRIEF | Penn gymnastics finishes third at Rutgers
Track & Field
At the Mountain Hawk Invitational this weekend, both the men’s and women’s squads enjoyed strong performances, finishing first and second, respectively. Individually, the Quakers also excelled, with numerous athletes from both teams winning and setting personal bests.
BRIEF | Penn track & field shines at Mountain Hawk Invitational
Now the rest of the Ivy League has taken notice of DNH's momentum. It's his first Ivy weekly honor, and it comes after he posted his first double-double at Penn in the Quakers' 54-53 squeaker over NJIT Thursday night, notching 12 points and 11 rebounds. Nelson-Henry was also one of few bright spots for Penn in its loss to St. Joseph's Saturday, matching a career high with 17 points and being the only player to reach double figures against the Hawks.
DNH has started the last two games and is averaging 6.8 points (good for fourth on the team) and 3.3 boards per game (good for third) through 16 contests.
THE GOOD: Darien Nelson-Henry growing up.
The freshman has continued his trend of better production in the new year. Against St. Joe’s, the offense ran through the forward/center and it showed in that stats. DNH took more shots than any other Quaker, connecting on eight of his 12 attempts. His 17 points were a team high along with his seven rebounds. Darien also managed to stay out of foul trouble, a big accomplishment for the Red and Blue front court. Nelson-Henry committed just two fouls in 32 minutes of playing time.
THE BAD: Shooting behind lines.
From the free throw line, Penn was just 5-for-14 compared to 10-for-13 for St. Joe’s. The Hawks also shot 40.7 percent from behind the three point line compared to the dismal 19.0% percent the Quakers registered from distance. If Penn had been able to make five more free throws and three pointers, giving them percentages of 71.4 percent and 42.8 percent respectively, this game would have gone to overtime. Credit the Hawks' defense for the three-point shooting woes, but there is no excuse for the charity stripe to work against Penn.
THE UGLY: Searching for wins.
Penn has not been able to find back to back victories since Mar. 2 and Mar. 3 of 2012. Out of conference play, Penn has achieved that milestone just once since the beginning of 2012. An 18-11 Ivy League record has helped to mask the out of conference troubles lately. Penn needs to find wins in the Ivy League to help balance out the 3-14 record this season. Before the 13 remaining Ivy League games get under way, Penn must travel to Temple for one more tough non-conference matchup.
Follow along as Penn men's hoops battles St. Joe's at the Palestra.
Penn scoring 60 points: UNDER
The Hawks hold opponents to around 65 points per game, and the Quakers are not up to the quality of opponent that the Hawks have faced this season. St. Joe's faced off against Harvard early in the year and held the Crimson to 56 points in a 19-point victory, and no disrespect to the Red and Blue, but if Harvard had trouble putting up points, then odds are the Quakers will as well.
10 points per game for Tony Hicks: OVER
I think that, among other things, that this season hinges upon Tony Hicks' ability to put points on the board for the Quakers. If he finishes the year putting up 10 points per game, then the Quakers may be able to hang around in the Ivy League race.
Maybe it's my heart speaking and not my head, but I think he can do it. He's shown more aggressiveness of late, and anyone who has seen this team play knows that's what the Red and Blue need more than anything. I'm not saying that this will let the Quakers win the Ivy or anything, just that it will be a little more interesting.
10 minutes each for Dau Jok and PLP: OVER
Again, speaking with my heart rather than my head. Patrick Lucas-Perry isn't the biggest guy on the already-small Quakers, but he is what they need on offense. His shooting from the outside has kept Penn potent on offense when he's on the floor. His last second shot against NJIT gave the Quakers a much need win, and they have to at least give him more minutes and see what he can do.
The same goes for Dau Jok. His shooting number are on par with starter Steve Rennard's, but Jok gives the Quakers more than just the three-ball. His ability to rebound is something the Quakers need, and something that Rennard just can't give them.
Darien Nelson-Henry getting 10 rebounds: UNDER
Darien Nelson-Henry is going to be a force in the Ivy League for a long time, but he's not quite there yet on the defensive end. While he was able to rebound against NJIT, he'll have more difficulty against the larger Hawks.
He averages 8.28 rebounds per 40 minutes in general, and that number is inflated by the type of competition the Quakers have played in which Nelson-Henry has received a large quantity of minutes (Wagner, NJIT). It's no disrespect to Nelson-Henry. It's just a learning process.
A five-point loss for Penn: OVER
This one won't be close, folks. St. Joe's has played a tough schedule, and while they haven't won all of their games, the scores can been close. Two days ago, they went to overtime against a strong VCU team, beat Notre Dame at the start of the season, and have handled two Ivy League opponents that have played significantly better than Penn has this season.
Joe D'Orazio accomplished a lot as a Penn offensive lineman from 2007-10: 2010 team co-captain, two-time first team All-Ivy and two-time Ivy League champion.
According to Penn tight ends coach Mark Fabish, he's now coaching under Andy Reid for the Kansas City Chiefs. Yesterday, Fabish tweeted, "Congrats to 2 time Ivy Champ/2 time All Ivy OL and 2010 Captain Joe D'Orazio on joining Andy Reid's staff in KC#pennpride #gochiefs." It's still unclear in what capacity D'Orazio joins Reid's staff after having already been a camp operations intern for the Reid-coached Philadelphia Eagles in the summer of 2010.
D'Orazio spent the 2011 season as tight ends coach at Chicago before spending 2012 as a defensive grad assistant at Utah.
While surprised, players respect the writers maintaining the integrity of the sport.
For the first time since 1996, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) failed to elect a single eligible member to the Hall of Fame. The vote, a shock to baseball fans around the country, left notable players such as Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens, and Mike Piazza among others out of the Hall.
Their exclusion was undoubtedly a statement made by the BBWAA about their opinions of performance-enhancing drugs and the players that dominated the Steroid Era. Bonds, the game’s all-time home run king, was expected to be left off the ballot due to his admission of use but players like Biggio and Piazza, who never tested positive, were victims of guilt by association. Biggio eclipsed the 3,000 career hit milestone that normally guarantees a spot in the Hall, and Piazza is considered by many the greatest offensive catcher ever.
But how do Penn’s baseball players feel about the vote?
“It’s a bit of a letdown,” starting pitcher Matt Gotschall said. “But I respect the voters for keeping the game’s integrity by keeping steroid users out of the Hall of Fame.”
Gotschall’s sentiment echoed throughout the rest of the team, as many players were quick to blame the vote on the effects of performance-enhancing drugs.
While fellow junior pitcher Cody Thomson and outfielder Brandon Engelhardt agree that the Hall of Fame got it right this year by keeping steroid users out in 2013, they wonder what the future holds for Cooperstown.
“I think it's a win for the sport of baseball in the short run to let it be known that performance enhancing drugs are wrong, but it would be foolish to never let in the elite of their class without at least an asterisk,” Engelhardt said.
Thomson furthered the insight on ‘entrance with an asterisk’, believing that the Hall of Fame should acknowledge the Steroid Era and explain it to visitors, because although it is a black-eye on the game’s history, it was a major story and cannot be avoided.
While everyone interviewed was in favor of sending a message to PED users, Thomson also believed that the Hall of Fame voting committee made a few major mistakes this year. "Guys like Biggio and Schilling deserved to make it,” according to the right-hander.
The situation will get even hairier next year for the BBWAA when legendary pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Mike Mussina are added to the ballot along with slugger Frank Thomas.
While the debate will rage on for years about how to handle steroid users in the Hall of Fame, junior third baseman Rick Brebner has an easy solution. “Let everyone in,” the third baseman jokingly added.
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