We're back in the Palestra for our final episode of the semester — Kevin Esteves is with Brian Kotloff and Eli Cohen as they recap the week in Penn men's basketball against Villanova and Delaware, then look forward to Saturday's game at UCLA.
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With a front-office shakeup ongoing in the Houston Astros organization, and MLB's winter meetings taking place, baseball's losing-est team this year announced the hiring of Jeff Luhnow as its new general manager.
As Zachary Levine, Astros beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, points out, Luhnow went to Penn, graduating from Wharton and the School of Engineering in 1989. (Levine, too, is a Penn and DP Sports alum).
Lunhow had been a vice president with Cardinals organization since 2003, and was most recently director of player procurement in St. Louis.
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“We are very pleased to have Jeff as the new General Manager of the Houston Astros,” team CEO George Postolos said in a statement. “Jeff is the perfect fit for the Astros because of his track record in scouting and player development during his eight-plus seasons with the Cardinals.
The new GM was also quoted in the DP back in 2006 in an article on Ivy Leaguers in the MLB:
Jeff Luhnow, a Penn grad who now works as the vice president of player procurement for the St. Louis Cardinals, previously worked for McKinsey."Decision-making in baseball is not too different than decision-making in business," Luhnow said. "You ultimately have to make decisions with less than perfect information, and you may end up being wrong because there are always variables that are impossible to account for completely in advance."
Nonetheless, owners and fans alike are relying on younger people armed with prestigious degrees to do their best to calculate success.
Rob Belcore has not only become Penn's energizer bunny on the court, he's also become a quote machine off it. He's a sound bite waiting to happen, and the forward gave us some golden material on roommate of four years Zack Rosen after the win over Delaware on Wednesday night.
Asked what it's like to have Zack as a teammate, Belcore responded:
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For those craving a "Good, Bad, Ugly" post, here's a quick version:Good: Steve Rennard coming through when his number was called, the ultimate sign of a good team (check out Kevin's insightful sidebar for more); the 17-2 run that broke the game open early in the second half; Rosen turning an off shooting night into 29 points; Penn's defense on Devon Saddler, who entered as the nation's second-leading scorer (24.7 ppg) and exited with six points on 2-for-8. Lots of good.
Bad: Allowing 11 offensive rebounds; shooting just 37 percent from the field; allowing UD to climb back in it with a late 8-0 run.
Ugly: Shooting 2-for-12 from three in the first half; getting a combined five points on 3-for-9 shooting from the 5-spot.
Rob Belcore and Jerome Allen were mostly smiles after a 69-60 win over Delaware Wednesday night. Check out the video from the press conference below:
The Quakers (4-5) take on the Blue Hens (3-3), looking to get back to .500 on the season. Penn will have to contain 6-foot-2 guard Devon Saddler, who is currently 2nd in the nation in scoring (24.7 points per game) and keep 6-foot-9 Jamelle Hagins off the glass (10.3 rebounds per game). Penn starting two-guard Miles Cartwright is a late scratch for tonight's game; he's in dress clothes.
Kevin Esteves and Brian Kotloff will relay the action to you live from the Palestra.
Tonight's matchup at the Palestra between Penn and Delaware will feature two of the most potent point guards in the nation: Penn's Zack Rosen, and Delaware's Devon Saddler. Here's how the two compare:
Points per game: Rosen: 21.3 (12th nationally) Saddler: 24.7 (2nd)
FG% Rosen: 57.3 Saddler: 41.2
3-PT% Rosen: 58.5 (5th) Saddler: 34.0
Assists Rosen: 48 (21st) Saddler: 13
Minutes/game Rosen: 39.22 (5th) Saddler: 35.33
You can add one more to the list of Quakers competing in the various U.S. Olympic Trials.
Last Sunday, Mike Cassidy, a Penn alum from 2007 and a former track and cross country member, finished 11th on Sunday at the California International Marathon to qualify for the U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials.
The 26-year old Cassidy, who races for Greater Racing New York, finished the 26.2 mile course in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 52 seconds, just eight seconds under the 2:19 cutoff mark. He will join 150 marathoners from around the country on Jan. 14 in Houston with the top three finishers moving on to London 2012.
Cassidy had a rather unremarkable college career with his most notable race a 30th place finish in the 10,000 meters at the 2005 Penn Relays. However his results in marathons don't lie. He is now one of the top road racers in the country and will look to run in the 2:12-2:14 range in six weeks time.
He will join current Penn swimmer Shelby Fortin and current assitant wrestling coach Matt Valenti who are also competing for spots on the U.S. Olympic Swimming and Wrestling teams, respectively.
Sophomore swimmer Shelby Fortin will be going to the Olympic Trials.
Fortin did not join her team at the Total Performance Invitational at Kenyon College over the weekend, as she, in addition to teammate Kristi Edleson, swam at the U.S. Winter National Championships at Georgia Tech.
Fortin swam the 400 long course meter (LCM) freestyle — the first event of the meet — with a time of 4:17.78, a nearly two seconds under the Olympic trials qualifying time of 4:19.39. She finished 23rd in the event overall. Fortin also just missed another Trials cut in the 200m free with a 2:03.48, just .29 seconds above the qualifying time.
The 2012 Olympic Team Trials will be from June 25-July 2 in Omaha, Nebraska to determine which swimmers will represent the U.S. in the London Olympics. The top two swimmers from each event advance to the Olympics — Fortin's time currently ranks at No. 241 in the country.
-Allison Bart
Here's some more interesting tidbits on The Mighty Macs — the film made by Penn alums Tim Chambers and Vince Curran about the Immaculata University Mighty Macs' 1972 women's basketball team, which was the first to claim a national title in women's hoops:
We've followed Harvard's rise to national prominence closely here at The Buzz, and now the voters have spoken. The Crimson's 8-0 start has propelled them to the No. 24 spot in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and No. 25 in the Associated Press poll. This is the school's first-ever appearance in the hoops top 25.
And up next is the biggest test of their nonconference slate, a December 8th prime-time matchup at UConn, which will be televised on ESPN2 starting at 7 p.m. The game will offer the ultimate measuring stick to see how legitimate this Harvard team truly is. Should be excellent theater so stay tuned.
Harvard's Josue Ortiz won Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year today at a ceremony in Manhattan, taking the award over Penn linebacker Erik Rask. Cornell's Jeff Matthews, a sophomore quarterback, took the offensive award. Read more about the Bushnell Cup winners here.
Penn football's senior captain and linebacker Erik Rask is a finalist for the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award — which will be presented at 11:30 a.m. today at the Waldorf=Astoria hotel in New York City.
The National Football Foundation, which is hosting it's annual awards dinner this week, will stream the Asa A. Bushnell Cup Award presentation live today at it's website.
Rask will be at the ceremony along with with coach Al Bagnoli and tight ends coach Mark Fabish, who tweeted that he was en route this morning.
Rask is up against Harvard lineman Josue Ortiz for the first ever award given strictly to a defensive player.
In the second-half, the Quakers made things interesting — just not interesting enough as Penn dropped its second Big 5 game this year to Villanova Saturday night, 73-65.
The Good: Marin Kukoc and Cam Gunter both showed good 6th-man potential (Kukoc for the second-straight game), combining for 13 points (seven for Kukoc, six for Gunter). While Kukoc's 3-for-9 stat-line (including 1-for-6 from three) is nothing to be excited about, the shots he made had a relatively high degree of difficulty. Gunter was able to find some open space down low and get three easy baskets in the second half.
The Bad: Penn's 20 first-half points were a season low. The Quakes shot 29.2 percent from the field before the break — a whopping 0-for-9 from downtown. It all added up to an 18-point deficit that Penn couldn't overcome despite beating Villanova by 10 in the second half.
The Ugly: Villanova's no-sign policy. The Red and Blue Crew had their Big 5 rollouts confiscated as they entered the Pavilion last night, which is simply lame. Apparently this isn't the first time it has happened, either. This is one of the best traditions in Philly sports, and considering the declining interest in the conference, all five schools should be making an effort to encourage students' involvement.
Coming live from the Main Line, Penn takes on Villanova in both team's second Big 5 games. The Quakers are even at 4-4 (0-1 Big 5), while the Wildcats are 4-2 (1-0). Penn hasn't beaten 'Nova since 2002, but the Quakers are looking to take advantage of a rebuilding year for Jay Wright's team. Follow along as Eli Cohen and John Phillips bring you the action from the Pavilion.
Video: DP basketball writers preview the 'Nova matchup.
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After playing No. 3 Notre Dame last night (a 30-point Quakers' loss), Penn women's basketball is now stuck in South Bend, Ind.
The Quakers had to deplane after boarding, and there were no flights that could handle the whole team and personnel. The team's twitter feed is keeping it light, in lieu of the delays:
The team is bussing to O'hare in Chicago, and will fly back tonight. But they're all smiles on the trip around Lake Michigan!
Penn women's hoops is the first Ivy League team to ever play at Notre Dame. The Quakers are 4-1 on the young season, but the Fighting Irish are ranked No. 3 in the nation. Can the Red and Blue pull off a monumental upset? Notre Dame has a free webstream of the game, if you're so inclined. Tip is at 7 p.m.
It seems like The Buzz has jumped on the Women's Hoops bandwagon. And for good reason -- the Quakers are off to their best start (4-1) in program history. Coach Mike McLaughlin's crew has been in South Bend, Ind. since yesterday afternoon in preparation for tonight's game against national runners-up Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are undoubtedly the biggest test this team has faced in years, but if this video is any measure, the Red and Blue are ready to put up a fight tonight.
In a quick video tweeted from @PennWomensBball, sophomore Megan McCullough sinks a half-court shot during Penn's shootaround this afternoon. Apparently the players go up against the coaches after shootarounds -- the players lead the season, 2-0-1.
Follow @PennWomensBball tonight on Twitter for game updates.
We've got some new faces in This Week on 33rd Street today. Basketball beats Alyssa Kress and Ethan Alter joined the cast this week with Brian Kotloff and Kevin Esteves to break down the upcoming Big 5 battle with Villanova:
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Penn men's basketball captain Zack Rosen is about as unassuming as they come, but he agreed to be Ego of the Week for the final issue of 34th Street this semester. Check out some highlights below. Sidenote: he's tried to push his inside-out socks theory on me before, but I don't buy it.
Street: If you didn’t play basketball, what would you do? Zack Rosen: Baseball. I was a baseball player first — people don’t really know that. I played basketball my entire life; I just wasn’t that serious about it. Well, as serious.Read the rest over at 34st.com!Street: Do you have any pregame superstitions? ZR: I wear the same pair of socks and I always wear them inside out. Normally the seams are on the inside, but if you flip them out, they feel real comfortable.
Street: What’s your latest discovery? ZR: I can cut my own hair. Saves me 40 bucks a month.
Street: What’s your secret talent? ZR: I’m a yoga master. My mom’s a yoga instructor, so I grew up on yoga.
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