This may be a couple days old, but it's still funny and Penn related so I thought I'd share:
Apparently the Dallas Stars, in town last weekend to play the Flyers, had to practice at Penn's Class of 1923 Ice Rink because Wingbowl 19 preparations were going on at the Wells Fargo center. From the Dallas News' starsblog:
The Stars had to practice at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday because of ``Wingfest,'' a huge radio promotion that's like one of The Ticket's annual deals. And then they had to have their morning skate at Penn again today, because Villanova is playing at Wells FargoCenter. They dress at Wells Fargo Center, bus over to Penn, bus back and change again before heading back to the team hotel for their meal. It has been an eventful road trip, to say the least.
That sounds almost as terrible as eating 255 wings at 6 A.M. Also, it's Wing Bowl not wingfest!
The good: For the fourth time this season, the Quakers overcame a double-digit second-half deficit, displaying incredible resiliency and clutch play in the process. But the comebacks are becoming the norm, so I'll say the best thing to come out of this game was that the rivalry is back. This one turned into a heated, intense battle both on the court and in the stands. It had the emotional twists and turns that a great rivalry game should have, and it ended with a crushed Penn team walking off the floor and a joyous Princeton team that stuck around to high-five fans courtside.
The bad: The Quakers needed another great comeback because they again fell behind early. Neither the players or coach Jerome Allen have any explanations for why the team struggles to come out of the gate, but this is a problem that even dates back to last season. I still remember when an extremely frustrated Zack Rosen said outside the Palestra locker room after last year's Brown game, “I think we need to come out with defibrillators on our chests and shock ourselves into thinking it’s the second half when it’s the first half." It looks like Rosen might have to try it again this season.
The ugly: The overtime collapse. At least during Saturday's gut-wrenching defeat, the Crimson won the game themselves. Tuesday at Jadwin, the Quakers gave this one away, as Tyler Bernardini said after the game. Somehow, a team that had possession of the ball, up 1 with just 16 seconds left in overtime, lost by 3 points. First, Jack Eggleston made an uncharacteristically boneheaded play when he called timeout even though Penn had no timeouts left (shades of Chris Webber). The Quakers got a break when Douglas Davis made only one of the two technical free throws, but then came the rookie mistakes. Miles Cartwright threw the ensuing inbounds pass directly into the hands of Princeton's Ian Hummer, and then fouled Hummer even though the game was still tied. Even after Hummer sank both foul shots, Penn could have tied the game when Rosen fed Fran Dougherty with a beautiful pass that set the forward up for a gimme layup - only Dougherty's shot was too strong and bounced off the front rim and out. If the Quakers' first five Ivy games have been this much of a roller-coaster, what's in store for the rest of the season? The ugliest of the ugly may be Penn fans' mental and physical health in rooting for a team like this one.
Many fans were upset with the refereeing Saturday night when Penn lost to Harvard in double overtime. Among other things, there were two free-throws awarded to the wrong Harvard player and there was little discussion or review of Zack Rosen's buzzer beater, which, it turns out, didn't go in on time.
Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky was livid after the game and came over to the scorer's table, where he had an intense (to say the least) conversation with the Ivy League's coordinator of officials, Reggie Greenwood who was at the game to rate the referees.
The Inquirer's Kevin Tatum caught up with Greenwood, who had this to say about the officiating Saturday:
"My purpose and sole reason for being there is to observe, teach, critique, and evaluate the officials," said Greenwood, who declined to say how they graded out that day. "It was a very difficult game to referee. What was at stake . . . the crowd and the atmosphere. But you have to manage the game, and they were up to the task."
Maybe Penn would prefer those mediocre 2,000-person crowds to make things easier on the refs.
Tweet
This is Brian Kotloff live at Jadwin Gymnasium for the first Penn-Princeton game of the season. The 3-1 Quakers are looking to catch the 4-0 Tigers at the top of the Ivy League and rebound from Saturday's crushing loss to Harvard. Follow along with us using the link below!
As has become tradition, every year before the first Penn-Princeton basketball game we exchange a lighthearted column with the sports editors over at the Daily Prince. It's a chance for us to do a little trash talking, making a few Princeton jokes and defend our home turf — after all, the rivalry extends outside of basketball, right?
We put together this short video of Penn players' thoughts on the rivalry, which is renewed 7 p.m. tonight at Princeton. I asked one simple question: what does Penn-Princeton mean to you? Here are their responses:
The 223rd installment of the Penn-Princeton rivalry kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J. Since you have all day to wait, hopefully some of these snippets can hold you over.
Worried about junior Rob Belcore? He went down hard Saturday night against Harvard, just as he was beginning to show glimpses of his former self and a new-found confidence. Though he was seen on crutches Sunday and did not practice, sources tell us that he will play tonight.
Today's back page of the DP is dedicated entirely to the Penn and Princeton rivalry. And timed perfectly, Bleacher Report released a list of the Top 20 Rivalries in College Basketball. While Duke-UNC is in the title, Penn-Princeton comes up next in the slideshow, so it's safe to assume that this one ranks second. But if it were up to former PA Governor Ed Rendell (and given his recent job availability, maybe it will be), he'd put Penn-Princeton first.
There is not a more highly contested rivalry in the country. There is not a rivalry that has been this long, this intense and counted for so much. The games were intense, close and always important. The only rivalry close to [Penn-Princeton] is Army-Navy in football. No matter what the standings are, it is always so spectacular, heated and intense.
For more on the history of the rivalry, see my story, and to read up on the paths Penn and Princeton coaches Jerome Allen and Sydney Johnson, check out Brian's.
And finally, for your viewing pleasure: Corky Calhoun's buzzer-beater in 1971. Quality's not great, but it really depicts the atmosphere of those rivalry games. And 40 years later, Corky is just as modest about that shot as he was the night he took it.
They've reprinted some instructions from the Red and Blue Crew detailing just how one might get to Princeton to see Penn play its archrival tomorrow. It looks like the Red and Blue Crew's bus is full, but you can get there on SEPTA/NJ Transit or why not rent a van with 14 of your closest friends?
Transportation to Jadwin Gymnasium
Your best bet is to take public transportation via SEPTA and NJ Transit. If you are part of a large group or a fraternity/sorority, we would recommend finding a friend who has a car or renting cars/vans. There will not be a Penn Athletics bus to the game. In any case, you need to plan to leave campus early to account for traffic and transfer times.
Public Transit Instructions
Take the SEPTA R7-Trenton regional rail from 30th St to Trenton Transit Ctr. Transfer to the NJ Transit NE Corridor line and take that to Princeton Junction station. There is a light rail shuttle that will take you from Princeton Junction to the Princeton University stop. From there, you need to walk 0.25 miles east through campus and Jadwin Gym should be just across Washington Road (Rt 571).
It's a little late now, but after Saturday night's student showing, it would have been nice to have an official bus from Penn sending students to the game.
As I was looking back through the DP's film of Saturday night's game, I couldn't help but notice some damning evidence of how poor the officiating was for the Penn-Harvard game. Below is a freeze frame from our game tape from the final second of the first overtime. As you might remember, Zack Rosen hit a clutch two-pointer to send the game into a second OT. The tapes don't lie — the ball is still clearly in Rosen's hand as the buzzer-light goes off.
It doesn't really matter now, the game is history, and the result was still a Crimson win. If anything, this just proves the famous "Saturday Night referee" phenomenon in the Ivy League.
Aside from Penn's comeback against a talented Harvard team, the unbelievable crowd was definitely a highlight. Though the fans didn't get to see a win, they did get one of the best Penn performances and all around games in years. Fans in the Red and Blue Crew brought signs for the DP's Ballin' Banner Contest, and I'm happy to post them below. (Credit to Senior Photographer Pete Lodato for the great shots)
In third place, we have this gem of a mom joke...
Along similar lines, in second, we have this punny RBC rollout:
And in first place, the Red and Blue Crew's Jayson Weingarten, with this slam dunk:
And now for some honorable mentions after the jump.
And finally this, which was preceded by "Bush, Zuckerberg, Amaker..."
How do you recap what happened last night at the Palestra? I'll leave that up to Noah Rosenstein, whose story will be in Monday's issue.
But as an add-on, here are some game notes:
Harvard's size: The 6'8, 240 lb. Keith Wright and the athletic, 6'7, 215 lb. Kyle Casey just ate up Penn's frontline. They shot a combined 16-for-25 from the floor (64%) and didn't just play bully-ball (they both have a decent stroke from just outside the paint). To me, the fact that Penn was so outmatched down low makes Penn's 18-point comeback and subsequent efforts in the overtime periods that much more impressive. When Harvard needed a bucket in crunch time, the Crimson knew they could get a good look by going down low to Wright or Casey. Penn did what it could defensively, opting to front Wright with Dougherty or Turley and then using help-side defense (like a sprinting Rob Belcore) to sweep in behind to try to break up the entry pass. But despite a few clutch steals by Penn down the stretch, Wright was just too big, too wide (he's a little doughy if you ask me) and he was able to consistently seal his man and get excellent position. Casey, meanwhile, seemed to face-up more and was too quick off the dribble for Turley. You have to wonder whether a healthy Howlett or Schreiber could have helped slow those guys down, but Wright's main strength was, well, his strength – a key to the game that might have gotten lost in all the dramatics.
See more after the jump.
Penn's resilience: Like I said, Penn's ability to claw back even despite the frontcourt disadvantage was awfully impressive. From the stands, I kept thinking how tough it would be to erase an 18-point deficit when Harvard could just go inside to stop the bleeding when it needed. But Penn somehow did it anyway. There weren't any overwhelming runs by the Quakers in the second-half — just solid, methodical basketball that saw guys like Eggleston, Bernardini, Cartwright, and Rosen hit tough shot after tough shot. Harvard could score more easily, but Penn refused to submit down the stretch. People talk about how physically exhausting an overtime game can be, and this was a double-OT thriller. But the mental exhaustion that Penn must have undergone, fighting back for essentially the entire game (the Red and Blue held a fleeting thee-point lead in double-OT at one point), was tremendous. I don't think you can really overstate the character of guys like Rosen and Eggleston. They kept this team's heads in the game when it would have been easy to quit, and they deserve something far better than an "L."
Timely stops: I hate to harp on this too much, but Penn's run could have been even better if they were able to get a few more timely stops defensively. But Harvard's presence down low just created so many problems defensively. Even when Wright passed it out from the block, Penn had to fly around on defense, allowing the patient Crimson to just work the ball around the perimeter and get open shots.
Impact of Bernardini fouling out: When Tyler Bernardini fouled out with 2:08 remaining in the first overtime (on a silly, unnecessary reach-in) Penn lost a key offensive threat. His loss wouldn't have been as bad if his replacement, Rob Belcore, could stretch the defense with his three-point shot. But he couldn't. Belcore hasn't had the touch all season and he just has no confidence in his shot (just 23.1% from three-point land). But his apparent lack of confidence seems most evident at the free-throw line, where he has looked shaky, rather than fluid (only 9-for-18 on the year). A huge key for a guy struggling with his confidence is making free-throws — seeing the ball go through the rim. But unfortunately for him, a lack of confidence translates to the charity stripe as well. Belcore's defense, as usual, was tremendous, and he warrants time on the floor just for that, but not having Bernardini in there down the stretch to spread the floor hurt the ability of Penn to attack offensively. On a last play, the trio of Eggleston, Bernardini, and Cartwright flying around the perimeter with the ball in Rosen's hands presents many more options than one without Tyler.
Eggleston playing out of his mind: When Eggleston hit two clutch threes at the end of the game, I almost wasn't surprised. Despite the fact that Harvard didn't appear to get the memo that Jack's a shooter, the co-captain has been ridiculously efficient lately. He scored 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including 3-for-4 from downtown. In the team's first four Ivy games (3-1), Eggleston has averaged 19.8 points and 9.5 rebounds on an unreal 65.4 % shooting from the floor and 64.3% from downtown. On the year, he now sits 4th IN THE NATION in three-point percentage. For a four-man like Eggleston, that's getting it done. He'll tell you that he's just taking wide-open shots, but open or not, those percentages are a major reason why Penn's been able to get off to this 3-1 league start.
Ultimately, this loss is definitely a punch to the gut of this team, and you have to give Harvard credit for sticking it out, but if anything, this game showed that Penn is one tough bunch.
Last night's game against Harvard was absolutely an instant classic. It's pretty difficult to summarize all the ups and downs, but here goes:
The Good: I could go with anything from Zack Rosen's clutch play down the stretch to the incredibly electric atmosphere in the Palestra, but I've got to make this one about the whole Penn team's true grit in the comeback and overtimes. They were down 18 with 15:43 left, but they weren't out. They did what they needed to do, clamping down on 'D' and repeatedly hitting huge shots - from three-pointers near the end of regulation to Rosen's first-OT buzzer-beater. The Quakers' amazing effort made this game one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever attended and easily made it the signature game of the season so far, despite the loss. Jerome Allen has said time and again that he doesn't believe in moral victories, but last night even he couldn't deny that his players "showed great character."
The Bad: To be frank, the only real bad I can see in this game was the fact that Penn lost. Sure I could point to their 41.7% shooting (or the 34.8% from three), but it's hard to harp on that when they still managed to push the game to double-overtime. After all the heart and energy the Quakers poured on the Palestra hardwood, the disappointing loss was incredibly hard to swallow for players and fans alike. As Rosen said, "A loss is a loss. What we wanted out of the game was a win, and what we got out of the game was a loss. So I think on the whole, we did not get what we wanted."
The Ugly: This one is probably the easiest to call, because the officiating was consistently questionable. First there was the one-and-one for Christian Webster that became two shots for Brandyn Curry. Then there was the near foul call against Penn on Curry's last-second tip-in attempt in regulation, which would have given him two shots to win the game. And finally there was the jump ball call late in the second overtime that cost Penn a crucial possession. Nobody would blame the game on the refs, of course, and the bad calls seemed to go both ways (just as Penn fans protested the possibility of game-ending free throws in regulation, Crimson fans could question whether Rosen's buzzer beater in the first overtime was released in time). So maybe it didn't impact the final result, but the officiating certainly was the ugliest part of this Ivy League classic.
This one should go down as one of the classics at the Palestra, if it doesn't it's only because the Quakers didn't pull out a win. Here are Harvard's coach Tommy Amaker and guard Oliver McNally, followed by Penn coach Jerome Allen and finally Jack Eggleston and Zack Rosen in the post-game press conference:
Welcome to the Palestra, where Penn (3-0 Ivy) hosts Harvard (4-1) in a crucial matchup to close out a 5-game homestand for the Quakers. Penn comes off a 31-point crushing of Dartmouth last night, while Harvard lost in a come-from behind 4-point Princeton win.
Calder Silcox, Noah Rosenstein and Megan Soisson are live bringing you updates from the game that has had campus buzzing. Follow along below:
The weather outside is terrible, but it's not stopping Penn students from gearing up for tonight's showdown with Harvard at the Palestra:
Around noon UA president Matt Amalfitano sent out a school-wide email asking students to support the Red and Blue tonight, but, as he wrote, only wear blue so as not to give the Crimson any love. He called the game the most pivotal in four years for Penn basketball.
The ever-popular blog FreeStuffatPenn tweeted today advising students that they could get free tickets as the guest of a season ticket holder, which was retweeted by @PennSoccer.
Then Penn Soccer got in on the act, tweeting this afternoon. "Great win 4 @pennbasketball over Dart last nite. Huge game v Harv tonight. We need to PACK THE PALESTRA! We'll be there. Will you?"
So much can be said about Penn's dominating 78-47 victory over Dartmouth Friday, but let's allow this image to do the talking:
Yes, that's Penn and Princeton undefeated atop the Ivy League standings. The last time the archrivals finished 1st and 2nd in the Ancient Eight was way back in 2005-06. Tonight's Penn-Harvard game — and Tuesday's Penn-Princeton game, of course - will tell a lot about whether order in the League will be restored this season. Who thinks the standings in March will look similarly?
A little light reading for this rainy day while you await tonight's showdown at the Palestra:
Our very own Michael Gold, now serving a dual role as sports writer emeritus and 34th Street film editor put together this nice package for Super Bowl weekend. It's a bracket (hey, Michael! March isn't for another three weeks!) of the best sports movies of all time.
All I can say is that I can't understand how 'Major League' didn't make the list at all.
Check it out, and take his choices with a grain of salt; He spent a year at Indiana before coming to Penn.
Penn's 78-47 win Friday night over Dartmouth was its widest margin of victory since Jan. 14, 2006, when the Quakers beat Columbia 87-55. Moving on:
The good: 21 points for Tyler Bernardini in 25 minutes. This doesn't sound that good at first — after all, we've come to expect that output from the swingman lately. But his 7-for-10 shooting (4-for-4 from behind the arc) came on a night when Bernardini said he was battling flu-like symptoms. He had been ill most of the week and did not practice yesterday. (Sidenote, his mom is in town, and made him soup). "I was able to light it up, I was ready to roll tonight," he said after the game.
My question for Bernardini post game? If he can score 21 with the flu, what can he do next week? "I dunno," he responded.
The bad: Personally, it seemed coach Jerome Allen left his starting five in for too many minutes tonight. The Quakers kept the margin above 20 points for the last 10+ minutes, yet Bernardini, Zack Rosen, Jack Eggleston and Miles Cartwright all continued to play for another four minutes before the bench was emptied. All in all, the starters played 120 minutes, or 60 percent of the game. I completely understand leaving Eggleston in to pick up his fifth double-double of the season, but with the real test Saturday night in the Crimson, you've gotta rest the big guns, especially when Harvard had to fight it out to the end against Princeton Friday night.
The Ugly: Not so much ugly as fun, but in the game's final 20 seconds, the Big Green were still pressing the Quakers, so Penn broke the press with a long pass upcourt to freshman Dau Jok. With the Red and Blue up 31, Jok delicately stepped unguarded to the three-point line, pump faked, realized what a grave error it would be to actually throw up a shot and pulled the ball back down smiling one of those patented Dau Jok grins. He dribbled out the clock for the win.
An RSS feed of The Buzz is available