I am incredibly excited to announce an awesome project by the DP's new multimedia editor (and former sports designer) Liz Jacobs. She's compiled an interactive graphic of the men's hoops team's stats so far this season. Just mouse over each player and you'll see his up to date numbers. We'll update this after each Ivy weekend. Enjoy!
As the women’s basketball team embarks on Ivy play, their biggest strength may also be their biggest weakness. Freshman Alyssa Baron, who just swept all three Player of the Week awards, has been the Quakers strongest asset all season. Baron is the team’s leading scorer with 16.1 points per game, a number which is double that of their second leading scorer junior Jess Knapp (8.0 points per game).
However, despite Baron’s success, which has helped keep the Quakers afloat against a string of tough opponents, McLaughlin may have a problem on his hands as the back-to-back weekends of the Ivy schedule will force less playing time per game for Baron.
Baron has played an average of 33.2 minutes per game this season, including 38 in their last match against Temple and a full 40 against Villanova. However, the Friday-Saturday Ivy schedule will make these sorts of long stretches difficult to maintain.
“I don’t think you can go Ivy 40-40 minutes,” coach Mike McLaughlin said when asked about his strategy for conserving Baron’s playing time. “Our challenge will be to make sure we have ten players every day to be able to play in these back to back games. We’ll get there.”
The Quakers will have to build consistency and intensity throughout their roster – and fast – as the Quakers embark on their first Ivy road trip this weekend when they face Yale on Friday and Brown on Saturday.
With the spread out schedule that has been afforded to the Quakers thus far, they have been able to maintain the same starting lineup for 14 of their last 15 games and have relied on a few key players to go long stretches.
“I think Erin Power falls into that,” McLaughlin said. “We need depth. We need some of our players to step up a little bit.”
Senior guard Power is right behind Baron with an average of 32.9 minutes per game, including 39 minutes against Temple and a full 40 against Virginia.
McLaughlin said that the coaches will be providing more opportunities for players who have gotten less playing time to “step up”, but based on the offensive inconsistency the Quakers have been exhibiting thus far, even with Baron providing constant assistance, Penn’s bench may not be deep enough to overcome this challenge.
This weekend’s matches against Yale and Brown will be the Red and Blue’s first test as they try to redeem themselves from last year’s 1-13 Ivy season.
I spoke with new Penn men's basketball recruit Xavier Harris and his coach Rob Moore yesterday after he announced his commitment earlier this week. They both had a lot to say, much of which didn't make it into the print story, so here's some more commentary threaded together from the two:
On the recruiting process, Harris said Penn started talking to him seriously 2-3 months ago:
"Ultimately it was decided for me during the conversation with coach Leibovitz, though they came on late recruiting wise, it was the fact that they wanted me for their program."His coach said that he had offers from St. Peters, Robert Morris, Central Connecticut State, UMBC, and Dartmouth
"The Dartmouth coach, they were recruiting him before Penn got involved, said that his athleticism and toughness will be something different that no team has. He’s gonna create a lot of matchup problems for a lot of teams in the league."Moore had a lot to say about Harris' playing style.
"He can dunk with one hand, either hand. He’s actually developing some outside shooting skills that will bring people away from the basket. He could either play the three or the four."Moore also gave some insight as to why the Penn coaches pursued Harris."He’ll be able to take guys off the dribble in the Ivy League. In the right system — and I’m sure coach Allen will run plays for him — he’ll get some back screens and alley-oop dunks. He’s got a lot of energy."
"They loved his toughness. I talked to them after the loss to Drexel, they said that’s one of the things they could really use, Drexel plays that style. They needed a guy who has a bit of an attitude."Harris also described his playing style:
"Unselfish. I say that because anything the team needs, I'm willing to contribute, whether its scoring, rebounds, or blocking shots. I'm basically a guy who wants to contribute any way possible."In addition, Moore had great things to say about Harris in general:
"As a kid, I can’t say enough about him. His mom has done a great job raising him. It’s gonna be sad to see him go at the end of the year. He’s helped us build a basketball program in 2 years — last year was the first year with a basketball team at our school."And while the Constitution High School program is brand new, Harris said he's looking forward to playing for Penn's storied program.
"You can’t beat years of tradition at UPenn in terms of tradition."
Linebacker Brion Wood from Lincolnshire, Illinois has committed to play football for Penn starting in the fall. Wood, whose brother is currently a sophomore in Wharton, was featured in this ESPN Chicago article after being named a Player of the Week.
In his senior year at Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Wood led his team with 130 tackles, 17 of them for a loss, and eight sacks. The Stevenson Patriots finished the year at 11-1. He was named to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association All State Team. Wood was also named Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Academic All State, among other recognitions.
The idea of Penn as a college destination initially came from Henry, his Whartonite brother. "I've heard a bunch of stories," Wood said. "It's an amazing school. I'm looking to go into business and what better place to [study] business than Wharton. The winning program...is a huge positive," he added about coach Al Bagnoli's back-to-back championship team.
John McLaughlin, the offensive line coach, was Wood's main contact during the recruiting process. Of head coach Al Bagnoli, Wood said, "Coming in to play for a coach who knows what he's doing, I'm really excited. I'm going to be honored to be on his team."
Though Wood understands that starting as a freshman will be a tough task, his goal is to contribute to the team any way he can, as soon as he can.
As for the strongest aspect of his game, Wood credits his intelligence on the field. "I've always been able to read offensive plays," Wood said. That ability has often put Wood on a collision course with the ball-carrier.
Check out his highlight video here.
If you’ve watched the men’s hoops team play recently, you probably noticed senior Tyler Bernardini sporting an awkward-looking, plastic protective mask over the last six games. While Bernardini is recovering from a broken nose, the rest of the team might want to consider getting hands on some masks if it’ll have the same effect it seems to have had on Bernardini.
The 6-foot-6 guard first donned the mask on December 22nd at Delaware in a game that the Quakers won, but one in which Bernardini struggled, scoring only 4 total points. However, since that game, the former leading scorer has notched totals of 18, 22, 17, 17 and a career high 27 points in the last five games.
To give a better idea of Bernardini’s recent spike in scoring output, in the first eight games of the season before the mask, Bernardini averaged an unremarkable 8.0 points per game, including a goose egg against Pittsburgh on November 27. However, in his last six outings and coincidentally ever since he started wearing the protective mask, the former top scorer has averaged 17.5 points per game and has seen an increase in his shooting percentage.
Is this just a coincidence? Possibly. It could very well just be that, after a year on the sideline, Bernardini is finally getting in the groove of things.
However, there are others — Richard “Rip” Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons immediately comes to mind — who might consider masks or other accessories to be good luck charms of sorts. Hamilton accredited his mask for the Pistons’ championship run in 2004. And while I’m not a superstitious person, from the way Bernardini has been playing recently, it may not be a bad idea to keep the mask on.
Senior Charlie Lynch from Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Maryland has committed to Rob Eiter's squad, according to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association.
The 145 pounder is ranked No. 15 in the country in his weight class by InterMat, and could be a potential replacement once senior Zach Kemmerer (141 pounds) graduates.
Lynch — who won the Centennial Duals last weekend — was a state champion last year and placed fourth at National Preps. Lynch has already won four other tournaments this season: Ray Oliver, War on the Shore, Battle of the Beach and the Arundel Holiday Tournament.
“It is a great opportunity,” Lynch said about his future with UPenn in an interview with the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. “On my first visit, I loved it there, and from the beginning I knew I wanted to go there.”
No. 20 Penn has offered Lynch a financial-aid package that will allow him to come and wrestle at the Palestra, according to the Baltimore Sun.
“He is very aggressive and Charlie is a good rider,” Spalding coach Mike Laidley explained. “To me, Charlie is not just one of those kids who can cut you and beat you on his feet. He, in all aspects of wrestling, does well.
Wondering how Harvard got listed in that prestigious "Others receiving votes" addendum to the AP Top 25 college basketball poll this week? Look no further than WBAL-TV 11, a television station in Baltimore, workplace of sports reporter and AP voter Pete Gilbert. Gilbert placed the Crimson 25th in his poll this week, marking the third year in a row in which Harvard has received a vote.
Other than WBAL's executive sports producer "screaming" at him for choosing Harvard over Michigan State (don't worry, they fight all the time), Gilbert hasn't received much feedback on his bold vote. The Spartans ended up getting the 25th spot in the official rankings, despite Gilbert's reasoning. "Instead of saying Michigan St. - which granted has played a much tougher schedule but has lost so many games and from watching them in person hasn’t competed that well - rather than just stay with the status quo, maybe someone else deserves some publicity there," he thought.
"Part of it was the back end of the poll this year has had so much turmoil," Gilbert said. "Two weeks ago I had six new teams in. It made me want to investigate a little bit deeper and looking through what Harvard has done with wins over Colorado, at Boston College and most recently at George Washington, who is a pretty good team, that definitely sparked my interest. And reading a little bit more, seeing that the team could win despite its leading scorer not playing well - Keith Wright getting basically shutout against GW - that’s pretty telling to me that this is a team of substance."
And for those curious about how media members even become AP voters, here's Gilbert's story: He's a friend of AP Sports Writer and football and basketball voter David Ginsburg. When Ginsburg wanted to lighten his load last year, he offered Gilbert - a self-proclaimed "basketball junkie" - his spot on the voting panel. "As a former high school basketball coach before I got into doing TV and radio, I’ve very much enjoyed it and it has allowed me to take a closer look at college basketball," Gilbert said.
(As a sidenote, his wife attended St. Joe's so he's very familiar with Penn and the tradition of the Big 5. "As a program, it’s one I’ve always appreciated," he said.)
Now, the Baltimore native has left a definite mark on the voting, and given Harvard Athletics something to brag about. "I didn’t know that it was the only vote," he said. "It doesn’t matter to me about doing that. [The AP] said to me, 'make sure to vote what you believe and what you think. Don’t vote what you think somebody wants you to vote.'"
Gilbert added that he could envision the Crimson picking up more votes with a strong run through the Ivy League. Still, voting is a "week-to-week" process and thus teams could easily vault past Harvard if they pull off something impressive.
My quick take? This makes me skeptical of the AP poll - 1. I don't think you should be able to get an AP vote just because you know somebody within the AP and 2. teams shouldn't get votes just because a reporter wanted to go out on a limb. At the same time, I think it's positive for the Ivies to get some much-deserved publicity. With media darling Cornell now much weaker than last year, fans should know that the Ancient Eight puts out formidable teams each year. Who knows - maybe in a couple weeks Penn will be able to boast about beating a team that got an AP vote, thanks to Pete Gilbert. The Quakers and Crimson meet Feb. 5 at the Palestra and March 4 at Lavietes Pavilion.
The Philly Daily News is reporting that the Quakers have added recruit Xavier Harris, a six-foot-five, 210 pound power forward from nearby Constitution High School for the next year's men's basketball class. However, there's a big but involved.
Harris has committed, the Daily News says, but he must improve his SAT scores 30 points before he can make the move across the Schuylkill to Penn. He's currently waiting on his scores after taking the test last Saturday.
"Knowing how hard Penn is, people have been saying to me for a while why I'd want to pick them," Harris told the Daily News. "I'm honored by the fact that they wanted me and I'm working as hard as I can to make this happen."
His GPA is an impressive 3.7 at Constitution.
According to his Maxpreps profile, he averaged 22.9 points and 12.1 rebounds per game last year.
He had reportedly also received interest from Dartmouth. According to the Daily News, he'll be the first Philly public school product to come to play for Penn since 1980.
Click here for a profile written about Harris a few weeks ago.
For those bummed about Penn men's basketball losing recruit Will Davis, who decommitted nearly three weeks ago, some positive news is coming out of Florida for Penn's sole commit for next year, Greg Louis.
The six-foot-seven forward out of Dwyer high school was picked as the mid-season player of the year for all large schools in the area by the Palm Beach Post last week. Based on his performance through Jan. 17th, here's what Jeff Greer of the Post had to say:
Greg Louis (Dwyer): 13.1 ppg. Right now, Louis is my frontrunner. I’ve seen him play three times, and each game he was the best player on the floor. The 6-foot-7 forward operates everywhere. He can hit the 3, nail an elbow jumper in the middle of a zone defense or he can crash the glass and scrounge for garbage points. He does it all.Before his game tonight, Louis was also averaging half a block and 5.5 rebounds per game. In his last two games, he's scored 28 and 20 points, shooting 13-for-33 (39.4 percent) from the floor, according to his maxpreps profile. On the season he's shooting 54.5 percent.
The good: The so good. This win means so much for the seniors, for the juniors who have played with the seniors for three years, for the freshman who have learned so much from the seniors. Aside from the season opener, it seemed that this team always came up short when they really wanted to — needed to — accomplish something, and they finally have. Knowing that they have that ability will be crucial going into Ivy season next weekend.
A few other goods: Tyler Bernardini is there. Penn finally hit free throws — all of them, in fact. Jack Eggleston's rebounding, but we expected that from him when push came to shove (literally).
The bad: The beating that Eggleston took in the paint as he went full force looking for his first and last Big 5 win.
The ugly: DP Sports editors singing the Red and the Blue at our annual banquet on Saturday night. While we all lamented missing the game, everyone else lamented hearing us sing.
This is it — the final Big 5 game of the year, and the last chance for Penn's seniors to win a Big 5 game in their careers. The Quakers tip off with the hawks at 7 p.m., follow along as Matt Flegenheimer and Ike Onyeador bring you live game updates from the Palestra.
See the liveblog below, or Click Here to open it in a new window.
Assistant sports editor Sushaan Modi live at the Palestra bringing you the women's fourth and final Big 5 matchup of the year against Temple. The Quakers are looking to continue building momentum after taking their 400th program win — and first Big 5 win in six years — against La Salle this week.
Follow along in the liveblog below, or Click Here to open it in a new window.
After finally snapping a six year drought against Big 5 opponents in Wenesday's game against La Salle, one thing is clear about Penn women’s basketball: this is certainly a different team than last year.
Though some may think that improving on a dismal 2-26 season is hardly anything to boast about, the team is doing more than just improving their record. They are making fundamental changes especially in the face of a string of tough opponents, including reigning Ivy League champions Princeton and ACC powerhouse Virginia.
The women lead the Ivy League in scoring defense. Compared to the struggle they had last year, which included a -3.7 rebounding margin and an average of 60.9 points per game by their opponent, this season the Quakers boast a +3.1 rebounding percentage as well as allowing only 53.6 points per game – putting them 27th in the nation.
Though these may seem like minor feats, it is precisely these defensive achievements that kept Penn alive in yesterday’s win against La Salle. Though La Salle (5-13) was probably the most beatable Big 5 opponent, Penn finally effectively used their defensive skills to bewilder the Explorers and make up for their fumbles offensively (which included a season-high 25 turnovers).
McLaughlin’s aggressive defensive strategy was evident in Penn's game against Villanova as well, where though they fell to a 57-52 loss, the Quakers played strong defense against a hot shooting Nova team. Penn’s active defense which included switching from plays with full court press to zone defense forced the Wildcats to throw threes (Nova took 26 shots from behind the arc compared to Penn’s 8).
In Penn's game against Princeton, the Quakers showed that they have the ability to hang with the best in the league. They ended the first half tied with the reigning champs, keeping the Tigers to their lowest scoring first half of the season with 20 points, before ultimately falling to a close nine-point defeat.
In order for these defensive strides to really make a difference this year, the Quakers need to focus on scoring – and early. Penn tends to get behind big deficits early in the first half, usually mounting an impressive push for a comeback but ultimately falling short, unable to make up for their early mishaps (see their games against Army and Virginia). Though the Preseason Media Poll predicted another last place finish for Penn, the Quakers improved defense bodes well for a more competitive Ivy season.
Let's face it, most of us have already given up on New Year resolutions. For some, that could have come as early as 12:01 when you swore you'd give up drinking, or maybe a few weeks later when hitting the gym every day just got too hard. In most cases resolutions are lucky to make it back to Penn intact.
One group of Penn guys, however, have in fact been making some big changes in 2011: the men's swim team. After starting the season 0-4, including three Ivy losses to Columbia, Princeton, and Cornell, the men are 3-0 and the new year, 4-0 if you count the Kenyon Invitational Dec. 2-4, where they got first out of six teams. The point is, these guys have managed to do a 180 degree turn in 2011, and are looking stronger than ever going into their matchup against Harvard this weekend. Let's take a look at some of the team leaders that engineered this turnaround:
Brenden McHugh: After setting a school record in the 400 individual medley at the Kenyon Invitational, the junior won all three of his events against Yale and Dartmouth Jan 15, and also helped lead the 200 yard medley relay team to a 1st place finish.
Rhoads Worster: The freshman clinched the Quakers' sweep of Yale and Dartmouth by out-touching the competition in the final leg of the 400 free relay. Worster also won the 200 butterfly and the 200 backstroke
Jeff Cragg: The junior diver won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events against Brown, and took both again against Dartmouth and Yale
If the team can keep up their streak of perfection, look for them to be a dominant force in the Ivy Championships this March.
Penn’s women’s squash team will have it’s handful against Trinity, but not for the reasons you’d think.
The Bantams are currently third in the nation by the College Squash Association’s latest rankings, and stand as one of the perennial powers in Women’s Squash. Individually, Trinity boasts the 2nd best player in the nation, Pamela Hathway, at the top of their ladder. She is followed by the 8th, 14th, 22nd and the 33rd ranked players to round out the Bantams’ top 5.
While the talent that Trinity showcases is a clear indicator of how difficult the match will be, the Bantams have a distinct advantage over the Quakers in regards to emotional control.
As I was reading up on the Bantams, I stumbled upon (literally, not with the help of the website) a video (see below) posted by Trinity’s assistant coach Dr. Randy Lee. Last year, Lee taught the team a relaxation technique called Transcendental Meditation.
The method allows for the Bantams to stay calm in key situations. In the video, one player says, “I used to get really angry on court and after doing Transcendental Meditation, the anger went away.”
This uncommon relaxation technique is just another aspect of Trinity’s game that will make the Quakers’ match against the Bantams (12pm, Saturday at Ringe Courts) a tough one.
In spite of their beneficial off-court practices, the Bantams go into Saturday fresh off a lost to Yale on Wednesday night. Conversely, the Quakers have played well of late, as they ride a three game winning streak into Saturday.
We received some positive feedback on our first installment of Mano-A-Mano, so we're going to give the people what they want: Volume II.
This week, sports editors Brian Kotloff and Kevin Esteves debate whether Penn can defeat St. Joe's Friday night and snap the Red and Blue's 16-game Big 5 losing streak.
Brian Kotloff: All the cards are lined up for Penn to finally end its Big 5 losing streak Saturday night against St. Joe’s, right? Struggling team (by all accounts, the Hawks are a mess right now), home game, Eggleston’s last shot at a city win (he’s 0-15 after Wednesday’s loss to Temple), etc. And the truth is, the Quakers have represented themselves well this year in their first three contests, at least by recent standards. My take? Think again. An 0-5 start to the Atlantic-10 season is terrible, but the A-10 is several notches above the Ivy League. St. Joe’s has still defeated the Big East’s Rutgers and played Penn State, Villanova, Minnesota, GW, Dayton and Rhode Island fairly close. I doubt Penn would be able to do the same.
Kevin Esteves: That's all well and good. However, without really getting into statistics and strength of schedule and all that, I honestly am going to go with my gut on this one and say that Penn will snap the streak. This is a huge game for Eggleston and the seniors, and I predict the Quakers are going to come out with much more intensity than St. Joe's. They just have to. You can see how much this losing streak weighs on Rosen and Eggleston in their post game press conferences, and I think that is going to fuel them. You might ask then, why weren't they able to beat La Salle if the disappointment was present then as well? My response: because now really is the final chance for Eggleston and the seniors (except for Darren Smith and Andreas Schreiber) to win a Big 5 game and perhaps just as importantly, a struggling St. Joe's team is a much more favorable matchup for the Quakers than the Wildcats, Owls, or Explorers were.
BK: Trust me, I'm a huge believer in Allen, Rosen and Eggleston as people. But just because I respect the hell out of them and their attitudes toward turning the program around doesn't mean I buy their message. I see them back up the talk with hustle on the court, but the talent is just not their to execute at the level they would like. I think the number one thing we can take from the Temple game is the huge depth disparity between the teams. The Quakers played four guys off the bench and got two total points from them. Temple got 27 just from Khalif Wyatt. Like the Owls, the Hawks recruit much more talented players than Penn. When the teams face off, a number of St. Joe's players have a chance at having a big night, while Penn needs to be carried by Rosen and Eggleston. That's why I think the losing streak has continued on for so long.
KE: Your points about the talent and depth disparity are all well taken, but I'd like to single out one thing you said: "I see them back up the talk with hustle on the court, but the talent is just not their to execute at the level they would like." I agree with that statement, but I would add a key word to the end of your quote: "consistently." Sure, in a seven-game series, superior talent and depth will be hard to overcome on a consistent basis. But we're talking about one game here. This is college basketball where a team like Cornell can advance to the Sweet 16. The point is, on any given night, hard work and effort can beat superior talent (and St. Joe's isn't exactly Duke right now). Coach Allen's mantra throughout his tenure is that his main focus is putting his players in a position to win. I think he does exactly that tonight. These guys will be prepared, they'll run their motion offensive sets, and they're going to come out hungry. I think we'll also see a more aggressive Zack Rosen. He can't take four shots if Penn wants a chance to win.
BK: You're talking about a team that can't even stay consistent for 40 minutes, let alone multiple games. Penn just goes through too many cold spells and makes too many careless mistakes each game to overcome that talent and depth disparity. And don't believe for a second Phil Martelli's team won't match the Quakers' "hard work" and "effort." St. Joe's is a young team with a bunch of guys still fighting to prove themselves and get back to the program's winning ways, just as Rosen and Eggleston are. Young players tend to have high energy levels and in the Hawks' case, they are just as likely to be extra motivated for the game - with so many local kids, they understand the significance of the opportunity to play in the Palestra. Carl Jones and Langston Galloway, St. Joe's two best players who can both fill it up, may not be from the area, but they allow the Hawks to match up with the Quakers' strong backcourt.
KE: I do have concerns about Jones (he poured in 16 points off the bench in last year's matchup) especially because this Penn team has struggled to slow down high-scoring guards (Delaware's Jawan Carter and Drexel's Chris Fouch, to name a few), but I'll tell you this: if Bernardini can keep his recent scoring streak going (four straight games with at least 17 points) and if Miles Cartwright can break out of his shooting funk, this will not have to be a colossal two-man effort by Rosen and Eggleston. If those two things happen, and Rosen turns it up offensively, that may just be enough. And while St. Joe's may be able to come out, hustle, and work hard just like the Quakers, Penn has to win this game more than St. Joe's does. Having a chip on your shoulder can greatly enhance the way you play sometimes. St. Joe's doesn't have that chip (or at least that same-sized chip) on its shoulder, and that will be the difference. If it's not, and Penn comes out lackadaisical, turning the ball over, then I have serious concerns about this team. You have to iron out all the inconsistencies (free throws anybody?) when your back is up against the wall. This will be a really good litmus test for see what this team's made of. And if it results in a win, that's a huge victory. Am I right?
Tomorrow the men's indoor track team will travel back to the place where, last week, they recorded a flurry of impressive showings, capped by freshman Malik Reynolds' school-record breaking high-jump performance.
The Quakers will compete at the Great Dane Classic the renowned 168th Street Armory in New York City's Washington Heights. This week, Penn's fastest miler Jeff Weinstein will make his senior year debut. Battling injury since this past summer, the senior, who clocked a 4:08 mile last year indoors and a 4:11 at this meet one year ago, has strung together a block of strong training and hopes to be near his Personal Best of 8:28 in the 3k (almost double the distance of his mile specialty) tomorrow. Although still trying to build up an aerobic base of miles, Weinstein's performance tomorrow evening at the over-distance event will indicate how his training is progressing - and what we should hope to expect when he steps down to the mile. If he runs well, expect him to climb Penn's all-time list later this winter in the mile run.
Junior Ryan Cunningham will also compete at the meet tomorrow. Last week he finished the 3k in 8:31. This week Cunningham hopes to set a new Personal Best as he runs the mile and takes a shot at replacing Weinstein as Penn's fastest miler.
Although tomorrow's meet is small and of relatively minor importance to the Quakers in the scheme of their season or their year of competition, strong performances from Weinstein and Cunningham could auger big things to come for Quakers milers.
Last night's game was closer than its final score indicates, but there was still more bad and ugly than good. That said, here's the breakdown...
The Good: Tyler Bernardini's performance. T-Bern shot well from three-point land, hitting 4-of-7 en route to a team-high 17 points. He did struggle a little more when he attacked Temple's bigger defenders, shooting just 1-7 on two-point attempts. But still, if Bernardini's range is returning, it's a great sign for the Quakers heading into Ivy play. In his last four games, Bernardini has scored 17 (Temple), 17 (La Salle), 22 (Kentucky) and 18 (Marist), leading Penn three times.
The Bad: For just the second time this season (and in the last 27 games), Zack Rosen failed to reach double figure scoring. Now this isn't automatically a bad thing. As Jerome Allen said after the game, he was looking to distribute more tonight, and as the point guard he can't be faulted for that. But when things start getting out of hand, especially with something like turnovers, Rosen needs to ratchet up the aggressiveness. And last night, he took just four shots, and perhaps even more importantly, only went to the foul line twice.
The Ugly: Well this one's easy, because few things are uglier than 23 turnovers. As Ari points out in his story, turnovers were the story of the game. Penn's 23 led to 28 Temple points. Worse than the final total was the way the turnovers occurred. It wasn't great Temple defense forcing turnovers, though they did have 14 steals, but rather Penn mishandling the ball or making ill-advised passes. And they seemed to come in bunches, helping to fuel Temple runs and deflate the Red and Blue.
During my interview with Penn men's soccer Head Coach Rudy Fuller for my article which appeared in yesterday's paper, Fuller shared with me his views on the future of American soccer. As a rabid American soccer fan, I was very disappointed when America was unsuccessful in its bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
Why the selection committee chose to have the world's greatest sporting event in a country most of the world hasn't heard of is beyond me. (I guess Bill Clinton's famous charm did not work as well on the selection committee as it did in other arenas...) Still Coach Fuller doesn't believe losing out on the world cup will affect the future of American soccer.
"It would have been great to get the World Cup but that's not the end all be all," Fuller explained. "I don't think that [not getting the bid] impacts American soccer in the grand scheme. It's going to continue growing."
Fuller explained that the future of American soccer is directly related to the success of the MLS. The coach is very bullish about the future prospects of the league. He cited the growth of soccer-specific stadiums being built by MLS teams as the best way "to gauge the health of the league overall and the health of the game in this country." Currently, nine of the MLS's 18 teams have soccer-specific stadiums and five more teams are in the process of building them. Until 2005, only two teams had their own stadiums. Whereas I have always found soccer-specific stadiums to be an excuse to hide the tiny crowds that attend MLS games, these stadiums have actually proven to be quite profitable for MLS teams.
Unlike many soccer commentators, Fuller is opposed to the influx of big name European players. Although many female fans may pay to see David Beckham take off his shirt after an MLS game, Fuller does not believe that bringing in over-the-hill superstars will help the league's reputation. "We don't want to become a league of guys who finished playing overseas and are washed up that come to America to collect a paycheck," Fuller said.
For those of you that don't think that soccer can make it in America, consider this: 13 million viewers tuned into the U.S.-England World Cup game this summer or about 1.5 million viewers more than Game 3 of the World Series. With that said, there is no reason why soccer can't be the next "American pastime"
Hey all, I'm here at the Liacouras Center for Penn's third Big 5 game of the year as they take on Temple and former Quakers coach Fran Dunphy. It's myself and Ari Seifter bringing you live coverage tonight.
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