Editors live chat

Your DP Sports Eds will be taking any and all Penn sports questions, so join the discussion in the liveblog below, or Click Here to open it in a new window.

First-ever editors chat: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

A heads up on one of several new features we are adding to the revamped Buzz this year:

From 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 18th (tomorrow), the new DP Sports Editors will be conducting the first-ever editors chat (note: Buzz historian Megan Soisson confirmed this fact). We will post a link so that Buzz readers can join the event at that time and send the four of us (Senior Editor Calder Silcox and Editors Kevin Esteves, Brian Kotloff and Megan Soisson) and some select DP sportswriters any questions or comments on any Penn sport. We look forward to chatting with all of our loyal readers tomorrow evening!

M. Hoops Temple "scouting" report

With the Penn v. Temple matchup rapidly approaching, I decided to do a little scouting on the Quakers’ cross-town rival---in the comfort of my own home. Luckily for me, my younger brother and fellow sports enthusiast, John, just completed his first semester at Temple. In between his multiple pickup basketball games over winter break and his nocturnal lifestyle, I managed to get a quick run down on the Owls’ personnel from my baby brother.

Keep in mind, this information is coming from a freshman that has made it on ESPN not once, but twice, with his chest painted in support of his team. (He would be disappointed in me if I didn’t mention the fact that one of these instances was in the pouring rain at Lincoln Financial Field). For obvious reasons, my parents could not be more proud of their first born son. So here goes nothing….

Fran Dunphy: Even with just one semester of Big 5 basketball fandom under his belt, my brother was quick to recognize Temple coach Fran Dunphy’s connection to the Penn basketball program. While it’s old news, it might bear repeating that during his 17 years as the Quakers’ head coach, Dunph led the squad to 48 straight Ivy League wins and four league titles from 1992-1996, three of which with current Penn coach Jerome Allen at point guard.

Juan Fernandez: The junior guard played for the U18 Argentina team during his high school years in Rio Tercero, Argentina. It was there that he led his team to victory over the United States in the World Championship game. Fernandez also worked out with the Argentine National squad this past summer. He is without a doubt my family’s favorite player and I do believe his jersey is a staple article of clothing in someone’s wardrobe.

Lavoy Allen: According to my brother, Allen declared to enter the NBA draft his junior year, but decided to come back to Temple and play out his senior season. While I’m sure this wasn’t his only motivation for returning, Allen needs 179 rebounds to break the school’s record. My mom wanted me to add that he is on a billboard along I-76 that reads, "Allen's town".

Ramone Moore: Moore was named the A10 6th man of the year last season. He is now Temple's leading scorer, with 15.4 points per game, 30 of which came in Temple’s triumphant win against the then-No. 9 Georgetown.

Cherry Crusade: Every home game, the Cherry Crusaders (members of an organization somewhat comparable to Penn’s Red and Blue Crew), are located at a specific spot on campus where they paint up the bodies of Temple students. Although he is not a member of the group, my brother is one of their top clients, which of course, can be seen in this image from the Georgetown upset.

Meet the Press

While Mr. Silcox certainly provides the majority of the content here on The Buzz, the rest of the staff has big plans for a coup d'etat.

Well, sort of. In any case, expect to see some new faces in the coming weeks. You may be familiar with a few, but hopefully these introductions can provide new insight into DPOSTM.

First up, Senior Sports Editor.

Hi all! I'm Cal Silcox, senior sports editor of the DP. I'm from Washington, D.C. and was born and raised right on Capitol Hill, though none of my family was ever involved in government. I'm a fan of all D.C. sports, though I can't say I care much about the Wizards. I'm a big Nats fan and an even bigger Ryan Zimmerman fan, and was very lucky to cover the Nationals a few time last summer. At the DP I've covered a lot of things (even news, believe it or not) but my main focus has been men's basketball. In the rare moments that I'm not at the Palestra, I'm a junior in the college studying science, technology and society. My favorite movie is Back to the Future, and maybe if Megan is lucky, I'll go do some Yoga with her this semester.

Next, the Big Three.

Call me D. Wade (or M.Sois). I'm Megan Soisson, and as last semester's Associate Sports Editor, Bosh & LeBron (Kevin & LeBrian) brought their talents to join me at 4015 Walnut. Enough about the Big 3 (Cal is our surrogate Pat Riley), I'm not even a huge NBA fan...though I did drag my dad to a Lakers game in DC when I was in 6th grade. I even made us matching Kobe & Shaq t-shirts. I'm a huge sports fan — mostly pro, and especially the Steelers. I like to brag that I've had season tickets in my family since the 70s, and my first Steelers memory is in 1995 (at the ripe old age of 4) at a Super Bowl carnival event in Phoenix, Az. While I can't brag about the outcome of that game, I can brag about 6 Rings! Both my parents are from the Burgh, but aside from that short stint in the Phoenix area, I spent my formative years in a quaint town called Mechanicsburg, Pa., just outside of the Commonwealth's capital. In high school, I was a 3-sport athlete and now I just write and edit (I'll admit football has been my favorite). I really enjoy half marathons (never thought I would say that) and triathlons. I even won my age group in the Medford Lakes sprint triathlon this summer. I'm a sophomore studying nursing, though I'd love to attend law school and be a malpractice defense lawyer. I am also active in Sigma Kappa Sorority. Have I told you too much?

Yo, my name is Brian Kotloff, but my friends like to call me Kotty2Hotty. I'm a junior from Cheltenham, Pa., a suburb outside of Northeast Philly, and I represent one of Penn's smallest demographics: a Communications major that's not female or an athlete.  I grew up on Eagles playoff chokes, Phillies phutility, Allen Iverson and Big 5 basketball. The Fightin's recent rise to the top of the MLB and signing of my mancrush Cliff Lee has left me in a permanent state of glee, while the Eagles try their hardest to remind me I've only witnessed one championship in my lifetime. In this spring - man, this is very tough - this spring I'm going to take my talents to Walnut Street and join the 127 as a Sports Editor.

This guy has a turtle:

My name is Kevin Esteves, but unlike Kotloff, I am known by more than one alias; "Kesteves," "Kesti," (or "Keste," depending on your dialect,) and "Emilio" are the big ones. I'm a junior communication major hailing from the South Riverdale section of The Bronx, New York and I'm a huge NBA fan (see: Knicks wallpaper in my room at home). I grew up playing basketball 24/7 and hope to channel that passion into a career one day (sports journalism or other) but for now, it's about changing things up at the DP. I like to think that Kotloff, Soisson, and I engineered our big move up to the 127 a la the Heatles (the Bosh of the group seems to change weekly). The good news is that we've already had our rocky 9-8 start, so we're on the up and coming now under the tutelage of Calder Silcox (Pat Riley) and we're hoping to do big things.

I'm Michael Gold. After a year as the Sports Design Editor and a year of Senior Sports Editor, I'm going to be joining the DP retirement club and writing about men's basketball and at-large issues--yes, that's intentionally vague--this semester. After transferring to Penn following a freshman year at Indiana University (go Hoosiers!), I'm looking forward (read: dreading) to taking my Cinema Studies degree and heading out into the world.

My name is Ari Seifter, and I left my mark at the DP with my awesome headline-writing as an Associate Sports Editor two years ago. As far as I know I am currently the only sports writer in the Engineering school and also the only fourth-year staff writer. I was born and raised in Baltimore, so I am a diehard Orioles and Ravens fan and a Maryland Terrapins fan on the side. I'm a Computer and Cognitive Science major, but I'll be headed to medical school in the fall. I have previously been a beat writer for women's basketball (twice), men's tennis, women's lacrosse (twice), women's soccer, men's soccer (twice), and men's basketball.

Hi I'm Steve Childs '11. I am from Garden City, Long Island, major in History, and my favorite team is Mets. I follow baseball and am an avid track fan as well. I ran competitively in High School and college until a labral tear in my hip sidelined me.

Hi?! I'm Jennifer Scuteri, a current junior in the College of Arts and Science. I'm pursuing a double major in both English and Communication. Because I was raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, I have embraced the (often aggressive) culture of Philadelphia sports fandom. Chosing between the Eagles and the Phillies is like chosing which hypothetical child I love more. I am entering into my sixth (whoa!) semester writing for DPOSTM and served as an associate editor on the 125. I've covered field hockey, women's basketball, and women's lacrosse (the sport I played all throughout middle school and high school). Most recently, I have worked my way up to the ranks of the men's basketball beat. On campus, I am Vice President of New Member Education for Sigma Kappa Sorority. I am a member of Soundworks Tap Factory where I am continuing my unbroken 18-year tap dancing streak (I'm coming for you, Brett Favre). I also think very highly of peanut butter, Saturday Night Live, and Pandora internet radio.

Hi there! My name is Eli Jacob Cohen (Yes, I know what you're thinking, but that IS my real name) and I'm a junior sportswriter from Washington, D.C. I enjoy short walks on the beach (long walks are bad for my shin splints) and making my world-famous goat cheese and herb-roasted pine nut souffle. I always wanted to play football and basketball, but was always too short and too slow. So instead, I cover Penn football and basketball, as well as overarching issues in the Penn athletic community. It was once said that my writing is like a cross between that of Mark Twain and Shakespeare, but I'm not entirely sure who said so. I'm a big fan of Washington Redskins safety LaRon "Dirty Thirty" Landry, but not so much of the rest of the team. I love rap music (but can't stand top-40 pop hip-hop) and will never forgive Snoop for rapping on a Katy Perry song. I'm Cal's favorite employee at the DP [Ed’s note: Eli thinks he is Cal’s favorite employee]. I have three cats named George, Dingus and Huckleberg.

Hey everyone, my name is Chan Park (pronounced kind of like John or Shawn...not like Jackie Chan..) and I'm currently a junior from Basking Ridge, NJ studying Communication. I really enjoy watching and playing most sports but I'm a huge basketball fan and played it throughout middle school and high school. Luckily, I'm covering the men's basketball beat this season but have also covered volleyball and men's tennis as well. Outside of the DP, I sing with Full Measure Christian A Cappella, enjoy grabbing Lyns sandwiches for lunch and in my free time (or whenever I just don't feel like doing anything) I like to watch Community, 30 Rock and The Office...which also happens to be 3/4 of NBC's Thursday night lineup.

I’m Sushaan Modi (and if you really feel the need you may call me Sushi) and I’m a freshman who single handedly almost ruined Cal’s surprise birthday. I was born in Demarest, which is in the nice part of NJ (home to the worst basketball and hockey team in the country). I am the only one in my family who watches sports regularly so my entire extended family believes I am adopted. My favorite team is the Yankees so please get it out of your system right now. I am a proud New York Red Bulls fan (for those of you who probably don’t know it’s an MLS team) and a huge US Soccer team because I watch every game. In high school I was the shortest hurdler in the county and am the subject of every short joke (even from people who are shorter than me).

Hi! My name is Alyssa Kress. I'm a sophomore transfer student from UNC. Currently, I am writing about swimming and diving and women's basketball. I'm from Abington, a suburb of Philly. Naturally, I am a huge Philly sports fan. And like clockwork, the Eagles have disappointed me again. I'm a political science and communications double major and I want to be a sports broadcaster. I love watching TV, eating Kraft mac&cheese, and Disney World, the happiest place on earth :)

My name is Alex Siegel, a sophomore PPE major from Portola Valley, CA. I am a devoted fan of the World Champion San Francisco Giants, and my facebook interests include Penny Lane, the Feeney call, J.T. Snow, and anything narrated by Morgan Freeman. I mostly employed by the DP for my critically acclaimed work with our weekly "30 Seconds" spots, but once in a while I write real stories as well. I hope you enjoy reading them.

My name is Brette Trost and I’m a sophomore in the College majoring in English with a minor in Hispanic Studies. As a bona fide New York City girl and Mets fan, I am obsessed with baseball and hating the Yankees. Despite dealing with heart wrenching season collapses and having an elementary school journal covered with stories of how I hate Armando Benitez, my ability to root for the underdog against long odds has prepared me well for Penn sports. I have covered softball, women’s soccer and women’s basketball and I’m also Assistant Music Director of The Penny Loafers, Penn’s co-ed a cappella group.

Hi, I'm Becky Umbach. I'm currently studying Criminology and Communications, but who knows where I'll end up. At any time I am most likely watching a TV show about criminals or murderers, which is somewhat morbid but always good for cocktail/dinner party conversation. I moved to Massachusetts at a very opportune time, just four years before the Red Sox's first World Series win in 86 years. I was the girl in class who could rattle off statistics and standings at the drop of a hat, making me somewhat of an oddity. The highlight of my sportsfan life was when I went to Red Sox Spring Training and I got Jacoby Ellsbury to sign a ball for me while they were shooting a Sports Illustrated cover. He and Clay Bucholz are way taller close-up. I managed the boys baseball team in high school, and I like to think that their New England Championship was somewhat due to my superb chocolate chip cookies, which was as much a job requirement as any actual knowledge of baseball. I've written stories about a variety of sports, and most recently covered Men's Soccer.

Salutations, I'm Ethan Lalakea Alter, staff sportswriter for the Daily Pennsylvanian. I hail from fair Los Altos, California. As a former sprint football player (pushing 187 pounds), I bring a unique perspective and tenacity to writing about Penn sports. This season, you can catch my articles about WHoops (that's women's basketball, not an expression of frustration) and wrestling. I do not know what else to say.

Hey guys! I'm Stephanie Rice, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. I am a sports writer currently covering Men's Squash and Tennis. Born and raised in the best county, Wade County, I am proud to call Miami, the 305, my home. King James rules this paradise and is quickly making up for my poor Dolphins depressing showing this season. In addition to writing for sports, I am a copy editor for 34th Street. But when I'm not cheering on my beloved Heat or hanging out at The DP offices, I especially enjoy baking and blowing off steam at Pottruck. Get excited for what should be an awesome winter sports season!

I'm Mike Tony, current freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences.  Born and raised in Uniontown, PA, I'm a devout Pittsburgh sports fan.  I've covered Men's and Women's squash for DPOSTM.  I love the Terrible Towel, scrambled eggs, The Simpsons, and the color yellow.  On Sunday mornings, I host Popscene with Mike Tony, a WQHS Penn student radio show that showcases my dual passions for sports and rock n' roll pop music (The Beatles come to mind).  In addition to being a member of the Penn Band (trumpet) and Penn Scrabble Club, I also enjoy studying American and world history as well as slightly more useless trivia, sports or otherwise (think Jeopardy, Stump the Schwab, Cash Cab--also yellow).

Hi! My name’s John Phillips and I’m a freshman in the College. I’ll be covering squash for the next couple of months. I was born and raised in Philadelphia, and due to this, my heart has been broken more times than I’d like to admit. For some reason, all Philadelphia sports fans have this agitating tendency towards believing in their teams when all logic suggests that we should just watch reruns of Two and a Half Men for the next three hours. That having been said, I can’t think of a better way to spend my time than watching a good game.

Hello, my name is Stephen Purcell and I am a freshman in the College. Growing up IN (not around or near) Philadelphia, sports is more or less thrust upon you. Therefore, I am a big Philadelphia sports fan: Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, Sixers in that order. Also, I am loving my time working for the Sports section of the DP. It has help me become a better writer and learn the importance of responsibility. In my spare time, I like to golf. I am a masked bandit, I mean caddy at North Hills Country Club during the golfing season (March to October).

My name is Brandon Bell and I am a staff writer for DPOSTM. I’ve covered women’s soccer, men’s tennis, fencing, and have worked on the recruiting initiative on the Buzz. Hailing from northern New Jersey, I am quite unorthodox in that I root for the Yankees and Jets. Living in a Penn family dynasty (two alumni parents and a sister who is a senior), I have been surrounded by the Red and Blue since birth. Also a Penn basketball junkie, some of you may have seen me on national TV behind the Penn bench against Kentucky (I could touch zack rosen!). Another cool fact about me is that I’ve been to every Major League Baseball Stadium with San Francisco being my favorite.

Hey y’all, I’m Aaron Campbell, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. As you can guess this means this is my second semester writing for the sports section. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, I obviously love the Cowboys. How was it being a Cowboys fan in a Vick-laden Philadelphia this fall? Well obviously it was a difficult year, but I can now at least take solace that it at least won’t be the Eagles competing for a Super Bowl in my hometown. I also love college football. Thankfully, it’s a passion that the rule-laden Ivy League has yet to squash. (No FCS tournament, really?) More recently for the DP, I’ve started covering both the Men’s and Women’s Swim teams, a sport I did myself for four years in High School. I must admit it is nice for once to enjoy my winters from outside the freezing water.

Penn kicker Andrew Samson gets NFL representation?

CRMSportsManagement, which describes itself as a "full service athlete representation agency" on its Twitter account,  tweeted the following news which must be quite exciting for Penn kicker Andrew Samson and all Quakers' faithful:

Also...very excited to welcome our first client Andrew Samson, K, UPenn to the CRM family! #NFL #Draft #UPenn

Now with some representation, Samson will be more equipped to deal with any NFL opportunities that may come his way. The senior, who is Penn Football's all-time leading scorer, broke records like it was his job over his distinguished collegiate career — which you can see through this great graphic by our design department. See after the jump.

Tommy Eggleston to walk on

Just a few more quotes from former Penn basketball player Tommy Eggleston on his decision to walk onto the football team. Deadlines and space limitations kept the article short.

On what coach Al Bagnoli said about getting back to football:

We just talked about how it would be a process, cuz I haven’t played football for you know 2 years, so he just talked to me about how it would be a process and how he wanted me to committed and in it for the long haul, and that I shouldn’t expect miracles right away and it would take hard work, and all that sounded good to me and so, you know, here we are.

I’ve thought about that, I’m not really sure. Obviously I have time to make that decision. But if things go well, cuz Ryan [Becker], my roommate, has three years left too, after this year, so if things go well this year for sure I’d love to use 3 years, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m not jumping to any conclusions.

I worked out with the team today. I’m going to be fully into all the offseason workouts, and try to become as much a part of the team as anybody else. So I gotta earn the team’s respect and then the coaches, and then hopefully we’ll go from there.

All the guys are really nice, really cool so I cant complain at all. I can imagine you know, theres another kid trying to come out and earn a spot, has gotta be not the greatest idea in their minds, but they’ve all been cool to me, so I can’t complain.

I definitely enjoy just competing. And for sure, I’d say, coming out of high school I had to make a decision between football and basketball, but ultimately I ended up switching back to football, so I didn’t make the right decision coming out of high school. But I think I thrive more on the actual competing than I do on one sport or another

Tweets of the Week: Volume II

I’m not sure how many readers are aware of former Buzz poster Josh Hirsch’s series on the Buzz called Anything but Uniform (from my research, not many), but it is somewhat of an inspiration for Tweets of the Week: fun, light and something to break up all the analysis here. But really, who didn’t like Mano-a-Mano?

Always-entertaining sophomore quarterback Billy Ragone makes his TOTW debut this week. Taking pleasure from other people’s pain, how kind. Actually, this was posted on the first day of classes, so I guess you take what you can get.

I love this. DP Alum Dave Zeitlin on the perennially-injured men’s basketball team. Perfect explanation. Very Andreas Schreiber hand injury-esque.

I think this I like this one the most, but only because I’d been waiting all week to break the news. Little Eggs gettin’ ready for the football team!

If Mr. Blackmon ever stops tweeting, I will cry. I wonder who he will blame for the change in zodiac signs…

Cartwright v. Rivard

As I mentioned in the new "Ivy Hoops Roundup" , Harvard's Laurent Rivard was picked as one of the top 25 Freshman in the country by Basketball Prospectus. While Penn's Miles Cartwright was mentioned at the end of the post, he did not make the list.

Why not? It seems that Rivard got the attention because Harvard hoops itself is getting attention, whether because the team is a contender for its first ever Ivy title, or because they've continually downed Boston College or because there are some far-fetched ideas circulating that the "strong" Ivy League could get an at-large second bid into the NCAA tourney.

Besides the fact that they're both sporting the #0 jersey this year, Rivard and Cartwright are neck and neck in the race for Rookie of the Year. Here's a look at their head-to-head stats:

Rivard only truly leads in rebounds — and at 6-foot-5, that's not unexpected. Cartwright actually has more blocks than the taller Rivard. Also note that Rivard's slightly higher PPG is a result of his taking more shots overall; his FG% is 5.4 points lower. So should the Crimson rookie have made the list over Cartwright?

Mano-A-Mano, Volume I

Question: Can La Salle’s Aaric Murray take his talents to the next level?

Sports Editors-elect Kevin Esteves and Brian Kotloff are the DP’s resident NBA junkies, so much of their attention during Penn’s game against La Salle was on Explorers center and potential 1^st-round pick Aaric Murray. Here’s their back-and-forth debate about whether the Philadelphia native has what it takes to make it in ‘The League.’

Brian Kotloff: Kevin, you think the New York Knicks are ready to become the next NBA dynasty (Wilson Chandler 4 MVP?), so I always take your hoops opinions with a grain of salt. As a Big 5 fan born and raised, I was overall not impressed with Murray. He clearly has tons of talent and his stats and physical abilities are impressive, but he has too many shortcomings to overcome to be the mid-to-late first-rounder ESPN currently projects him to be. The Big 5’s strengths — toughness, lock-down defense, heady play — are Murray’s weaknesses.

Kevin Esteves: Let’s be careful not to make generalized evaluations based on one game (see: my take on Jeremy Lin from last year), but your points are very well taken. When I first saw him, I saw the “NBA body” that scouts love to rave about, but I agree; there might be something missing above the shoulders. Time and time again, Penn’s big men, particularly Conor Turley and Fran Dougherty, got wide open layups in the early going with Murray nowhere to be found. A closer look revealed that he wasn’t rotating well (or rotating at all) on pick-and-rolls. The thing that stood out to me was that not only was Penn going at the heralded Murray, they were exposing him. He clearly has defensive potential (all are invitees to his block party), but the effort and desire didn’t seem to be there, at least not Wednesday night. But Brian, you’re more familiar with his play than I am (putting your Big 5 knowledge to the test) so was this just Murray not taking the Penn game seriously enough or a fundamental deficiency in his defensive I.Q.?

BK: Nice to know his body made an impression on you, Kev. To answer your question, though, all the signs are there for Murray to get the dreaded ‘headcase’ label. Full-game benching for ambiguous reasons? Check. La Salle coach John Giannini benched him for the Jan. 8 game against Richmond — the team’s second Atlantic 10 game of the season, no less — for “several things” that the coach said occurred even before the Explorers (and Murray’s) poor showing in their Jan. 5 A-10 opener. Does the player’s coach look like he’s lost many nights of sleep stressing out about the kid? Check. When asked why Murray is so passive on defense, Giannini shrugged, shook his head and could only muster an “I don’t know” that drew laughs from the media members. He seems as puzzled as anyone as to why an extremely athletic 6-foot-10, 250-pound center doesn’t dominate defensively (sure, he averages 2.3 blocks per game, but blocks can be very deceiving in assessing a player’s defensive abilities). Do you see the same thing I see, Emilio?

KE: Absolutely, I saw it. We both agreed after the game that if Murray truly wanted to dominate that game, he could have. EASILY. Put the heart of a guy like Zack Rosen, (or to get away from a Penn player, Kevin Garnett) and look out – although that’s probably true for most players. The point is, he’s got the size and physical abilities that precludes about 99% of the population (including me) from making it to the League, but you have to remember all the guys out there in the NCAA that are hungry. Murray wasn’t hungry against Penn, and that’s concerning because if you don’t come out hungry against the Quakers, you get beat on a few layups. But if you don’t come hungry at the next level, you will get absolutely embarrassed and benched (unless he’s on the Sixers). But this guy’s young, just a sophomore, so let’s see how this one pans out.

BK: Of course the fact that he’s young is extremely important; I’m just evaluating the current state of things. If you consider that he’s just 21 years old, you start to understand what NBA scouts see in the kid. He can drain the 18-foot jumper in his sleep, jump out of the gym and control the boards. Maybe his head isn’t screwed on straight right now, but 15 points and 8 rebounds per game without full mental focus is impressive. If Giannini can harness Murray’s talent and help him mature, he’ll be back on track to the first round of the draft. I see him as a potential J.J. Hickson clone (and actually Hickson posted similar numbers — 15, 8 and 1.5 blocks — during his freshman year at N.C. State) as at least an athletic, stretch-the-floor big man off an NBA bench. For Murray’s sake, I hope he doesn’t make a rash decision to enter the draft after this year and instead commits to improving in college. More than most pro prospects, he could really benefit from the experience.

KE: Agreed. It’s a different breed matching up against guys in the NBA. Murray sure is athletic, but he can’t rely on just that if he wants to succeed because in the NBA, everyone is an athletic freak (Ok, maybe not Timofey Mozgov). Guys like Amar’e Stoudemire came in the League just trying to dunk on everybody, but over the years, he’s become the star he is because of his great footwork and remarkably consistent jumper. Big guys like Murray would benefit from working on those fundamentals while still in college.

BK: You would end this debate with an Amar’e reference.

KE: Better than a Marreese Speights one.

Game 12 - La Salle: The good, bad and ugly

This one defied logic and thus is tough to sum up. So I'll break it down simply.

The good: The final 3 minutes, 21 seconds of regulation. Penn's absurd comeback started innocently, with two free throws from Tyler Bernardini to cut a 72-59 lead to 72-61. When Jack Eggleston nailed a three and Zack Rosen made a free throw and a layup, things began getting interesting at 72-67 with 1:38 to go. But no one could rationally say the Quakers were doing anything more than making the final score more respectable until Rosen sank two three-pointers in a row to make it 76-73 and set up Eggleston's game-tying free throws. Wow, what a dramatic conclusion to the first 40 minutes.

The bad: The first 36 minutes, 39 seconds of regulation. The game as a whole was not pretty - just ask Rosen or Jerome Allen (coach: "From Tyler to Zack to Dau Jok who played 30 seconds, I didn’t feel like we came ready to defend or rebound or share the ball. It was an incomplete basketball game."). It featured two scrambled offenses weaving through porous defenses and plenty of missed layups, turnover blunders, bobbled balls and uncoordinated falls. Not exactly Big 5 basketball at its best.

The ugly: Overtime. You'd think Penn would have all the momentum after a miraculous comeback brought the game to the extra session. But what many call miraculous, Allen and Rosen call "lucky." So instead of building off the late push in regulation, the Quakers gave way to a re-focused La Salle team in overtime. Penn impatiently launched contested threes, while the Explorers worked the ball around the perimeter to get open looks. Over the final five minutes, they showed that they wanted to win more.

Honorable mentions -

The good: Tom Gola Arena's musical selection. New Kanye and Wiz Khalifa blasted throughout a basketball gym? Can't help but get pumped.

The bad: Ruben Guillandeaux's last name. There's a reason we referred to him throughout our rapid-fire live blog simply as Ruben.

The ugly: Writing on deadline for games like this. Let's just say the 'delete' key got a lot of action tonight.

Liveblog: M. Hoops at La Salle

Penn resumes Big 5 play at Tom Gola Arena, as they take on Aaric Murray, Jerrell Williams and Dr. John Giannini's Explorers.

Follow along in the live blog below, or Click Here to open it in a new window.

Will Davis decommits from Penn

Word is swirling on the internet that power forward Will Davis (New Hampton HS) has decommitted from Penn.

Davis, the second member of the Quakers' 2011 recruiting class, committed in early November, but yesterday word began to circulate that he was no longer set on Penn. ESPN analyst Dave Telep tweeted "Good late blooming mid-major big now open. Will Davis of New Hampton has Drexel, Delaware, Robert Morris; once committed to Penn." That tweet was retweeted by the New Hampton School's twitter account.

This has to be more than disappointing for coach Jerome Allen. First, he lost out on a few big men early in the recruiting cycle to Wes Saunders and Kenyatta Smith, who both are set to go to Harvard next year. That was expected though, as they were two of the top Ivy prospects and just standings-wise, Harvard appears the better destination. But to lose a previously committed player is a bit alarming.

After last year's 7-man class, Penn is likely not looking for another big class, but one man (so far, just Greg Louis) is too few. At this point, Camryn Crocker and Patrick Lucas-Perry are still in the mix for Allen. Both are guards, though, so neither will be a replacement for Davis.

Eagles-Packers rematch with link to Penn's Franklin Field

In anticipation of today's Eagles-Packers NFC wildcard playoff game in Philadelphia, the New York Times ran an interesting piece (which happens to be quite Penn-centric) on Thursday about the 50-year anniversary of the Eagles-Packers NFL Championship Game. According to the article, the game was moved from Sunday December 25, 1960 to the 26th "given the belief ... that Christmas should be a day for devotion and family, not sports." As the article notes, things are quite different with regard to that nowadays (see: NBA).

But anyway, the game for all the marbles took place on Penn's own Franklin Field and the Eagles, who defeated "The Pack," 17-13, (Coach Vince Lombardi's only playoff loss), were led by center — and linebacker — Chuck Bednarik (center, no.60, pictured below after the game). The Hall of Famer, as many may know, began his collegiate football career here at Penn in 1945 after serving a few highly distinguished years in the military during WWII. And it was Bednarik who recorded a shared tackle to end the game. Side note: Bednarik's own story, including his military service, is very intriguing — see this short clip from a documentary.

Also, for those looking to learn more about Franklin Field, the DP's Sebastian Stockman wrote this quite informative piece on Franklin Field's history back in 2001, which features some quotes from the legendary Bednarik himself.

So with that dose of history, enjoy the game today and impress your friends with some Penn trivia related to the matchup.

Jewel Clark to go into Big 5 hall of fame

Some exciting news out of the Big 5 — Penn women's basketball player Jewel Clark will be inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame on January 21st along with four others who pounded the Philadelphia hardwood during their college careers.

Per the Big 5 news release:

Jewel Clark (2001-04) had an outstanding career as one of the most prolific scorers in Penn women’s basketball history. A three-time first-team All-Ivy selection, she was a part of two Ivy League championship teams (2001, 2004). Clark led the Quakers to the 2004 Ivy title as she finished her senior season with 554 points, the sixth-highest season total in program history. She was named Player of the Year by both the Ivy League and the Big 5. Clark, who had 29 career double-doubles, remains second on Penn’s all-time scoring list with 1743 points.

Tweets of the Week

I'm a believer of New Year's Resolutions. Last year, I vowed to run a half marathon — I ran two. So this year (or at least this semester), the Buzz is trying out some new weekly initiatives. Without further ado, I introduce "Tweets of the Week," coming to you every Friday. Posts will be either about Ivy League athletes or posted by them:

Lots of Quakers shoutouts this week, mostly from Kentucky basketball fans. Rosen was also the subject of several tweets about the "Ginger" chants he received at Rupp.

Bradford Blackmon is one of the nicest football players that I spoke with this season. And note his picture: hugging the Ivy trophy on the bus back from Cornell.

Good to see that Jeremy Lin can multitask. Harvard...

QB Keiffer Garton retweets offensive lineman Chris Fortunato. Guess they learned how to pop champagne from those back-to-back Ivy Championships. Happy New Year's!

Harvard's ho-hum win over BC

ESPN's Andy Katz turned his focus on the Ivy League today with a column on how Harvard beating (Steve Donahue's) Boston College has now become a 'ho-hum' event up in Cambridge, as they've won the series three years running:

"Harvard's win over Boston College Wednesday night was so ordinary that it didn't get a mention on SportsCenter, wasn't a headline item on our site, and is treated as just another win for the Crimson.Amazing.

This is a sign that the much-maligned Tommy Amaker has a program. He had a pro as it turned out the past few seasons in Jeremy Lin, who was signed to a contract in the preseason by the Golden State Warriors. But did he have a program that could sustain a loss like Lin and still keep winning credible games?

You've got your answer."

Rookie-of-the-week-off

When my colleague Ari Seifter celebrated what was quantifiably one of the best fall sports seasons for Penn on record, he mentioned that the success was in part due to several freshman stepping up into big roles just days or weeks into their college careers.

As we approach the mid-point in the basketball season, both the men's and women's teams have their own freshman standouts in Miles Cartwright and Alyssa Baron.

With the announcement this week that Baron earned Ivy Rookie of the Week yet again, she is now even with Cartwright — they both have three of the awards on the season (his last came after the victory at Delaware). In the women's victory over St. Francis, Baron had a career-high 23 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and no turnovers.

So far, Cartwright is averaging 11.9 points in 29 minutes per game. He's tallied 25 assists to 23 turnovers with 18 rebounds. He's shooting .466 from the floor, .386 from three, and .842 from the line (team-best aside from Dau Jok, who has made all two of his attempts). He leads the men in steals with 18. Cartwright is 15th in the Ivies in scoring, tied for second in steals, and in the top 10 in FG and FT percentages.

Baron leads the women in scoring with 15.7 ppg, as well as minutes (32.7). She averages 4.1 rebounds per game, and has 9 steals and 21 turnovers. Her shooting line is .370/.382/.612 (FG/3FG/FT). She ranks second in the league in scoring (though #1 Niveen Rasheen of Princeton recently suffered a season ending ACL tear) and is fourth in minutes played.

So the question for the second half of the season is: who will rack up more ROTWs by the time spring rolls around? And will Cartwright, Baron or both be Rookie of the Year when the curtain closes on the 2010-11 season?

A few words on consistency

Well, it's actually a lot of words, but I expanded on this week's good/bad/ugly post in my column from Kentucky, which can be read here.

More than much of the sport of basketball, I think achieving a consistent effort from players for a 40-minute game comes down to coaching. With a first-year coach in Jerome Allen, consistency might be hard to come by this year. Allen is lucky to have a young team which he can shape over the next year and on.

And even the legendary coach John Calipari of Kentucky says his team is struggling to stay consistent — which was obvious when Penn was up 12 points in the first half Monday (for more, see this story in the Lexington Herald-Leader). It must be even harder for coach Cal to keep a consistent level of play when he faces the one-and-done syndrome every year as his players leave for the NBA. The fact that he's continually in the top 25 despite that is a testament to how great of a coach he is.

More notes from Wildcat country

I'm back from the land of bourbon, horses and Waffle House, so I thought I'd share a few more thoughts from Kentucky:

-Fran Dougherty doesn't get a lot of credit, but defensively he was a wall against a big Kentucky team. In his first minutes of play Monday, he stood his ground against some of the best inside men in the country and helped force a few misses. Offensively he continues to look a little awkward when he gets the ball, especially when Kentucky is able to get some big blocks against him, which can be a big momentum changer.

-Zack Rosen's six points all came from free-throws. The last time he failed to score a single field goal was against Harvard on Feb. 21, 2009 (his freshman year). The last time he failed to hit double digits was last January against St. Joeseph's.

-Four Roses single barrel Kentucky bourbon is surprisingly smooth.

-I ran into coach Jerome Allen, assistant coach Rudy Wise and Zack Rosen in the airport catching a flight back to Philadelphia with the rest of the team. I assumed that the team, like most teams, would travel in Red and Blue warmups. But, it appears Allen — always impeccably dressed — has instituted a shirt and tie travel policy. Lookin' good, Quakers.

-How Mike Howlett ever fit on the 50-seater plane they took, I'll never know.

-A good friend from Penn tells me he saw coach Jerome Allen and spoke to him Tuesday night at a Sidwell Friends High School basketball game in Washington, D.C., scouting Sidwell point guard Jamal Lewis (not the Jamal Lewis). Lewis is a junior. This is interesting because a) Sidwell Friends' mascot is the Fighting Quakers, b) Jet-setting Jerome must have hopped straight on a train to DC after arriving in Philly, and c) Sidwell Friends is famous for being the school where the Obama children go, as well as where Chelsea Clinton attended. (Hat tip to Penn senior Eben Lazarus)

-I said it over and over in the live-blog, but Penn was stifling in the man-to-man defense and not-so-stifling in zone. When in zone it looked like the Quakers ran the 1-3-1 predominantly with an occasional 2-3.

-Lexington, Ky., is the horse capital of the world. The Quakers took a tour of a Gainesway farms before the game.

-Larry Loughery played his first minutes since getting injured after playing Delaware three games into last season. By the time Loughery got in, Kentucky was cruising, so I imagine Allen just wanted to give an older guy some game time. But by that logic, where was Darren Smith.

-and finaly, some (easy) Trivia: Who was the only Penn Player at Rupp Arena Monday who had played there before with the Quakers?

Video from Kentucky

I couldn't get the entire press conference after Penn lost 86-62 to Kentucky, but here is coach Jerome Allen and Tyler Bernardini's postgame reaction. Sorry for the sometimes-shaky camera work.