Quakers faithful get first glimpse at the new Penn basketball

And so it begins.

Penn basketball gave the Quakers faithful its first glimpse of the 2014-15 program on Saturday in its Red and Blue scrimmage.

Though the Blue team ultimately won 33-32, the scoreboard itself mattered little. What did matter was the way in which the players performed in a real game scenario, and a team with many questions surrounding it provided few answers.

The biggest of these questions pertained to coach Jerome Allen’s newest crop of freshmen, as the freshmen got their first taste of college basketball. Perhaps the best player on the court was freshman forward Mike Auger, who used 6-foot-7 stature and excellent movement to be successful in the paint .

Though unable to finish on many moves in the first half, the New Hampshire product lit up in the second. Although he struggled a bit defensively against players driving to the basket, Allen may have found the cornerstone to his rebuilding project in Auger.

As for the remainder of the freshmen, little can be said thus far. Guard Darnell Foreman was the strongest of the rest, scoring a few times and passingly adequately. As for the other four, those who played made little impact, and two did not touch the court at all.

The loftiest expectations entering the game fell on junior shooting guard Tony Hicks, who will be counted on — as a leader and arguably the team’s best player — to erase the pains of yesteryear. He stood out defensively, applying great pressure beyond the three-point line to the Blue team’s guards. His ability to drive against bigger defenders shows that all his offseason work has been paying off.

However, the scrimmage still exposed weaknesses in his game. Shifted to point guard for much of the game, Hicks was unable to get the Red team going in the first half as they trailed by 10. Only when the coaches shifted senior guard Camryn Crocker — who was a strong playmaker in the game — from Blue to Red in the second half was Red able to pull within reach.

Additionally, with over 10 seconds left each time, Hicks kept the rock for what should have been the closing shot of each half. Hicks not only missed on both attempts, he also gave the Blue team a few seconds to try — albeit unsuccessfully — to score . While there were bright spots in his game, Hicks will need to continue to improve in order to lead the Quakers throughout the season.

Though play as a team shifted often from crisp to sloppy, the Quakers look ready to try and take back some control of the Ancient Eight. How much control will it be? That is yet to be answered.

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