The Daily Pennsylvanian :: Plotnick | Perplexed at the Palestra

Call me an idealist.

With the hype surrounding the Penn-Princeton rivalry and the fact that last night’s game came four days after Penn caught the nation’s attention with a win over nationally ranked Cornell, I thought Tuesday’s contest had the potential to be great.

Instead, I left the Palestra feeling empty.

While Penn managed to hang with the Tigers all night, the 221st installment of the basketball rivalry lacked all semblance of excitement.

It was a night with no new story lines. The Quakers once again dug themselves into a hole early, shot below par from the field and failed to mount a comeback down the stretch.

The Tigers jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the initial seven and a half minutes of play, leaving the semi-crowded student section — which was artificially inflated due to the game being a designated Feb Club event — with virtually nothing to cheer about.

The Quakers managed only 22 points in the first half on 8-for-25 from the field and 1-for-9 from the three point range.

Those figures sound more like they came from a high-school team rather than a Division I program, with a storied basketball tradition.

And it was the same story in the second half.

While Penn never let its deficit grow past nine, the team only pulled within three points once — and that lasted for 37 seconds — before Princeton rattled off five unanswered points to put the game away.

Perhaps even more telling was that Zack Rosen, the Quakers leading scorer, netted seven of his 15 points from the charity stripe, and shot 3-for-13 overall from the field.

Not exactly hair-raising stats.

The demographics of the student population are changing. It’s no secret that student interests have diversified since the days of the packed Palestra. With so many clubs and events on campus competing for their attention, they now need a compelling reason to want to come to games.

In order to compel students to free up three hours on a Tuesday night, an events has to be worthwhile.

And unfortunately, the former allure of Penn basketball and the past success of the program no longer holds the same sway it once did.

It’s clear that Penn’s student body wants to feel the excitement. When the Quakers finally cut the lead down to three with 6:02 to go, the action-starved Red and Blue Crew came alive.

But when it comes down to it, students expect something more. Fifty-one total points — 15 of which were free throws — zero lead changes and only two points off of fast breaks no longer cuts it.

LAUREN PLOTNICK is a sophomore economics major from Potomac, Md., and is Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. She can be contacted at plotnick@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Comments (8)

A waste of column space. Give it to someone who will critique the program for more than its lack of wins and "hair-raising" stats - whatever happened to investigative journalism? No one needs to reiterate the club's boring play. Delve into the program's tradition. Rile passions. Sports journalism isn't about making the reader feel hopeless - it's about inspiring the individual to dig deeper and ask more questions.

- DPOSTM Alumna

What a terrible column. It's no secret that student tastes have diversified since the days of the packed Palestra? You mean when Justin Reilly (who, you might know, is still on the team) nearly beat Texas in the NCAA tourney? Yeah, I think there was a packed Palestra that year.

And maybe you should do a little more research about "high school" scores. Every Princeton game is low scoring. It's been that way for decades. It's called the Princeton offense. Read about it.

Students don't want excitement. They want wins. Glen Miller set Penn basketball back at least 5 years, but the current students are are pathetic.

As the father of a senior who has probably seen 60-75% of all Penn's games these past four years, as she's a member of the band, and as a fan (me) who had the wonderful opportunity of coming 50 or so miles to Philadelphia in the '60's and early '70's for Big Five doubleheaders, one could only imagine my excitement when #1 daughter was going to be not only viewing, but participating (so to speak), in Quakers' games at the Mecca of college basketball...The Penn Palestra.

It's clear why Nova continues to excel in D-1, with their recruiting, full rides, and years of great coaching. But the rest of the old Big Five continues to move up and down, trying to find an identity and have the occasional okay season. With Penn, however, it is at a crossroad. Somehow the AD and administration need to determine who they really want to be...continue to be a D-1 Ivy school (ranked fourth academically in the country with all those trappings and requirements and struggle to even compete in the ancient eight) or make a commitment to going after a great coach who knows how to lure great athletes to West Philly and all its great tradition while being certain they can "cut it" academically... and afford it. How does Stanford do it year in and year out.

There had to be a reason why Penn actually was considered a basketball power back in the day, and I think it can be traced to great coaches and the occasional Dave Wohl or Corky Calhoun. So my advice is to open up the $5 billion endowment and spend a few bucks on a great coach. Let's regain the great tradition of Penn and make a commitment to bringing back the Big Five to the prominence it once had.

Jack Weiss Wilmington, NC

Stanford gives out athletic scholarships as well - Penn and the rest of the Ivies do not.

I do agree with the point that the program is in the midst of an "identity crisis." 30 years ago - when Penn went to the Final Four - there were far fewer mid-major D-I programs. Penn certainly benefited from the exposure and Big 5 popularity.

(Also, Mr. Weiss' comments alone made for a far better "column" than the one written here.)

Yes It's clear why Nova continues to excel in D-1, with their recruiting, full rides, and years of great coaching . But the rest of the old Big Five continues to move up and down, trying to find an identity and have the occasional okay season. With Penn, however , it is at a crossroad. Somehow the AD and administration need to determine who they really want to be...continue to be a D-1 Ivy school (ranked fourth academically in the country with all those trappings and requirements and struggle to even compete in the ancient eight) or make a commitment to going after a great coach who knows how to lure great athletes to West Philly and all its great tradition while being certain they can "cut it" academically ... and afford it. How does Stanford do it year in and year out.

Why is everyone complaining about the columnist? The article was fine. Of course the students want wins but that wasn't exactly the point here.

Matt

Really Penn management was awesome but now i hear that he was fired. He was the best player of and also rugby. I am amazed that how he was manage both basketball and rugby.

I think this is an excellent article about the it needs perseverance and a good facilities, my blog about the that supports it

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