Amy Potter: Same team, different results

There are certain questions that follow particular teams around for the entirety of their season. It's the same story, week after week, press conference after press conference. It's too tempting and so, that one reporter breaks down and asks. For Saint Joseph's men's basketball coach Phil Martelli, it came once again on Saturday night. So, coach, last year Penn matched up well against an equally talented St. Joe's squad. This year they dominated the exact same Penn squad. What is it that makes this team so unlike last year's? And then comes the response, which at first was well-rehearsed and poignant. Now it's aggravated and unsympathetic. "This is a different team," Martelli yells. "Enough, enough, enough, enough, enough! "All of those guys are gone, that team is on the shelf somewhere, this is a different team." And even though that reporter slinked back in humiliation, you can bet that it will all come up again next weekend. St. Joe's is in a great position. They are playing better than most expected, and they're doing it without one of their top players from last season -- Marvin O'Connor. If only the Quakers could be so lucky. Unfortunately, Penn is in quite an opposite bind. With all five starters returning and only two seniors graduated, the Red and Blue were expected to dominate. So, Dunphy, with the exact same starting lineup, what makes this Penn squad so unlike last year's? Fans and media alike are stumped at this point. It's hard to take the same five guys, put them on the same court, throw a group of similar competitors at them and end up with such distinct results. But the answer lies within the question. Despite bearing the same faces, Penn's squad is not the same, nor should that be expected. When the announcer screams out the name of Penn's starting five, he doesn't have to learn anything new. But in terms of maturity, confidence, discipline and stability, the same five guys are altogether different. Last year, the Quakers could fall back on their three-point shooters. Guards Andrew Toole, Jeff Schiffner or Tim Begley would pull them through, somehow. Over the summer, Penn worked on fundamental skills -- things that are easy to correct and errors that are easy to avoid -- like free-throws, boxing out and ball control. But there is no coaches' handbook on team chemistry and efficiency. There is no concrete and dependable way to pick up a struggling, yet talented, team. However, for now it's imperative to remember that this Penn squad is still struggling with its own identity -- one that must change from last season. With arguably the best player on the team coming off the bench and the team's sharpshooters turning unreliable, Penn is in need of a new game plan and a new image. As soon as the Quakers forget about last year -- and the team that they used to be -- the better off they'll be this season. Phil Martelli understands.

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