Mano-A-Mano: Volume III

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Four straight losses have dropped the Quakers into the middle of the Ivy League pack as quickly as you can say "Back to the drawing board." So with the league title realistically out of Penn's grasp, how should Jerome Allen proceed? Mano-A-Mano has been on a bit of a hiatus, but while Penn fans may not be getting an Ivy title this season, we're bringing you what you really want: a lengthy installment of the Esteves-Kotloff Battle of Brawl-nut Street. Without further ado:

Question: What should 'Pooh' do - continue to try to win with the vets or play the young pups?

Kevin Esteves: I think Allen needs to continue to ride the veterans — basically, don't switch up the rotations. Just because you lose four straight games doesn't mean you jump ship and change what you're trying to accomplish. I'm fairly certain that with the leadership of Allen, Rosen and Eggleston, that desire to win won't be compromised by a few bad losses. I also think they need to gut out a bunch of victories down the stretch here for the following reasons:

1) It would be a disservice to Jack Eggleston for the coaching staff and the players not to do everything they can to win ball games. This guy has been an absolute rock for this team and has, unfortunately, faced some bad seasons. But he deserves to go out with some more wins and an upset of Harvard or Princeton would make for a great story, even if it didn't mean the Quakers would be contending.

2) Sense of pride. As I mentioned earlier, you can't compromise what you're trying to accomplish on the court. You can tell these guys have a sense of pride and if they can pull off some wins and get out of this losing streak, it will make them that much tougher. If you change up your rotation and try to give the younger guys some more burn, you're not putting yourself in the best position to be successful. That's one of Allen's mantras, so I don't even see this being much of an issue.

3) Recruiting. Potential recruits are watching and you have to be able to sell to them what the program has accomplished in the past year. To go from 6-22 to where they are now is a marked improvement and you don't want to take any more steps backward. Personally, I think it would look bad to recruits if the team got away from trying to win ball games just to look out for the future.

Brian Kotloff: I’m with you for now, but as the season wears on, things can change in my mind. If Princeton and Harvard keep winning – which seems pretty likely – and Penn loses even 1 or 2 more games, the chances of catching them will essentially evaporate. I’m not calling for sitting Rosen or Eggleston for any more time than they would normally sit, I just think this could be an opportunity for some freshmen to get playing time they haven’t gotten so far this season. Maybe instead of subbing Rob Belcore for Bernardini, Dau Jok, Casey James or Steve Rennard comes in. Even a 10-minute run for those guys would be very beneficial in giving them a taste of real Ivy League action. Next year, Rosen, Bernardini, Belcore and the rest of the returning vets will need to be able to trust the young guys, so they might as well start that process when an Ivy title isn’t on the line. Plus, Allen needs to see what they can do in a game setting rather than at practice. It’s like training a firefighter but never giving him a chance to put out a real fire.

Rotating in the young guys over older rotation players doesn’t mean you’re not trying to win; you’re just trying to win with different guys. If anything, playing the freshmen alongside Eggleston – who has a tremendous will to win – will help them learn first-hand what it takes.  As far as recruiting goes, wouldn’t a potential recruit want to see that he can get a chance to play right away if he comes to Penn? And the program is just not at a level right now where the current performance is the main thing that will draw recruits. Allen is trying to sell recruits on the appeal of playing in Philly, at the Palestra, in the Big 5, etc. and restoring the program's greatness, not trying to brag about an 8-6 Ivy record or whatever they could end up with if they maintain the status quo. You don't get a trophy for third place.

KE: And I'm not trying to say that none of the young guys should get any more PT. I believe Cam Gunter and Fran Dougherty are huge for this team going forward (especially with Eggleston and Turley graduating). After Cam's last performance, we may see more of him. If he's on the court, he's there to help the team win, not to get more experience and improve the team's prospects going forward.  Overall, I think the summer will be the time for the other guys to make strides in improving. They've had a chance to learn the system and get a taste of the grind of college basketball practices, so they know what they need to work on. I don't think a few minutes here and there for a guy like Dau Jok or Casey James is going to have a huge impact going forward. With Rosen, Cartwright, Bernardini, and Belcore coming back, guys like Jok and James (Jock Jams?) will be slotted behind those guys again next year, so it's not as if they’re going to be relied upon to be go-to scorers next year.

BK: Well we agreed this week that Penn’s biggest issue is depth, so wouldn’t you want to play James, Jok and Rennard now so that the team will potentially have great depth on the wings next year? And wouldn’t Dougherty or Gunter gain even more from playing, say, 20 or 30 minutes per game the rest of the way rather than 10-15? That way, when next year comes around and those guys need to replace Eggleston and Turley’s minutes, they know what it’s like to play big minutes night in and night out.

I think Dougherty in particular can benefit the most from more PT down the stretch. He will have lofty expectations next year to be a breakout player, and will be forced to carry the heavy burden of replacing Captain Jack. The next seven games could go a long way in helping him learn the Eggleston Way: setting good screens, executing the pick-and-roll, crashing the offensive boards, guarding the other team’s best post player, making the outlet pass to start fast breaks, etc. I think Allen could give him increased responsibility in the last handful of games to start that difficult learning process. As tough as it is to swallow, college basketball careers are short and a replacement for every single player needs to be ready at all times. Sometimes a coach might need to put feelings aside and do what’s best for the future of the program.

KE: You clearly have no heart, Mr. Kotloff.

BK: You clearly just got burned, mano-a-mano.