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Following the Quakers’ 83-77 loss to Lafayette Saturday night, Penn basketball coach Jerome Allen said the 2013-14 edition of the Quakers are sorting out who they are.
Against a more experienced and talented Lafayette squad that was hot from the start, Penn made an impressive comeback effort that put its full potential on display despite ultimately falling short, 83-77.
The Quakers were down by double digits soon within seven minutes of tip-off and struggled to hang with Lafayette, finding themselves down, 45-30, at the half.
However, there will be at least one man in the Palestra on Saturday who has been a part of an incredible amount of Quakers success: Lafayette head coach Fran O’Hanlon.
Fans can hate on Nelson-Henry and Louis for their lack of consistency all they want but at the end of the day, they are what keeps Penn from having to go to a frontcourt of only freshmen with sophomore forward Dylan Jones out for the game in street clothes.
Penn men’s basketball couldn’t pull out the win in regulation and in overtime, and Delaware State put together the plays when it needed to as the Hornets won, 77-75.
After an offseason of turmoil, change and speculation, there’s nothing more that Penn basketball would like to do than to just get on the court and play.
No. 25 Harvard Crimson
Last Season: 27-5, 13-1 Ivy
Coach: Tommy Amaker, 8th season, 139-70, 67-31 Ivy
Ivy League Media Poll predicted finish: 1st
Last Ivy League Title: 2013-2014
Will win if: They can stay healthy and play up to expectations (or anywhere close). Wesley Saunders and Siyani Chambers give the Crimson one of the nation's best backcourts.
Will lose if: The team’s lack of backcourt depth comes back to haunt it while the team’s frontcourt depth turns out to be more quantity than quality.
Last year vs.
Understandably, the team wants to stress the process and not the results this year. That makes perfect sense with a young roster that was projected to finish seventh in the Ancient Eight in the Ivy preseason poll. But there will need to be results this year alongside the all-important process.
Starting in May of this year, there was a new presence around Penn basketball as Quakers alum Nat Graham joined Jerome Allen’s staff as a new assistant coach. And with Graham came a new buzz word: Tremendous.