UPIA1968
PhD Student
Posts: 1121
Loc: Cornwall, PA
Reg: 11-20-06
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01-12-22 11:23 PM - Post#333194
In response to andybech
My references to history apply to the Pre-covid Donahue teams as well as the post-covid teams. Franny set the standard for contemporary Penn basketball, virus or no.
Okay, I acknowledge that the lockouts may have caused the Towson and LaSalle losses. But in January of 2022, the problems relate to Penn's relative position within the Ivies. Ivy apples to Ivy apples: they rank fifth, in a league of eight. In Fran's time at Penn, his worst years were 2 thirds and a fourth, against 4 seconds and 10 firsts. Steve has bettered fourth once despite having the best big man in program history. If the difference is the improvement of the rest of the league, please explain why that general Ivy BBall improvement exactly coincided with Fran's departure and why Penn has declined, not to one of the contenders but to a second division regular?
No matter how one slices it, the program has regressed, with no current signs of a return to regular contention. I keep following the team in hopes that this will change. Let's just recognize that the current trajectory leaves the program mired in mediocracy.
And don't tell me that Penn can't aspire to excellence despite the insurmountable advantages of HYP. Does not Dartmouth regularly contend in football? They have finished tied for first in 3 of the last 6 years including the last two. Any Ivy school can win championships like Cornell in wrestling, Brown in Hockey, Columbia in fencing, and what Penn used to do in Football and BBall.
HYP have always emphasized football. That didn't phase Berndt, Zubrow, or Bagnoli. This year Penn finished last in football. What changed? The coaching of course - especially the lack of recruiting. Maybe such coaching leverage is more extreme in the non-HYPs. Still, Penn has regularly found excellent coaching in basketball and football in past. It is clear Penn does not have that in football, and, sadly, increasingly likely the same for basketball.
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