Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1905
Reg: 11-29-04
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01-01-24 03:18 PM - Post#361095
In response to SomeGuy
I've played three former world champions in different sports, and I couldn't make any of them break a sweat. Still, those are the experiences I tell my kids about. Even in getting crushed, it's a part of how we measure ourselves. If you don't want to challenge the best (win or lose), you aren't even a competitor.
The big shame here was having to do it right after a long exam break and losing Slajchert. That's where we lost some of the best parts of the experience. You want to put your best foot forward when you have this opportunity.
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pennsive
Junior
Posts: 200
Reg: 11-21-04
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01-01-24 03:23 PM - Post#361096
In response to SomeGuy
Playing what could be the best team in the country will and did expose our weaknesses. What concerns me is that one of the announcers stated his surprise with how fundamentally unsound was our inability to block out their rebounders from second and third chance baskets. The other concern was our inability to handle
pressure from double teams, causing turnover after turnover. If these deficits were just a function of playing Houston and losing Clark, that would be one thing, but we have seen a re- run of this movie post Dunphy way too many times when playing Yale and Princeton as well.
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Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1905
Reg: 11-29-04
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01-01-24 03:35 PM - Post#361097
In response to pennsive
The rebounding is the problem to me, in that it is something curable to a degree. They lack the size and athleticism to be dominant rebounders, but they certainly could improve meaningfully with effort and fundamentals. Our 1991-1995 teams lacked size, but they were the hardest working rebounders I saw at Penn. Players like Barry Pierce, Andy Baratta, Eric Moore, Vince Curran, Shawn Trice, Tim Krug, and more - were typically rebounding underdogs - but worked for EVERY inch in the paint. Each used their hips and butt first. Our team rebounding was good in spite of the size and athleticism differential in out-of-conference games. We never lost rebounds because people were watching the ball. They always cleared out their opponent from the point to the degree possible.
This team does better in that respect than some of the recent Penn teams, but most seem to work for position with their upper body. That is nowhere near enough given their disparities.
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Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1905
Reg: 11-29-04
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01-01-24 11:34 PM - Post#361110
In response to SomeGuy
One other thing - the Pennathletics article said that Laz is from Texas, so this was his home game. He played a season high 22 minutes. It's too bad it was such a lopsided score, but I'm glad he got to play in Texas.
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Chip Bayers
Professor
Posts: 7001
Loc: New York
Reg: 11-21-04
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Penn-Houston
01-02-24 07:15 PM - Post#361138
In response to Penndemonium
Even after the lopsided rebound numbers in thst game, they’re still a top 75 team in offensive rebound %. Defensive boards could use some improvement, where they’re only just inside the top 150, but again, that’s after the horrible skew added Saturday.
Edited by Chip Bayers on 01-02-24 07:16 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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