Easy win over D3 Rowan but good look at some important pieces. TJ Power is going to be very good and Scantlebury is a beast with a high motor. I’ll be interested to see these player against better players.
Yeah Scantlebury looked great and was the biggest positive coming out of this.
I thought Scantlebury had a great game. He’s got size, skill and attitude. I liked Lueth defensively and in transition. Not sure what he’s capable of offensively just yet.
As for the guards, I’m still not sold on Levine as the primary point guard. He still doesn’t keep defenses as a shooter, and so he could well be better positioned coming off the bench to push the pace.
Gerhart surprised me. He’s got a new flash to the front of the rim thing that gives him the opportunity to pivot or reverse pivot for a short hook or layup. I’ve been using that move forever.
Let’s see how the team looks against a D1 opponent on Sunday. Even so, I think we’re going to be better than expected.
Biggest concern will still be defense. Giving up 72 to a D3 team is not good. Harvard played D3 MIT and held them to 50.
We can score. But can we stop people down the stretch?
Defense is definitely the question. New coach, new system, many new players…it’s going to be a work in progress. Much of the second half looked like an opportunity to give guys who may not be in the primary rotation some playing time, so I wouldn’t read too much into the final score. Half time score was 53-32.
Agree on Gerhart—looked like he may have shed a few pounds and was more athletic as a result. We had multiple bigs playing above the rim on rebounds and shot challenges which was good to see.
Doesn’t really matter who is playing. 72 pts to a D3 team is bad.
Harvard with an team who has played together won by 29. Penn with a team new to each other won by 47. Not also that a team that shoots fast creates more ball possessions for both teams. That said there is little evidence that Fran will create a good defensive team. Penn will have to outscore people.
Yeah they won by a ton so don’t read too much into the defense against a D3 team. Or even the offense.
How cool is it to actually be interested in Penn Basketball again? Nice way to see a lot of the players in action, but can’t read much more than that into game one against a D3. A lot to like but plenty to clean up.
Roberts will lead us in scoring and be fun to watch. Glad TJ Power was out there playing. Not surprised his shot was rusty but he looked smooth out there and the shot will come. The bigs will be better than expected and like our size in general.
The raw number might by 72, but from an efficiency standpoint the defense was good. Rowan scored 0.84 points per possession and turned the ball over on 20.9% of its possessions.