The Inside Scoop on Penn Basketball

With the Harvard men’s basketball team visiting Penn on Friday night, we caught up with The Daily Pennsylvanian’s Calder Silcox over email to get the inside scoop on Penn basketball. Check out what Silcox had to say below.

The Harvard Crimson: What can Harvard expect from Penn on Friday?

Calder Silcox: The question isn't what Harvard can expect from Penn, but rather which Penn Harvard can expect. Lately we've seen a Penn team that has depth and a real drive to win. This is the Penn that swept its first Ivy weekend against Columbia and Cornell, beat St. Joe's, manhandled Princeton, and dispatched Brown (I've got a few more synonyms for 'won' in case you need them). This team also showed up to New Haven and played 35 minutes against Yale, only to relapse into the other Penn for the final crucial possessions and lose to the Bulldogs.

This other Penn, who we had gotten accustomed to seeing throughout December and early January, relies heavily on one player (you guessed it, Zack Rosen), and when his shots don't fall, Penn doesn't do very well. But lately we've seen a much deeper Penn team, with wingmen Tyler Bernardini and Miles Cartwright contributing much more, and freshman big man Henry Brooks is peaking. I'd expect the more competitive Penn to show up, looking to defend its home court on Friday. Penn's season essentially hinges on a victory over Harvard this weekend, and after last year's gut-wrenching loss here at the Palestra, I would be surprised to see the lesser version of this Quakers team show up.

THC: After posting 14.3 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game as a junior, Zack Rosen is off to an even better start this season. How has he improved since the Crimson last saw him?

CS: The thing I've come to notice about Zack this season is that he's really developed his ability to knock down shots of insane difficulties. He will shoot from any range, with any coverage and he will make them. He also has developed an uncanny ability to weave his way through defenders as the shot clock runs down and save a possession for Penn. His drive to win has only increased.

THC: Entering the season, there were a lot of question marks surrounding Penn’s frontcourt. How has it held up thus far?

CS: There are still a lot of questions about the Quakers' frontcourt. It clearly wasn't able to contain Yale's Greg Mangano enough to leave New Haven with a win, and that doesn't bode well for Penn with Harvard's duo of Kyle Casey and Keith Wright coming to town. Penn has a young big man in Brooks who—after an ACL tear last march—is getting up to speed with his knee and the college game. His shot selection isn't the best quite yet, but he's earned the starting role. Perhaps the biggest surprise in our frontcourt is the emergence of Rob Belcore as a real forward. This is a guy who was Rosen's backup PG freshman year, but he'll do whatever it takes for the team, and if that means playing center (which he technically has for a few minutes this season) he will. He's one of the top defenders in the league, and should put up a fight against Harvard's talented bigs.

THC: Pat’s or Geno’s?

CS: I've actually never had either. Is that embarrassing? I can tell you that the third-fiddle Jim's Steaks on South St. is just okay, and that if you ever find yourself at the DP offices, I wouldn't get a cheesesteak at Lee's across the street. Coincidentally, I've got plans to try Geno's after the game Friday night, so I'll let you know on Saturday.

THC: What went wrong at Yale last weekend?

CS: Coming in to the game with the Elis, Penn had won three games wire-to-wire. So when Yale threw the Quakers off their gameplan early, they were never really able to recover. They just couldn't dominate as they had lately and as a result, when they really needed to take over in the final minutes, they weren't in a rhythm.

THC: If I’m at Wawa late night on Friday, what should I order?

CS: Three words: Mac 'n' Cheese. I'd also get a Gatorade for Saturday morning.

THC: Who has more swag: Denzel Washington or Jerome Allen?

CS: Jerome, no question. I haven't seen Denzel back at the Palestra since his son Malcolm left the team, but when he was here, he acted very nondescript to avoid drawing attention to himself. His black-on-black Yankees hat was cool I guess, but have you seen Jerome Allen's suits? The man spent a lot of time in Italy during his pro career, and it shows.

THC: Final score prediction?

CS: If we're using history as a guide, I've got two case studies from my career to draw from:

Sat. Feb. 5, 2011: Harvard 83, Penn 82 (2OT). The last time Penn hosted Harvard. We all remember the game. The best I've ever seen here. The headline in the DP on Monday was "Gut-wrenching defeat."

Fri. Feb. 12, 2010: Penn 79, No. 22 Cornell 62. The last time Penn hosted a ranked Ivy team. Penn's best win that I've seen at the Palestra. The headline in the DP after this one was "Ranked and Spanked!"

I'm gonna go with the latter. Penn 72, Harvard 68. And lets throw in a couple overtimes for ol' times sake.