City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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With the season at its midpoint and most of the non-league games in the record books, the CoBL staff is taking a peek around the City 6 to see how each of the teams have fared this far.

Here’s a look at the Penn Quakers, which start their Ivy League season on Friday against Princeton.

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Record: 9-5
Key Players: Ryan Betley (14.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg), A.J. Brodeur (10.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Darnell Foreman (10.1 ppg, 3.6 apg)
Big wins: @ Dayton
Bad losses: @ Fairfield

Things we learned...

Quakers are Ivy contenders

After finishing the season strong by winning six of their last eight and making an appearance in the inaugural Ivy League tournament, it was unclear if Penn would be able to ride the momentum into this season. So far, the Quakers have showed last season’s late run was no fluke. Penn’s non-conference schedule wasn’t the most challenging, but the Quakers picked up difficult road wins against Dayton and Monmouth, and for the most part handled the games they were supposed to win. Penn has a better record than any other team in the Ivy League heading into conference play and with recent top dogs Princeton, Yale and Harvard all at .500 or below, it’s clear the Quakers are legitimate contenders for their first conference title since 2007.

Penn will live and die by the three

Coach Steve Donahue’s team is right in the middle of the country in terms of 3-point shooting percentage. Penn ranks 158th in Division I, shooting 35.2 percent from deep. The Quakers are averaging just under 10 threes per game and getting nearly 35 percent of their scoring from the three ball. When Penn shoots well from, deep the Quakers win. In Penn’s nine wins, the Quakers have made an average of 11 3-point shots per game. Penn has made an average of 6.8 per game in its five losses.  After making double-digit threes in each victory during a four-game win streak last month, the Quakers made just eight threes in a loss to Toledo in their most recent contest.They are 7-0 when they knock down 10-or-more threes and 2-5 when they don’t.

Things we still don’t know…

Are the Quakers ready?

While certainly more experienced than their age suggests, the Quakers have a young team. Sophomores Ryan Betley and A.J. Brodeur lead the team in scoring and sophomore Devon Goodman and freshman Eddie Scott are both averaging more than 10 minutes per game. Only two seniors—guards Darnell Foreman and Caleb Wood—are among the Quakers’ top seven minutes getters. No one on this year’s team has experienced a winning season, let alone a conference championship, as the Quakers haven’t had a winning record since 2011-12. The experience in last season’s Ivy League tournament should be something this team can draw on as it tries to put together a more consistent effort throughout conference play and get back to the postseason.

How much will freshmen contribute?

Scott and freshman big man Jarrod Simmons are the only two first-year players to see action for the Quakers this season. Scott is averaging 3.7 points and three rebounds per game in 11.1 minutes of action per contest, while Simmons is averaging 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 6.7 minute per game. Both have shown flashes of their potential. Scott scored 21 points on an 8-for-8 shooting night against Monmouth on Nov. 25. Simmons has two double-digit scoring efforts on the season, including a 16-point, five-rebound performance in 10 minutes against Penn State Brandywine on Nov. 18. Both have seen their minutes fluctuate throughout the season. Scott has missed five games in a row while dealing with a left wrist injury. Any contributions Penn can get from these two youngsters will be a bonus late in the season.

Updated Prediction

Things haven’t changed much from our preseason thoughts on the Quakers. This team, led by its sophomore class appeared poised to build off a strong finish to 2016-17 and has done so thus far. The Quakers have a good chance to prove so to the rest of the Ivy with a conference home opener against Princeton, the league’s reigning champs.