I seem to remember 2 awful treks to Easton, once for a playoff game in the late 90's - maybe '97? - and once sometime in the '80s I think but don't remember the year. Bad memories.

Stat to remember while watching tonight's game:

Penn's record this season when Darnell has 10 or more field goal attempts: 0-4.

Penn's record this season when Darnell has 9 or fewer field goal attempts: 6-0.

So, in addition to chasing Lafayette's shooters off the 3 pt line, we have to chase Darnell off as well?

It would help if either were better at finishing or at outside shooting.

Darnell runs the fast break well and plays better in up-tempo games. Slower half-court games are another matter. Movement and spacing tend to bog down in particular when he and Antonio are in the game together.

Darnell is better at finishing near the hoop than Antonio is, though Antonio is better at getting near the hoop so it's close to a wash between the two. It would help if either were better at finishing or at outside shooting.

Foreman is second best regular at FT% at .711. That isn't a major issue in his game.

There is no question that Wood should get serious PT with the way he is playing. He adds another dimension to the Penn offense.

Foreman is second best regular at FT% at .711. That isn't a major issue in his game.

Overall the team is shooting FTs at a .620 clip. Yikes.

Brown up 1 as they go under 5 minutes in Providence.

• penn nation Said:

Tied with under 3 to play.

Foreman takes it all the way to the hoop--and finishes. Well played.

Brown down 1 with 1 minute and change left--out of timeouts.

• penn nation Said:

Brown down 3, with the ball, 20 seconds to play. Valiant effort by that team--great game to watch.

• penn nation Said:

And it counts! Brown with a chance to tie at the line.

AJ does a nice job of finding Caleb when the double comes and now he hits ANOTHER after an easy steal. Thank you Caleb.

Brown is up 2 with 3:23 to play, and its interior defense has been great so far in OT.

• penn nation Said:

Brown runs out of gas and loses by 3.

• penn nation Said:

And Princeton loses--again.

What a shame.

Max with the world’s laziest pass to the wing creates a turnover and foul at other end.

Does A.J. have a single point since scoring the first 10 of the game?

Back to back threes beautifully executed by Antonio and Ryan. Antonios 3, when he had tons of time, looked great. Up 12.

To say AJ has had a bad game since that start would be an understatement. That left hand couldn't have been more open last time. Klinewski has completely shut him down.

The Betley 3 was just Lafayette being asleep at the wheel, though.

Announcer:

"Haven't seen [Brodeur] turn left yet"

Is that Eddie in street clothes?

Letting them cut this to 6 is just embarrassing.

For those watching on TV, was that post-game a hot mess or what? After calling the game, the Lafayette play by play guy blew every name in the recap.

AJ turns into a crowd...toward the middle.

Much better from three in the second half (7-9).

The free throws are another story....

I'm going to agree with P38 and defend Antonio Woods. He never takes a play off on the offensive or defensive end, generally makes good decisions, doesn't turn the ball over, and plays the game with zero sense of entitlement. He was on the court late because we had the lead and he's trusted for his defense and to not do anything stupid on offense. I'm OK with that.

Can we get Steve Danley to teach Max how to finish around the rim?

The argument is that Caleb is just as good a 3pt shooter and does more for the team. Sam can shoot the rock, no doubt, but he can't do anything else on offense (can't beat anyone off the dribble, can't play in the paint, not particularly a good passer) he is only effective if his guy has to double someone else or we get a defensive rotation lapse because he only shoots a stand still 3. That's a pretty limited skill set on offense. On defense he pursues the ball off the boards effectively so can be helpful but he struggles to stay in front of anyone and isn't physical enough to push a 4/5 off their spot on a switch so he limits the defensive options, regardless of advance metrics.

I am a big Sam Jones fan and would love to see him more but I can definitely see why SD struggles to keep him on the floor for long stretches, particularly vs man defense.

Steve, what are your thoughts on AJ and his left hand? I don't remember it being this egregious last year, but maybe it was? It's almost like he's completely afraid to use it. When you're going up with the right on a clear lefty layup, something isn't right.

With this current team, we are going to have a tough time winning consistently unless we hit threes at a decent clip.

Individual DRAT stats are poor indicators. I think even Mike James would admit that they reflect more on the team effort as opposed to the individual's effort.

• penn nation Said:

Not sure I agree with this. We are the best rebounding team in the IL and are middle of the pack in 3pt %. Last night we hit 21% of our 3's in the first half and led by 9. Our defense only gave up 24 pts in the first half. Having two bigs seems to be working in that it is limiting teams to fewer shots and giving us more shots (we lead the league in offensive rebounding).

Not hitting 3s at a decent clip is a limiting factor vs a disqualifying one and it just amplifies our need to do everything else well to win, doesn't mean we can't win conistently....which is exactly what Asia said a few posts ago. Certainly our success will be defined by the games where we don't shoot it well and still find a way to win (see Monmouth).

I'd be a bit careful about the rebounding stats. Penn is quite good at rebounding, but it's important to note where the rebound opportunities are coming from, since the odds of grabbing a rebound differ by shot.

Penn has allowed a LOT of free throws at this point. Free throws are the easiest shot to grab a defensive rebound. Second easiest are misses off jumpers. Opponents are only rebounding 25% and 29% of 3PT and 2PTJs respectively, and they are shooting below average from both areas. When that regresses, that will mean fewer rebounding opportunities from those areas.

Penn is doing a nice job on rebounding at the rim (66.7% DREBs), so I think they'll remain an above average rebounding team on the defensive end all year. But there's some natural decline in that number that I'd expect to see. My wager is that Princeton's probably the best defensive rebounding team in league play, but I'd expect Harvard and Penn to be very good as well.

I imagine that part of what we're seeing with AJ is the challenge of adjusting to a new position.

• Silver Maple Said:

I have seen this comment a few times and frankly I don't understand it. What's different about AJ's position on the Penn offense and how does it affect his ability to go left?

On offense I see AJ getting the ball in pretty much the same spots he did all of last year. The only difference is he has the ball on the perimeter in the corner/wing instead of at the top of the key.

The big difference for AJ is on defense where he has guarded some of the more athletic 4's we play and he has excelled at it. Playing defense against a predominantly face up player/mobile wing is much different than playing against a physical 5 who stays in the paint. AJ's on ball defense has been outstanding from my perspective. It's likely he has an adjustment as a help defender and that may well have affected his block rate (though he seems to be getting his groove now) and it may also affect his rebounding numbers but I don't see much difference on the offensive end at all. He has taken (and missed) more 3's this year but that's not a position thing, that's something SD wants him to do.

I really don't see the big adjustment on offense that many here have assumed.

• Silver Maple Said:

I have seen this comment a few times and frankly I don't understand it. What's different about AJ's position on the Penn offense and how does it affect his ability to go left?

On offense I see AJ getting the ball in pretty much the same spots he did all of last year. The only difference is he has the ball on the perimeter in the corner/wing instead of at the top of the key.

The big difference for AJ is on defense where he has guarded some of the more athletic 4's we play and he has excelled at it. Playing defense against a predominantly face up player/mobile wing is much different than playing against a physical 5 who stays in the paint. AJ's on ball defense has been outstanding from my perspective. It's likely he has an adjustment as a help defender and that may well have affected his block rate (though he seems to be getting his groove now) and it may also affect his rebounding numbers but I don't see much difference on the offensive end at all. He has taken (and missed) more 3's this year but that's not a position thing, that's something SD wants him to do.

I really don't see the big adjustment on offense that many here have assumed.

With all deference to Steve, I vote we get the Archbishop Carroll coach down to practice to teach the big guys how to score and get fouled down low. Best I have seen at Penn in last 25 year in that regard.

I see Penn as 3rd in OREB% in the Ivy behind Yale and Brown (though all Ivy teams are in the bottom half nationally, so I don't expect that to be a differentiating stat). Penn may very well end up as the top Ivy team in OREB% at the end of the day, if it starts making more FTs. Penn's rebounding an absurd percent of 2PT Js (39%), but the layup rebounding rate is believeable at 40%. Ultimately, I expect Penn to be a good rebounding team on both ends of the floor.

Agreed. However, on the one I am referencing, he spun beautifully and had no need to finish with his right as the left finish was wide open. It showed that he's just not comfortable finishing with that offhand.

Which is interesting because one of our biggest fears was losing the rebounding that Matt Howard provided. Going the two bigs plus having some others like Darnell do a nice job has really helped.