I’d like to get your thoughts on a big personnel question during the final exams lull. How should Glen Miller divide up time in the Penn frontcourt over the next few games?
Well, it depends on the answers to a few other questions:
- Is Justin Reilly’s offensive game worth his defensive lapses?
- Is it the right decision to bury Brennan Votel on the bench?
- Should Cameron Lewis be more than a defense/rebounding role player?
- Should we see more of Conor Turley after the boost he gave against Monmouth?
- Will Andreas Schreiber ever be able to stay out of foul trouble?
For a frame of reference, here’s how the minutes and points have been divvied up so far. I’m not counting Brian Grandieri in this group, although he’s been listed as a forward most of the year.
Eggleston: 10 GP, 26.4 mpg, 7.7 ppg, 51.8 FG% (29-56), (7-18) 3-pt. FGs, 4.7 rpg
Reilly: 10 GP, 18.4 mpg, 7.1 ppg, 46.0 FG% (23-50), (7-13) 3-pt. FGs, 2.3 rpg
Schreiber: 10 GP, 13.8 mpg, 5.0 ppg, 54.1 FG% (20-37), (3-14) 3-pt. FGs, 3.7 rpg
Votel: 9 GP, 9.4 mpg, 1.9 ppg, 33.3 FG% (7-21), (1-7) 3-pt. FGs, 2.6 rpg
Lewis: 8 GP, 8.1 mpg, 1.5 ppg, 33.3 FG% (4-12), (0-0) 3-pt. FGs, 1.3 rpg
Turley: 5 GP, 7.2 mpg, 1.4 ppg, 28.6 FG% (2-7), (0-3) 3-pt. FGs, 0.4 rpg
Leave your comments on this frontcourt mess below, but be fair. If you suggest that one player should see more time, please indicate who those minutes should come from.
Brian Seltzer’s weekly podcast offers some insight on Harrison Gaines’ absence from the starting lineup against Monmouth; Miller commented that he was looking for “more organization for our offense” and better decision-making — when to push things and when to put on the brakes. With a couple of days’ hindsight, I think it also had something to do with Gaines’ night against North Carolina, where he looked completely out of sorts.
Tags: andreas schreiber, brennan votel, cameron lewis, conor turley, glen miller, harrison gaines, jack eggleston, justin reilly
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December 13th, 2007 at 10:23 am
to tell you the truth, i like eggleston and schreiber. eggleston may not look like the most imposing man on the court, but of all the forwards, he has probably been the most consistent. plus, he doesn’t turn the ball over that much. schreiber gives the team the legitimate inside presence that cam lewis was always supposed to give, except lewis is a turnover machine — he always seems to panic when he gets the ball (and force up shots). i say use votel more (he knows how to play physical) and keep giving turley minutes. reilly frustrates me because he doesn’t seem to be hustling the whole time when hes on the floor. it’s like he has a switch that he turns on and off. in any case, if bernardini can learn to rebound in accordance with his size, the hole in the middle might not seem so glaring come ivy time.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Eggleston is definitely holding his own so long as they don’t use him up high in the offense. I would flop Schreiber and Reiley’s minutes - Andreas 20, Justin 10, Others share 10. Reiley can’t take it to the rack and score.
All of them would benefit from less handling the ball in the backcourt! We don’t need the 6-9 guys running triangle patterns on the wrong half of the floor. That’s just creating turnovers and allowing opponents to set their defense at the other end. They also need to work on rebounding position and footwork. You can’t allow offensive boards and second-chances to 6-2 guards who camp out under the basket. Get in there and be aggressive.
December 13th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Good points all around. I agree that Eggleston should stay on the floor; he’s the only big man who looks in tune with the rest of the offense and he’s an adequate rebounder. Schreiber’s lack of a shot outside 8 feet is tough to get around, but he’s very tough and I would like to see him get more minutes (which I think he will, if he can stop hacking). In my opinion, those minutes should come from Reilly, as Jared said. The Votel situation puzzles me a bit. I have to think Glen Miller knows something we don’t, because Votel was the big man of the future when he first got to Penn. Something’s changed since then, and it’s unfortunate that there doesn’t seem to be a place for him right now. He’s probably the second-best rebounder on the team behind Schreiber.