Scoring or passing? Talent or experience? When it comes to point guards, Glen Miller seems to be valuing the latter in each case, which is how Harrison Gaines has ended up with a reduced role in Penn's last two games. Aron Cohen dished five assists in 25 minutes Thursday; Gaines had four fouls -- chalk up at least one to frustration -- in 15 minutes.

It seemed like Gaines had secured the spot before stepping on campus -- and he essentially had. Before the season, Miller and his staff were telling anyone who would listen that Gaines was going to start and that he would wow them all. But Miller acknowledged after the Elon game that the dynamics at the position have changed. Gaines has lost that favor, at least for the time being.

"We were high on Harrison," Miller said. "But he's a young point guard ... He's learning, he's getting to see a lot from the bench, and Aron's done a good job of organizing us in practice, getting us into [our] offense, and on the defensive end he's done some good things too ... Right now Aron has more experience and that experience has come to the forefront."

Putting both of them on the floor wouldn't make much sense because it would require keeping a better scorer -- Mike Kach, for example -- on the bench. So who should the every-day point guard be come Feb. 1? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Thursday's game had the feel of a bad dinner party. Not as many people showed up as you would have liked, and everyone couldn't wait to get out of dodge once it was over.

The most-beleagured-award goes to Elon, though. The team drove from Chattanooga to Philadelphia after losing the night of the 18th; after losing to Penn, the team packed up for a bus ride that night to Charlotteville to play Virginia tomorrow afternoon. Three games in five days and 1,600 travel miles, according to the Elon athletic department. And still no road wins this year. Next time people get down on Penn basketball, remind them that the Quakers program is good enough that it can avoid anything near that scheduling hell (thanks to the Big 5, Drexel, preseason tournaments in Philadelphia and eager-to-play schools sprinkled throughout Jersey). Give some holiday thanks for that.

Phoenix coach Ernie Nestor said he made the decision to bus the entire trip because of "economics." No kidding.

Not that the Quakers were riding on easy street, either. Miller praised his team for getting by during finals on miniscule doses of sleep and practice and still coming ready to play against Elon. Brian Grandieri called the last two weeks "miserable" and did his best to expedite the postgame proceedings. When Tyler Bernardini began to respond to the final question with an anecdote from his high school days, Grandieri slapped his leg, laughed, and gave the freshman a wrap-this-thing-up look. Bernardini obliged, and the Quakers were mercifully out the door, free to enjoy their first winning streak of the season.

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.

Harvard once again one-upped the rest of the Ivy League -- just like it did on early decision -- by revamping and expanding its financial aid program. (Yale did its best to play catchup.) At some point, will Harvard's advantages in this department (a roughly $36 billion endowment) give it an edge over the rest of the conference when it comes to convincing recruits to leave scholarships on the table? Or will it force everyone to up their commitment and thereby help the League? I lean toward the latter. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

A few more thoughts from the Monmouth game: Overall, it was probably the best basketball the Quakers have played outside of the first half against North Carolina. There were downers; they still struggled to get the ball into the post without turning it over, and point guard play was erratic. But they hit 50% from the floor and didn't turn the ball over nearly as much in the second half, which should be encouraging.

My one prediction for winter break is that we'll see a few more players grab time in the frontcourt, like freshman Conor Turley did. Glen Miller said after the game that Penn had to adjust and spread the floor in the second half, because in one-on-one situations down low Monmouth was getting the better of every play. The main culprits there were Jack Eggleston and Justin Reilly.

He also said he was pleased that his team didn't seem to be as reliant on the three-pointer as it was earlier this year, and he suggested that he would like to see the Quakers take fewer threes in the future, too.

The biggest question mark of the night was Harrison Gaines' lack of minutes, and I don't really have an explanation there.

Kevin Egee wasn't with the team at Monmouth, and seperately, I spotted Remy Cofield on crutches outside Franklin Field today, so there's two more items to keep an eye on in the coming days.

Monmouth-Penn also gets the award for 'smallest media contingent ever' -- two DP reporters, myself included, and one from the Ashbury Park Press in the Hawks' weight room. Aaawkward.

A couple thoughts after last night's game at Lafayette:

I am really starting to think that Harrison Gaines is the most important player on the Quakers. Grandieri might know the offense inside and out, but Gaines is the spark that gets everything going. Moreover, he practically cannot be subbed out -- at least not until Kevin Egee and Aron Cohen prove they can play defense and control the offense without turning it over. It seems that Gaines' play -- more than that of any other player -- is very closely correlated with the Quakers' success.

Last night, Lafayette tough perimeter defense and good interior help gave Gaines a lot of trouble. He wasn't able to pass the ball inside with ease and he wasn't able to use his quickness to get inside. He had an awful game -- got beat on defense a few times and made some very poor decisions on offense -- but experience is a good teacher.

Just look at Mike Kach. The senior had to face the same perimeter defense that Gaines did and is probably just a little more athletic. But he made the right decisions and was crafty enough to have a great game. He had to create his own shot all game, and when he wasn't able to, he found the open man and crashed the boards. A great all-around game from him.

Here are the +/- numbers from last night. Minutes played are in parentheses, and the season total is the last number:

Grandieri: -13 (35) -22

Kach: -3 (25) -31

Votel: 0 (3) -4

Eggleston: -8 (31) -10

Reilly: -4 (13) -7

Gaines: -6 (28) +22

Cohen: -3 (15) -31

Schreiber: -2 (6) +6

Bernardini: -4 (25) +6

Lewis: -4 (5) +3

Cofield: -6 (6) -10

Egee: -5 (8) -28

What a rough game to watch, as Penn loses its third game in as many tries. After the overtime loss to Drexel, you had to be pretty confident in the Quakers' chances of not seeing to drastic dropoff from last season as well as being the favorite in the Ivy League. But two games later, this squad is reeling.

What was most troubling was the defensive effort from Penn.

For a team that allows 29 points per game and 48 percent shooting from the three point line, I can't imagine how a 1-3-1 defense was the best option defensively.

The Red and Blue played that set - with the point guard up top, big man in the middle with someone on either side of him and an athletic guard or swingman patrolling the back line - almost the whole game. And as a result, the defense allowed Howard to shoot 22 threes, making 12 of them. Many of these came from the corner, the area of the court that is traditionally most succeptible to threes in the 1-3-1 scheme.

Still, some execution would have prevented the onslaught that ensued. The Bison put up 80 points on Penn after averaging 56 in their first two losses to Duquesne (129-59) and Virginia (92-53).

Howard shot 57 percent not only by hitting wide open threes, but also beating Penn defenders off of the dribble. Quakers forwards seemed a step to slow against the small Bison side, and they conversely couldn't use their size to their advantage. Penn inside was not particularly strong or intimidating, and recorded no blocks (after altering nine shots in the first two games).

And yet what was even more disturbing was the lack of communication.

Howard players were left wide open, and not just for three, but often under the basket. Whenever players screened, or crossed each other, Penn defenders struggled to cope, for example two defenders heading to the same offensive player on an off-the-ball screen.

This miscommuncation manifested itself on the offensive side as well. The Quakers had 14 turnovers from eight different guys - Grandieri was the only player who played over five minutes that didn't give one away (Howard had four such players). Many of these were not so much bad passes, but bad decisions - throwing a pass into heavy traffic or to a place that a cutter wasn't heading.

Key stats:

Read Monday's paper to hear captain Brian Grandieri's strong words following the surprising loss.

Penn had its chances down the stretch to win the game, but in the end, Drexel just made more big shots. A lot of that was due to the fact that the Quakers were not getting the ball to the right guys in the right spots. When they most needed shooters on the floor, there were none to be found.

Tyler Bernardini, tentatively labeled "maybe the best shooter" on the team, played four minutes total. Aron Cohen, who had the hot hand in the game, didn't even attempt a shot in overtime. But six of the final nine treys the Quakers attempted were from big men Jack Eggleston and Brennan Votel (and of those six, they made only one). Not having Darren Smith out late definitely hurt the Quakers' versatility, but it was still hard to swallow watching five guys stand on the perimeter and the center taking the shot.

I thought Harrison Gaines was the Quakers' third-best player out there. He was very patient in the half-court, showed some deft passing and a nice handle, and was solid in man defense. Three dimes and a steal in 13 minutes is more than enough for a first outing. While I thought he made a premature exit, it was probably the right move if Miller took him out in favor of experience.

Speaking of experience, Brian Grandieri stepped up when he had to. At first, things looked shaky and Miller even sat him for a long stretch in the first half. But around midway into the second, he seemed to shift a few gears up, and grabbed some big offensive boards, got in the lane, and got to the line. Before the game, Miller said that he wasn't sure if Grandieri "would have to score 18 to 20 a game or if he was even capable of that." Well, he scored 23 (8-14 FG, 7-12 FT) and was the main reason Penn got back into the game.

On the bright side, the Quakers' defense looked very sharp in the second half. The team did a good job of sealing off the leaks from the first half. While in zone, they rotated better to cover the corners and rebounded well, and in man they were generally tight and disciplined. Nonetheless, it's hard to win a game shooting 31/22/50 (FG/3PT/FT). The right guys need to be able to get the right looks, and someone is going to have to emerge as a viable isolation threat.