Chronicowls '12, Temple-Villianova

This is our ciTy.  So read the final rollout yesterday at the Liacouras Center during Temple’s  BigFive matchup with Villanova. Fans attending the game yesterday were reminded throughout of Villanova’s unwillingness to support Temple’s bid for membership in the Big East. The Cherry Crusade, Temple's  student section, came out in strong numbers (as did the Pep band) and were clever in their rollouts (below are some of the better ones).

You're scared to make this a conference game

VILLAINova
Nova Law can't add points to This score
Villanova: Latin for Liar
Nova says jump, Big East asks how high?

The best from the student section came with just under a minute remaining in the game (I thought a bit premature but others thought it timely), when the Cherry Crusade broke out in the customary victory chant of “I believe we have won…”. And so we had. Over local rival Villanova.

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The charged atmosphere inside the Liacouras Center was sparked by a stirring rendition of the National Anthem by Temple student (and former Diamond Gem) Chelsea Wargo.

Chelsea has sung the National Anthem at least three times before a Temple hoops game – we certainly hope it wasn’t her last. Catch the ending here.

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A solid performance from the Owls. Ramone Moore had a career-high 32 points, including 14 of 15 from the foul line. Only 10 turnovers. And holding their own on the boards against a taller Villanova team, led by Hollis-Jefferson’s 14 rebounds.  Both sides were cold-shooting, especially in the first half. During an eight-minute stretch, Villanova scored but one field goal, and Temple could open only a four-point lead.

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A sellout crowd was announced. Saw a bunch of unfilled seats, but I guess I’m nit-picking. Those with tickets who didn’t attend missed an entertaining Philly BigFive college basketball game. Attractive home schedule this season, with Xavier and a much-improved St. Joe’s squad coming in to the Liacouras Center for Saturday games. I expect a few more sellouts. The Liacouras Center is a fabulous place to take in a basketball game. You don't have to take just my word on it. The ESPN broadcaster said so during the game telecast. And let’s not forget Duke at the Wells Fargo Center  and Maryland at the Palestra.

For the most part, a classy display from the Temple faithful.  On the lesser side, The Pep Band drowned out the Villanova cheerleaders performance (it was their only one) during a timeout, and the student section disregarded their instruction sheet and shouted “Sucks” after the introduction of the Villanova starters.  Instructions for the Cherry Crusade are to turn their back to the court during the introduction of the opposing team’s lineup, and to stand in complete silence (silence=unnerving). Let’s see how long it takes for this to become standard practice.

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I’m certain the sellout crowd was a contributing factor, but walking through the concourse during intermission was a particular challenge. I heard one fan say it brought to mind the narrow concourses at the Spectrum.  At one point, what I thought was one  long beer  line snaking through the concourse turned out to be TWO long lines, one for the rest room and another for the beer kiosk. I’m a regular at the Liacouras Center and even I was confused.

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The Diamond Gems were not in mid-season form last night. Here they are in full form, at the 2011 national championships.

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The spread had Temple favored by 8.5 points. During the last seven minutes of the game, Temple’s  lead was between 7 and 11. Those oddsmakers were right on the mark, again!

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Last night’s post-game wrap-up took place at Bar Ferdinand. In Northern Liberties, less than 10 minutes from the Liacouras Center. Recommended for its conviviality, food, and Spanish wines. Fine selection of tapas. So much fun you could easily run up the tab.

2010-11 Season Recap in Video

From the blog The T Stands Alone, here's a video of the 2010-11 season worth watching.

Good Times to Roll Again in 2012 for Owls Hoops?

The blog MidMajor Madness offers previews of the 2011-1012 college basketball season. In a recent post, the blog offered its view on Temple's prospects next year. Color them rosy.

Chronicowls '11, Post 11 (Temple-LaSalle)

Very entertaining, and tight, game yesterday. More than 20 lead changes. The student section, which was depleted because spring break had emptied the campus, didn't break into their "I believe we have won" chant until the final 30 seconds of the game (if you're unfamiliar with the chant, see video above). 14 times the Owls played at home this season, and 13 times we heard the chant ( the Owls won all fourteen home games, but the Georgetown game went down to the final shot, see video below). Temple leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense (allowing 61 points per game) but defense was decidedly absent from yesterday's game. First time this season the Owls reached 90 points. Temple had earned fans a taco at Qdoba midway through the second half , and LaSalle had 61 points with 11 minutes remaining in the game. The game's key stat: 19 assists and only 7 turnovers for Temple. The Owls rank third in the A-10 and 39th nationally with 11.5 turnovers per game this season.

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A 24-win regular season is surely impressive. So why not a higher ranking? Quite simply because the Owls had a soft schedule - only one team in the top 30 has had an easier schedule - and the Owls have beaten only two schools in the top 50 RPI rankings (Georgia and Georgetown). And only six games against teams in the top 50 (by comparison, Villanova has had 14 games against top 50 teams). And the Owls played six games against teams that weren't even among the top 250.
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22 wins in a row at home. Very impressive. Last loss at home was in December 2009, to Kansas, ranked #1 at the time.
Coach Dunphy's fourth consecutive season with at least 20 wins.
To receive a #5 seed like last year, Temple undoubtedly will need to win the A-10 tournament. If the tournament holds to form (highly unlikely), Temple and Xavier will meet in the final next Sunday, in Atlantic City.
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The Diamond Gems brought back alumni Gems to celebrate their 20 years of dancing. I didn't realize the Gems were organized before the Liacouras Center opened, they surely were one of the first college dance squads performing at basketball and football games. Dance teams have evolved into more than a spirit squad to entertain, energize and inspire - just like basketball and football, there are national competitions, clinics and camps. You should know that the nationally ranked Temple University Diamond Gems will be hosting a College Dance Team Prep Clinic on Sunday, March 27, 2011 for high school and college dancers who strive to be a part of a college dance team in their future or who wish to work on their technique and style.

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Crowd of 8154. Respectable. Attendance continues to be disappointing, in light of the entertaining product on the floor. For 14 home games, crowds averaged fewer than 6000 per game. One sellout (St. Joe's) and five crowds that would not have filled the capacity of McGonigle Hall (3900). At halftime the 1969 Temple NIT Championship team was introduced as the newest members of the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame. That team was responsible for my becoming a Temple basketball loyalist, as I was in my freshman year on north Broad Street.
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Saturday was Senior day. Lavoy Allen played his final game at Liacouras Center. He was one of coach Dunphy's first recruits, and had a distinguished basketball career. And unlike many of today's college players, he played all four years of his eligibility. Lavoy Allen scored a career high 24 points, and recorded his fifth straight double-double. And while technically not a senior, Dutch Gaitley played his final regular-season game at Temple. Dutch's story is not the usual one - I commented that he's not a senior - Dutch has already graduated from college (cum laude from Monmouth) where he played for three years, and is now attending graduate school at Temple where he decided to join the team for his fourth and final year of playing eligibility. Dutch started yesterday's game (classy move by Coach Dunphy). It was not , by the way, Dutch's first time in the starting lineup in his college career - he was on the floor at tip-off 42 times during his three-year playing career at Monmouth.
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Graduate student Dutch Gaitley,along with junior Jake Godino and freshman Jimmy McDonnell make up "The Parliament". The trio are the vocal bench supporters of the Cherry and White, and have coined themselves The Parliament. They arrived at the name due to its meaning - the literary collective noun for a group of owls (you know, like a school of fish). They also write a blog (see The Parliament in My Blog List along the sidebar).
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In a welcome change, purchasers of 50-50 tickets (yesterday supporting the track and field team) were publicly thanked by the PA announcer after the winning number was announced. In an unwelcome continuing development, the PA announcer gave his play-by-play of the Dunkin Donuts time-out contest. Far from entertaining, it's annoying and insulting to the crowd (all of whom can follow the action of the two students dribbling down the floor and trying tobe the first to make a layup and foul shot.
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Closing banquet for Chronicowls followers, commenters, and bloggers was held at WineO, at 5th and Poplar in Northern Liberties. Owner-chef Giovanni was accommodating to our larger-than-normal group. Give it a try - good food, reasonable prices, excellent wine selection, and generous cocktails. And less than 10 minutes from the Temple campus.

Preview of Temple's Final Home Game

For a number of reasons (all of them good) I haven't been to a Temple home game since January 19. And what a home season it's been.
The Owls enter this season's final home game with an unblemished record at Liacouras Center. Today's opponent, LaSalle, is a 14-point underdog, yet coming off two impressive wins. In February 2009, LaSalle came into the Liacouras Center an 11-point underdog and, well, see below...
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"I can't believe what I've just seen" was the prevailing sentiment at the end of last night's game. From both Temple and LaSalle fans. And there were a bunch of infiltrators last night among us. A decent turnout of Explorer fans boosted the attendance at the Liacouras Center above 6000 for only the fourth time this year. On-street parking was at a minimum last night, so the parking garage became our last, and best , resort. Getting out in a timely fashion was not an issue, as we made a stop at the Draught Horse (on the ground floor of the Liacouras Center) for a post-game beverage.
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The Diamond Gems, with their dance number in the second-half, gave the best performance by a Temple student on the floor last night. I just don't know what to say about, or how to explain, last night's result. Certainly not what the oddsmakers had in mind - the Owls were favored by 11 points. It's not as if Temple played poorly (OK, it wasn't up to their standards but they weren't sloppy with the ball as they had more assists than turnovers) or that LaSalle had an exceptional game (Rodney Green did, but one has to expect that from LaSalle's best player). It just seems as if the Owls made poor choices in their shot selection, and as a result their field-goal percentage was below their season average, and Temple players went to the foul line for only 7 shots. Not much else to which I can point, and I'm not going to dig much deeper, because it will only serve as a reminder of last night's outcome. If you find this Chronicowls posting to be briefer than most, I trust you'll understand.
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Temple has to win Saturday at Dayton (4pm tip-off, game telecast locally by Comcast) to have any chance of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. A bye into the Atlantic 10 tournament is still likely(awarded to top-four regular-season finishers), but probably two upset wins would be necessary to capture the conference tournament and thus secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. While 4 of Temple's 10 losses were to teams in the top 15 in RPI rankings, three have been to teams OUT of the top 100 (including last night). And Temple does not have a win over a team in the top 25. So, their resume (to use current bracketology-speak) for an at-large bid is light.
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Last home game of this season next Thursday night, against St. Joe's. Let's get a big turnout for that game, the Owls will benefit from our support.

Temple-St. Joe's - The Hawk (Will Never?) Die

Was among crowd of over 10,000 this afternoon to watch the Owls' 9th straight victory over the Hapless Hawks. After a 2-0 lead, it was literally and figuratively downhill and six feet under for the Hawk from there, as Temple led by 12 at half, 16 on a few occasions and won handily by 14. Special mentions to Lavoy Allen who surpassed the legendary John Baum in total rebounds, the HOF inductees (Eddie, Aaron and Rick honored at half) and student section for their creativity in rollouts (five stages of grief for St. Joseph's, see video below), T-shirts (RIP Hawk) and rousing renditions of I Believe ending with the Hawk is dead. Four players in double figures, led by Moore (17) and with Wyatt finishing one short with 9. We enjoyed an Owl win but admit a bit of wistfulness and sadness for the passing of the Hawk and for the sorry state of the Hawks. Enough of that. Bring on the Cameron Crazies and the Blue Devils.

guest post by Jimmy C

Post-game Cherry and White gathering of Chronicowls commenters and readers

Temple-Rhode Island (Call for Comments)

I won't be attending this game (which also features Hooter's Birthday Party) so I invite those of you at the game to post your comments below.

Temple basketball fans (and occasional commenters and bloggers) at the Pub Webb celebrating the win over Rhode Island.

Chronicowls '11, Post 10 (Temple-LaSalle)

There must not be  many  Division 1 college basketball facilities like Gola Arena.  The fans enter at court level. Walked in yesterday, several minutes before tip-off, and found myself shoulder-to-shoulder with Temple cheerleaders. And just several feet away, Temple players were in a layup drill.
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Another slow start for the Owls, who went the first seven minutes of the game without a basket. They were fortunate to be behind only 10-5 when Fernandez made a three-pointer for that first basket.  Then, LaSalle scored but 4 points in the final seven minutes of the half, and the Owls outscored LaSalle 16-4 to take a 9-point halftime lead. Twelve Explorer turnovers in the first half helped the Owls keep it close until Khalif Wyatt  took control of the game. In the final nine minutes of the half, Wyatt scored as many points (11) as did the Explorers.  

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For stretches of the game, Lavoy Allen seemed absent. But his final stats of 14 points and 7 rebounds suggest a solid, if not spectacular game. And congratulations to Allen, who became only the fifth temple player to nab 1000 rebounds in his career. Before the season is finished, Allen is sure to become the Owls’ all-time leading rebounder.

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Congratulations, also, to Coach Dunphy, who earned his 100^th win at Temple.

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LaSalle places high value upon its band. Where else can one find the pep band in the first few rows right at midcourt? But what’s with the cowbell?

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Question: does a steal count as a turnover against the team from whom the ball was stolen?

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Five Temple turnovers in the final 100 seconds of the game left the outcome unsettled.

The oddsmakers’ spread was 6.  A Lasalle basket in the final second of the game meant that the Explorers beat the spread.  Right on the mark again. Uncanny.

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McMenamin's (in Mt. Airy) was the choice for post-game gustatory delights. Plenty of college and pro basketball on the TVs, but the one that caught my eye was replaying Liverpool's Premier League match from earlier in the day.

Chronicowls '11, Post 9 (Temple-St. Joe's)

Walked up to the box office at the Palestra this morning and bought tickets at the going price. Those ducats entitled us to seats in the 12th row just off midcourt. Others must have been intrigued, or enticed,  by the pre-noon tip-off. Decent turnout from both schools, including pep bands and cheerleading squads. More than 7300 fans in attendance. And for the day and evening, more than 30,000 fans in Philadelphia will have watched one of three college basketball games. Removes any doubt over whether this city is still a college basketball town.  Other than Syracuse, I'm hard-pressed to name any other city in the US where 30,000 people will watch college basketball over the course of a day.
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Turnover free game, only 14 combined   20 assists for the Owls, and only 8 turnovers. Ramone Moore had an extraordinary floor game, recording 8 assists without a single turnover. Lavoy Allen has now recorded back-to-back double-doubles. The Owls never trailed in the game.
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Spread was 16. Final margin was 18. Oddsmakers right on it again.
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From comments overheard during the game, the St. Joe's faithful are losing patience with Coach Martelli. A talented group of freshmen were on the floor for the Hawks, but they're likely two seasons away from having a large impact.
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Couple of interesting ways to follow Temple basketball. On Twitter, @Owlified and @OwlScoop_com often will provide a running commentary during the game. And  there are several live bloggers. Look at the right-hand side of this blog for other blogs you might like to follow. There's a larger community of Temple hoops fans than I realized.

Chronicowls '11, Post 8 (Temple-UNC Charlotte)

The 1:30pm tweet from Temple read: ALERT more info : Eve classes after 5 canceled. Facilities/clinics open. Men's bball game v Charlotte 7pm LiacourasCtr *ON*.  Hmmm, classes canceled, game on? Former Governor Rendell would be pleased to learn this news.
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The game against Charlotte was broadcast on a Comcast cable channel. Good viewing, if you look past the absence of HD.  The Owls put in a strong performance. Coach Dunphy was interviewed on the post-game recap show. He should make more TV appearances.
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In the most recent blog post of Chronicowls, I commented on Lavoy Allen's breakout game in his freshman year,  against Charlotte. Tonight's play from Allen may be his breakout game in his senior year.  A double-double. His 30th career double-double (I can't imagine that there's  three Owls who have more). We're looking for many more.
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19 assists, and but 9 turnovers. That ratio of better than 2:1 will win most games. So will four scorers in double figures.
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More than 2,600 were in attendance, according to the offical box score.  I figure that the Broad St. subway was the way to travel. Those at the game were witness to Temple's 17th home win in a row.

A Look Back to When Lavoy Allen was Taking Shots

With Charlotte coming to the Liacouras Center this Wednesday, let's take a look back to a Lavoy Allen breakout game...

February 27, 2008
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Former coach Chaney often said defense wins games, and that's it's OK to win ugly.  The Owls reverted to Chaney-ball last night, with a stifling defense, to top Charlotte 75-61.

Dionte Christmas, who we know by his scoring prowess, played his best defense of the year, holding Charlotte's leading scorer, and one of the best players in the conference, to just three points.  Christmas was also the Owls leading scorer. In un-Chaney like fashion, the Owls shot very well, 51% from the field, 53% from three-point distance, and 82% from the foul line. Just for comparison, Charlotte shot 31% from the field.

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The Owls win last night was ugly because they were sloppy - 16 turnovers.  It would better put that Tyndale was sloppy, he had almost as many turnovers (6) as points (9).  It speaks volumes of how far this team has progressed when Temple can produce a 13-point win over a solid team on a night when Tyndale doesn't reach double figures.

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Freshman Lavoy Allen (Coach Dunphy's top recruit for this season) had one of his best games of the year, 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. He's been reluctant to shoot this year (Nelson says it takes most of freshman year to build confidence), but not last night, Allen took more shots (12) than anyone else (including Christmas) on the Temple squad.

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The announced  attendance was just over 4000. No beer lines, suffice it to say.  The 4000 figure must be tickets sold, most of us there last night figured there couldn't have been more than 3000 in the crowd.

Either way, rather paltry  following - I guess it's going to take at least another year for the fans who left during the down years to return.  That includes the student body, whose section last night was at best two-thirds full.  But the pep band was particularly spirited last night, as were the performances from the Diamond Gems. The Gems' appearances were improved by the disappearance (we hope for good) of those hideous tan (I think they're more like flesh-colored)  shoes that make them look like they're dancing in bare feet.

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The win last night was the 15th  for the Owls this season. I'll admit that I was wrong. In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that Temple would do well to win 10 games this season, and that 15 would be a stretch.

Never would I have expected that the Owls would be playing at this point of the season not only for a winning record but a BYE into the A10 tournament.

Last night's win means that Temple remains tied for third place in the A10.  The top four finishers earn a bye into the tournament, meaning that three wins, rather than four, in the conference tournament (to be held in Atlantic City, by the way , we should consider a  road trip) will produce a conference tournament championship, and most importantly, an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

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In the all-important RPI ratings , Temple now sits at 81. Considering that they were hovering around 150 at the beginning of the season, I'd say there's been considerable progress. Next opponent, St. Joe's, is now at 44, and also one of the teams ahead of Temple in the A10 standings. Next stop, Palestra, Sunday night, to be part of a sellout crowd.

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None of the readers of  Chronicowls was of assistance in my request to learn the origins of Charlotte's nickname, so here you are...

The nickname, the 49ers, was chosen in recognition of the importance of the year 1949 in the history of the University. UNC Charlotte, which began as an off-cam pus center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, would have died in 1949 had Bonnie Cone and her supporters not convinced the N.C. Legislature that Charlotte needed a permanent college. Charlotte College was established that year. Additionally, the campus is located on N.C. Highway 49, and Charlotte has a rich gold mining history -- the term "49ers" symbolizes gold mining. A bronze statue of the 49ers Gold Miner sits in front of the Reese Administration building on campus. The statue recalls the region's history as a gold mining center and symbolizes the pioneering spirit and determination that has led to UNC Charlotte's dramatic growth.

Nick, good guess about  49 having to do with the latitude.  At least you proffered a theory.

No D for X

The tweet from OwlScoop following yesterday's nationally televised game best recapped the preceding two hours:  "Good shooting, awful transition D, mental lapses, and Allen is still MIA."
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If you were unaware of the outcome of yesterday's Temple-Xavier matchup, and were told that the Owls  recorded 20 assists against 9 turnovers, and made 11 three-point shots (a season high), surely you would have expected a Temple victory. Yet the Owls lost by 11.  In the last 15 minutes of the game, Lavoy Allen, Juan Fernandez, and Ramone Moore did NOT score a basket. And Xavier was the first opponent this season to make more than half of its shots. 'Nuff said.  Scootie Randall had a breakout game (career high 28 points) and Khalif Wyatt posted another solid  performance.
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Not sure what this says, but Temple has lost 80% of the time this season (1-4) when recording 10 or less free throws made.  This stat is courtesy of  templefight.com , a web site worth visiting if you appreciate rich detail about all things Owl basketball.
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I had a good feeling going into yesterday's game. Earlier in the day, Villanova was impressive in a win over #3 ranked Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, and my beloved Liverpool Football Club won its first game under its new coach. The trifecta wasn't meant to be, I guess. And congratulations to Penn, who broke their four-year winless streak against Big Five opponents.
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Onto Wednesday night, when the Owls return home to face Charlotte, in search of their 17th consecutive home victory.

Dunphy's 1st Win at Temple Against Top 20 Team (Xavier)

January 16, 2008

Maybe, just maybe, last night we saw the start of a program turnaround. I do know that we saw a spectacular performance last night against a top 20 team that Temple made look ordinary.As if to underscore my comments last week after the Duke game, the Owls last night had TWICE as many assists to turnovers, 21-11. That, coupled with strong defense with which  even coach Chaney would have been pleased, accounted for the strong performance and resounding victory.

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Too bad there were only 4000 fans to witness it (we did our part, we gathered a larger than usual contingent  for the evening that included a pre-game meal and adult beverages at McCrossan Tavern in Fairmount) but to be totally fair about the size of the crowd  the Temple students are still on holiday break.

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The Owls also had balanced scoring, four players scoring in double figures. While Sergio did not score double figures, he had TEN rebounds and FOUR blocked shots in his most impressive performance of his Temple career. I don't know what he did differently last night (he stayed out of foul trouble as well)  but I hope that Dunphy does, and coaches him to many repeat performances.

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The Owls next home game is a Big Five matchup next Wednesday against Penn. In between, the Owls travel to the Gateway to the West to meet the St. Louis University Billikens(should be a win, but the Owls don't play well on the road).   By the way, who knows what a Billiken is?   Hint, it's not  a dog, it is one of the truly unique mascots in college athletics, and it's  a symbol of good luck.

Chronicowls '11, Post 7 (Temple-Penn)

Penn had cut a 14-point Temple lead to 6 early in the second half , and the Owl supporters were getting restless. The oddsmakers’ 17 point spread on the game seemed way off the mark.  And then Temple went on one of its characteristic runs, separating themselves from the Quakers and coasting to a (yep, you guessed it) 17-point victory. Competent at their craft, are those oddsmakers.  Ramone Moore’s two free throws in the final minute of play made 17 the winning margin AND won every ticket-holder a free taco at Qdoba.

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Khalif Wyatt had a breakout game, leading Temple with 27 points. That made Wyatt the 7^th Owl to be the high scorer of a game this season. Lots of talent on this team.  Wyatt also recorded a team high 5 steals last night, and Lavoy Allen had season-high of 6 blocked shots. 

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Former Governor Ed Rendell joined nearly 8,000 fans at the Liacouras Center. Larger crowd than I expected. Good to see the suites in use, they're dark on many game nights.

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Diamond Gems were uninspired, in their outfits and performances. Must have been worn out from their recent appearance in Florida, where they competed in the College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship held at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex.  The Diamond Gems competed in the Division 1 Hip Hop Category (7^th place finish) and Division 1 Pom Category (a very respectable 4^th place finish).

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Last night the halftime entertainment once again consisted of a youth basketball game. Impressive play last night from the youngsters, including a handful of successful three-point shots. I wonder, though, why music has to be blaring out of the PA system while the game is underway. If someone insists that music must accompany halftime entertainment, then, please, turn  down  the volume.

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Former Temple great Bill Mlkvy (Owl Without a Vowel) was honored at halftime. He celebrated his 80th birthday yesterday. Looks 15 years his junior, and perpetually wears a smile. Sixty seasons ago, Bill Milkvy averaged 29 points a game, and scored 730 points. The former still stands as a school record. Only five players since Mlkvy  have scored more than 700 points in a season (and there are many more games in a season now than in Dr. Mlkvy's day). Those five are (descending from most recent): David Hawkins, Lynn Greer, Nate Blackwell, Terence Stansbury, and Hal Lear. If Mark Macon came to mind, he scored 699 points in his freshman season.

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The loss to Duquesne hurt Temple’s ranking in the polls and RPI, dropping out of the top 25 in each. A win this Saturday, in Cincinnati against Xavier, would be a huge boost. The Musketeers are the only Atlantic 10 school ahead of the Owls in the RPI rankings (read here for more).

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Lively post-game gathering at Pub Webb.  Seems like the place to be on campus on Wednesday nights. DJ spinning music, Yuenglings at a special price, and fans celebrating a hoops victory.

Penn's First Visit to Liacouras Center without Dunphy as Coach

January 23,2008
Not a whole lot to comment on last night's game - the Penn Quakers were just plain overmatched. They're weak, which perhaps speaks volumes about Fran Dunphy's coaching and recruiting capabilities - Penn's squad has fallen mightily since Dunphy left for North Broad St. To keep last night's result in perspective, St. Joe's (the Owls' next opponent) trounced Penn by 40 points. Nonetheless, the Owls now have (for the first time this season) more wins than losses.

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Returning to the TPC basketball key indicator for a moment - the Owls had almost twice as many assists (19) as turnovers (11) last night. Enough said (for now)on key indicators.

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On to some historical items (last night's game was pretty much in hand from the beginning, with the Owls jumping off to a 14-1 lead, so we occupied ourselves with some reminiscing about the good ole days for Temple Basketball). Those days were long ago - Temple has not been in the NCAA tournament since 2001, and that year was also the last time Temple won at least 20 games in a season, and the last time an Owl squad was ranked in the top 25.

And, has it really been nearly 8 years since Pepe Sanchez graduated? His senior year the Owls went 27-6, including a win over the then #1 ranked team Cincinnati, only to lose in the second round of the NCAA tournament to a mediocre Seton Hall team, a game that will be remembered most notably as the last time Scott Matlack hosted a party at his home to watch the Owls. Not that any of us are superstitious. As for Nick Scull, he became an Owl loyalist way back on March 26, 2002, when he and I took a train up to Madison Square Garden to watch the Owls in a semifinal NIT game. Temple lost to 78-77 to Memphis, in a game so exciting that Nick has now become a regular-season ticket holder. Speaking of Pepe, the last time any of us recall a celebration on Broad Street was November 20, 1998, when Pepe made three foul shots in the final seconds of the game to beat then #5 Michigan St.60-59. The Liacouras Center (some of you may recall that it was named the Apollo at Temple at that time) was full (10,000 plus) of fans for that game, many of whom ran onto the court at the end of the game, and many others carried the celebration onto Broad Street, blocking traffic in BOTH directions, and causing a scene which hasn't been seen since.

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By the way, last night's crowd (announced as 5233 but it sure seemed smaller) was the second-largest of this season  at the Liacouras Center.  At least there haven't been any lines at the beer concession, where Peggy has dutifully, and cheerfully, served us regularly.

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Last night, prior to tip-off,  Dionte Christmas was given a ball to commemorate his scoring the 1000th point of his career. Christmas is a junior, prompting a discussion of who is the leading scorer in Temple's history, and how many points did he have?  And, what is the single-season scoring record at Temple?  Mark Macon (no surprise here) had 2,609 points in his career. Dionte Christmas is not yet in the top 25, but surely will be in his senior year. Hal Lear holds the single-season record (745 in 1955-56) - just for the record, Dionte Christmas had exactly 600 points last season. Eddie Jones, a 10 plus year veteran of the NBA and surely one of the best Owl players in history (Scott mentioned last night that Jones was the best Temple player of the last 20 years), never scored 600 points in a season at Temple.

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Pathetic Twelve Minutes

Took nearly 12 minutes at the start of today's game for Temple to record its first basket (thankfully it was an away game). In that time, the Owls missed fourteen shots from the field, and committed seven fouls and six turnovers. Any fan tuning in to the telecast midway through the first half must have thought there was a typo on the screen - the score was Duquesne 20, Temple 2.
Enough said.  From that start, the outcome was predictable.

Let's look ahead to Wednesday night's Big Five matchup against Penn, at the Liacouras Center.

Chronicowls '11, Post 6 (Temple-St. Bonaventure)

Lots of positives. First half may have been the finest Temple has played this season. Made better than 60% of shots from the field. Made 7 three-pointers, out of 12 attempted. And made every foul shot. Twice as many assists (18) as turnovers (9). Ramone Moore scored 13 points in the closing five minutes of the first half. -----------------------
St. Bonaventure never had the lead. At one point around the middle of the first half, Temple's lead had been cut to one, 20-19. Temple's defense limited the Bonnies to one basket over the next six minutes, the Bonnies, The Owls then went one of their characteristic runs, outscoring the Bonnies 29-9 to take a 21-point lead at intermission.Khalif Wyatt had an outstanding game. 15 points, six assists, and but one turnover. We've become familiar with his love for shooting, last night he showed the small gathering at the Liacouras Center that he has playmaking skills as well. Five players scored in double figures. Balanced scoring once again. It's a team strength.
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When the Owls score 72 points, every ticket-holder wins a taco from Qdoba. This game was the fourth this season that the fans had earned a taco. The milestone was reached earliest in last night's game, as with 12 minutes remaining, the Owls scored their 72nd point of the evening. Those who left early because the outcome had been determined didn't miss much.The reserves had playing time, and made much of it (at least on defense). St. Bonaventure did not record a basket over the final 7 minutes of the game. Not that the Owls were doing much better, registering just one field goal in that span.
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3213 fans in attendance last night. Is there another top 25 team that draws as poorly? I just don't understand the apathy. Philadelphia, after all, is supposed to be a college basketball town. Last night was a busy night for the Big Five schools. All were in action, with St. Joe's the only school playing out of town. The Penn-LaSalle matchup at Gola Arena attracted fewer than 2000 fans. Villanova drew more than 13,000 to its game at the Wells Fargo Center.
The small crowd meant short or no lines. At the concession stands, rest rooms, and exiting the parking garage.Some consolation.
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Halfway through the season. 12-3 mark. Losses to a #9 ranked team (at Villanova) , to Texas A&M (that loss doesn't look so bad now, as Texas A&M has won 12 in a row and is ranked in the top 20) and California (that remains a bad loss). One game remaining against a ranked team (Duke). And wins against two currently ranked teams - Georgetown and Georgia. Defense has been key to Temple's success. Opponents have averaged fewer than 60 points per game, ranking Temple among the top 25 among the nation's 300 plus Division 1 schools in that category. After averaging a double-double last year (first Temple player in 40 years to do so), Lavoy Allen has had but two games thus far in which he has recorded a double-double. Fans expected more. And the Owls three-point shooting has been erratic. Last night's nine three-pointers was their second highest of the season, and it was only the fourth game they made more than five. But to keep proper perspective, 12 wins out of 15, against a difficult schedule, is more than respectable. It's impressive.
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The Comcast network will be televising next Temple game, noon on Saturday, from Pittsburgh, where the Owls will be headed for a game against Duquesne. Temple has a single game scheduled at the Palestra this season. It's January 29, against St. Joe's. The Hawks are the home team. What's unusual is morning tip-off (11am). Don't recall one of those before. Temple did have a midnight game several years back, against Villanova, at the Liacouras Center.
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The A-10 is weak this year. In the RPI rankings, Xavier is the only school besides Temple in the top 50. Temple sits today at number 20. In fact, Temple has but 6 games left against schools that are presently in the top 100 of the RPI rankings.

Lavoy Allen's Breakout Game - St. Bonaventure's 2009 visit to Liacouras

Don't know that I've ever seen this before by a Temple player. But I sure do hope that I'll see more. Lavoy Allen had a double-double in the FIRST half. 13 points and 14 (yes, you read correctly) rebounds. He went on to nab 18 rebounds for the game, setting a Liacouras Center record.
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The second largest crowd of the season. Not certain what was the draw. Surely, it was not Temple's opponent, St. Bonaventure, whose record has been just good enough to earn a spot in the bottom half of the Atlantic 10. By the way, there are probably others, but the Bonnies are the only school I 'm aware of (other than the obvious one) that features brown in its uniforms. So perhaps the crowd was attracted by the birthday celebration (for Hooter, the Temple Owl). His birthday brings out other mascots from throughout the region (including the Philly Phanatic in other years, but not this one). Like college nicknames, I thought I knew mascots, but the only ones I recognized were the Penn Quaker and the Camden Rivershark. I'm not counting the Trenton Thunder mascot because he(she?) had the word Thunder emblazoned across the front of the costume, and beyond that I couldn't make out what I was looking at. There was a lame stunt during one of the time outs in which a "gift from Phil Martelli" was brought out onto the floor - out of the box emerged - what else, the Hawk (and not the real hawk, since St. Joe's had a game at the Palestra at the same time). Of course, the Hawk was immediately confronted by the Owl , a scuffle ensued and the Owl lost his head. He wasn't seen again.
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While on the subject of heads, the Owls ran a promotion featuring a Dionte Christmas bobblehead. Perhaps that was the attraction that drew more than 7000 fans - we arrived shortly before tipoff and were shut out of our Christmas bobblehead. Al Shrier will have to stand alone on the bookshelf in my office. Maybe the bobblehead went to Dionte's head. He made only 4 out of 15 shots, in the process taking several ill-advised shots that were easily in NBA three-point range. Christmas scored 18 points to maintain his conference scoring lead (he's on track to become the first player to lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring for three seasons) but he'll have to regain his shooting stroke if the Owls are to play well into March. Christmas made one of his three-pointers with 16 minutes remaining in the game to put the Owls up by 17. It was the last Temple score for the next five minutes, during which St. Bonaventure cut the deficit down to 8, and at the same time put our departure plans on hold.
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The Owls were sloppy handling the ball. More turnovers than assists. Enough said.
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The bookmakers were on the mark, again. Temple was favored by 16 points. With four minutes left in the game, the Owls were ahead by 16.
Had their final shot of the game gone in, the winning margin would have been...16.
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Temple now has a 9-3 record in the A-10 and is tied for first in the conference with Xavier and Dayton. The Owls travel to Dayton next Saturday for a game that very likely could determine the top seed in the conference tournament. I'm told the game will be shown on Comcast Sports Network.
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Watching Juan Fernandez play invariably draws comparisons to Juan Ignacio Sánchez, better known to Philadelphians as Pepe. In the "where is he now" category, Pepe is 32 years old and playing with Real Madrid in the Spanish League. He's getting about 20 minutes per game, and as you might expect, not scoring very much but continues to be a playmaker (he averages more assists than points per game). Once again, Fernandez showed flashes of brilliance, bringing oohs and aahs from the crowd as well as heaping doses of optimism for the next four years.
Perhaps the Temple soccer coach could pick up some recruiting tips from Fran Dunphy. Temple's hoops roster includes four internationals (Olmos, Fernandez, Michael Eric (from Nigeria) and Craig Williams (from Virgin Islands).
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For the first time in years, I parked in the Liacouras Center garage. It was raw and raining at 2pm, for those of you wondering what madness had overcome me. We stayed to the final buzzer. We were out of the lot in about 15 minutes, although it sure seemed longer while we were stationary on the third level. It set back our post-game plans just a little bit. Wanting to try a new (to us) spot, we ventured to Liberties restaurant in Northern Liberties, where a large group of middle-aged men (who from their looks were either police officers or members of an Irish sporting club) had taken over the establishment. Up the street we went to Standard Tap, where we were told the kitchen wouldn't be serving for another 30 minutes. (These 2pm tipoffs leave those looking for a meal in a predicament). Wound up at North on Third, where, as in seasons past, the service, food, and ambience were first-rate. It's at the corner of 3rd and Brown Sts.
　

Chronicowls '11, Post 5 (Temple - St. Louis)

Listless. How a nearby fan described yesterday afternoon at the Liacouras Center. Apt, if describing the Temple basketball team, the Diamond Gems, and the crowd. Only the Temple pep band, small in number but large in enthusiasm, were undeserving of the label.
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Good teams find a way to win games they don't deserve, according to conventional sports wisdom. That's probably the best which can be said about the Owls performance against St. Louis University. The Owls were outrebounded by one of the poorest rebounding teams in the nation. The Owls had one stretch where they missed 11 shots in a row. Lavoy Allen committed as many fouls (4) and turnovers (4) as he scored points (4). St. Louis did not help their cause - they did not make a three-point shot. Don't recall the last time an opponent came into the Liacouras Center and failed to make a three-pointer.
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The nickname of St. Louis University is the Billiken. It's a mythical creature, like the dragon, griffin, or elf. The school newspaper describes it as a jovial creature with a broad smile, a rotund belly and a tuft of hair on top of his head. Translation: some weird member of the elf family. Or as another observer of college mascots put it, if an Ewok and a Gremlin produced offspring, you may have an idea of what a Billiken looks like. Though no one is certain of why the Billiken came to be the mascot, there are a couple of things the Billiken positively stands for: good luck, happiness and heaps of grins. Apart from a rabbit's foot, souvenirs symbolizing a Billiken are next in line for bringing you luck. Not a bad mascot to have on your side.
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As if to stir the crowd out of its somnolence, the music during time-outs was cranked up to ear-splitting levels. And, please, will someone in TU's athletic department ask the PA announcer to push away the microphone once he announces the names of the contestants during a time-out. The fans don't need a running commentary (she dribbles, he shoots, he misses). We're perfectly able to follow the action on the court. It's really no different than following the action during the game - we don't need the PA announcer to describe what we're seeing.
One of the contests during a time-out turned out to be a test of endurance for the contestants, who had to make at least 3 full-court dashes before even getting to pick up a basketball. It took the The PA announcer nearly 30 seconds to describe what the contestants had to do to win a $100 certificate to the Fresh Grocer. Nice prize, bu t next time just let the two students play out the contest and skip the explanation for the fans. We already have an idea that the first one to score a basket is the winner.
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Home team usually receives four points from the bookmakers. Familiarity with the baskets/rims is one reason. Temple made fewer than one out of three shots yesterday. Loud support from a large crowd is another reason. 3300 fans, mostly sitting on their hands. Favorable calls from the referees is yet another reason. Surely, the referees were worth all four of those points yesterday, as most of the late-game calls favored the home team.
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Fernandez was on the bench in street clothes. Injured his knee in a practice. His presence was missed. The Owls only recorded seven assists. His status for Wednesday's game against St. Bonaventure is uncertain.
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Pub Webb (on Cecil B. Moore Avenue) turned out to be an ideal post-game spot. Just a block walk from the Liacouras Center. Available table for a party of six, large-screen TV for Eagles viewing, and meaty chicken wings (the mild sauce is on the spicy side, can't imagine what the "atomic" sauce is like).
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Next game is Wednesday night, against a St. Bonaventure squad that has racked up 9 wins already, including one over St. John's. Students will still be on break, so I'll be surprised if the attendance tops 4000. Too bad, because the Owls are one of the top teams in the country.

A Look Back at Christmas (Five Months of It)

There hasn't been a home game for more than two  weeks, so no posts in that time. But I thought I'd try something different. The Owls will be  in New York City tomorrow night to match up against Fordham for their first game of 2011. Below is  a post from February 2009, when Fordham was a much weaker side than now, and visited the Liacouras Center.
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The oddsmakers are brilliant. The spread for last night's Temple-Fordham game was 26. With just under 7 minutes remaining in the game, the Owls' lead was , yup, you guessed it, 26. And so, for the final 7 minutes, the lead went up and down, never more than 28, nor less than 22.
And, at the end, after Juan Fernandez scored his first points of the game, the Owls beat the spread. The oddsmakers should be our weather forecasters, and the weather forecasters should be our oddsmakers. The world would be a better place.
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For a betting person, 26 points is a lot to be conceding. I would have taken the points (as would have everyone polled in last night's informal survey in Section 114 of the Liacouras Center). With seven minutes remaining in the first half, the score was tied at 18. The Owls were sloppy and playing without any intensity. At that point, a win of any margin was in doubt. Fordham went the next six minutes without a basket, and the Owls led at half-time by 11.
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Intermission brought out two pairs of salsa dancers (among the best halftime entertainment this season) and a pitch from the head of Temple's Transplant Service to be an organ donor (no, February is not National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month , it's April, but hey, it's not likely that there will be nearly 4000 fans in the Liacouras Center stands in April). Come to think of it, it's not likely that there would be 3800 fans in attendance for a Wednesday night game against a Fordham team with 20 losses already on their record - the official attendance was 3837, but there couldn't have been more than 2500 fans in the stands.
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The Owls' play was considerably better in the second half. All in all, a decent effort (15 assists to 10 turnovers), balanced scoring, good shooting (50% from the field, although Christmas hasn't regained his stroke) and tight defense.
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In my office, I have an Al Shrier bobblehead (Al Shrier has served the athletic program at Temple in a PR capacity for more than 50 years).
This Sunday, if I'm among the first 3000 fans (I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't 3000 fans in attendance) I'll add a Dionte Christmas bobblehead to my collection (hey, I know it's not Cole Hamels, but I have to give Temple credit for their Five Months of Christmas campaign, it's clever and well-executed.)
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We heard the winning 50-50 raffle ticket announced last night. Once again, we were advised by the student-athlete sellers, (it was the men's soccer team last night, so of course we were full supporters) to listen for the announcement at halftime. We know better. We listened carefully during the first time out AFTER intermission. No announcement. But our patience and attentiveness was rewarded during the next timeout. We missed the winning number by TWO.
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Temple's record now stands at 16 up, and 9 down. Five games left in the regular season. Before last night's game, Temple was 34th in the RPI rankings. That is their best ranking in more than 5 years. An at-large bid to March Madness remains a possibility, but not a distinct one. 22 wins (including the A10 tournament) is what it will take (I believe) to earn a bid, if the Owls do not win the Atlantic 10 conference tournament.
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For a 17-year old just out of high school and living in a foreign country, Juan Fernandez handles himself with lots of poise on the court. And off it as well, as we learned last night at the post-game spot (St. Stephen Green, 17th and Green) at which we had gathered for some gustatory delights. We had a good meal there recently, and although the service was at best uneven, we thought we would give it another chance (it's but five minutes from the Liacouras Center, and parking is relatively easy). Well, the food was good, but the kitchen was very slow in getting our orders out ( it seems to us that the kitchen gets overwhelmed easily), and our server not especially attentive. But she did notice our Temple apparel, and proudly noted to us that 1) she's a Temple student and 2) there's a Temple basketball player in our midst.
Sure enough, it was Juan Fernandez (with a soft drink in front of him), and on our way out, we stopped by his table to convey our wishes for a successful academic and playing career at Temple. He and his dining companions seemed very appreciative of our gesture. I'd like to think that years from now, he'll look back on his early days in the US (and at Temple) and recall the advice and encouragement he received from some fans after a game at a bar long forgotten.