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.

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

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 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.

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 4 (Temple- Northern Illinois)

Day after finals week. Week before Christmas. Didn't expect much of a crowd (over-under was 4200). But seriously, only 3100 fans? The crowd at the Villanova-Delaware game (not exactly a marquee match-up either) at the Wells Fargo Center was announced as 12,000. Certainly respectable. Leaves me perplexed as to the reasons behind such a wide gap in fan suppoer between the basketball programs of Temple and Villanova.
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The Liacouras Center has been friendly. Counting yesterday, 13 straight wins at home for the Owls.
Not very often the nation's leading scorer, at 28 points per game, comes into the Center. Xavier Silas scored 27 in an impressive performance. Didn't have much of a supporting cast, however.
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Yesterday's key stat: 21 assists, only 9 turnovers. Second straight game in which the Owls have had twice as many assists as turnovers. Lavoy Allen had his breakout game of this season, scoring 22 points. Michael Eric was one basket short of a double-double. Impressive when one considers that his playing time was limited by foul trouble to only 12 minutes. Several not-so-highlights. Only 2 three-pointers, none in the second half. 10 games into the season Temple's 3-point shooting has been, to put it kindly, subpar. Only 25% of their three-point shots have gone through the net. Their free throw shooting has been, well to put it bluntly, average. Yesterday, the Owls missed fifteen.
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We heard the announcement of the winning number of the 50-50 raffle. Of course, we didn't purchase tickets this time. If anyone from the Athletic Department is reading this post, I ask you to inform the student - athletes selling the raffle tickets that the announcement of the winning ticket is NOT at halftime, but at the first timeout following intermission.
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Three weeks until the next home game, so Chronicowls will be taking a holiday break. Despite the disappointing outcomes at the tournament at Disney World last month, the Owls have a chance to be 10-game winners before January. Reaching that milestone will require a win December 30 over Villanova on its home floor.
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It's certainly too early in the season to be paying much attention to the RPI rankings. But they're useful as far as getting a picture of a team's comparative performance to date. Temple is ranked 19. Ahead of Villanova. And the number one RPI ranked team is Georgetown.