Chronicowls '12 Temple-Duquesne

A standout shooting performance overcame a slow start to lead the Cherry and White hoopsters to their 10th consecutive victory, and 21st of the season. The Owls took two-and-a-half minutes to score their first basket, and  five minutes into the game the score was tied at 4-4. In the next ten minutes, the Owls scored 30 points, to take a decisive 34-22 lead. Juan Fernandez contributed 14 points during that span, 20 points overall, and logged 6 assists with but one turnover for the game. Temple shot 57% from the field, 52% from beyond the three-point arc, and 80% from the free throw stripe.
------------------------
Temple fans must prefer games on Saturday afternoon  over Saturday night. Yesterday's crowd of nearly 10,000 was greater than the crowd last Saturday night for the Xavier game. Hooter's Birthday Party couldn't have been the draw. There's a tradition that should be retired. Along with the "special" Simon Says game during half-time that involves some twenty mascots (they're not just team mascots any longer, now there are appearances by product mascots, like the J&J soft pretzel)
------------------------
Khalif Wyatt has perfected a move to the basket that looks awkward to me yet is very effective (Wyatt led all Temple scorers in this game, and is second for the season). Just this past week did a knowledgeable basketball fan inform me that Wyatt's move has a name (the Eurostep), it was introduced to the NBA by Manu Ginobli, and it has been adopted by several NBA stars, among them Dwayne Wade. Let the New York Times describe it:

 "Players in the NBA. now often showcase the Eurostep, a move in which a player drives past a defender by stepping one way and then quickly taking a big lateral step in the other direction. The move is a crafty way to distribute the two steps allocated to a player after he stops dribbling, and it goes right to the edge of being a traveling violation."      

All along I'm thinking that Wyatt's move is awkward, and actually he's being crafty. Keep it up, Khalif.
------------------------
There have many keys to Temple's success this season. Unquestionably, one of them has been the Owls' assist-to-turnover ratio. Their ratio of 1.27 places them 22nd in the nation (among 343 schools). Yesterday's game was their sixth of the season in which the Owls had at least 20 assists. Ramone Moore scored just three points, but he had a career-high 8 assists. Fernandez is now 7th in assists on the all-time Temple list.
------------------------
Temple is now ranked (for the first time this season) in the Top 25 poll, and stands at #16 in the all-important RPI rankings. And the Owls are 10-3 against top 100 teams.Two huge games on the road this week, against intracity rivals and top 100 teams LaSalle and St. Joe's. I expect both to be sellouts. FINAL home game, leap night, against UMass.
------------------------
Maxi's, right in the hear of Temple's campus, was the pre-game meeting spot. One of the few places left where one can find a juke box. And it has among its selections George Thorogood's 1977 recording of the classic "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer".
-----------------------
Temple scarves are everywhere, including the shoulders of Shellie Straub, former nationally ranked squash player, who was a Temple fan Saturday (and we hope from hereon) and joined the gathering at Maxi's.

Chronicowls '12 Temple-LaSalle

Entertaining game between the Owls and Explorers. Most accounts of the game offered a similar assessment, adding that it was a typical Big Five game. Which, actually, it wasn’t. A Big Five game, that is.  The next time Temple and LaSalle match up, then at the Gola Arena, will count in the Big Five standings.  While on the subject of the Big Five, it’s time for the group to evolve. It’s now time for the City Six.

------------------

More than 8000 fans watched the evening’s proceedings.  More than respectable.  LaSalle fans filled two sections of the Liacouras Center. Not a bad turnout for a LaSalle road game, yet considering that the game was but a 10-minute subway ride for students on the LaSalle campus, I expected more fans. After all, LaSalle came into the game with a  record of 13 up, and just 5 down, the best start to a season in many a year.

------------------

Balanced scoring, and better than 50% shooting, were key to Temple’s win.  Four Owls scored in double figures, led by Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson’s career high of 19 points.  Temple has shot better than 50% from the field in six games this year. Unsurprisingly, the Owls have won five of them.

------------------

The oddsmakers had Temple favored by 5. During the last 11 minutes of the game, Temple owlways led, but never by more than 5, until Khalif Wyatt made two foul shots to give Temple its final six-point margin, and give rise to the “I Believe We Have Won” chant.   While there were no lead changes in the second half, on four occasions in the final ten minutes a LaSalle score cut their deficit to one.  Nail-biter.

-------------------

LaSalle played a solid game. Only 8 turnovers. But , like Temple, they field a short team, and the Cherry and White won the boards, outrebounding the Explorers by 38-27.

--------------------

PubWebb was the venue for a pre-game gathering of Temple fans (many in soccer scarves, see below).

The purchase of these  scarves support the Temple soccer program.

Here is Temple Sports Hall of Fame member Edna Brown-Hecht (far-right) with President Ann Hart, after President Hart was presented with the scarf during the game. (Chronicowls commenter Nelson Dunham is at left).

Email Joe Stulz at jstulz@verizon.net to purchase a scarf to support Temple soccer. 

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...
-----------------------------------
"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.
------------------
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.
------------------
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.
-----------------
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.

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.
  ------------

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.  

 -------------

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.

 ------------

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

 ------------

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?

 ------------

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

------------

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.

------------

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.