Duquesne @ Temple Game Preview

Wednesday, February 3rd will go down as one of the biggest Temple sports days in the year 2010. Football signing day is always one of the most important days of the year for any college program. It’s where a fan base can finally stop worrying about larger programs (cough Florida…) coming in and poaching your recruits. After tomorrow we can all start worrying about the class of 2011. I know I will be anxiously awaiting that first commit from next year’s class.

Even with all of the hooplah that surrounds football signing day, there is yet another important basketball game to be played. Tomorrow the 17/19 ranked Temple Owls have what on paper appears to be an easy game against Duquesne. Yes this is the same Duquesne team that the Owls defeated to earn their second straight NCAA tournament berth. While the name on the jersey is the same, the product put out on the basketball court is not.

Duquesne lost arguably the best player from the A-10 last year in Aaron Jackson. Jackson averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.5 rebounds while shooting a blistering 55.4% from the field last year. That last stat is perhaps the most impressive stat about Jackson’s game. It’s almost unheard of for a guard to shoot over 50%, let alone 55%. After a look at Jackson’s stat line, it’s clear as to why Duquesne is struggling so much this year.

Taking a look at the trends in this game push the advantage even further towards Temple. Temple is a stout 9-1 at home this year with the lone loss coming to top ranked Kansas. Duquesne is a miserable 1-7 away from home with losses at Western Carolina and at IUPUI. Duquesne is also one of the worst shooting teams in the country, both from beyond the arc and at the free throw line. As a team, the Dukes shoot a terrible 60.1% from the line and 24.7% from 3 point range. All signs point to an easy game.

But in the A-10 it’s hardly ever easy. Even Fordham gave the Owls some trouble before folding in the second half.

There is one match-up that admittedly concerns me. Damian Saunders is a freak of an athlete who snatches up any rebound that comes near him. The 6′ 7″ Junior forward is averaging 14.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game. He has the potential to give the Owls a major headache on both the offensive side of the ball and the defensive side. I expect to see coach Dunphy go with Rahlir Jefferson for long stretches of the game because he probably matches up best with Saunders. Jefferson and Saunders have basically the same body type and for this reason I expect Jefferson to have the most success of any Owl defensively.

Sergio Olmos shoots over Damian Saunders in the 2009 A-10 championship

If Temple can figure out a way to stop Saunders, they will win easily barring an absurd shooting night by anyone unexpected. I’m  certainly hoping the Dukes lay down and give up for Temple, because the boys are in for a dogfight at Richmond this Saturday. I won’t hold my breath though.

Key Players (Temple)

1. Ryan Brooks- 15.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.7 apg
2. Juan Fernandez- 12.6 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.8 rpg
3. Lavoy Allen- 10.7 ppg, 10 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.6 bpg

Key Players (Duquesne)

1. Damian Saunders- 14.7 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 3.4 bpg
2. Bill Clark- 13.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.2 apg
3. Melquan Bolding- 12.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.3 apg

And for the memories I have included a video about last year’s A-10 championship game…

Upstart Bench Helps Owls Thwart Explorers

In a word, Ramone Moore has been inconsistent throughout his career at Temple. We all know that he has the talent to compete with the big boys, but are anxiously awaiting for that version of Ramone to arrive. Well, Ramone certainly looked like a man on a mission against the Explorers.

When asked about Ramone in the routine post game press conference, Dunphy had nothing but praise for the sophomore slasher.

“Ramone Moore really bailed us out”, Fran Dunphy declared after the game. The Temple offense was sputtering throughout the first portion of the game, but Ramone quickly changed the fortunes of the offense. In fact, Ramone was Temple’s leading scorer at the end of the first half. Ramone brought more of the same to the table in the second half and finished the game with 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists on 7-11 shooting.

Michael Eric also had a breakthrough game against a solid team. Even with the solid game, I can’t help but think of the moments where it seems as if Michael doesn’t even belong on the same court. Michael had a play that he will probably remember for the rest of his basketball career and not in a good way. He missed an emphatic dunk that would have given Temple a load of momentum.

“He’s such a novice at the game still”, Dunphy declared. With hard work over the last 2 year his Temple career, Michael can completely change that. He has unlimited potential. With seasoning, Michael could turn into a real force for Temple. At this point he has been compared to a more athletic Sergio Olmos.

Perhaps the most impressive thing Michael did in today’s contest was get Aaric Murray in foul trouble. La Salle raced out to a quick 7-2 lead less than 3 minutes into the game. Less than 3 minutes later, Michael’s aggressive play in the post had the talented freshman taking a seat for the remainder of the half. Michael finished the game with 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal.

Michael Eric is still a work in progress

I’m sure we’re all tired of hearing this next key to the game (at least I am). Team defense simply can’t be overlooked with this Temple team. They remain an average at best offensive team, but their defense is simply amazing. Dr. John Giannini certainly agrees.

“Temple was more physical inside. Once again, they had a great defensive game”, Giannini said. La Salle, normally a good offensive team was held to a season low 52 points on an abysmal 29.8% shooting night. There’s nothing flashy about the defense, but they get it done time and time again. Today they did their part against the dynamic duo of Rodney Green and Aaric Murray. The two combined to shoot 9-29 including numerous air balls and 1-10 from beyond the arc.

“Temple’s defense makes it hard for anybody to have a good game”, Giannini declared. Dr. G might not be the best of coaches, but he knows what he’s talking about here. Numerous stars have had down games against this Owls defense.

We can talk about all of this other stuff, but defense remains the key to every Temple game.

Top Performers:

Ramone Moore- 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists (7-11)

Lavoy Allen- 12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks (3-5)

Michael Eric- 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal (6-9)

Rodney Green- 13 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal (5-16)

Aaric Murray- 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals (4-13)

http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=300300218

Kurt Warner to the Hall of Fame?

Kurt Warner in his "early days"

The answer is a resounding yes!

To me, Kurt was deserving of enshrinement even before his current tenure with the Cardinals. The last 3 years have all but guaranteed himself a spot in the Hall of Fame in 2015. From 1999-2001, Kurt led one of the most feared offenses of this generation: “The Greatest Show on Turf”

His career stats provide an example of just how efficient of a quarterback he was. He has a passer rating only eclipsed by 5 quarterbacks.

• 32,344 career passing yards
• 65.5% completions
• 208 touchdowns
• 128 interceptions
• 93.7 career passer rating

These statistics are simply incredible for a guy who came into the league so late.

Even with all of these gaudy statistics, there is one thing that impresses me more about Warner’s career. He was able to turn around not one, but two pathetic franchises and turn them into Super Bowl contenders. This, to me points out the pure talent he possessed. Tenured quarterbacks in the NFL have a huge advantage over newcomers. It takes a true player to succeed in more than one location. Look at the trouble Jay Cutler had in his transition from Denver to Chicago this year. Not everyone can do what Warner did. In fact, Warner is only the second quarterback in history to take 2 different teams to the Super Bowl and pass for 100 touchdowns with two separate teams.

Lastly, Kurt was one of the better stories of the past decade or so and really seems to be the nice guy on and off the field. His stats warrant a trip to the hall of fame, but if there was ever a guy who should get a boost from his character, Warner is that guy.

You will be missed Kurt.

La Salle-Temple Preview

On Saturday afternoon, Temple looks to take out its frustration on a city rival. The Owls have developed this frustration from numerous events.

1. The 15th ranked Owls suffered a frustrating loss on Wednesday night in Charlotte. It was a night in which Juan Fernandez and Lavoy Allen sat on the bench for long stretches of the game. Both should come into this contest with fire in their eyes. They cannot reverse their fortunes from Wednesday night, but they can do their best to destroy a city rival.
2. A common theme in recent years is how the Owls come into the season underrated. They have exceeded all expectations in the last 3 years. This year, the preseason polls projected La Salle to finish ahead of Temple in the A-10 because of their “talent laden roster”. Time and time again these pollsters forget the meaning of a good game day coach (Fran Dunphy) and team basketball. Team basketball and good coaching are without a doubt the reason that the Explorers are consistently overrated and Temple is consistently underrated.
3. The dreaded Aaric Murray college decision. Nobody can say that Gianinni can’t recruit. He has pulled in recruits to La Salle that I could never see them obtaining. Aaric Murray is the poster child for his recruiting. For a school with little recent success or national press, it is unprecedented that La Salle was able to bring in the 35th best recruit in the class of ’09. Lavoy Allen and company need to shove that mistake in his face on Saturday.

Aaric Murray in his Glen Mills days

The key match-up for Saturday’s contest is without a doubt Lavoy Allen against Aaric Murray. It’s always exciting when two of the best big men in the A-10 square off against one another. Murray likes to hang out around the 3 point line and is a surprisingly good 3 point shooter. Aaric has made 25 of his 52 attempts from beyond the arc for the season. This could present a problem for Temple because they need Lavoy Allen down low to snatch up the rebounds. Lavoy should have the edge in the post on both sides of the court though. Aaric is a very raw and is still learning the post game on both sides of the court. Temple fans know all too well that different Lavoy Allens show up on occasion. For Temple to win this game, they’ll need the aggressive Lavoy.

Rodney Green will get his points and there isn’t much Temple can do about that. Guzman and Brooks just need to make sure he doesn’t get any wide open looks at the basket.

Hopefully Juan Fernandez has recovered a bit from the concussion-like symptoms he was experiencing at Charlotte. The difference he makes for this offense was quite apparent when he left the game. Juan is often the only way Temple works the ball inside. Whether Juan drives it in himself or spots somebody alone, he is the fuel that feeds the Temple engine. Without him in the game, the entire team just falls in love with the 3 ball.

One disappointment from the Charlotte game was Michael Eric. Owl fans all around thought they were seeing a new Michael Eric over the past 10 games or so, but he was certainly a let down against Charlotte. Michael played small in the contest. On multiple occasions he received a pass in perfect position to deposit 2 points, but had his shot swat away because he didn’t take the ball up strong.

Kimani Barrett and Ruben Guillandeaux will miss the game for the Explorers. Both players were expected to play a major role for the Explorers when the season started.

Prediction: Temple 65 La Salle 57

Foul Play

Charlotte guard Derrio Green

It’s no secret that Temple’s bench is a work in progress. Some nights they get nearly no contribution from the bench. Other nights, they receive contributions from various different players. Whether the contributions are from Craig Williams, Rahlir Jefferson, Ramone Moore, or Scootie Randall remains to be seen. All of these players have been inconsistent throughout the course of the season. This inconsistency has caused Fran Dunphy to play his starters an abnormal amount of minutes throughout the course of the season and rightfully so.

Wednesday night at Charlotte Fran Dunphy had no choice. The game was being called tightly, something that will in most cases give the 15th ranked Owls a major headache. A team that relies on good hard defense without much depth will always have trouble in a tightly called contest. If Fran Dunphy had his way, Juan Fernandez and Lavoy Allen would see the court for the entire game, every game. Against Charlotte the duo combined for a total of 46 minutes. Temple just is not a team that is going to win many games against anybody when both Fernandez and Allen see foul trouble.

All the credit in the world goes to the 49er coaching staff for exploiting the lack of depth on the Temple roster. Charlotte drove the ball to the basket time after time in an attempt to get Temple’s star players in foul trouble. The best player on either sides of the ball tonight had to be junior college transfer Derrio Green. Green came into the game averaging 12.1 points per game but shooting an abysmal 36.7%. All signs pointed to the owls having their way with Green.

Sometimes a player just gets hot and Green was quite obviously feeling it down the stretch. Quite frankly, it did not matter who Fran Dunphy chose to defend Green. When a good guard is on, there is no stopping him. Green had a night kind of reminiscent of the night that Juan Fernandez had in the Villanova game. He finished with 26 points on 9-15 shooting. It’s a game that Derrio will probably remember for the rest of his life.

Temple’s main downfall other than foul trouble was the fact that the entire team fell in love with the 3 ball after a hot start. Without Fernandez in the lineup, the owls really have trouble working it inside. After the hot start from the outside, Temple finished a less than stellar 11-35 from beyond the arc. The looks were there over the zone, but the ball stopped finding its way into the hoop.

Fran and his staff are kind of like Al Golden in regards to injuries. They never let anyone know what’s going on with their players. We were all led to believe that Juan Fernandez was going to be just fine after the elbow he took at Fordham. I’m no doctor, but Juan certainly looked to be displaying symptoms of a mild concussion. At times during the game, Juan wrapped a towel around his head and closed his eyes. The atmosphere at Charlotte was insane and clearly bothering him. Lets hope Juan makes a speedy recovery because Temple will certainly need him in this Saturday’s contest.

Notable Performances

Lavoy Allen: 12 points, 14 rebounds

Ryan Brooks: 20 points

Derrio Green: 26 points, 5 assists, 2 steals

Chris Braswell: 15 points, 7 rebounds

Shamari Spears: 11 points, 9 rebounds

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=300272429

A New Blogger is Born

I finally gave in. I have been reading blogs for quite some time now. Like everything I admire so much, I now want to give it a shot. By my own admission, I am a math wiz. That’s why I do not expect my blog to ever reach the level of many of the blogs I admire so much. I will not bring flawless grammar with an exciting an innovating style of writing. That is something I can only hope to bring to the table after years of blogging.

My blog will bring useful sports knowledge without the flair. I am sure that some will not mind that style and some will, but we can never please everybody.

I should probably specify what sports and teams this blog will base around. Do not hold your breath for a hockey post in this blog. This is the first and last time I will ever mention that sport here. Apparently hockey is a sport that my brain fails to grasp.

I eat, sleep, and breath Temple football and basketball. I would suspect that those will be my main focuses over time. I know that a great deal of my Temple peers have a distaste for the way the Philadelphia Eagles treat the owls, but I just cannot help myself. The Eagles are a close second to Temple. Of course a good Phillies or Sixers rant could always be on the prowl.

Let me just say that I cannot get enough of NCAA hoops, especially in the month of march. College basketball is without a doubt my favorite sport and nothing even comes close to it. The energy, traditions, and upsets are what really makes my engine run. For that reason, college hoops will be focus for a great portion of the year. I like to think I know a great deal about recruiting in both college sports, so I’ll do my best to give my analysis on that.

Oh, and I should probably state that I have no credentials whatsoever and I think that is absolutely fine. In my opinion, the average sports fan makes more valid points than the so called “experts”. Still, it is important to mention that I have no connections to the events I will be covering.

I certainly enjoy writing about things that interest me, so I fully expect blogging to live up to all of the hype that is out there.