Temple brings inside strength, famed defense to Palestra

The Owls' shooting has been anemic, but Marc JacksonThe Owls' shooting has been anemic, but Marc Jacksonand the matchup zone will be problem enough for Penn The Palestra has been the site of many great basketball games -- the first NCAA Championship, St. Joseph's win over Villanova in the first ever Big 5 game, Penn against Princeton for the Ivy League title. Both future and former players have felt the pull of the Palestra. Even the local coaches have tried to relive old glory on the Palestra floor. Former Penn assistant coach Fran O'Hanlon, Temple assistant coach Dean Demopolous and some Drexel coaches have gotten together for numerous pick-up contests there. Sometimes Penn head coach Fran Dunphy would join them for three-on-three games. Tonight at 7 p.m. the Palestra will play host another Philly tradition -- Penn vs. Temple. The contest is likely to be a low-scoring one, since both teams are built around strong defenses. Owls coach John Chaney combines routine box-outs and defensive switches into what has been considered the most suffocating match-up zone in college basketball. This season, however, Temple's trademark tough defense has been unusually sloppy. The Owls (13-11) average more turnovers than takeaways -- an uncharacteristic statistic for a Chaney-coached team. "If we are the aggressors and play real good defense, the rest will take care of itself," Demopolous said. "If you get defensive stops on people continually, you can miss an awful lot of shots on the other end." The way Temple shoots, the Owls will likely need that luxury. Even though Penn (12-8) is ranked next to last in the Ivy League in field goal shooting (.411) and third from the bottom (.333) from beyond the three-point arc, the Owls rank worse in both categories. Temple shoots only 38.2 percent from the field and 27.9 percent from long-range. The Quakers even best Temple in free-throw shooting, which has been a recurrent nightmare for Penn all season. "We need good ball movement and to hope they don't close down the passing lanes very quickly," Dunphy said. "Then we need to find those lanes and create good scoring opportunities." That may be a difficult task, since the Quakers will be at a height disadvantage. The Temple starting five boasts two 6-foot-10 players, center Marc Jackson and forward Derrick Battie. The duo has contributed 40 percent of the Owls scoring and has dominated on the glass. "I don't think we've faced anything like Temple's size before," Dunphy said. "We have to make sure we check Temple off the boards." Penn, whose tallest player, center Tim Krug, is listed at only 6-foot-9, will be hard-pressed to keep the Owls frontcourt in check. But Demopolous attempted to downplay his team's height advantage. "Size is one thing, but having the skill to go with it is another," Demopolous said. "I'm not sure whether or not we have a major skill advantage." No one is sure which of the two teams has more talent. But Penn certainly knows the skills of the Owls players it will be matched up against. Many of the Quakers have faced off against Temple players before, in summer leagues and on playgrounds. Chaney and Dunphy have led their teams against each other six times and are always aware of what the other is up to. That familiarity is one of the drawing points for the Big 5, to both players and coaches alike. "Big 5 games are as big as Ivy League games," Penn guard Garett Kreitz said. "There's a lot of bragging rights on the line. No one wants to hear 'Yeah, we got you this year.' " The game is an unofficial Big 5 matchup, because, since Villanova bowed out of the city league five years ago, each team plays only two Big 5 games. But even though tonight's game has no effect on conference rankings, it is still important for regional pride. "Sometimes, during Big 5 games, coaching just goes out the window," Demopolous said. "The kids just get out there and play ball." And maybe, after the season is over, their coaches will too.

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