Temple, Big 5 ready to reclaim national attention in 1998

After a year in which only one team played in the postseason, Philly basketball is set to return to form. The Big 5 -- an unofficial grouping of Philadelphia's Division I men's basketball teams whose nickname alone is indicative of some of the best college basketball in the country and synonymous with postseason play. Last season was an aberration in the years of continued success for the Big 5, however, as out of Penn, St. Joseph's, La Salle, Villanova and Temple, only the latter was able to make it to the postseason. Even then, the Owls were shellacked by 10th-seeded West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But with Penn, Temple and Villanova all returning at least four starters, and Drexel -- Philadelphia's one non-Big 5 team -- returning its entire 12-man roster, the 1998-99 season promises a rejuvenation for area college basketball programs, and an abundance of tight city matchups in the upcoming months. "All three [of our city] games for us are very difficult. No matter how good, or how bad someone is doing, it seems like whenever the Philadelphia teams hook up and play each other it really doesn't matter -- it's always pretty much a tough game," Drexel coach Bill Herrion said. "The Big 5 are great games for us. On top of our league being competitive and being difficult, they're real good non-conference games that help us get ready for our tournament and our league." With the Big 5 playing two more internal games than last season, and three first-team All-Big 5 selections returning, look for collegiate basketball courts in and around Philadelphia to be rocking non-stop long into March. · The defending Atlantic 10 regular-season champion Temple Owls (2-0 in 1998-99; 21-9, 14-4 Atlantic 10 in 1997-98) begin the year ranked No. 7 in the nation in both The Associated Press and coaches polls, and are the team to beat in the Philadelphia area. Arguably coach John Chaney's best team to date, the Owls return six of their top eight players, and replace the two that they lost with a pair of McDonald's High School All-Americans. The only other time Chaney has had the luxury of rostering two McDonald's All-Americans, the Owls made it to the Elite Eight in 1991. Already posting neutral-court victories over perennial powers Georgetown and Wake Forest, Chaney's Owls face an even tougher end to 1998 with upcoming road games at Penn, No. 3 Stanford, No. 22 Indiana and Fresno State. Playing a strong schedule in a Atlantic 10 conference that saw five teams win 20 games a year ago, the Owls may be a vastly improved team, yet still end the season with a worse record. The key to this year's Owls squad is first-team Atlantic 10 center Lamont Barnes. The junior averaged 14 points and eight boards a year ago, to go with 74 blocks on defense. Combined with freshmen Kevin Lyde -- one of the two McDonald's All-Americans -- and Ron Rollerson, the Owls have three 6'10" fighters and a front line that will be a force for any program in the nation to reckon with. "Temple poses a tremendous threat to us -- inside especially," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "They're just a solid, solid team, and a very good defensive team, so they're going to be a very good basketball team this year. We'll certainly have our hands full, but that's a great challenge for us and we're looking forward to it." As anyone knows from watching the Owls over the years, the match up-zone defense and the quick backcourt is what has gotten Chaney to the NCAA Tournament 15 of his 16 years at the helm in North Philadelphia. With Argentine junior Pepe Sanchez at the point, and redshirt freshman Mark Karcher -- the other McDonald's All-American -- at the third guard position, the Owls have no shortage of players willing to take the ball away on "D" and then bring the offense up the court. Sanchez led the Atlantic 10 with 93 steals last season and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year -- this season, he already has seven steals in the team's two wins. The lone senior on the team, shooting guard Rasheed Brokenborough, went through a shooting slump in 1997-98 that saw his points-per-game average fall from 15.8 his sophomore year to just 11.8 last season. But even if his vigorous off-season practice regimen has not helped Brokenborough regain his top form, the Owls only have to look as far as sophomore backups Lynn Greer and Quincy Wadley -- who each hit for over 40 percent of his shots from three-point land last year -- to pick up the slack. For Chaney, who has not made it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in five years, this year's Owls team may be the one that is able to remove the proverbial monkey from his back. · Two years removed from a team that saw Tim Thomas, Jason Lawson and Alvin Williams move on to the NBA, the 1998-99 Villanova (12-17, 8-10 Big East) squad is once again on the move. The Wildcats never did get a consistent starting line-up down last year, but after losing only one scholarship senior, in 1998-99 they can reap the benefits of returning nine of their top 10 players. The Wildcats will be led by senior forward Howard Brown, who established himself as Villanova's most consistent performer on an inconsistent team last season. Brown, a first-team Big Five selection, came into his own in the latter stages of the year, averaging 13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. Joining Brown in the Wildcats senior class is 6'3" point guard John Celestand. A starter in 21 games as a junior, Celestand led the team with 13.2 points and 5.1 assists a contest. Inside, the Wildcats are the biggest in the Philadelphia area, thanks to 7'1" senior center Rafal Bigus and 6'10" junior power forward Malik Allen. Bigus started 17 games for Villanova last season and has two inches over every other Big 5 center, while Allen brings back his team-leading 5.8 rebounds per game. In Brown and Celestand, the Wildcats have tons of big-game experience, and may be able to pull out several upsets, but in the Big East preseason coaches poll, Villanova was picked to finish only sixth in the 13-team conference. · Perhaps the polar opposite of both the Owls and the Wildcats is potential Big 5 doormat St. Joseph's. The Hawks (11-17, 3-13 Atlantic 10) shocked the basketball world by winning the Atlantic 10 regular season and conference tournaments and advancing to the Sweet 16 two years ago, but the team has fallen markedly in the short time since. The Hawks lost four starters from their last-place Atlantic 10 finish a year ago, and with no seniors on the team, are unlikely to either improve upon their League low offensive output of 66 points per game or break the .500 mark this season. Their lone returning starter, junior forward Robert Haskins, will undoubtedly be called on to average a lot more than the 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds he contributed a year ago, and his performance will likely dictate how far the Hawks go this season. Redshirt junior Frank Wilkins was the sixth man for most of last season, and as a 6'9" lefty who can shoot the three, may be the wild card on the 1998-99 squad. The Hawks are relying heavily on newcomers this season, as evidenced by the fact that freshman Larry Jennings is likely to steal the starting point guard role from junior Tim Brown. Junior Andre Howard, a transfer from Pittsburgh, and sophomore Naim Crenshaw, academically ineligible last season, are other newcomers that will be asked to assume large roles in a hole-filled team. St. Joseph's is in the same position personnel-wise now that Villanova was in a year ago, and as a developing team, big things should not be expected out of the Hawks for at least another year. · Possibly Philadelphia's most forgotten team, La Salle (9-18, 5-11 Atlantic 10) has not had a winning record in five years. Coach William "Speedy" Morris led his Explorers to an NCAA-best 30-2 record during the 1989-90 season, but since La Salle moved from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to the Atlantic 10 four years ago they've seen nothing but the underside of the .500 mark. Seven Explorers return this season, led by third-team All-Atlantic 10 junior Donnie Carr. The shooting guard, who was the leading freshman scorer in the nation two years ago and struck for 17.9 ppg last season, is the first option for the Explorers on offense, but his career shooting percentage of 35 percent is troublesome. Continued strong play inside from 6'7", 254-pound senior K'Zell Wesson should help La Salle start to reverse its recent average of being outrebounded by almost nine boards a game. Wesson was one of 19 players in the country to average a double-double last season, netting 13.2 and pulling down 10.7 boards. The Explorers, like St. Joseph's, though, are handing the ball off to a freshman point guard in Julian Blanks, and his distributing skill will be a determining factor for a squad that has eight players who stand over 6'7" tall. Another highly touted freshman, small forward Rasual Butler, becomes eligible to play for the Explorers in mid-December -- and is likely to form a potent offensive trio with Carr and Wesson. Should La Salle improve its defensive consistency and raise shooting percentage, it may rise as high as the middle of a crowded Atlantic 10 West, which features likely tournament teams in Xavier, George Washington and Dayton. · Philadelphia's sixth Division I men's basketball team, and lone non-Big 5 member, Drexel, promises an exciting season as they return their entire roster. The Dragons (13-15, 10-8 America East) are trying to better last season's effort, which was the first time in coach Herrion's eight-year tenure that the team did not have a winning record and reach the Atlantic East championship game. "I think if there's anything to be said about having everyone back-- even though last year we were a little bit down [from years past] -- it's that we're a year older and everyone has been through it at least one year or two years, which will be worth a lot," Herrion said. The Dragons coach stressed the "experience" and "cohesiveness" that the 1998-99 Dragons squad brings to the table -- a team which has compiled a .500 record against Big 5 stalwarts St. Joseph's, La Salle and Penn over the past three years. Led by scoring force and junior center Joe Linderman -- American East Rookie of the Year two years ago and first-team All-League selection last season -- the Dragons are similar to Temple and Villanova in their strong inside play. Linderman finished third in the America East a year ago in scoring with 18.4 points per game, fifth in rebounding with 8.5 per contest, and sixth in shooting percentage with a 52 percent average. Truly a multi-faceted force to be reckoned with, Linderman tallied 12 double-doubles in his sophomore campaign. "Linderman is a real fine player. I think he is really going to have a terrific season this year," Dunphy said. "I expect big things from Drexel -- they'll be a tough game for us." Outside, Dragons senior shooting guard Mike DeRocckis and junior point guard Bryant Coursey form a backcourt that can more than adequately compliment its inside play. DeRocckis, a second-team All-American East selection, averaged 15 points a night and knocked down a three-pointer in all but two games last season. Despite missing the final ten games of last season due to a "violation of internal team policies," Coursey still had a solid year, coming through with seven points and a team-leading four dishes per contest. With a year of maturity, development, and improved cohesiveness under their belt, the Dragons should again pose a formidable challenge in Philadelphia basketball. · This winter, as 11 intra-city games are set to be played amongst the Big 5 and Drexel, men's college basketball is poised to make a devastating return to the Philadelphia area. Penn's famed Palestra will be as boisterous as ever this season, as St. Joseph's and the Quakers combine to host five Big 5 games on the glorious hardcourt. In addition, both Temple and La Salle feature stadiums that are under a year old, and both should be filled to capacity night-in and night-out during what looks to be some very exciting college hoops. As a few teams return nearly identical squads as the ones they featured a year ago, and a few others seem poised to turn over their reins to a newer generation, the 1998-99 season promises to be one of the most competitive ones in Philadelphia's storied basketball history.