The Owl's Nest

[PODCAST] Temple vs. Cornell Preview

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Getting to Know Cornell (Q&A)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:00:00 +0000

For every matchup, we like to give opposing blogger's a chance to tell us about their team and find out their input on that upcoming game.

Today, we had the opportunity to talk with the writers of the best Cornell blog out there, Cornell Basketball, a few questions about his Big Red in what has been an extremely successful season.

The Owl's Nest: First off, congratulations on once again reaching the tournament! What is the feeling to the players, fans, and on campus being that you're dancing for the third consecutive year in a row?

Cornell Basketball: We have the same wishes to Temple and its community of supporters. While all Cornell fans are happy to see the Big Red program crowned Ivy League Champions for the third consecutive season, most supporters want to see this team take the next step by advancing in the Tournament. The team has accomplished so much, but there are bigger goals for this program.

TON: What do you think the greatest achievement(s) has been of this 2009-2010 team?

CB: There are just too many to name. This team swept through the Legends Classic 4-0, won the MSG Holiday Festival, captured its third straight Ivy League title, spent two weeks in the ESPN Coaches' Poll Top 25, finished in the Top 50 of the RPI, spent most of the season in the Top 5 of most mid-major polls, and beat a bunch of tradition-rich programs along the way (Alabama, St. John's, UMass, St. Joseph's, La Salle, Davidson, Vermont, Drexel). Hard to single out any one particular accomplishment. This was certainly a season for the ages for an Ivy League program.

TON: One of the things that not many people know about Ivy League schools is the fact that there is an agreement that teams will not hand out athletic scholarships. What has been the key, knowing this, to a team like the Big Red giving someone like #1 Kansas a down to the wire game with this type of restriction?

CB: This is true. All financial aid in the Ivy League is "financial need based" and is not awarded based on athletic ability. There are no scholarships. Nevertheless, Cornell successfully recruits a lot of players that pass up scholarships at bigger conference programs that choose to play in the Ivy Leauge and at Cornell because they want to receive a world class education. But talent aside, these kids buy into the "team first" concept and they make up for any athletic or size disparities by playing cohesively as a unit.

TON: Plenty of college basketball fans and analysts believe that both teams (Cornell and Temple) were deserving of higher seedings than they were given. What are your thoughts on this, and what do you think played a role in deciding on this matchup?

CB: Coach Dunphy nailed it when he said the Committee wanted to create a compelling storyline by pairing him with Steve Donahue. This is after all about selling tickets and CBS viewership. The Committee took the same approach two years ago when Cornell was paired with Stanford. The media playfully dubbed it the "Brain Game."

Temple clearly deserved a 3 or 4 seed, and Cornell probably should have been on the 11 line.

TON: What makes this first round game unique from most of the others is that we'll former coaching mates at Penn in Temple's Fran Dunphy and Cornell's Steve Donahue will be facing off. How do you believe this will impact the game?

CB: Some think it will be a huge factor. In our opinion, it probably won't be much of an impact. Coach Donahue and Coach Dunphy haven't coached against each other in several years. Both coaches developed their own divergent styles and these teams haven't played one another anytime recently. Sure there is some familiarity because the coaches are good friends, but it is not like the two teams are familiar conference foes. Besides, the game is won on the floor between the players. This is not a game of one on one between Dunphy and Donahue.

TON: Tell us about the playmakers on this team. The two names that come to mind are center Jeff Foote and Ryan Wittman.

CB: Well, Ryan Wittman is a shot maker (in the Kyle Korver mode) and Jeff Foote is a traditional back to the basket inside 7'0" post player who can impact the game on both ends. Both kids were invited to Portsmouth and are legitimate pro prospects A third and often forgotten "playmaker" is the team's point guard, Louis Dale. He is one of the quickest players in the Ivy League and was actually the conference Player of the Year during the 2007-2008 season. Like Wittman, he can extend the defense, but he also has the ability to break the defense down with his dribble drive.

TON: As a whole, what would you say this team's strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the ball are?

CB: Cornell can be streaky shooting the basketball and when the shooters go cold, they sometimes force the issue by continuing to shoot from deep rather than looking to get to the foul line or getting the ball inside to Foote. Defensively, Cornell is very good when the play with intensity and challenge shots and box out for rebounds. But this team has been prone to get caught sleeping and laying back on defense, even against lower Division I teams with limited offensive options.

TON: Where do you feel that Cornell matches up the best with the Owls?

CB: There are not many areas where Cornell has an advantage except with Jeff Foote's size inside. At 7'0" he has looked quite comfortable in the paint against A-10 and BCS conference opposition and Cornell needs to establish him early to have any kind of chance in this one.

TON: Any pre game thoughts or predictions for Friday afternoon's game?

CB: Temple is a great team and this is no doubt one of the biggest, if not the biggest game in Cornell's history. No predictions from us, we are just enjoying the ride with Cornell's Newman Nation fan base.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, guys. Please be sure to check out Cornell for all Cornell Big Red news.

2010 Tourney Preview: (5) Temple Owls

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Team: Temple Owls
Conference: Atlantic 10

Overall Record: (29-5)
Conference Record: (14-2)
Neutral Court Record: (1-1)
Away Record: (12-3)

Here's a look at the Temple Basketball Roster:

#	NAME	POSITION	HT/WT
1	Khalif Wyatt	Guard	6'4" 210
2	Ryan Brooks	Guard	6'4" 200
10	Luis Guzman	Guard	6'3" 200
11	T.J. DiLeo	Forward	6'2" 195
15	Carmel Bouchman	Forward	6'8" 215
21	Rafael DeLeon	Forward	6'5" 200
23	Ramone Moore	Guard	6'4" 180
24	Lavoy Allen	Forward	6'9" 225
30	Craig Williams	Forward	6'9" 240
31	Jake Godino	Guard	6'0" 170
32	Rahlir Jefferson	Forward	6'6" 200
33	Scootie Randall	Forward	6'6" 205
45	Chris Clarke	Forward	6'8" 200
50	Micheal Eric	Center	6'11" 240

The Owls also have a decent sized team, the average height being around 6'5". This is a pretty quick team for its size, and the Owls love to run the floor on given fast break opportunities.

Check out some of the highlights of Temple's 2009-2010 schedule:

Best Win: #3 Villanova, 75-65
Worst Loss: Charlotte, 74-64

Temple has played one of the tougher schedules in the entire country, playing a fair share of teams from some of the power conferences. The highlight of the regular season came in a home game against rival Villanova, which arguably made the first case that this team was tournament worthy. The worst loss came against Charlotte, who just outplayed this team late into the second half.

Temple's RPI rating is currently 8, and its Strength of Schedule ranking is 50.

Some statistics on the offense of Temple:

Points For: 64.9
Points Against: 56.1

Field Goal: 44%
3-Point: 34%
Free Throw: 68%

Temple's offense has been extremely consistent through its ten game winning streak, especially during the Atlantic 10 tournament. Basically every offensive play runs off of Juan Fernandez. The Owls run an inside-out type of game, where you'll see a lot of post ups with possible kickouts.

On defense, Temple is one of the best defensive squads in the entire country. The team does a tremendous job against the three pointers, and this will be a huge factor in limiting Cornell. When the defense is playing well, this also ends up generating some scoring for the Owls.

Here's a more specific look at the team's top performers:

	PTS	REB	AST
(G) Luis Guzman	4.8	4.3	3.3
(G) Ryan Brooks	14.3	4.5	2.4
(G) Juan Fernandez	12.4	2.4	3.7
(F) Lavoy Allen	11.7	10.9	2.3
(C) Micheal Eric	6.0	3.1	0.7

The leading scorer for Temple is Ryan Brooks, who has played phenomenally for the Owls after some struggles near the end of the season. The senior guard averages 14 points with 5 rebounds.

Juan Fernandez is the second leading scorer on this team, but has also picked up his game come tournament time. The sophomore floor general contributes 12 points and 4 assists for his team.

Lavoy Allen is the final piece of the three headed monster. Allen averages a double-double between scoring and rebounding, and his possible meeting with Jeff Foote will be extremely significant in this game.

As we mentioned with Cornell, Temple has won its conference championship three years in arrow, and has fallen in the first round in each tournament. This team is arguably Fran Dunphy's strongest team as Temple's coach, and could make a far run if they play to their potential.

2010 Tourney Preview: (12) Cornell Big Red

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Team: Cornell Big Red
Conference: Ivy League

Overall Record: (27-4)
Conference Record: (13-1)
Neutral Court Record: (3-0)
Away Record: (13-3)

Here's a look at the Cornell Basketball Roster:

#	NAME	POSITION	HT/WT
1	Jeff Foote	Center	7'0" 265
3	Chris Wroblewski	Guard	6'0" 180
4	Aaron Osgood	Forward	6'9" 230
5	Errick Peck	Forward	6'6" 215
11	Max Groebe	Guard	6'4" 200
12	Louis Dale	Guard	5'11" 180
13	Andre Wilkins	Forward	6'5" 198
15	Geoff Reeves	Guard	6'4" 180
20	Ryan Wittman	Forward	6'7" 215
21	Peter McMillan	Forward	6'7" 220
22	Miles Asafo-Adjei	Guard	6'2" 170
23	Johnathan Gray	Guard	6'3" 175
24	Adam Wire	Forward	6'5" 228
25	Jon Jaques	Forward	6'7" 220
33	Alex Tyler	Forward	6'7" 235
34	Josh Figini	Forward	6'9" 200
40	Pete Reynolds	Forward	6'8" 220
42	Mark Coury	Forward	6'9" 240
55	Eltan Chemerinski	Forward	6'8" 195

The Big Red as a team are much taller than most teams, the average height being around 6'6". This is a team that can threaten you with a lot of depth and the forward and center positions.

Check out some of the highlights of Cornell's 2009-2010 schedule:

Best Win: @ St. John's, 71-66
Worst Loss: @ Pennsylvania, 79-64

The Big Red did not lose many games this season, and the majority of these (4) game against some pretty decent teams. The Big Red gave the #1 Kansas Jayhawks a scare AT Kansas when they lost by just 5 points, which is what makes this team so scary. The loss that sticks out like a sore thumb is the game against Pennsylvania, where they lost by 15.

Cornell's RPI rating is currently 46, and its Strength of Schedule ranking is 205.

Some statistics on the offense of Cornell:

Points For: 75.3
Points Against: 63.2

Field Goal: 48%
3-Point: 43%
Free Throw: 72%

Cornell is a very good shooting team from specifically the three point line, but overall across the field. This is a team that if you allow room to shoot (ex. Richmond), they are going to hurt you by knocking down shots. On top of that, if they're hitting shots, they're scoring more points (exactly where they'd like to be).

Defensively, this is a team that gives up a fair amount of points at 63 per game. As we keep stressing, this is a team that is more likely going to win by scoring more points than preventing more points.

Here's a more specific look at the team's top performers:

	PTS	REB	AST
(F) Ryan Wittman	17.5	4.0	1.9
(C) Jeff Foote	12.3	8.2	2.3
(G) Louis Dale	11.9	2.9	4.8
(G) Chris Wroblewski	8.9	2.7	3.3
(F) Jon Jaques	6.9	2.6	0.8

The leading scorer on this team is Ryan Wittman. He averages nearly 18 points, and shoots the ball extremely well for a player that's 6'7". Temple is going to have a tough time matching up with Wittman, as his size presents a mismatch as well as a number of other problems.

The big man on this team is 7'0" Jeff Foote. The senior center averages 12 points of his own, along with 8 rebounds. The definite height advantage out of any player.

Cornell is a very experienced team, having made the Big Dance the past two seasons (as did Temple). There is nobody that would like to finally get out of the first round more than the Big Red, and that's exactly what this team is set out to do.

2010 NCAA Tourney: (5) Temple vs. (12) Cornell

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:30:00 +0000

Temple will be taking on the Cornell Big Red in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Here's our coverage for Friday's game:

[MATCHUP] An overall look at our coverage of Friday's first round NCAA Tournament game between the Temple Owls and the Cornell Big Red.

[PREVIEW] We'll have individual previews of both teams in preparation for the game. Taking a look at Temple and Cornell's bodies of work over the course of the 2009-2010 season.

[Q&A] We're hoping to get a Q&A with the well-known Cornell Big Red Basketball blog The Cornell Basketball Blog.

[PODCAST] We're going to bring back the podcast, audio previewing the matchup and giving the opportunity for our readers to ask questions and give their opinions on the game.

[LIVE BLOG] From an hour before game time all the way to the last second, we'll cover the game and all the latest happenings around the NCAA Tournament.

[RECAP] Win or lose, we'll recap Temple's performance against Cornell, and let you know what is next in store for the Owls.

Twitter: @Owlified
Email: Owlified@gmail.com

Stay updated with the latest happenings on Temple and the 2010 NCAA Tournament on The Owl's Nest!

Selection Sunday 2010 Bracket Chat!

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Selection Sunday Bracket Chat

Temple's 2009-2010 Tournament Resume

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:04:00 +0000

Temple has accomplished a LOT this year, and is making a case for as high a seeding available as there is.

Let's take a look at the team's accomplishments for the 2009-2010 season:

Overall Record: 29-5
Conference Record: 14-2

Home Record: 16-1
Away Record: 12-3
Neutral Record: 1-1

Biggest Losing Streak: 1
Biggest Winning Streak: 10

Overtime Record: 3-0

Current RPI: 9
Current SOS: 58

T-25 Record: 1-2
RPI T50 Record: 8-5
RPI T100 Record: 6-0

AP T25 Ranks: 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15
USA Today/ESPN T25 Ranks: 25, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15

Non-Conference Schedule (Links are post game reviews)

Delaware
Georgetown
Siena
Ball State
Virginia Tech
St. John's
Western Michigan
Penn State
Miami (OH)
Villanova
Seton Hall
Bowling Green
Northern Illinois
Kansas
Pennsylvania

Conference Achievements

- 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Regular Season Champions
- 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Champions (third straight)

Here's our final look at some of the top bracket projection sites as we approach the official selections:

Projection Site	Temple's Seed	Atlantic 10 Teams
Blogging the Bracket	3	3
Bracketography.com	3	3
Rivals 'Drive for 65'	3	3
ESPN Bracketology	4	3
College Basketball News	-	5
MSN BRACKETville	4	3
College Hoops Net	4	1
TeamRankings.com	3	3

Average Temple seeding: 3.4
Average Atlantic 10 teams: 3

You make the call. We'll find out who the Owls will be playing against within about 10 minutes or so.

What's Temple worthy of?

[2010] A10 Blogger Pool Standings (FINAL)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:30:00 +0000

Here's a look at our final standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Blogger Pool:

Rank	Blogger	Picks
1	Matt's Musings	9/11
2	Tri Corner Blog	8/11
-	Flyers Fieldhouse	8/11
3	Blackburn Review	7/11
-	The Owl's Nest	7/11
-	Colonial Hoops	7/11
4	The City Six	5/11

Here are the standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Fan Pool:

Rank	Poster	Picks
1	twisted3829	10/11
2	seattlespider	9/11
-	jimbo65	9/11
-	MSG77	9/11
3	xu95	8/11
-	Dunga	8/11
-	Knobby	8/11
-	BustedDreams49	8/11
-	SpiderInTheMixingBowl	8/11
4	Bona84	7/11
-	urspiders	7/11
-	A10BasketballFan	7/11
-	Lavoy Allen	7/11
-	Marquis	7/11
-	A10fan2	7/11
-	Free Quebec	7/11
-	UncivilDKizzle	7/11
-	Hawkamaniac	7/11
5	XUFinale	6/11
-	1995Duke	6/11
-	rudy1984	6/11
-	Hooner49	6/11
6	Snipe	5/11
-	KwamainInTheMembrane	5/11
-	stlMO1	5/11
-	Mulder	5/11
7	eason49	3/11

BLOGGER WINNER: Matt's Musings
POSTER WINNER: twisted3829

Thanks to everyone that participated, and we hope you'll take part in our 2010 T.O.N Bracket Challenge!

The Owl's Nest '2010 Bracket Challenge'

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

We're inviting all of our readers, other bloggers, and just college basketball fans that might see this to participate in our 2010 T.O.N Bracket Challenge!

We'll be running our pool through ESPN, so all you need to do is have an account on their site.

Here's the link to the ESPN Group: T.O.N Bracket Challenge

We'll have updates and announcements are we move toward the beginning of the tournament.

Live Blog: #17 Temple vs. Richmond

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:55:00 +0000

[The Owl's Nest] #17 Temple Owls vs. Richmond Spiders

2010 Atlantic 10 Championship Game

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0000

#17 Temple Owls vs. Richmond Spiders

Boardwalk Hall (Atlantic City, New Jersey)
1:00 PM at Boardwalk Hall (Atlantic City, New Jersey)

Last matchup: February 6th, 2010 - 71-54 Richmond

Tomorrow afternoon will determine several things:

- Who is the best team in the A10 Conference?
- How legitimate is Richmond?
- How truly good is a healthy Temple team?

#1 Temple and #3 Richmond have both worked hard to reach the conference tournament, and are both looking to merely beef up their NCAA Tourney resumes.

Temple's opponents: #8 St. Bonaventure, #5 Rhode Island
Richmond's opponents: #11 Massachusetts, #2 Xavier

The Owls and Spiders faced off earlier this year at Richmond, where UR won convincingly over the Owls. Granted Temple was playing without Juan Fernandez, there was no answer or explanation for the incredible shooting display put on by Richmond. There's no discrediting the fact that Richmond was able to shoot nearly 60% from the floor against Temple.

Temple hasn't had a loss since over a month ago now-- take a guess as to who that loss was. TU has gone onto a 9 game winning streak since that loss, and will now have an opportunity the do things differently.

Here's a look at the starters for both teams, and their season averages:

TEMPLE OWLS

	PTS	REB	AST
(G) Luis Guzman	4.8	4.3	3.3
(G) Ryan Brooks	14.3	4.5	2.4
(G) Juan Fernandez	12.4	2.4	3.7
(F) Lavoy Allen	11.7	10.9	2.3
(C) Micheal Eric	6.0	3.1	0.7

RICHMOND SPIDERS

	PTS	REB	AST
(G) Kevin Anderson	17.9	3.5	2.6
(G) David Gonzalvez	14.7	4.2	2.4
(F) Justin Harper	10.7	5.4	1.0
(F) Ryan Butler	8.2	3.2	1.7
(C) Dan Geriot	7.1	4.1	2.0

Both teams are terrific shooting squads, which means we'll definitely see more pressure around the outside. By the looks of the scoring, the majority of the production for Richmond comes from their guardplay between Anderson and Gonzalvez. Back in early February, Kevin Anderson went off for the Spiders when he scored 29 points against Temple. As a team, UR shot 58% from the floor, 56% from the three point line, and 91% from the charity stripe. This team is absolutely scary when they are in a groove.

Without Juan Fernandez, the majority of the team's scoring was relied on by Lavoy Allen and Ramone Moore. Ryan Brooks had one of his worst nights, shooting just 1/8 (0/4 from three). Allen and Moore more had 17, but the drop off from there was astonishing.

If Temple wants its revenge against Richmond, someone is going to have to shut down Kevin Anderson first off. If the team is able to control him and limit his production, we should be in pretty good shape. That's not to say, though, that someone like David Gonzalvez or Justin Harper can't go off. The Owls need some defensive pressure on all the shooters. Offensively, you've got to make your shots (at least a good percentage of them). Shooting 32% from the floor, with 10% from three point territory is inexcusable.

Richmond as we stressed had a spectacular showing from Kevin Anderson, who scored his second highest amount of points (29) this season against Temple. Against Xavier, he was a proven game changer with his last second drive to the hoop, as well as some crucial mid-range jumpers. Anderson has a good game, and Temple will have some problems.

The Spiders did not have to deal with Juan Fernandez last time around, who is definitely back to 100% after suffering from a head injury mid-way through the year. His performance during this tournament thus far can be described as tournament MVP worthy, which is why Richmond needs to worry about him. Ryan Brooks has also found his stroke in Atlantic City, which means the Spiders will need to find a way to throw him off as they did the first time around. Put Temple in a bad shooting groove, and the Spiders could come out on top.

It's Selection Sunday, and what could be better than two NCAA Tourney-bound teams fighting it out for the A10 Conference Championship. A Temple squad looking for its third consecutive title, or a dominant Richmond team looking for its first championship ever in the A10?

Tune it to CBS at 1:00 PM. You won't want to miss this one.

Temple Advances to the A10 Championship

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:30:00 +0000

Juan Fernandez made it clear early in this afternoons game that not making the A10 Championship game was not going to happen.

The sophomore guard by himself was beating Rhode Island by a score of 9-2, scoring 64% of his total points within the first five minutes of play.

A "rain delay" caused by leaks in Boardwalk Hall's roof, but was unable to cool off Temple's hot streak of shooting. The delay lasted just a few minutes, as the AC staff was able to get things under control very quickly.

Temple moves on in the conference tournament to the Atlantic 10 Championship Game tomorrow afternoon with today's dominating 57-44 victory over the URI Rams.

To keep it simple, the closest point this game had been at any point was 3-0 with 19:27 remaining in the first half. The Owls maintained a 4+ point lead through the rest of the game to assure themselves a second chance at the Richmond Spiders (oops, spoiled that. There's tomorrow's opponent).

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Ryan Brooks	16	4	0	1	2
Juan Fernandez	14	1	7	0	3
Lavoy Allen	9	10	1	1	1
Rahlir Jefferson	8	2	0	2	3

Fernandez made the statement early on in this game, and was shortly followed by the services of Ryan Brooks and Lavoy Allen. Brooks finished this game as the high scorer of both teams, with 16 points. Late in the game he was hit in the eye, but returned a few minutes later and continued his production.

Despite a pretty efficient full court press, the Rams could not seem to slow Temple down on the defensive side of the ball. On top of that, a slow start on the offensive end merely dug URI a whole that was impossible to dig out of. Even with 14 offensive rebounds, Rhody could not take advantage of many opportunities that were handed to them.

Rhode Island will be hoping for the best come Selection Sunday, as they have not solidified themselves a spot in the tournament. Here's to hoping the Rams have their named called, in what could be a three bid conference.

The Owls might be the most consistent team in the tournament. That might sound obvious, but my point is that the Owls have wasted no time creating and maintaining solid leads both of its wins over St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island.

We owe Richmond some payback for the whooping they gave us earlier this year. What better a time to get this, and a three-peat, in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. Tomorrow's tip off is at 1:00 PM, and we'll have the preview of the game within the hour.

[2010] A10 Blogger Pool Standings (RD. 3)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:45:00 +0000

Here's a look at our standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Blogger Pool:

Rank	Blogger	Picks
1	Matt's Musings	8/10
2	Tri Corner Blog	7/10
-	Flyers Fieldhouse	7/10
-	Blackburn Review	7/10
3	The Owl's Nest	6/10
-	Colonial Hoops	6/10
4	The City Six	5/10

Here are the standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Fan Pool:

Rank	Poster	Picks
1	twisted3829	10/10
2	seattlespider	9/10
-	jimbo65	9/10
3	Dunga	8/10
-	MSG77	8/10
-	xu95	8/10
-	Knobby	8/10
4	Bona84	7/10
-	BustedDreams49	7/10
-	urspiders	7/10
-	A10BasketballFan	7/10
-	Lavoy Allen	7/10
-	Marquis	7/10
-	SpiderInTheMixingBowl	7/10
-	A10fan2	7/10
-	Free Quebec	7/10
-	UncivilDKizzle	7/10
5	Hawkamaniac	6/10
-	XUFinale	6/10
-	1995Duke	6/10
-	rudy1984	6/10
-	Hooner49	6/10
-	Snipe	5/10
6	KwamainInTheMembrane	5/10
-	stlMO1	5/10
-	Mulder	5/10
7	eason49	3/10

Look out for the Championship game tomorrow afternoon!

A10 Championship 2010: Temple vs. Richmond

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Complete coverage of tomorrow's Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Game!

[PREVIEW] Temple vs. Richmond
[Q&A] Getting to Know Richmond (Q&A)*
[LIVE] Live blog of Temple - Richmond
[POST GAME] Post Game Reactions
[RECAP] Temple vs. Richmond

We're Baaaaack!

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:45:00 +0000

Here's a refresher for those of you who don't understand:

2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Champions

2009 Atlantic 10 Conference Champions

2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship:

(1:00 PM) Temple Owls vs. Richmond Spiders

Live Blog: #17 Temple vs. Rhode Island

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0000

[The Owl's Nest] #17 Temple Owls vs. Rhode Island Rams

[2010] A10 Blogger Pool Standings (RD. 2)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Here's an early look at our standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Blogger Pool:

Rank	Blogger	Picks
1	Tri Corner Blog	6/8
-	Matt's Musings	6/8
2	Flyers Fieldhouse	5/8
-	The Owl's Nest	5/8
-	Blackburn Review	5/8
-	Colonial Hoops	5/8
3	The City Six	4/8

Here are the standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Fan Pool:

Rank	Poster	Picks
1	twisted3829	8/8
2	seattlespider	7/8
-	jimbo65	7/8
-	Bona84	7/8
-	Dunga	7/8
3	XUFinale	6/8
-	BustedDreams49	6/8
-	urspiders	6/8
-	MSG77	6/8
-	A10BasketballFan	6/8
-	Lavoy Allen	6/8
-	xu95	6/8
-	Marquis	6/8
-	1995Duke	6/8
-	Knobby	6/8
4	SpiderInTheMixingBowl	5/8
-	A10fan2	5/8
-	Snipe	5/8
-	KwamainInTheMembrane	5/8
-	rudy1984	5/8
-	Hooner49	5/8
-	Free Quebec	5/8
-	stlMO1	5/8
-	UncivilDKizzle	5/8
5	Hawkamaniac	4/8
-	Mulder	4/8
6	eason49	3/8

Round three will be played tomorrow, so look out for updated standings tomorrow night.

Owls Face a Hot Rhode Island Team

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:15:00 +0000

One win down, just two more to go.

As you might know, the Atlantic 10 conference tournament between the quarterfinals and championship game spans just three days. After tonight's games finish, we'll know who the other two teams that remain in the tournament are.

For our sake, Temple's matchup has already been determined-- the Owls will play a familiar opponent in Rhode Island, who the team has faced twice already this year. The Rams are on Joe Lunardi's "First Four Out", and are basically controlling their own destiny at this point.

The Owls would like to continue its success against URI, winning both in Kingston and at home in Philadelphia.

Round one featured an overtime thriller at Rhody, where Temple was able to come out on top when Delroy James was in deep foul trouble. The team's second meeting, however, was a win that was in Temple's hands after the first few minutes of play.

Tomorrow's case, though, has larger implications than almost any other game this season for Rhody. A win over a nationally ranked team, as well as a continued shot at the A10 title are this team's only concern.

Leading the Rhode Island Rams are Keith Cothran, Delroy James, and Lamonte Ulmer. These three talents account for about 40 of Rhode Island's 70 point average. Cothran and James both have the ability to attack the basket and hit the open jumper. Delroy James seems a little more aggressive in the paint. Forward Lamonte Ulmer accounts for most of Rhody's interior production (rebounding and scoring).

This team has a lot of offensive power, but what hurts them is their defensive efforts. Easy-to-break presses, lazy transition D, and sluggish coverage are just a few of the only weaknesses this team has at times.

Below is a quick look at Rhode Island's top performers in their win against Saint Louis.

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Lamonte Ulmer	16	5	0	1	1
Akeem Richmond	13	2	1	0	1
Orion Outerbridge	10	5	1	0	1
Keith Cothran	8	1	2	2	1

FG Percentage: 45%
3PT FG Percentage: 33%
FT Percentage: 70%

Temple comes off a convincing win over St. Bonaventure, and Rhode Island enters the third round with an "upset" of Saint Louis.

#1 Temple (69), #8 St. Bonaventure (51)
#5 Rhode Island (63), #4 Saint Louis (47)

Apparently Rhode Island fans shouted, "We Want Temple" after their win over Saint Louis. Well, we hope you're ready for us.

Tomorrow's tip is at 1:00 PM, and you can catch the game on CBS College Sports. We'll be live blogging tomorrow's game an hour before game time.

Temple Wins Impressively in Round One (Two)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Temple returned to action today looking like the same Owls we've witnessed the last month or so. The team came into this game against St. Bonaventure prepared, and aware of the circumstances.

Fran Dunphy once again had his players ready to perform, and the Owls responded with a dominating 69-51 victory. Do I regret not being able to catch this game, somehow or some way.

The offense found its touch early in this game led by Juan Fernandez, Micheal Eric, and Lavoy Allen. All three players scored double digits and played key roles in the team's overall offensive performance. Fernandez started the game off with three triples, and 10 of the Owls' 18 first points. Eric and Allen complimented Juan's production with impressive outings of their own.

	PTS	REB	AST	TO	PF
Juan Fernandez	17	0	7	0	2
Lavoy Allen	14	15	3	0	2
Micheal Eric	13	4	0	3	3
Ryan Brooks	8	2	2	0	0

Take a look at these shooting percentages in this afternoon's game:

FG Percentage: 53%
3PT FG Percentage: 35%
FT Percentage: 50%

I'm really excited about the team's post season hopes if they continue to play similar to today's performance. Just imagine how much damage this team can do with both the inside and outside games playing great on both sides of the ball.

Defense played spectacular today, limiting SBU's Andrew Nicholson and Chris Matthews to under even half of what they scored against Duquesne.

We're talking about a Temple team that for the past three years now has been hot in the conference tournament and is eager to make it past the first round of the Big Dance for the first time in a long time. I don't think anyone would want to play Temple.

For the Bonnies, the hope for a backway into the tournament and 2009 season comes to an end here. Despite losing two of their two top scorers in Jonathan Hall and Chris Matthews, I can honestly say that this St. Bonaventure team will have a lot of promise in the next few years. Give this group a year or two to grow, and we could see the Bonnies competing for a first round bye.

Round three of the A10 Conference Tournament is tomorrow, and Temple will be taking on Rhode Island. A win puts Temple in a familiar spot--the conference championship-- for a chance to improve its overall resume and steal a bid from bubble teams in the A10. The Owls are 2-0 against the Rams this year.

Preview to follow shortly.

What to Watch (March 12th, 2010)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

The first round of the Atlantic 10 conference tournament begins today, and those top four teams who earned byes will find out who their opponents on Friday will be.

Here are the games that will be played:

[12:00 PM] #1 Temple vs. #8 St. Bonaventure

- Second Round Opponent: Rhode Island
- Watch Online: N/A

[02:30 PM] #4 Saint Louis vs. #5 Rhode Island

- Second Round Opponent: Temple
- Watch Online: N/A

[06:30 PM] #2 Xavier vs. #7 Dayton

- Second Round Opponent: TBD
- Watch Online: Video Stream

[09:00 PM] #3 Richmond vs. #11 Massachusetts

- Second Round Opponent: N/A
- Watch Online: Video Stream

Third round games will be playing on March 13th (Saturday).

Here are the standings for our Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Blogger/Fan Pool.

[2010] A10 Blogger Pool Standings (RD. 1)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:45:00 +0000

Here's an early look at our standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Blogger Pool:

Rank	Blogger	Picks
1	Tri Corner Blog	2/4
-	Flyers Fieldhouse	2/4
-	The City Six	2/4
-	The Owl's Nest	2/4
-	Matt's Musings	2/4
-	Blackburn Review	2/4
2	Colonial Hoops	1/4

Here are the standings in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Fan Pool:

Rank	Poster	Picks
1	twisted3829	4/4
-	XUFinale	4/4
2	seattlespider	3/4
-	SpiderInTheMixingBowl	3/4
-	A10fan2	3/4
-	jimbo65	3/4
-	BustedDreams49	3/4
-	urspiders	3/4
-	MSG77	3/4
-	Snipe	3/4
-	Bona84	3/4
-	Dunga	3/4
3	KwamainInTheMembrane	2/4
-	eason49	2/4
-	rudy1984	2/4
-	Hooner49	2/4
-	A10BasketballFan	2/4
-	Lavoy Allen	2/4
-	Mulder	2/4
-	xu95	2/4
-	stlMO1	2/4
-	Marquis	2/4
-	1995Duke	2/4
-	UncivilDKizzle	2/4
-	Hawkamaniac	2/4
-	Knobby	2/4
4	Free Quebec	1/4

Round two will be played tomorrow, so look out for updated standings tomorrow night.

Temple Faces Off with SBU in Round Two

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:00:00 +0000

After a nice bye from the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, the Temple Owls will take the floor against their second round opponent St. Bonaventure.

The journey for a "three-peat" begins tomorrow at noon in Atlantic City, as the quarterfinal games will be played tomorrow.

Earlier this season, the two teams squared off in St. Bonaventure, New York in what was a competitive conference game. Temple came out on top after a dominating second half performance, 73-55.

Since this matchup, both teams have gone onto very impressive runs. Temple progressed into a seven game winning streak to finish out the regular season; St. Bonaventure won six of its last seven games, including a first round victory over Duquesne.

Here's a look at St. Bonaventure's run since the Temple game back in mid-February:

(W) La Salle
(W) Fordham
(W) Rhode Island
(W) Duquesne
(L) Xavier
(W) Duquesne

This Bonnie surge assures anyone that tomorrow afternoon's game will be nothing like the matchup earlier this year. SBU is going all out in this conference in its only hopes of reaching the tournament, while Temple's resume has locked up an invite.

SBU's Andrew Nicholson and Chris Matthews have cracked up the intensity, playing tremendous basketball up to this point. The two combined for 53 of the Bonnies' 83 points in Tuesday's game against Duquense-- bottom line, there's plenty of firepower in this starting lineup.

Temple might be at a slight disadvantage despite the bye, playing its last game almost a week ago. St. Bonaventure will be fresh off its victory over the Duquense Dukes on Tuesday.

Juan Fernandez seems to be back to 100% since the injury at Fordham, which is a great sign for the Owls as tournament time approached. Lavoy Allen and Ryan Brooks--the team for that matter-- could not be playing any better right now.

The Owls need to find their touch early on in this game, and hopefully combine the regular season momentum with previous years' success in the conference tournament. The post-season is a completely different scene than the regular season, as teams are playing to keep their seasons alive.

The winner of this game would go on to play in the semifinal round against the winner of Saint Louis vs. Rhode Island. You can see the breakdown of this year's tournament here.

I'm looking forward within the next week to making the blog's first annual We're Going Dancing! post. It's been a long and enjoyable season.

Around The Atlantic 10 (2010 - First Round)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:45:00 +0000

Last night was the first round of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, and we have listed below what went on, as well as the upcoming matchups for friday.

- #8 St. Bonaventure beat #9 Duquesne
- #5 Rhode Island beat #12 St. Joseph's
- #7 Dayton beat #10 George Washington
- #11 Massachusetts beat #6 Charlotte

The second round games will be played in Atlantic City on Friday, March 12th.

[12:00 PM] #1 Temple vs. #8 St. Bonaventure
[02:30 PM] #4 Saint Louis vs. #5 Rhode Island
[06:30 PM] #2 Xavier vs. #7 Dayton
[09:00 PM] #3 Richmond vs. #11 Massachusetts

We'll take a look at the Temple vs. St. Bonaventure game later on in the week.

2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Pool

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Here are the predictions for the participants in the 2010 Atlantic 10 Blogger and Fan Pools. We will have standings updated regularly:

What to Watch (March 9th, 2010)

Owlified@gmail.com (Owlified) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

The first round of the Atlantic 10 conference tournament begins today, and those top four teams who earned byes will find out who their opponents on Friday will be.

Here are the games that will be played:

[7:00 PM] #8 St. Bonaventure vs. #9 Duquesne

- Second Round Opponent: #1 Temple
- Watch Online: N/A

[7:00 PM] #5 Rhode Island vs. #12 Saint Joseph's

- Second Round Opponent: #4 Saint Louis
- Watch Online: Video Stream

[7:00 PM] #7 Dayton vs. #10 George Washington

- Second Round Opponent: #2 Xavier
- Watch Online: Video Stream

[7:00 PM] #6 Charlotte vs. #11 Massachusetts

- Second Round Opponent: #3 Richmond
- Watch Online: Video Stream

Second round games will be playing on March 12th (Friday).

Final call for our Atlantic 10 Tournament Pool!