Game 6: at Temple (3-2)
The long, adventurous road trip finally concludes with a trip to Philadelphia to play the Temple Owls. The Owls are coming off a 10 point loss at Buffalo, a head scratching result from a team that is expected to battle Xavier for the Atlantic 10 Championship. Temple comes in 3-2 after going 2-1 at the Charleston Classic, beating East Tennessee St. and the College of Charleston while losing a close one to Clemson. Temple has also won at Lafayette. This will be Coach Fran Dunphy's first home game, so expect the Owls to come out fired up and play with even greater intensity.
Probable Starters:
Luis Guzman, 6'3" 200 Jr. 3 pts, 5 reb, 5 ass. 35% FG, 80% FT. Looks to get others involved. Does a good job at getting in the lane and finding the open man. Has a very good hesitation dribble that allows him to break his man down.
Ryan Brooks, 6'4" 200 Jr. 14 pts, 3 reb. 44% FG, 39% 3PFG, 85% FT. A shooter who doesn't need much room to get his shot off. Can also shot fake and drive.
Semaj Inge, 6'4" 190 Sr. 8 pts, 4 reb, 4 ass. 41% FG, 25% 3PFG, 70% FT. Heady player who doesn't look for his own shot, but is capable of making shots. Will go down in the post because of his long reach, he can shoot over people. Best defender on the team, has very quick hands on the perimeter.
Dionte Christmas, 6'5" 205 Sr. 24 pts, 8 reb, 4 ass. 51% FG, 43% 3PFG, 77% FT. Honorable mention preseason All-American, can really shoot it from the outside. Does a great job of using screens, setting his feet and has a very quick release. He looks for the outside shot first, but can drive and finish at the rim. The more he dribbles the better, have to take away his first step and not let him attack the basket.
Sergio Olmos, 7' 220 Sr. 12 pts, 2 reb. 60% FG. Think of your typical European team. Finesse post player who has a variety of back to the basket moves. Can make the elbow jump shot. Will shot fake and pull up from 8 feet. Not very physical, especially defensively. He can be pushed around on the boards.
Off the Bench
Ramone Moore, 6'4" 180 Fr. 9 pts, 4 reb. 40% FG, 35% 3PFG, 100% FT. Wing player who can also shoot the deep ball.
Scootie Randall, 6'6" 205 Fr. 3 pts. 80% FG. Physical freshman who will battle down low.
Micheal Eric, 6'11" 225 Fr. 2 pts, 2 reb. 40% FG, 33% FT. From Nigeria, looks to be aggressive offensively in the post. Has the ability to pick and pop for the open wing jumper.
Offensively, Temple will start by running Christmas and Brooks off of screens. If Christmas is on the weak side, he'll get a double screen. After that, the Owls will run primarily the dribble drive motion offense or just go free lance. But everyone is constantly moving, and all 4 perimeter players have the ability to penetrate, finish or kick out. So you want to help on the driver, but you can't leave Brooks, Moore, or Christmas open.
Defensively, Temple doesn't challenge you much in any way. They'll show some 3/4 court 1-2-2 pressure, but their man defense is relatively benign to what we're used to seeing and they don't take you out of your offense, you're given the chance to execute. The Owls don't put much pressure on the ball, allowing easy entry into the post. They also turn their heads on defense, causing them to lose cutters and leave shooters open. Temple is vulnerable to the dribble drive as they close out on the ball and rotate to open shooters slowly. They can be pushed around on the boards also.
Temple is very skilled offensively. They're averaging 73 points, shooting 44% from the field, 36% from the 3, and average 17 assists, outstanding numbers. On the flip side, they're giving up 69 points a game, 43% shooting, 37% from 3. Their assist/turnover ratio is 1:1, not very good. And they commit as many turnovers as they force, surprisingly mediocre for a team that essentially plays 4 guards. But, how will Temple come out and play in their first home game. From watching the Buffalo game, it appeared they could've played harder. So is the real Temple team the one that played Buffalo, or is something else in store for us. For Miami to win, we have to move the ball, make them guard us. Also, if we rebound well, we could get some 2nd chance points. Defensively, we have to contain dribble penetration because if we help off their shooters, that's an automatic 3 points. Christmas will get his 20 points, but if we can make him take 20-25 shots and dominate the ball, forcing him to create his own shots instead of getting free off dribble penetration, that will improve our chances. It's going to be important to match Temple's intensity from the start and survive the opening run that's bound to happen since it's the Owls' first game at home.
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