Behind Enemy Lines
Tom Kakert | Editor
Quenton DeCosey leads the Temple attack
USA Today Sports
We go Behind Enemy Lines to preview Iowa's NCAA opponent on Friday, the Temple Owls, with John DiCarlo, from The Rivals.com site Owlscoop.com. Who are the key players to watch? What is the Temple style of play? Get an in-depth look right here at the Owls.
Q: Talk about this Temple team. Looking at their season, they were at .500 and then got it going. What changed?
DiCARLO: I think that is a very fair assessment of them. They were picked to finish sixth in the conference and on paper when you consider the talent, SMU, Memphis, Cincinnati, UCONN, and Tulsa were all more talented teams. Honestly, I think if we are going on straight talent, they may all be more talented.
There were some points when Temple was playing their non-conference games when they played in the Puerto Rico Tipoff against teams like Butler, Utah, and they were winnable and they couldn’t finish them off. They had some easy games against teams like Delaware State where they eventually won those games, but they didn’t put them away and let them hang around. They weren’t really competitive against Wisconsin either when they went up there.
Where I think it all started to change for them this season was after the ugly game against Delaware State before Christmas, they went out to Cincinnati, who was in the Top 25, and they beat them on the road. Then a few days later they go on the road and get clobbered by Houston at home and then went to UCONN and beat them on the road. They were still inconsistent, but those two Top 25 wins on the road really helped them gain some confidence. I think had they not gotten those road wins we probably aren’t talking about them as a tournament team because their resume wouldn’t be as strong. They performed really well against the top half of the league and won the regular season title, which was certainly worth a lot in the eyes of the committee because I personally didn’t think they would be a ten seed. They really never had a big non-conference win, so I think what made the difference in their resume and what turned around their season was those big road wins against Cincy and UCONN. Then they were also the first team to be SMU, but a few days after that they go on the road and lose at East Carolina. They have definitely been an inconsistent team.
One thing I should mention about Temple is one of their freshman that was starting to play pretty well, Trey Lowe, was in an auto accident in New Jersey a few weeks ago. He had a really good game against Villanova and was coming around. He is out for the year. It hurts Temple because he was a guy who could come off the bench and he has some length and can defend and was becoming a better scoring option. Daniel Dingle, a small forward off the bench who could get to the rim a little bit, took a fall against UCONN and sprained his wrist. I think he is questionable for the game.
Q: How are they playing right now? They lost to UCONN in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament, but before that it seems like they were on a bit of a roll.
DiCARLO: They did finish pretty strong, but I think a couple of guys need to be playing better for them. I think on Saturday they just lost to a more talented UCONN team. Some thought UCONN might be too tired on Saturday, but I never bought into that. Talent has a way of overcoming that and the result wasn’t a surprise. But, having said that, Temple did finish strong. They lost to a Tulsa team that is pretty good later in the year. I am not sure they are NCAA Tournament good, but they have good guards. A guy that has to play better for Temple is Quenton DeCosey. He is an all-conference player and he’s a good player, but lately he hasn’t been playing very well. Ever since Temple played Villanova, he has shot a little under 28% and in the last four games he is 3-17 from three. He was 4-17 against UCONN and 0-5 from three. He has to play better because he’s a senior and this is it for him. Obi Enechionya, their versatile forward also has to play better.
But, towards the end of the season, even before the tournament game, they did not look great. They struggled against Tulane and didn’t look great in that game. Tulane played better in the tournament, but they were towards the bottom of the league this year. To be honest with you, and I am not trying to downplay what this team accomplished this season, but this might be in terms of talent and consistency, this might be the least talented team that Fran Dunphy has taken to the tournament. DeCousey can be really good when he wants to be. I think Obi Enechionya can be very good as well. They have a very steady point guard in Josh Brown, who is in the top ten nationally in terms of assist to turnover ratio. Jaylen Bond has been playing well, but he’s 6-8 and 225 pounds and Temple doesn’t have a real true post, so he’s had his hands full. They just really have to take care of the ball, defend really well, and just like anyone else get good performances from their top players. They have won the games they had to win, but I wouldn’t say that closed it out in great fashion. They did handle South Florida easily in the conference tournament and that might have been as good as they have looked all season, but when you saw them against a more talented UCONN team, they didn’t play. I am interested to see how they responded against an Iowa team that didn’t finish the season strong, but I think is probably more talented than Temple.
Tom Kakert | Editor
Quenton DeCosey leads the Temple attack
USA Today Sports
We go Behind Enemy Lines to preview Iowa's NCAA opponent on Friday, the Temple Owls, with John DiCarlo, from The Rivals.com site Owlscoop.com. Who are the key players to watch? What is the Temple style of play? Get an in-depth look right here at the Owls.
Q: Talk about this Temple team. Looking at their season, they were at .500 and then got it going. What changed?
DiCARLO: I think that is a very fair assessment of them. They were picked to finish sixth in the conference and on paper when you consider the talent, SMU, Memphis, Cincinnati, UCONN, and Tulsa were all more talented teams. Honestly, I think if we are going on straight talent, they may all be more talented.
There were some points when Temple was playing their non-conference games when they played in the Puerto Rico Tipoff against teams like Butler, Utah, and they were winnable and they couldn’t finish them off. They had some easy games against teams like Delaware State where they eventually won those games, but they didn’t put them away and let them hang around. They weren’t really competitive against Wisconsin either when they went up there.
Where I think it all started to change for them this season was after the ugly game against Delaware State before Christmas, they went out to Cincinnati, who was in the Top 25, and they beat them on the road. Then a few days later they go on the road and get clobbered by Houston at home and then went to UCONN and beat them on the road. They were still inconsistent, but those two Top 25 wins on the road really helped them gain some confidence. I think had they not gotten those road wins we probably aren’t talking about them as a tournament team because their resume wouldn’t be as strong. They performed really well against the top half of the league and won the regular season title, which was certainly worth a lot in the eyes of the committee because I personally didn’t think they would be a ten seed. They really never had a big non-conference win, so I think what made the difference in their resume and what turned around their season was those big road wins against Cincy and UCONN. Then they were also the first team to be SMU, but a few days after that they go on the road and lose at East Carolina. They have definitely been an inconsistent team.
One thing I should mention about Temple is one of their freshman that was starting to play pretty well, Trey Lowe, was in an auto accident in New Jersey a few weeks ago. He had a really good game against Villanova and was coming around. He is out for the year. It hurts Temple because he was a guy who could come off the bench and he has some length and can defend and was becoming a better scoring option. Daniel Dingle, a small forward off the bench who could get to the rim a little bit, took a fall against UCONN and sprained his wrist. I think he is questionable for the game.
Q: How are they playing right now? They lost to UCONN in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament, but before that it seems like they were on a bit of a roll.
DiCARLO: They did finish pretty strong, but I think a couple of guys need to be playing better for them. I think on Saturday they just lost to a more talented UCONN team. Some thought UCONN might be too tired on Saturday, but I never bought into that. Talent has a way of overcoming that and the result wasn’t a surprise. But, having said that, Temple did finish strong. They lost to a Tulsa team that is pretty good later in the year. I am not sure they are NCAA Tournament good, but they have good guards. A guy that has to play better for Temple is Quenton DeCosey. He is an all-conference player and he’s a good player, but lately he hasn’t been playing very well. Ever since Temple played Villanova, he has shot a little under 28% and in the last four games he is 3-17 from three. He was 4-17 against UCONN and 0-5 from three. He has to play better because he’s a senior and this is it for him. Obi Enechionya, their versatile forward also has to play better.
But, towards the end of the season, even before the tournament game, they did not look great. They struggled against Tulane and didn’t look great in that game. Tulane played better in the tournament, but they were towards the bottom of the league this year. To be honest with you, and I am not trying to downplay what this team accomplished this season, but this might be in terms of talent and consistency, this might be the least talented team that Fran Dunphy has taken to the tournament. DeCousey can be really good when he wants to be. I think Obi Enechionya can be very good as well. They have a very steady point guard in Josh Brown, who is in the top ten nationally in terms of assist to turnover ratio. Jaylen Bond has been playing well, but he’s 6-8 and 225 pounds and Temple doesn’t have a real true post, so he’s had his hands full. They just really have to take care of the ball, defend really well, and just like anyone else get good performances from their top players. They have won the games they had to win, but I wouldn’t say that closed it out in great fashion. They did handle South Florida easily in the conference tournament and that might have been as good as they have looked all season, but when you saw them against a more talented UCONN team, they didn’t play. I am interested to see how they responded against an Iowa team that didn’t finish the season strong, but I think is probably more talented than Temple.
