City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2016-17 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 11. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)

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2016-17 Temple Owls Primer
Coach: Fran Dunphy, 11th season (214-120, .641)
Last Year: 21-12 overall, 14-4 AAC; lost in AAC semifinals (Connecticut, 77-62), lost in NCAA Tournament Round of 64 (Iowa, 72-70)

For the second consecutive year, Temple sat squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble seemingly all season, winning enough big games to boost the resume but with that double-digit loss total looming big on Selection Sunday. And despite losing in the American Athletic Conference semifinals for the second season in a row, the NCAA selection committee was kinder to the Owls in 2016, awarding them a No. 10 seed in the South Regional and a game in nearby Brooklyn. But after mounting a furious late comeback to send the game to overtime, Temple was knocked out by a tip-back from Iowa’s Adam Woodbury at the buzzer.

If there’s a word to describe this year’s team, it’s uncertainty. Two unfortunate injuries have turned what could have been a versatile, deep squad for Dunphy into one that’s more than likely to experience some significant growing pains along the way, and a tough non-conference schedule awaits the defending AAC regular-season champs. But as long as certain key players take the next steps in their development, Temple’s long-term future is still set up well, with some talented freshmen joining the mix this year and looking like they’ll play significant minutes right away.

Key Losses: PF Jaylen Bond (10.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg), SG Devin Coleman (9.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg), G/F Quenton DeCosey (15.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg)

A large part of the reason this figures to be somewhat of a rebuilding year for the Owls is the graduation of three of the team’s top four scorers from last season. The biggest void is left by DeCosey, a starter and the Owls’ go-to wing scorer each of the last three seasons. The New Jersey native was never the most efficient player, but had an innate ability to get buckets that was largely absent elsewhere on the roster. DeCosey leaves North Broad as Temple’s 16th all-time leading scorer, with all but 53 of his 1,513 career points coming in his final three seasons. He will begin his professional career in Italy.

Bond and Coleman are both Philly-area natives who transferred home from Power Five schools and were able to make a big impact in two years at Temple. A Plymouth-Whitemarsh graduate who played his first two collegiate seasons at Texas, Bond spent the bulk of his time at Temple as the Owls’ starting center. Although he was a capable enough scorer to squeak into double figures as a senior, Bond primarily made his mark on the glass, finishing last year as the American Athletic Conference’s fourth-leading rebounder and leading the team in rebounding during both of his two seasons as an Owl.

A Friends Central grad who transferred to Temple after two seasons at Clemson, Coleman was the Owls’ best long-range threat last season, shooting just below 40 percent from three-point range. Despite not being much of an off-the-dribble threat, Coleman was able to become one of the best standstill shooters in the conference last season. Coleman had perhaps the most iconic individual performance of the season last year for Temple, hitting all eight of his field goal attempts, including seven treys, en route to a 23-point performance in the Owls’ upset of then-unbeaten SMU.

New Faces: PG Alani Moore (Fr./Friendship Collegiate, D.C.), G/F Quinton Rose (Fr./Bishop Kearney, N.Y.), F/C Damion Moore (Fr./Callaway, Miss.)

Dunphy isn’t typically one to give his freshmen a bucket of minutes, but this is a class that’s going to see some playing time early on an Owls squad that certainly isn’t the deepest in the country. That’s not a bad thing, however, as all three are more than capable of becoming above-average collegiate players during their time on North Broad St., some sooner rather than later.

The most college-ready of the trio is Moore, a solid-bodied 5-10 point guard out of Friendship Collegiate (D.C.), who’s more than likely going to jump right into the starting role thanks to injury. A high-level prospect from early on in his high school career, Moore is battle-tested from spending his prep career in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, going up against nationally-ranked programs like DeMatha, Gonzaga, St. John’s and more on a regular basis; though he’ll primarily play on the ball, he’s a terrific outside shooter who can also work off it.

Not quite as polished but with an incredibly high ceiling is Rose, who has a chance to become what DeCosey was -- a super-talented 6-5 wing who can play all three perimeter positions, except Rose is longer and more athletic than DeCosey, and might have more raw talent. He has to add to his frame and get his motor running at its maximum on every play for him to start to reach his potential, but Rose will get minutes this year and should have a breakout game or two.

Temple has more depth in the frontcourt, so Moore won’t likely see more than a few minutes per game, though the 6-10 post player has great length and good athleticism, and could turn some heads on the defensive end of the court. If he can avoid major mistakes on that end of the court, he should get some run to spell the starters.

Starting Frontcourt: F Daniel Dingle (4.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg), F Obi Enechionyia (11.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg), PF Mark Williams (3.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg)

This is the most experienced unit for Dunphy, with two seniors (Dingle, Williams) and a junior who's more than likely going to be the team's leading scorer this season. Enechionyia is a high-level talent at 6-8 and 220 pounds with a smooth perimeter game, and he's a more than capable shot blocker with 75 rejections in his first two years. He showed during stretches last season that he can be a dominant scorer (more on that later) but now it'll be his turn to demand the ball in late shot-clock situations and deliver.

Dingle, a 6-7 combo forward out of the Bronx, looked like he would have a super-productive career coming out of St. Raymond's (N.Y.) as an inside-out scorer who would eventually develop into a large wing. A knee injury his sophomore year set him back a ways, and the 6.7 ppg he was averaging in 10 pre-injury games that year still remains his high-water mark; this could be the year he breaks through the mold and becomes a reliable double-digit scorer, something he's shown flashes of in his career. Williams, a solid-bodied 6-8 forward, won't blow anybody away with his athleticism or skill set but knows his job, to rebound, play defense and hit open shots.

Starting Backcourt: PG Alani Moore (DNP), G Levan Alston, Jr. (2.0 ppg), *PG Josh Brown (8.3 ppg, 4.9 apg)

The unquestioned leader of this temple team, both on and off the court, is senior Josh Brown. After leading the team in assists last year--Brown had eighth-best assist-to-turnover ratios in the entire country--Brown figured to be an extension of Dunphy at the point guard spot, a particularly crucial role on an otherwise inexperienced team. However, an Achilles’ tendon tear suffered in a May workout has thrown a wrench into Brown’s season, and that of the team as a whole. There is still no timetable for Brown’s return, although it’s looking increasingly less likely that the Owls will be without their leader for the entire season and a return around the start of conference play could be a possibility.

In the meantime, ball-handling duties will be turned over to true freshman Alani Moore. A D.C. native and consensus three-star recruit, Moore is a speedy point guard who excels in transition. He’s a lethal jump shooter, and although he stands just 5-foot-10 on a good day, Moore is able to use his quickness to get into the lane and create. With Brown’s status still up in the air, Moore will be thrown into the fire from the start of his college career, and this team’s success will hinge largely on how ready he is for such a responsibility.

Joining Moore in the backcourt will be Alston, Jr., a Haverford School graduate whose father played for the Owls in the 90s. Alston saw a fair amount of playing time early in the season last year, even scoring 12 points against top-ranked North Carolina in his first collegiate game, but saw his minutes dwindle over the course of the season. Recruited as a combo guard, Alston is probably best suited spotting up off the ball, but he can certainly be a strong secondary ballhandler next to Moore and will see some time at the point as well in Brown’s absence.

Bench: F/C Ernest Aflakpui (1.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg), G/F Quinton Rose (DNP), G Ayan Nunez de Carvalho (DNP), PG Isaiah Lewis (DNP)

The Owls will get deeper once/if Brown returns, as that will move Moore into a reserve role, but for now only Aflakpui will represent any Division I experience coming off the bench. The Archbishop Carroll product, who missed the majority of his senior year with a knee injury, saw only spare minutes through the first two months of his freshman season, but started for a six-game stretch in January that saw him average 4.2 ppg 3.6 rpg -- not mind-blowing stats by any means, but a hint. Aflakpui made huge strides in two years at Carroll before his injury, and with that well in the rear-view mirror, he could take another equally large step as he prepares for a starting role as a junior.

After that, it’s going to be likely a matter of seeing who’s locked in from game to game. Rose is the highest-ceiling prospect of the three guards, but Lewis, as a JUCO transfer, brings maturity and experience to the table, even if he’s not meant to be a featured member of the roster. It’s going to come down to who’s playing defense, limiting turnovers and limiting bad shots, but expect the starting guards to shoulder a heavy burden until/if Brown returns.

Three Games to Watch
1. vs. La Salle (Nov. 11) A team’s season-opener is always a game that’s circled on its schedule from the start of summer workouts, but this one carries a bit more weight as it also serves as the Owls’ Big 5 opener. And if that weren’t enough, the game also serves as an early opportunity to get a non-conference win against what figures to be an NCAA Tournament-caliber team. It’ll certainly be interesting to watch two teams that will have a learning process, though one expects La Salle’s curve to be more accelerated than Temple’s.

2. vs. Cincinnati (Dec. 28) The Owls’ AAC opener comes against one of the conference’s most consistently strong programs, and the Bearcats are again considered one of the favorites to finish atop the conference this year. Temple has knocked off Cincinnati each of the last two years at the Liacouras Center, requiring double-overtime last season, and to make matters more interesting, this will be right around the time when Josh Brown could return to the lineup. It’ll also be the return home for Life Center (N.J.)’s Nysier Brooks, a freshman forward on the Bearcats.

3. vs. UConn (Feb. 19). It’s always a good time when former Sixers guard Kevin Ollie leads his Huskies into Philadelphia, with the relatively new conference foes already having played some entertaining contests. Last year, the Huskies held an 11-point lead with five minutes left before Dingle hit three 3-pointers to lead a Temple comeback in a 63-58 win. This one will also be extra-meaningful, as it’s the return of former Temple assistant Dwayne Killings to the Liacouras Center; Killings left the Owls to join Ollie’s staff this offseason after five seasons on North Broad.

Three Keys to Success
1. Get Brown back. Obviously, this one isn’t fully in Temple’s control, as Achilles injuries are nothing to sniff at; though Brown has started partially practicing with the team, it’s unclear if he’ll be back in a month or will take a redshirt and come back next year, or anywhere in between. But there’s no denying that if he is able to make it back for a significant portion of the season -- and plays as well as if he’d never been hurt -- the Owls will be a much more imposing threat in the American Athletic Conference.

2. Forget mistakes. There’s no doubt that, with all the youth and inexperience in Temple’s rotation at the outset, mistakes will be made. There are going to be ugly moments, whether that’s turnovers, miscommunication on defense or bad offensive possessions, but this is a team that needs to have a collective short-term memory issue. Moore and Alston, Jr. especially are going to go through a trial-by-fire in the early going, especially with a Big 5 game against a talented La Salle squad to open the year, but a road trip to UMass (Nov. 17) and then Preseason NIT appearance (Manhattan, Florida State and WVU/Illinois) will present their own challenges.

3. Obi’s time to shine. Though Fran Dunphy likes to give his seniors their chance to shine, there’s no doubt that the Owls’ best plan for success is with their junior forward leading the way. Enechionyia started off his sophomore year unevenly, dropping 25 points against Saint Joseph’s on Dec. 13 before scoring in single digits in eight of the next nine games. Then he suddenly turned it around, averaging 15.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg over the next 13 games, making 43 percent of his 3-pointers before two quiet outings to finish out the year. Now he needs to put up those sorts of scoring numbers (and chip in a few more rebounds as well) for a whole season.