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Three takeaways from Miami Hoophall Invitational

12/10/2016, 10:30pm EST
By Josh Verlin

B.J. Johnson (above) and La Salle haven't had issue scoring the basketball, but defense is a concern. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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MIAMI -- The Big 5 came to South Beach this weekend. Both Temple and La Salle took on Big East foes at the American Airlines Arena, home to the Miami Heat, though the Owls and Explorers came away with different feelings thanks to a 74-65 win over DePaul and 93-78 loss to Georgetown, respectfully. 

Here are several takeaways from the doubleheader:

Giannini, La Salle still trying to work out kinks
It hasn’t exactly been the sparkling start that La Salle was hoping for, to kick off what was supposed to be a redemption tour after last year’s nine-win season. The addition of three high-major transfers to a rotation that returned almost every other major piece from last year had expectations rising around 20th and Olney, but after the 15-point defeat at the hands of the Hoyas, the Explorers' record is 4-4.

Aside from a buzzer-beating defeat at home to Texas Southern (Nov. 19), none of the losses are terrible: by five to a better-than-expected Temple in overtime to open the season; by just 10 to a Villanova squad that’s generally been demolishing Big 5 opponents (and everyone else) for the last four years; now, by 15 to a Hoyas squad that, at 6-4, has also been puzzlingly uneven this season but is certainly loaded with talent.

Explorers head coach John Giannini blamed the latest loss on his team’s poor defensive showing, allowing Georgetown to make more than 53 percent of its shots and shoot 7-of-12 from the 3-point arc.

That’s nothing new: La Salle gives up 80.4 points per game, the worst mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy has the Explorers’ defense ranked No. 204 in the country, which is also the worst mark in the A-10.

Offensively, by comparison, they’re 54th (fifth in conference).

“My kids are good players and they work hard and I just have to figure out our defensive problems, I have to figure it out,” Giannini said. “Our defensive results are not good and I just have to figure that out.”

Time is running short for those problems to be fixed before the season gets to its next phase. After hosting Florida Gulf Coast (6-3) on Saturday and then traveling to Mercer (5-5) on Dec. 22, La Salle starts A-10 play on Dec. 30 with an always-difficult trip to Dayton (7-2).

But Giannini couldn’t pinpoint any specific issue with his team defensively, though there are a few: in addition to allowing teams to knock down shots at a high rate, they also struggle with forcing turnovers (289th, per KenPom) and blocking shots (259th); the only area they’re somewhat successful is in defensive rebounding (51st).

“Just the shooting percentages and the points allowed are astronomical, we really have to do something about it,” he said. “I have to figure it out.”

Georgetown head coach John Thompson III wasn’t helpful, either.

“They’ve got to go back, I’m sure, and figure some things out,” he said. “But there’s no one thing when we were watching (scouting) film, we said ‘ah-ha, let’s go here,’ no.”

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Josh Brown (above) is four games into a seven-game trial period to see if he'll play the remainder of the season. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Brown’s status trending positively
When Temple senior Josh Brown returned to the court for the Owls’ game against Saint Joseph’s on Nov. 30, he was effectively giving himself a seven-game window to see if he was ready to return from a torn ACL suffered in the offseason or if he was better off shutting it down for the season and coming back at full health in 2017-18. Due to NCAA regulations, if he plays in his team’s Dec. 28 season against Cincinnati, he’s no longer eligible for the medical redshirt.

The Owls’ win against DePaul was the midway point of that decision, and in his fourth game back Brown also got his first start and played the most minutes (28) he’s seen so far. He would have played more, in fact, had he not fouled out with four minutes and change remaining.

It was a strong game for the 6-foot-3 guard out of St. Anthony (N.J.), with 11 points, seven steals and five assists against just one turnover. It’s no coincidence that the majority of the game-closing run DePaul made to threat in the final few minutes came with Brown on the bench.

“He deserves that opportunity to be in the lineup, now I just have got to manage his minutes as best as possible,” Dunphy said. “I didn’t like not having to manage it late in the game where he has five fouls and he’s out. I’d rather have him in there. Let me make that decision, don’t let the game make that decision.”

While Brown’s continued success on the court -- he’s averaging 7.5 ppg while shooting 10-for-17 from the floor, with eight assists and seven steals against two turnovers -- it’s becoming difficult to see him making the decision to wait another 11 months to play again. But there’s still time for him to make up his mind, and it’s certainly not a choice he’s making lightly.

If he sticks around for the rest of the season, on a team that’s already got two top-25 wins and has won six of its last seven games, there’s certainly a stronger chance that the Owls make another run at the top of the American Athletic Conference and a potential NCAA Tournament berth. If he comes back next year, it’ll be to a team that’ll be that much deeper and more experienced, losing current seniors Daniel Dingle (11.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and Mark Williams (4.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg) but otherwise returning intact.

The health of his ankle is paramount, of course, but there’s no way the bigger picture isn’t at least creeping into his mind. For now, though it’s one day at a time.

“We’ll see, how he feels like tomorrow, let’s see how he feels in one day and obviously Tuesday for the Villanova game,” Dunphy said. “It’s sort of remarkable that he comes out and does what he did today, but he’s a good basketball player, a terrific competitor, great guy, great leader, so I’m happy for him as well.”

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Temple's Fran Dunphy (above) went 10-deep in his rotation on Saturday with quality results. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Moore, Robbins show Temple’s depth
In Temple’s season-opening win over La Salle, a 97-92 overtime win, the Owls played just seven student-athletes, all of whom played at a high individual level to deliver the victory. But with two freshmen and two previously-inexperienced sophomores among that group, common sense said that there was no way that rotation could play at such a level for the whole season.

So though Brown’s return means that Temple’s core group is really only eight -- seniors Brown, Dingle and Williams; junior Obi Enechionyia, sophomores Shizz Alston Jr. and Ernest Aflakpui, freshmen Alani Moore II and Quinton Rose -- head coach Fran Dunphy has the ability to go with as many as 10 reliable options, based on what he got Saturday in the DePaul win.

The third member of the freshman class, 6-10 Damion Moore, earned his first career start against DePaul and responded with the best game of his young career, grabbing six boards in 21 minutes -- both his new career standards -- to go along with three points. His presence was especially crucial on a day where the entire Temple frontcourt got in foul trouble, part of 28 fouls the Owls picked up.

Also contributing nicely was senior guard Mike Robbins, who had by far his best career outing with eight points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of action. The former walk-on, an athletic 6-5 guard whose story can be found in more detail here, might not hear his number called in every game, but he’s clearly capable of giving his team quality minutes when he’s needed.

Temple wasn’t expected to be deep this year. Brown’s status was up in the air and sophomore wing Trey Lowe is unavailable as he continues to recover from a car accident a year ago.

But Rose (11.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Moore II (7.9 ppg, 2.2 apg) have played very well for freshmen, while Alston (12.6 ppg, 4.6 apg) has joined Enechionyia (18.6 ppg, 7.7 rpg) as one of the players Dunphy can not take off the floor. It’s certainly a team that’s got a lot more offensive weapons than it first appeared to have coming into the year, and even if Brown sticks around, the Owls have the pieces to make some postseason noise, whether that’s in the NIT or NCAAs.

On a somewhat related but somewhat separate note...

Dunphy was asked about Robbins being an example of an ideal kid that sticks it out for three years to make an impact as a senior, and even though Robbins’ case is different in that he was a walk-on who earned a scholarship before his senior year, Dunphy ran with it.

His answer, in full, is worthy of print:

“There’s several ideals out there, that you have 12 guys on the team -- 3 seniors, 3 juniors, three sophomores, 3 freshmen, and the juniors and seniors are playing a lot more and the juniors and sophomores are earning their time and it’s their team the last two years. But who does that? There’s no programs out there that do that anymore.

“I think there’s a bunch of good kids out there who are really making an impact. Damion Moore early in the game did a great job, Quinton Rose has been having a very good freshman year. Alani Moore got nicked in practice the other day, his ankle got turned, but he should be ready to go on Tuesday. I’m confident to throw those three guys out there and we’ll be fine.

“It’s just what happens in college basketball; the kids are absolutely more ready today than they were 20 years ago and it’ll probably be even more in 20 years of this game. But it’s nice to see a guy like Mike who gets that opportunity and he’s been rewarded by the way with a scholarship that he got on full scholarship because of his attitude, his way and he’s a good student, he’s been a good teammate.”


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