Temple University Athletics
Photo by: Mike McAtee
Dunphy, Chaney Linked In Temple Record Book
2.28.13 | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA -- Some 24-odd hours before its scheduled tipoff against the Detroit Titans, the Temple Owls men's basketball team gathered at the center of their practice court awaiting the arrival of a guest speaker.
A few minutes later, he arrived in classic John Chaney fashion -- a whirlwind of wisdom, wit and wisecracks.
The 2001 Basketball Hall of Famer offered the current roster of Owls some quips and tidbits of advice about life and basketball, and the ways in which they often overlap -- a cluster of allegories that just so happened to be rife with unintentional foreshadowing.
Tonight, the Owls entered their clash with Detroit teetering on the precipice of picking up their 20th win of the season -- for the sixth consecutive season.
The last time Temple compiled six consecutive 20-win seasons?
1995-96 through 2000-01. Under John Chaney.
So the players sprawled out across the hardwood of the Liacouras Center captivated by the animated Chaney must have taken some of his advice to heart.
Trailing Detroit by eight at halftime, the Owls looked lethargic and unable to establish a sufficient offensive or defensive rhythm.
But despite a less-than-savory first-half performance, Temple's defense ratcheted the intensity of the game up a notch midway through the second half -- including one stretch where stellar defensive work by graduate student TJ DiLeo on Detroit's Ray McCallum frustrated the guard and his teammates, forcing Detroit into a shot clock violation.
The Liacouras Center, earlier subdued, exploded into an ear-shattering roar.
It wasn't the end for the Owls. At least not in Khalif Wyatt's mind.
With 1:47 remaining, DiLeo picked off an inbounds pass, dished to Wyatt who pulled up and banked in a three-pointer.
The crowd flew to its feet. The roar crescendoed.
Not good enough for Wyatt.
Detroit failed to score on the ensuing possession, so Wyatt drained another trey to put the Owls up by three, 77-74, with under a minute remaining.
Eardrum-shattering noise reverberated throughout the building, bouncing off the walls.
In the final minute of play, several Temple players launched themselves at loose balls, their skin screeching against the lacquer of the court as their bodies squelched before coming to a halt.
It was the type of gritty, hard-nosed, gutsy play that would have pleased Chaney back in his time at the helm.
“I could tell it was going to be like that -- that somebody was going to have to make some shots down the stretch and we were going to have to get some stops,” said Wyatt after the Owls claimed the 83-78 victory, the team's 20th of the season.
“All of our games seem to come down to a couple possessions.”
Almost lost in the thrill of another victory en route to the post-season -- the team's fourth in a row -- was the significance of win number 20.
With it, head coach Fran Dunphy tied the program's record for consecutive 20-win seasons, joining Chaney.
When asked to reflect on the accomplishment, Dunphy called Chaney a “remarkable guy for whom I have great love.”
“The things that he accomplished here at Temple, the things that he did, when I look up into the rafters and see all those banners, it's pretty impressive stuff...And he did it his way,” Dunphy said.
Now in his seventh season with the Owls, Dunphy's success is proof there was little drop-off in Temple's post-Chaney years.
“We've been winning games the last couple of years, and it says a lot about Coach Dunphy. He's a great coach, a great preparer, and he gets us ready to play,” Wyatt said.
Temple's storied history was convincing enough to persuade graduate student and Boston University transfer Jake O'Brien to join the Owls this past summer.
“It's a bigtime program. Especially for me, coming in from Boston and looking at Temple -- that was one of the main reasons I came here: the success of the program,” he said.
“You can always count on Temple being in there in the end in March.”
And if they are, you can sure count on John Chaney having something smart to say about it.
We just might not be able to print it.
By Kami Mattioli, Owlsports.com columnist
A few minutes later, he arrived in classic John Chaney fashion -- a whirlwind of wisdom, wit and wisecracks.
The 2001 Basketball Hall of Famer offered the current roster of Owls some quips and tidbits of advice about life and basketball, and the ways in which they often overlap -- a cluster of allegories that just so happened to be rife with unintentional foreshadowing.
Tonight, the Owls entered their clash with Detroit teetering on the precipice of picking up their 20th win of the season -- for the sixth consecutive season.
The last time Temple compiled six consecutive 20-win seasons?
1995-96 through 2000-01. Under John Chaney.
So the players sprawled out across the hardwood of the Liacouras Center captivated by the animated Chaney must have taken some of his advice to heart.
Trailing Detroit by eight at halftime, the Owls looked lethargic and unable to establish a sufficient offensive or defensive rhythm.
But despite a less-than-savory first-half performance, Temple's defense ratcheted the intensity of the game up a notch midway through the second half -- including one stretch where stellar defensive work by graduate student TJ DiLeo on Detroit's Ray McCallum frustrated the guard and his teammates, forcing Detroit into a shot clock violation.
The Liacouras Center, earlier subdued, exploded into an ear-shattering roar.
It wasn't the end for the Owls. At least not in Khalif Wyatt's mind.
With 1:47 remaining, DiLeo picked off an inbounds pass, dished to Wyatt who pulled up and banked in a three-pointer.
The crowd flew to its feet. The roar crescendoed.
Not good enough for Wyatt.
Detroit failed to score on the ensuing possession, so Wyatt drained another trey to put the Owls up by three, 77-74, with under a minute remaining.
Eardrum-shattering noise reverberated throughout the building, bouncing off the walls.
In the final minute of play, several Temple players launched themselves at loose balls, their skin screeching against the lacquer of the court as their bodies squelched before coming to a halt.
It was the type of gritty, hard-nosed, gutsy play that would have pleased Chaney back in his time at the helm.
“I could tell it was going to be like that -- that somebody was going to have to make some shots down the stretch and we were going to have to get some stops,” said Wyatt after the Owls claimed the 83-78 victory, the team's 20th of the season.
“All of our games seem to come down to a couple possessions.”
Almost lost in the thrill of another victory en route to the post-season -- the team's fourth in a row -- was the significance of win number 20.
With it, head coach Fran Dunphy tied the program's record for consecutive 20-win seasons, joining Chaney.
When asked to reflect on the accomplishment, Dunphy called Chaney a “remarkable guy for whom I have great love.”
“The things that he accomplished here at Temple, the things that he did, when I look up into the rafters and see all those banners, it's pretty impressive stuff...And he did it his way,” Dunphy said.
Now in his seventh season with the Owls, Dunphy's success is proof there was little drop-off in Temple's post-Chaney years.
“We've been winning games the last couple of years, and it says a lot about Coach Dunphy. He's a great coach, a great preparer, and he gets us ready to play,” Wyatt said.
Temple's storied history was convincing enough to persuade graduate student and Boston University transfer Jake O'Brien to join the Owls this past summer.
“It's a bigtime program. Especially for me, coming in from Boston and looking at Temple -- that was one of the main reasons I came here: the success of the program,” he said.
“You can always count on Temple being in there in the end in March.”
And if they are, you can sure count on John Chaney having something smart to say about it.
We just might not be able to print it.
By Kami Mattioli, Owlsports.com columnist
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