Temple coach confident with five returning starters; bench is weak
By Jim O'Connell The Associated Press
It's about as close to gushing as John Chaney ever gets, and he was still quick with a qualifier.
"They're poised, confident and ready to play, and I know we've got some good ones," the Temple coach said in assessing his team. The "but" couldn't be far behind. "But obviously I'm concerned about the bench."
Chaney has all five starters back from the team that finished 20-11 and scared Michigan in the West Regional finals last year. Aaron McKie, Eddie Jones and Rick Brunson are about the best trio of perimeter players in the country and 6-foot-11 William Cunningham provides a presence in the middle.
"Aaron, Eddie and Rick have come along to play the game with their heads, realizing what is important as far as what to do with the ball and how to play the defenses we want," Chaney said. "William though hasn't shown that. We need him to rebound, stay in the game by avoiding fouls and be there for us at the end of the game with free throws. Our success will depend on him, and I really don't know if he's there vet."
McKie led the Atlantic 10 in scoring last season at 20.6 and Jones wasn't far behind at 17 a game. They combined for 13 rebounds per game, more than triple Cunningham's 3.8.
Brunson has learned to play the point after a scholastic career as a scorer, and he averaged 14 points and 4.5 assists last season.
The bench is a legitimate concern, even for a team that spends most of the game in Chaney's famous 3-2 zone.
The Atlantic 10 ended last season on its highest note ever with four teams making the field of 64 and all winning at
EAST PREVIEW
least one game in the tournament. It should match the same number of bids this season despite a large roster turnover for everybody but Temple.
Massachusetts, the league champion the last two seasons, adds freshman big man Marcus Camby and swingman Donta Bright, a Proposition 48 sophomore. Junior forward Lou Roe will be given the chance to make the Minutemen his team, and coach John Calipari needs him to take over.
George Washington lost three starters from last season's team that reached the regional semifinals, but the big man is back. Nigeria native Yinka Dare led the league in rebounds, 10.3 a game, and blocked shots, 2.8, last season as a freshman, and the 7-1, 265-pounder can be a national impact player if the guards can hit from the outside.
West Virginia has four starters back, led by Marsalis Basey who led the league at 5.5 assists a game last season.
The Big East was down last season when none of the three NCAA teams made it past the second round. The odds are better this year because Syracuse is off probation and eligible for post-season play.
The Orangemen won't have a lot of size, but the backcourt of Adrian Autry and Lawrence Moten is strong, and sophomore John Wallace leads a small, but solid frontline.
Georgetown has a top-notch center and no one to shoot the ball from the outside. Haven't we seen this before? Sophomore Othella Harrington led the Hoyas to the NIT championship game, and his success will depend on somebody making shots to break up collapsing defenses. It is point guard Joey Brown's last chance to run a well-mixed offense.
Boston College has all five starters back, but it seems the Eagles have been in that situation for the last few years. Connecticut and St. John's will both rely on new-comers for success. The Redmen will lean heavily on 6-6 swingman James Scott, the only two-time junior college All-American besides Larry Johnson. Connecticut needs 6-5 Israeli Doron Sheffer to get the offense moving so the Huskies can take advantage of forward Donyell Marshall.
Manhattan earned its first NCAA bid in 35 years last season, and the Jaspers could make it two straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles despite losing player of the year Keith Bullock.
The Ivy League plays a round-robin schedule to determine a champion and see who gets the right to scare a highly ranked team in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Penn went through the league unbeaten last year and then gave Massachusetts all it could handle. The Quakers have all five starters back, led by the backcourt of Jerome Alien and Matt Maloney.
Rider and Wagner had one of the best tournament championship games in the country last season, and Wagner should return behind guard Bobby Hopson, probably the league's best player.
If Fordham can vie for the Patriot League title, its chances are resting on the outside shooting of LSU transfer Dan Mascia.
The North Atlantic doesn't have Hartford's Vin Baker to grab national headlines anymore., but Drexel is the best team.
The East Coast Conference took a one-year hiatus last season and it's back with Troy State, the school that broke the 200-point mark last season, the favorite despite being in its first year in Division I.
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COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW • University Daily Kansan • November 17, 1993