City Six rundown: Darryl Reynolds' steady approach
VILLANOVA Darryl Reynolds waited a long time - until his senior year, to be exact - to be a regular starter for the Wildcats, but it's clear that he didn't just kill time until Daniel Ochefu graduated.
VILLANOVA
Darryl Reynolds waited a long time - until his senior year, to be exact - to be a regular starter for the Wildcats, but it's clear that he didn't just kill time until Daniel Ochefu graduated.
"I learned so much from him, but most of all, just play hard," the 6-foot-9 forward said of Ochefu, whom he would battle in practice. "He would go all-out. Actually I've been watching a lot of film of him lately. He played hard, so that's what I'm trying to do."
Reynolds had one of his best performances of the season Monday night against Seton Hall, grabbing nine rebounds while helping limit the Pirates' Angel Delgado, the Big East leader in rebounding, to six. He attributed his play to "the consistency of doing the same thing every play" with his teammates.
"That's what Daniel and Arch [Ryan Arcidiacono] did such a great job of last year," he said. "They were our rocks. They were solid. They did everything the same way, the same play, every day, every game. That's something we have to do."
COMING UP
Saturday vs. Providence (Wells Fargo Center), noon
Tuesday at Marquette, 8 p.m.
LA SALLE
Coach John Giannini said he has a "vision" of seeing Jordan Price evolve into the whole package as a basketball player, and he got a glimpse of that ability Sunday in a win over George Washington.
The 6-foot-5 Price, a redshirt senior, may have played his best game of the season, with 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the 79-69 victory, the Explorers' fourth straight win. He shot 9 of 11 from the field and 4 of 5 from three-point range.
"Our vision for him is to be this wonderful all-around player who defends, who passes, who rebounds," Giannini said. "Shooting 9 for 11 means he really took smart shots, and then getting five assists and getting seven rebounds and being part of a good defensive effort in a team win, is just the kind of leadership and performance that you need from a really talented guy if you want to have a great year."
COMING UP
Thursday vs. Davidson, 7 p.m.
Sunday at VCU, 2 p.m.
PENN
Coach Steve Donahue had his players wear "All Are One" practice jerseys Monday, and then wrote on Twitter: "To us, the only thing on a jersey that matters is 'Penn.' We can't care how things get done or who gets it done . . . the mission is to win!"
Some people felt the shirts were a sign of the coach's frustration with his team after the Quakers were swept last weekend at home by Yale and Brown, but Donahue said that wasn't the case at all.
"If anything, this group has been incredible," he said. "We're trying a lot of different lineups and I'm so appreciative of all the guys and their acceptance. We're trying to build this up. We're trying to change something, that we've unfortunately had a 10-year lull here trying to get back to what Penn basketball is all about."
He said the shirts, which will be worn every Monday, reflected his belief that his program is a family, "a symbol that we're all in this together. It doesn't matter what the number is on the back of the jersey, it's the name on the front, and we're all playing together."
COMING UP
Coming up
Saturday vs. St. Joseph's, 7 p.m.
ST. JOSEPH'S
Phil Martelli hears the compliments his team gets for battling down to the wire and never giving up, as the Hawks did in the last two minutes of close home losses to George Mason and Richmond. But for him right now, it's about results.
"By competing hard, when you sign your scholarship letter, that's what you're signing up to do, that you're going to put all your energies out there," the St. Joseph's coach said. "So I don't push it aside, that competing is a characteristic, but I also don't applaud it.
"I expect it. This team has not let me down in terms of competing. It's not playing harder, it's playing better, which is what we have to do, individually and collectively."
The Hawks committed 31 turnovers in the two games, 17 coming against Richmond, and Martelli said the mistakes aren't simply coming in one area.
"It's our passing, it's our catching, it's our execution," he said. "We're overthinking each offensive possession, and we're not scoring enough to be a top-end A-10 team right now."
COMING UP
Wednesday at Massachusetts, 7 p.m.
Saturday vs. Penn (Palestra), 7 p.m.
Tuesday at St. Bonaventure, 7 p.m.
TEMPLE
One quick look at their numbers in American Athletic Conference games tells you all you need to know about the Owls' struggles in their 1-5 start in league play.
Temple is shooting 38.4 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from three-point range and 62.8 percent from the free-throw line against AAC competition, while being outscored by almost seven points on average. The Owls also are minus-5.7 in rebounding margin although they did have a 30-25 edge in Saturday's loss to Tulsa.
Coach Fran Dunphy said it's a matter of everyone on the team doing better, including the coaches.
"These are good basketball teams we're playing," he said. "People know how to play us and are doing some things to use that we have to make better adjustments to. So we're struggling right now."
COMING UP
Wednesday at Cincinnati, 7 p.m.