Minutiae

Hey, folks, check it out! I'm on Deadspin! (scroll to the bottom of the page)

I have a commenting account on Gawker Media, and I have e-mailed Deadspin editor Will Leitch a few times, and so when the Hawks made it to the A-10 championship game, I told Will I'd write a tournament preview for them. Unfortunately, we all know that Xavier won, and the Hawks are stuck in the NIT, hosting the winner of Rutgers/Penn State Friday.

I'm not the only one who wrote what wound up being a pointless preview. Cincinnati, Missouri State, Hofstra, and others fell despite the high hopes of their writers. So it's good to know I'm not alone, even though I probably doomed the Hawks with my optimism. Go forth, read the preview, and think "what if..."

There's also a single-page view of my preview.

I thought Na'im Crenshaw graduated...

This week, when embattled Knicks' GM Isiah Thomas traded for Steve Francis, New York fans lamented that they now have the two most selfish, shoot-first guards in the NBA. Look down to the college level, and you'll find plenty of people why sympathize with lifelong Knickerbockers...in people who have watched Hawks' sophomore guard Abdulai Jalloh play.

Jalloh, like Rob Ferguson, is a tremendous player with a loose grasp on the fundamentals. He'll take more than a handful of ill-advised shots in any given game, often overlooking a teammate in the process. He's a knucklehead more than half the time and a thug half of the rest of the time, frustrating the Hawk faithful with an affinity for small ball. Even during stoppages of play, Jalloh will make himself the star of the show, whether or not he has the stats to back it up that night.

But there's a reason that Jalloh gets away with most of what he does: he's good. He's really freakin' good. As athletic as they come on the offensive end and a decent defender, Jalloh is like the Tin Man: a heart away from being a complete player.

Jalloh can average 20 points a game if he wants to (he's the Hawks' leading scorer right now with 14.9), but unless he displays some sense of when those points are needed, he will continue to frustrate his coaches and fans. With seniors Dave Mallon, Dwayne Lee and Chet Stachitas set to play their last (regular season, I hope) game at the Fieldhouse tomorrow, the team will start to rely on Ferg and Jalloh to lead the team, and if the two can get their acts completely together, I have a lot of faith in the Hawks.

This analysis was made intentionally short to open up the discussion among commenters. I know at least one person was chomping at the bit for me to write up Jalloh.

See, I made it through that entire post without a single Jalloh/Jell-O joke.

Next time: Chet Stachitas

The fallout from my post about Tuesday night's Temple/Saint Joe's game has somehow gotten a lot of attention, mostly from angry Temple fans. Whoever you are, and however you found my blog, welcome. I hope you stick around and read about all my thoughts on sports and pop culture.

Some of the comments were too vulgar for the audience that I think I have, and so they've been deleted, and I'm screening comments to this entry and the original post for the sake of clean language. But, in the interest of keeping free speech alive and well, I welcome more comments either to this post or the original. Just please don't suggest that I'm sour about losing the game. We've given away more important games to lesser teams this season, and will in the next few weeks. The Hawks aren't very good this year and, having come to terms with that, I don't let my disappointment in the team affect what I think about the rest of my experience at games, fan behavior included.

Maybe one day I'll share with you the response that I got from Bill Bradshaw, Temple's athletic director. It's really quite priceless.

I. Hate. Temple.

It used to be - and still is, to some extent - that Saint Joseph's biggest and most heated rivalry was with Villanova. That whole superiority complex that they have over on the Main Line sure can be annoying. But, over the past three or so years, my hatred for the V school has been eclipsed by my distaste for Temple.

"Oh," you say, dismissing me. "It's because of Goongate." No. I've gotten over Goongate, for the most part. I still think that John Chaney is a crazy old man who doesn't know how to control himself, and I still think Nehemiah Ingram should be faulted for committing the hard foul. But I know that Dave Mallon sets at least one moving screen per game, and often doesn't get called for it. Crime and punishment weren't necessarily in sync at Goongate (or after), but I've gotten past it.

No, the reason I hate Temple isn't because of Ingram, or Chaney, or the fact that the Owls beat the Hawks tonight, 57-44. The reason I hate Temple is because of their fans.

Four years ago, I sat on the lower level of the Liacouras Center, and as the Hawks were making a late-game run (they eventually lost), my friend and I stood and cheered for our team at a timeout. Instead of the "Sit Down, Shut Up" chant that you might hear from any other collegiate student section, I had a pretzel thrown at me. Two years ago, the Hooter mascot was ejected from a game at the Liacouras Center for picking a fight with the Hawk. These may seem extreme to a normal fan, but in the intensity of an NCAA, Atlantic 10, Big 5 game played in Philadelphia, it's almost excusable. Tonight, it was different.

As I walked into my section, the anthem singer was being introduced, and I stopped at the section entrance to remove my cap and pay my respects to the country. One Temple student had a different idea, and in the silence between sung phrases, jeered "Saint Joe's sucks!" and "F--- the Hawk!" I would have shouted back "Show some respect, you classless jackass," if I wouldn't have been breaking my own advice.

The profanity continued through the game, with chants of "F--- Saint Joe's," "F--- the Hawk," and "F--- Martelli" ringing from the Temple student section. When senior Chet Stachitas stepped to the foul line, he was greeted with chants of "STD" because of his medical-sounding name. I won't even mention what the accompanying rollout said.

This isn't the speech of an old man who wants it to be like the old days, nor is it a "holier than thou" missive. I still sit in the student section at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. I know that our fans start to sing the "Hey" song, because they want to chant "You suck!" to teams at the appropriate times. I was even in the student section when the Hawks lost to Xavier on a series of bad calls and Mardi Gras beads came raining onto the court (for the record, I didn't throw them). I know that students have gotten rowdier over the years, but there is a line between passion and abuse, and the Temple fans crossed it so long ago that they forget what it looks like.

Temple University should be ashamed in its students and in its fans. I hope that, somehow, some of the chants made it past the censors and onto national television so that the world will know that the fans are classless and some action will be taken. Tomorrow, I'm sending a letter to the school's athletic director, president, student body president, and student life director, to formally lodge my complaint against the school. There's no place in college basketball for the kind of vulgar abuse that the Hawks and their fans had to take tonight.

One of Temple's marketing campaigns used to feature students saying "I could have gone anywhere. I chose Temple." Maybe it's time for Temple to take a look at the students they're choosing to come to the school.

You can't teach height, but you also can't miraculously heal injuries. Therein lies the problem for Dave Mallon.

Dave Mallon has lived a charmed life at Saint Joseph's. He's been part of two NCAA tournament teams, has reached the NIT title game, and until this year could count on his enormous hands the number of games his Hawks spent out of first place in the Atlantic 10 East.

But there's another part of Dave Mallon, a part whom collegiate basketball hasn't treated well. Anyone who watches the game knows that Dave was the guy who set more illegal screens than anyone else implicated in "Goongate." He's been plagued by injuries, often coming so early in the season as to make people wonder whether he should be red shirted. And he's never been quite able to find a definitive role in the Hawks' game plan, starting 27 games his freshman year, then two, then 27 again, and only one so far this year. Though "platoon big man" could be an easy label to slap on him, you can't hope but wish more for Dave.

The injury problems started early for Dave. He suffered a concussion in his first game as a Hawk, against Boston College. He missed the next game but wound up starting every game he played, splitting time with John Bryant. Dave's injuries continued to bite him in young seasons for the next two years, as he missed his first six games as a sophomore and the first seven frames in his junior year, both times with stress fractures in his right foot, an ailment that only spells bad news for a guy his size.

Nevertheless, Mallon makes the most of the time that he can get on the floor, often turning in performances that stun the people who shake their heads at his injury-ridden "normal" output. He's clearly not the kind of player that can average in double figures, not in the offense that the Hawks run. But, if he had been healthy his entire career, could have flirted with a ten-point average by now. Dave is a good player, it's as simple as that, and he seems to be a hard worker. He's just had his problems at the collegiate level, and it's stifled his natural talent.

Dave's an awfully nice guy - as normal as basketball players come - and it's a shame that he's been so hurt in his years here at Saint Joseph's. Even as I speak, he's dealing with an ankle injury that kept him out of his first game, Saturday's win over St. Bonaventure. Will he be back for tomorrow's Holy War? I can't say for sure, but I do know that the Hawks could use a guy with his heart on the floor for what could be the biggest game of the year.

Next time: Abdulai Jalloh

Thoughts on who could very well be the most talented Hawk on the floor.

There's this scene in Friends, "The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line," where Monica reacts to something Ross reveals by saying "Oh my god, orange juice just came out of my nose, but it was totally worth it." If you were to suggest at the beginning of last year that Rob Ferguson would compete for the title of Saint Joseph's best player, I would have had the same reaction. Ferg came to Hawk Hill a million dollar talent with a ten cent brain. He was projected to be a power in the paint, but didn't pick up on coach Phil Martelli's game schemes quickly enough and was redshirted for his freshman year. In 2004-05, he averaged 13.7 minutes per game in a front court that included now-NBA developmental leaguer Dwayne Jones and spiritual team leader John Bryant, a sure sign that his game was developing.

Perhaps because of his limited role, it was difficult to tell at first what kind of player Ferguson was supposed to be. A big man with some outside game, along the lines of Bill Phillips? A Jones-like defender with a good low-post game? As a fan, I couldn't put my finger on the real Rob Ferguson. He was a streaky player, too, throwing together a great game or two and then resorting to the kid you saw at the beginning of the year, with unbalanced brawn and brain.

With Jones and Bryant graduated, the Hawks knew they were going to have to lean on Ferguson's game and hope his fragile psyche didn't respond negatively. For the most part, the effort has been a success. In 14 games so far this season, Rob is averaging double the minutes he played in his first year, and his point production has gone up by more than that factor. His rebounding is below what it should be projected as, given his minutes, but he's sharing duties with freshman Ahmad Nivins, who the Hawks hope can be their new DJ, and the team itself hasn't rebounded well this year. He already has as many blocks and more steals than he totaled in all of 2004-05. Without a doubt, Ferg is a player on the rise.

The question of how far he can rise is yet to be answered, or even pondered. If the Hawks choose to recognize the inside game more, it's logical that Ferguson will get more touches, and his natural athleticism in the post will get him the points in the paint that the team so desperately needs to supplement their three-point attack. From there, it is a matter of him building his own confidence to perform at the level that the coaching staff thought he could when he was recruited, because when he feels like having his head in the game, Ferguson can indeed be the Hawks' best player. There's half a season left in 2005-06, and as much as I hate to say it, a lot of the games left are ones that the Hawks lose on paper. Here's hoping some out-of-the-box thinking in these games helps Ferg break even further out of his shell. And hey, a few wins along the way would be nice.

Next time: Dave Mallon