Temple's obstacles include high altitude and a 6:45 a.m. wake-up.
DENVER - The Temple Owls play so early today, they ate their pregame meal last night.
They're skipping this morning's allotted shoot-around time: 6:20 a.m.
As a No. 12 seed, the Owls were assigned a hotel on the other side of town, 35 minutes away, which coach Fran Dunphy can't quite figure out since the team bus seems to pass a lot of hotels downtown.
The Owls also know this is the Mile High City.
"I heard Allen Iverson say before that he got a little winded playing an all-star game in Denver," Mark Tyndale said yesterday. "If he gets tired, Mark Tyndale will get tired."
So the 12th-seeded Owls are lining up their excuses for when they face No. 5 Michigan State at 12:30 Eastern time - 10:30 a.m. local time - in the South Regional first round? More like taking on the personality of their coach, who likes to identify his obstacles before he knocks them down.
Maybe we'll find out today how far Temple's program still has to go, but this isn't a bad time to forget the program's recent ragged past. It's no time to try to guess its future. Here's where we are: When was the last time a Big Five school given no shot in the preseason wound up in the NCAA tournament?
When Michigan State's name came up on the screen during Sunday's selection show, Tyndale started pumping his first. He wanted this game. He jumped to his feet when Temple's name popped up as Michigan State's opponent.
Tyndale said he would have plenty of nerves today. On his way out, the senior plays in his first NCAA tournament game.
"I get nerves before any game," Tyndale said. "I don't care if we're playing against some middle-school kids."
Away from the cameras, Dunphy challenges players in terms they recognize.
"He's just here to ride on the ship with us," Tyndale said. "Coach Dunphy, he doesn't like the limelight. He's all about us. I really appreciate that in him."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo praised the job Dunphy had done. They have known each other a long time. But Izzo offered his take on the toughness he sees in the Owls.
"I'm not sure it's a bad thing to inherit some of John Chaney's kids," Izzo said.
The biggest key today could be whether Temple's big men, Sergio Olmos and Lavoy Allen, can stay out of foul trouble, since Dunphy replaces either with guards. Izzo has more big men at his disposal. If Temple's big guys hold their own, the advantage may swing to the Owls, since Temple's backcourt is both taller and more explosive, with just as many shooting options.
One thing for sure: The Owls are not walking away holding cameras.
"Paying attention to detail is something you could look at not just on the court, but off the court," said Owls guard Chris Clark. "I think Coach Dunphy preached that a lot."
Dunphy had his staff spend a lot of time figuring out how the Owls should handle the 10:30 a.m. start.
"Anybody know a nutritionist?" Dunphy said earlier this week.
The Owls arrived Tuesday, and the big decision was whether to act as if they still were on Eastern time, playing a game at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. They decided to go local. The pregame meal of pasta and some chicken was last night at 7:30.
This morning's wakeup would be at 6:45 a.m., then a light breakfast at 7, just bagels and fruit and cereal, nothing cooked. That's a little different from the usual shootaround six hours before a game and a meal 41/2 hours out. But Dunphy said he didn't use the shoot-around during Penn's trips to the NCAA tournament either.
"You don't O.D. on this," Dunphy said.
Like the altitude: Tyndale said he had pushed himself harder at practice because of it. "I think we overcame that," Tyndale said.
Right now, Dunphy has no complaints about his team in the paying-attention-to-detail department.
Temple's coach said, "I think they saw something within themselves that said, 'If we do this all the time, we can be a pretty good team.' "
DENVER - The Temple Owls play so early today, they ate their pregame meal last night.
They're skipping this morning's allotted shoot-around time: 6:20 a.m.
As a No. 12 seed, the Owls were assigned a hotel on the other side of town, 35 minutes away, which coach Fran Dunphy can't quite figure out since the team bus seems to pass a lot of hotels downtown.
The Owls also know this is the Mile High City.
"I heard Allen Iverson say before that he got a little winded playing an all-star game in Denver," Mark Tyndale said yesterday. "If he gets tired, Mark Tyndale will get tired."
So the 12th-seeded Owls are lining up their excuses for when they face No. 5 Michigan State at 12:30 Eastern time - 10:30 a.m. local time - in the South Regional first round? More like taking on the personality of their coach, who likes to identify his obstacles before he knocks them down.
Maybe we'll find out today how far Temple's program still has to go, but this isn't a bad time to forget the program's recent ragged past. It's no time to try to guess its future. Here's where we are: When was the last time a Big Five school given no shot in the preseason wound up in the NCAA tournament?
When Michigan State's name came up on the screen during Sunday's selection show, Tyndale started pumping his first. He wanted this game. He jumped to his feet when Temple's name popped up as Michigan State's opponent.
Tyndale said he would have plenty of nerves today. On his way out, the senior plays in his first NCAA tournament game.
"I get nerves before any game," Tyndale said. "I don't care if we're playing against some middle-school kids."
Away from the cameras, Dunphy challenges players in terms they recognize.
"He's just here to ride on the ship with us," Tyndale said. "Coach Dunphy, he doesn't like the limelight. He's all about us. I really appreciate that in him."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo praised the job Dunphy had done. They have known each other a long time. But Izzo offered his take on the toughness he sees in the Owls.
"I'm not sure it's a bad thing to inherit some of John Chaney's kids," Izzo said.
The biggest key today could be whether Temple's big men, Sergio Olmos and Lavoy Allen, can stay out of foul trouble, since Dunphy replaces either with guards. Izzo has more big men at his disposal. If Temple's big guys hold their own, the advantage may swing to the Owls, since Temple's backcourt is both taller and more explosive, with just as many shooting options.
One thing for sure: The Owls are not walking away holding cameras.
"Paying attention to detail is something you could look at not just on the court, but off the court," said Owls guard Chris Clark. "I think Coach Dunphy preached that a lot."
Dunphy had his staff spend a lot of time figuring out how the Owls should handle the 10:30 a.m. start.
"Anybody know a nutritionist?" Dunphy said earlier this week.
The Owls arrived Tuesday, and the big decision was whether to act as if they still were on Eastern time, playing a game at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. They decided to go local. The pregame meal of pasta and some chicken was last night at 7:30.
This morning's wakeup would be at 6:45 a.m., then a light breakfast at 7, just bagels and fruit and cereal, nothing cooked. That's a little different from the usual shootaround six hours before a game and a meal 41/2 hours out. But Dunphy said he didn't use the shoot-around during Penn's trips to the NCAA tournament either.
"You don't O.D. on this," Dunphy said.
Like the altitude: Tyndale said he had pushed himself harder at practice because of it. "I think we overcame that," Tyndale said.
Right now, Dunphy has no complaints about his team in the paying-attention-to-detail department.
Temple's coach said, "I think they saw something within themselves that said, 'If we do this all the time, we can be a pretty good team.' "
