Around College Basketball: Dunphy settles in at Temple

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/15/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As a native of the Philadelphia, and after spending 17 seasons as the coach at Penn, Fran Dunphy knows every inch of the majestic Palestra - Philadelphia's shrine to college basketball.

So there has to be something at least a little unsettling when Dunphy comes back to coach for visiting Temple, from using the visiting locker room to sitting on the visitor's bench.

Dunphy returned again on Wednesday night to play Penn at the Palestra for the second time, with his 2007 visit still fresh in his memory banks. But this game between Temple and Penn was played without the circus atmosphere of his first return.

Penn ended up pulling that one out, 76-74, before 6,103 raucous fans at the Palestra, and Dunphy was determined to have his team more focused this time.

"It's much, much different, the fanfare," Dunphy said following Temple's surprisingly easy 78-53 victory. "I knew it was coming (in 2007). It was a crazy night."

Though Dunphy was his same, old, high-strung self on the sidelines, everything around him was more relaxed, including the crowd of 4,261 fans.

"It's just (the passage of) time. Time marches on. Now I've been here a couple of times. It's not novel anymore."

It didn't hurt on Wednesday that Dionte Christmas and company roared out of the gate with a 7-0 start. The struggling Penn Quakers, who fell to 3-8 on the season, didn't help their own cause by committing turnovers on three possessions and taking two-and-a-half minutes to even get off its first shot.

Eight minutes into the game, Ryan Brooks nailed a three-pointer to give Temple a 25-7 lead and the game was basically over. With the smooth senior guard Christmas contributing 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting and nine rebounds, while forward Craig Williams adjusted to his new role as a starter with a career- high 17 points, the Owls led by as many as 30 points before Dunphy cleared his bench.

The victory left Dunphy feeling upbeat about his current team.

Temple may be just 9-6 on the season and 1-0 in the Atlantic 10, but Dunphy has always had a way of bringing his teams along as a season progresses and this edition of the Owls should be one to keep an eye on as the A-10 campaign unfolds.

But Dunphy could put that all away as he enjoyed another victory at the Palestra on Wednesday night.

"It's always great to come back to the Palestra," said Dunphy. "Penn was real good to me in my time here."

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

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NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

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