St. Joseph's and Villanova sitting pretty

Who is the best basketball team in the Big 5 today? Before the season, the choice was clear -- Penn. The Quakers (5-4, 2-0 Big 5) were Philadelphia's only representative in the NCAA Tournament last year and gained a No. 11 seed, highest for the Ivy League since Princeton was seeded No. 5 in 1998. Penn returned every starter and bench contributor -- including Ivy League Player of the Year Ugonna Onyekwe -- from a team that finished in the top 40 of the RPI. Meanwhile, St Joseph's and Temple had lost arguably their best players to graduation, Marvin O'Conner and Lynn Greer respectively, while Villanova and La Salle would try and work their freshmen into their lineups. Unfortunately for the Quakers, after having completed about one-third of the season, it is obvious who is the best team in the city right now. And it isn't Penn. Instead, coach Phil Martelli's St. Joseph's Hawks (11-1, 0-0 Big 5) are the headliners of what suddenly appears to be a solid slate of Philly teams. The Hawks are currently ranked sixth in the country in the RPI rankings, having been as a high as No. 1 following their surprising 7-0 start. Junior Jameer Nelson is currently playing point guard at an All-American level, recapturing the potential he flashed as the Atlantic-10 rookie of the year two seasons ago. He leads the team in scoring and sparks its frenzied defense, which ranks third in the nation in field goal percentage-against and has caused many of the team's quality opponents, including Gonzaga and Boston College, to wilt with its overwhelming defensive effort. Exhibiting their depth, the Hawks routed Massachusetts, 76-47, despite poor performances from Nelson and their second leading scorer, Delonte West. Alexandre Sazonov led the way with 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting. With its gaudy record, All- American-caliber point guard and lofty ranking in the RPI, St Joe's is unquestionably the team to beat in the city right now. However, the Hawks and Quakers are not the only NCAA-worthy teams in Philadelphia. Both Villanova and La Salle have done a good job integrating contributing freshmen, and entering the conference portion of play, each is positioned for a potential tournament run. Villanova (9-5, 2-1 Big 5) has missed the NCAAs for three straight seasons despite being considered a "bubble" team each year. A significant reason for the Wildcats missing the tournament has been a lack of quality wins -- a problem that appears to still haunt them this season. 'Nova has lost to each of the highly regarded opponents it has played -- Memphis, Penn and Marquette. However, Villanova has been working in many freshmen, including three of its five leading scorers -- Ray Allan, Randy Foye and Jason Fraser. Fraser has averaged nine points and eight rebounds per game and his presence has aided senior Ricky Wright in the post, where he has excelled, averaging 12 points per game. Jay Wright's team is off to a good start in the Big East portion of its schedule that will ultimately decide its tourney fate, beating Virginia Tech, 91-82, and Providence -- a Friar squad that defeated Penn -- 81-67. Villanova will have many opportunities to get the elusive quality win in the top-heavy Big East, which currently features three top 10 teams in Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Notre Dame. The Explorers (7-5, 0-1 Big 5) also have an outstanding freshman class, but lack the senior leadership that Villanova possesses. Billy Hahn's first recruiting class netted Gary Neal, Jermaine Thomas and Stephen Smith -- currently the team's three leading scorers averaging 18, 14 and 13 points per game, respectively. La Salle has a decent record and, given its youth, will probably be a better team at the end of the season than it is now. However, the Atlantic 10 Conference is generally considered one of the weaker major conferences and might have difficulty fielding more than two teams in the tournament. It is difficult to envision La Salle leapfrogging St. Joe's or No. 23 Xavier for a berth. For La Salle to make it, the Explorers would probably need to win the A-10 Tournament and the associated automatic bid Needing to win the A-10 Tourney goes double for Temple (3-11, 0-2 Big 5). The Owls started off the season 0-5, and a bad season got worse after that when their 70-year-old head coach John Chaney fell ill with pneumonia and missed two games. Temple never really recovered from point guard Lynn Greer's graduation. A talented and experienced point guard is necessary to run Chaney's complex offensive and defensive schemes, and -- as Chaney frequently laments -- no such person exists on the Owls' roster. That renders talented wing players David Hawkins and Alex Wesby, the team's two leading scorers, relatively powerless to stop the collapse. For all that, Temple can still be a dangerous team, as evidenced by its 71-64 win over No. 17 Indiana, and Chaney teams tend to improve as the season goes on, usually hitting a run by the time the A-10 Tourney arrives in late February. However, unless the Owls find a point guard, it is difficult to envision such a run this year. New freshmen and the improved play of Nelson have revitalized last season's weak Big 5 and so, it appears that should the Quakers repeat as Ivy champs, they will not find the field devoid of their Philly brethren.

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