Temple won’t intimidate Philly guys at Rider
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. >> Tyere Marshall doesn’t need an introduction to Temple basketball.
Rider’s senior center already knows all about the tradition inside the Liacouras Center on North Broad.
“I remember when I was younger, I got to shoot around in the gym,” said Marshall, whose uncle Wayne played for Hall of Fame coach John Chaney from 2004-06. “I’ve seen them play all the time when I was young.”
As the Broncs (7-2) prepare for a clash against the Owls (7-3) on Saturday afternoon, Marshall is one of many Rider players excited to be going home.
Eight of the 12 players on coach Kevin Baggett’s roster are from the Philadelphia area and played in either the Public League, Catholic League or District 1, including Bonner-Prendergast AllDelco forward Ajiri Johnson.
“It’s going to be fun,” said Marshall at Martin Luther King grad, who is off to an exceptional start, averaging 17 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. “I just want us to get a win. My family (and) friends can come to the game, so there’s going to be a lot more people at the game.”
For some of the players this won’t be the first time they’ve stepped on the court at the Liacouras Center in a competitive game despite it being the first meeting between the schools since 1995.
Senior guard Kimar Williams remembers the twopoint heartbreaker his Constitution
team dropped to Marshall’s MLK in the 2014 Public League championship game there.
“It might give us extra energy just wanting to prove ourselves against a higher level (opponent),” Williams said. “That and we have a bunch of guys from Philly. Everybody wants to make an example … and just playing hard close to home to show family and friends.”
So what makes a Philly player a Philly player?
“Tough,” Marshall said. “Straight up tough. They’re going to give you all they got. It’s like street ball, they’re not going to give up.”
“Playing hard,” Williams said. “Got a lot of heart.” And coach? “Toughness,” said Baggett, who is from Burlington in South Jersey and played at Saint Joseph’s in the late 80s. “It’s a mentality that nobody is going to outwork them, nobody is going to outplay them and outcompete them. It’s a tough factor for sure.”
That personality has certainly showed this season. Rider enters Saturday’s game winners of five in a row and with a real chance to grab a signature non-conference win.
Baggett said his Broncs are better prepared for this step up in competition than they were in a dreadful 29-turnover, 37-point loss at Arizona State.
“Our guys won’t be intimidated,” Baggett said. “Even at the Arizona State game, we jumped out on them and they weren’t intimidated in that game. I thought there were some calls and then guys got in foul trouble, but as far as going into a game and thinking or feeling like we’re overmatched or not ready to go compete, that’s never a thought process. These guys have battled all year long, and the last couple years since they’ve been here.”
Marshall, in particular, will have Temple’s attention. He’s scored in double figures in eight of Rider’s nine contests and has double-doubles in four, including the program’s first 20-20 game since Jason Thompson did it three times during his 200708 senior campaign.
“The work that he’s put in, he’s reaping what he sowed,” Baggett said. “It takes big guys a lot longer than it takes guards. I thought last year he was trending in the right way, and certainly doing it now. I’m not surprised. It’s a process and he’s arrived.”
Whatever happens on Saturday, the Broncs plan on hanging around until the end.
“We got heart,” Marshall said, “and we’re going to go out there and fight on the court.”
It’s the Philly in them.