I was hoping that Quincy A and D.Dunn would be Temple’s best guards this season, not K.Battle, as I didn’t think he was that good in high school.

Therefore, I was surprised by HC Mckie saying his new players only showed “flashes” of being good, and he went on to insinuate that Battle was the best of the lot and he was going to “lean” on him. There are reports that Battle shot well at times in team scrimmages. Although a good athlete, I don’t see him presently as being an impact player.

He’s coming here off a season in Big Ten play, Battle averaged 10-mpg, 2.3 ppg, and shot 30 percent on two’s and 26 percent on three’s. Hardly inspiring numbers and what one would expect from a 4-star rated HS player. Looking deeper into his poor performance at Butler, I am put-off by his inability to score well at the hoop nor get to the foul line, as well as his lack of rebounding, and excessive turnovers and fouling.

I have far more confidence in transfer Brandan Barry shooting, as he shot the lights out on three’s in each of his three years at Dartmouth, and has shot two’s far better than Battle did in his freshmen year. Injured T.Strickland also shot his three’s well his freshmen year at Wisconsin.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Virginia Tech game, and seeing for myself how all the new players stack-up to each other.

The Virginia Tech game will also provide us an opportunity to see how Temple’s guards compare to Virginia Tech’s guards Bede, Cattoor, Alleyne and Diarra.

Since I strongly believe that Temple’s best line-up is when it plays small, I do hope that we don’t see the Center position only manned by Forrester, Parks, and Jourdain, and not by Moorman or Perry at times.

I’m also fearful that Temple will be turnover prone if both Battle and Forrester are in Temple’s starting line-up, as the last thing Temple needs is for two experienced players in the starting to be turnover prone.

Temple fans are going to see in television broadcasts of games a sharp contrast in the playing style of Temple’s guards.

As Williams, Quincy A., Battle, and Strickland all have some hops, Barry and Dunn do not. I suspect both Barry and Dunn have the best bb IQ’s which should result in them taking better shots and committing fewer turnovers.

Looking forward to seeing if both freshmen Quincy A, and Williams have high bb IQ’s.

I don’t think Temple will have as many backcourt players who are good at getting to the rim and foul-line as last season, and that’s why I think it’s imperative that both Perry and Moorman drive much more to the rim than they have in the past.

Virginia Tech is a relatively young team that has also stocked with recent transfers. Two recent transfers Aluma and Diarra played well in their first win over Radford.VT is good at disrupting opponent offenses, and thus winning the turnover battle. This may cause Temple real problems as Temple won’t be starting a true PG.

Radford played well against VT, but VT still managed to beat them 77-62, a 15-point margin.

VT likes to shoot the three ball and shot them at 42 percent on 11-26 shooting. It’s up Temple’s players to try to stop VT’s three-ball, and for Perry, Moorman, Quincy A, and Battle, to shoot three’s well. Temple will miss Brandan Barry not being able to play as yet.VT shot 2’s at 52 percent and held Radford to shooting just 41 percent on two’s. Will be interesting to see if Temple will have similar trouble scoring on two-point shots.

Temple plays Virginia Tech at 5 pm on Saturday.

Bart Torvik has Temple ranked 215th in the nation, and has VT beating Temple by 11 points. He has Temple winning only the two conference games they play against Tulane.. Pomeroy rankings has Temple listed at 148th in the nation.