Jameer and Delonte; Nova Rules the Roost

Jameer Nelson and Delonte West Hit Their Stride

It's been deja vu all over again this year as both Jameer Nelson and Delonte West are having breakout years on contending teams in the NBA. It brings back sweet memories of Nelson and West as the magical back court tandem on St. Joseph's 30-2 team in 2003-4. Now Jameer is performing magic nightly for the Orlando Magic, West for the Cavs.

Nelson was an impact player with the Magic from the beginning and has averaged in the low double figures until this year. This season he has emerged as one of the top point guards in the Eastern Conference, currently averaging 17 ppg. West is on his third team in five years. While he had a couple of double figure scoring seasons with the Celtics, those were on some bad Celtic teams - remember them? Now playing alongside the King of the Universe in Cleveland, at shooting guard, he is averaging 12 ppg and showing the multifaceted skills he displayed at St. Joe's - defense, passing, rebounding, three-point shooting. It's fun to see these two men succeed at the next level, but not as much fun as when they were in the same backcourt five years ago.

Coincidentally, Randy Foye, the Villanova great, is also blossoming this year after several years of growing pains with the Timberwolves. West, Nelson and Foye are the three best NBA guards the Philadelphia area has produced in recent years. Any or all of them would look particularly good in a Sixers' uniform.

Villanova Rules the Big 5

Villanova clearly owns Big 5 basketball bragging rights after its 62-45 victory over Temple the other night. But Temple, with its tough national schedule, figured to give Nova more of a run for their money. The Wildcats didn't break the game open until the second half but the Owls have had too many patches of inconsistency this year, even allowing for their strength of schedule. St. Joseph's has been disappointing at 5-6 with no real quality wins. LaSalle is 7-5 with no significant wins. The bottom line is that as conference play begins, Temple, St. Joe's and LaSalle have their work cut out over the next couple of months to qualify for the big tournament. Penn (1-7) of course has no choice but to win the Ivy League title. On the other hand, it's difficult to imagine a scenario where Nova doesn't get to the Big Dance.