Throw in the fact that when the Owls were bounced in their March Madness opener by Michigan State a year ago, he went 1-for-12 from the floor and scored only three points. So it's logical to conclude that there is a direct link between how well he fills it up and No. 11 seed Temple's chances of beating the No. 6 Sun Devils this afternoon at the American Airlines Arena.
"Dionte has been a catalyst for us these last couple years now," testified guard Semaj Inge who, along with Christmas and center Sergio Olmos, is one of the three remaining players from John Chaney's last recruiting class. "I don't think we're going to win a lot of big games if Dionte doesn't have a great game."
And that may very well be the way the game develops after the 2:45 p.m. tipoff.
Here's the thing, though. Christmas was held to 12 or fewer points seven times during the season. The Owls were 6-1 when that happened.
He didn't break out of single figures four times. Temple was undefeated in those games.
In his last four games, he's shooting just 32.3 percent from the floor. "He hasn't been shooting the ball that well lately," Inge noted.
The Owls swept those games anyway.
"At the beginning of the season, I said that [others could carry the load] and a lot of people thought I was crazy, but I knew what kind of team we had," Christmas said before the team ran through a light workout yesterday. "I knew the kind of players we have on this team. I knew the kind of work these guys put in throughout the summer.
"When I'm not scoring, you've got a guy like Ryan Brooks, Craig Williams, Semaj [Inge], Sergio [Olmos], all those guys step up. If teams focus on me, there are a lot of guys behind me. That's good when you know you've got guys to back you up like that."
