Hall of Fame basketball coach John Chaney's matchup zone defense confounded opposing players and coaches for decades.
One of those coaches was University of Cincinnati men's basketball coach John Brannen.
"It was really hard to play Temple," Brannen said. "In large part because of Coach Chaney and his system and the way he coached and how he got the most out of his players."
Chaney made history by becoming the first Black coach in NCAA history to win 700 career games. The milestone victory came on Jan. 28, 2004.
Brannen was there.
Brannen, then a 30-year-old assistant at St. Bonaventure under head coach Anthony Solomon, was preparing the Bonnies to face Chaney's Temple University squad on the road.
"We were in the locker room and we start to walk out for warmups," said Brannen, now 47. "I remember (then-Atlantic 10 Commissioner Linda Bruno) walking up and saying, 'Coach, good luck.' And she had on Temple colors. I thought, 'Oh, boy, we're in trouble tonight.'"
As Brannen walked out onto the court at the Liacouras Center, he noticed cherry and white (Temple colors) balloons wrapped tightly overhead, ready to be released as soon as Chaney clinched his 700th victory.
"They could have dropped those balloons 15 minutes into the game," Brannen said. "We were out of it at that point."
Chaney's Owls pummeled Brannen and St. Bonaventure, 76-57, in what was Chaney's second attempt at No. 700. Temple lost four days earlier at Massachusetts.
"I'll never forget, (Chaney) was smiling ear-to-ear going through that (postgame handshake) line," Brannen said with a smile of his own. "For me, just being a young assistant, it was an honor to get a chance to say you were on the same floor as him. I get to say I was a part of the losing team for his 700th."
Chaney, then 72, joined Bobby Knight, Lou Henson, Eddie Sutton and Lute Olson as the only active Division I coaches at that time with 700 career victories. Chaney was just the 21st coach all time to win that many games.
Chaney died on Jan. 29. He was 89.
"Coach Chaney, he had a smile that could light up a room," Brannen said. "He was always very gracious with his time to coaches and fans."
Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, Chaney went on to coach two more seasons after capturing his 700th career victory, winning a total of 516 games at Temple and 741 games overall. He still ranks among the top 40 college basketball coaches in career wins.