By Taylor Nigrelli
Sports Editor
There are not many positives to be taken from an early-season loss to Siena. The Saints entered the game 0-3, aren’t expected to be competitive and, frankly, aren’t very good.
Fortunately, non-conference road losses in November don’t tend to matter in the long term. Sure, this particular loss is embarrassing. And St. Bonaventure now no longer possesses the Franciscan Cup, which is about as prominent and interesting to St. Bonaventure students as Marquise Simmons’ big toe.
A loss of such non-magnitude can be easily avenged. The psyche of the Brown and White faithful may not be repaired so easily.
The defeat was a culmination of everything that could go wrong with this team. There were a few positives. St. Bonaventure once again won the rebounding battle, this time 39-35, as Ndoye and Simmons grabbed four offensive boards each (Ndoye had 12 overall).
But overall, the game was a nightmare. Much like last year, the defense was awful. Siena got open looks from the perimeter all game, attempting 19 three-pointers.
Luckily for the Bonnies, they only made six of them. The Saints also took free paths to the basket and scored 48 points in the first half.
This defensive effort stood in stark contrast to the first three contests, where the Bonnies gave up only 52 points per contest. So which defense will show up more often this season? The one from the first three games that applied pressure, forced turnovers and created offensive opportunities? Or the one from Tuesday that seemed lost and couldn’t stop a nosebleed in the first half?
Despite out-rebounding the Saints by four, the Bonnies looked unimpressive under the rim and struggled to get possession at times.
Ndoye, Simmons and company looked far less impressive than in their first three games, where they out-rebounded their opponents by nearly 15 boards per game.
This raises another concern: how dominant will the St. Bonaventure big men be against tougher conference opponents? The Bonnies’ dominance on the glass played a major role in their 3-0 start. Without it, the team will likely struggle to keep pace offensively.
The Bonnies have not proven to be a good shooting team in any of their first four games. They will need to be dominant in the low post to keep pace scoring wise. If the team can’t score down there, it’s difficult to see it scoring much at all.
Tuesday’s effort from senior Charlon Kloof should also raise some concern from Brown and White faithful. The point guard has arguably been St. Bonaventure’s most important player early in the season. However, he took just three shots Tuesday, making one and fouling out after 25 minutes.
Kloof also turned the ball over multiple times for the first time this season and scored only four points while adding four assists. It was easily his worst game of the season. As he went, so went the Bonnies. This could become a troubling trend, as Kloof hasn’t exactly been the paragon of consistency in his college career.
But a game is just a game. There’s no need to panic just yet. Every year features one of these early-season embarrassing losses to lesser teams. Sometimes, such as in 2011, when the Bonnies blew a 13-point lead to Arkansas State at home, the loss is remembered as nothing more than an aberration. Sometimes, such as in 2012, when the Bonnies lost an early-season matchup to Canisius, the loss is a signal of a flawed team.
The place of the loss of Siena is not yet known; its fate can only be determined by the 16 men who make up the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team
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