With three games left, the team sets after a double bye
“It’s one game at a time,” said Mark Schmidt, head coach of the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team. “Our goal is to try to get into the top four in the Atlantic 10. We’re tied right now, and we have four games left. We want to win the next four games.”
When many thought that this Bonnies team had been nailed into its coffin and lowered into the ground, the team has resurrected. And in a big way. The wild ride continues with just a week left in the regular season.
With three games to go before the Bonnies hit the trails for the Atlantic 10 tournament in Brooklyn, New York, the Bonnies are full of steam. Winners of five-straight games, including a 69-47 trouncing of Duquesne on Wednesday night, the Bonnies are in the race for the coveted double bye, meaning the team would only have to play three games to win the tournament instead of four.
The cornerstone of the Bonnies’ recent run of success has been the defense. Over the course of this five-game winning streak, the brown and white have held all of their opponents to 60 points or less. And in each of the Bonnies’ 14 wins on the year, they have been able to hold all of their opponents to 65 points or less. When the defense is going, this team is going.
“We’re playing as good as we have all year on defense right now,” said Schmidt, after his team’s blowout win over Duquesne. “The goal is to hold teams to 60 points or fewer, and our guys have bought into that. Defense has become the staple, and that’s why we’re winning.”
Schmidt also said, “Our defense is connected. We’re keeping the ball in front and holding teams to one shot. Osun Osunniyi is back there blocking shots. We have a rim protector this year, and we didn’t last year. The guys are locked in. We have five guys out there playing great defense. They’re connected. They want to get stops. It has become the motto for our team.”
The strong defensive play has also lead to four blowout wins of 20 points or more during the five-game winning streak. He also talked about the morale and attitude of the team since the mid-season turnaround began.
“We were 4 and 10 at one point,” said Schmidt. “Now we’re 14 and 14. All of the credit goes to the players. They didn’t sulk. We couldn’t do anything with that non-conference record. The kids didn’t quit, and now we’re gaining more confidence. The players kept on working. And this is a great lesson. When things aren’t going well, you can either lay down or get up and fight. Our guys have gotten up and made themselves better. Our guys have gotten better throughout the season. We’ve learned how to win.”
Courtney Stockard, another big reason why the Bonnies have been able to turn things around, said that the team has been having as much fun as they have had all season.
“That’s always the main goal,” Stockard said. “Just go out there and have fun. Obviously we want to win, but if you’re not out there having fun it is tough to win.”
LaDarien Griffin, a senior forward that threw down two rim-rattling, explosive dunks against Duquesne on Wednesday, also talked about the team’s recent defensive success, while Stockard talked about the team’s offensive improvements.
“We’re connected right now,” said Griffin. “We’re competitive all around, knowing that you have four guys around you that have your back. We all have the mentality on defense that our guy is not going to score. And if he gets past me, I know that I have someone coming behind me to help.”
Stockard said, “It takes a lot of pressure off me and Kyle Lofton. When we have everybody clicking, it makes our team that much more dangerous. I think it’s going to be real important for everybody to have that momentum going into the Atlantic 10 tournament. We’re trying to make a run.”
Stockard talked about the “blue collar” attitude that Schmidt wants his team to have coming down the stretch of the season.
“We have to have a blue collar attitude,” said Stockard. “We have to be tough and play good defense. We’ve struggled offensively, everybody knows that, so we have to stress good defense. We have to continue to defend and put a whole 40 minutes together as a team. We can make some noise heading into the Atlantic 10 tournament.”
While the Bonnies are in prime position to lock up a double bye with just three games remaining on the regular-season schedule, Schmidt, as always, is focusing on taking things one game at a time, not looking too far ahead. He is focused on preparing his team for George Washington this Saturday in Washington, D.C.
“I would like to see us take care of the ball better,” said Schmidt. “Our offense gets stagnant sometimes, too. We have to move the ball better. We have to continue to improve in all areas. We have three more games. We have to take it one at a time, and we’ll see where we are a week from Saturday. We want to have momentum going into the Atlantic 10 tournament. As the guys have been told, we need to win the Atlantic 10 tournament to to reach our ultimate goal [the NCAA tournament]. We still have a lot of work to do. In order to do that, we have to win the first game, and that’s at George Washington on Saturday.”
By Mike Hogan, Sport’s Editor
hoganm17@bonaventure.edu
