PHOTO COURTESY OF GOBONNIES
BY JONNY WALKER, ADVISORY EDITOR
With an 85-67 rout of Fordham Wednesday night, the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team got back to .500 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. But two-thirds of the way through their conference season, the Bonnies (15-9, 6-6 A-10) have only consistently proved one thing: their inconsistency.
Wednesday’s double-digit win represented Bona’s fourth such result in A-10 play. The Bonnies made 12 3-pointers, tying their highest total of conference play. The Bonnies shot 67% from deep and 60% overall, marking their best shooting splits of conference play. And the Bonnies won nearly every key category, stretching from rebounds to points off turnovers.
They looked like the team picked third in the A-10’s Preseason Poll and projected second by KenPom, a popular stat-based rankings system. They looked like the team Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said he expected to make the NCAA Tournament. They looked like the team projected to capitalize on its conference-leading experience and depth.
But for every 80-plus point explosion, the Bonnies have had a sub-65 point letdown.
With a chance to start conference play with two-straight road wins, they shot sub-40% and lost by eleven at Richmond. They held Duquesne to 54 points on the road — the Dukes’ season low — and lost. And in a must-win rematch against Duquesne at home, they managed just 23 first-half points.
Now two-and-a-half games back of the double bye they were picked to secure comfortably, the Bonnies have failed to establish an identity. Remedying their inconsistency will require one.
Schmidt has insisted this team is built to be defined by its defense. But while that defense has held conference opponents under 65 points three times, it’s allowed 75 or more five times. Sometimes the defense shows up, and sometimes it struggles to close out on 3-point shooters and secure rebounds.
Schmidt’s players, by their shot selections, have insisted this team is built to be defined by its perimeter shooting. But while the Bonnies are 11-1 in games they’ve made double-digit 3s, they’re 4-8 in all other contests. Sometimes the offense shows up, and sometimes it struggles to make good use of the shot clock and convert open looks.
Routing Fordham Wednesday night, the Bonnies climbed to one of their highest points all season. But there’s little reason to believe Bona’s railcar has reached a straightaway rather than dangled itself over another precipice.
And unfortunately for Schmidt’s team, most roller coasters don’t let you get off at the top.
