PHOTO: Joseph DeBell / The Bona Venture
In each of the first 16 games, the Bonnies men’s basketball team scored more points in the paint than their opponent. Much of that success came from Bonaventure being more physical than many of their out-of-conference opponents. As of late, however, the dominance near the rim has been slowed down.
When the Bonnies win in the rebound category, they are 13-3 and 3-5, when they are outrebounded.
When Bonaventure wins the points in the paint stat, they are 16-7 and are 0-3 when they have fewer points in the paint.
On the season the Bonnies have a +2.7 rebound margin per outing, but that number falls to +.6 in Atlantic 10 play. In two of the past four outings, Bonaventure has seen season lows in rebounds. At Loyola Chicago last week, the team recorded a season-low 23 rebounds, and at home against George Washington on Feb. 9, the team tallied 24 rebounds.
Following the loss to Loyola Chicago, Schmidt was quick to point out that the team needs to be more physical.
“[Loyola Chicago was] were more physical than us,” Schmidt said. “At times it was men against boys. They got into us physically and were attacking us. When a team is more physical, you’re not going to have good results.”
The physicality struggles continued into the matinee game against George
Washington University. Bonaventure was outrebounded 39-24, outscored 34-24 in the paint, and outscored 11-5 in second-chance points.
Schmidt acknowledged that getting outrebounded and outscored in the paint were significant reasons for the loss.
“The game really came down to two things,” Schmidt said. “We couldn’t rebound the ball, and we couldn’t get the ball inside offensively. We didn’t get to the glass as much as we needed to, and we allowed [too many] second-chance opportunities.”
Through 26 games, senior guard Chance Moore, junior forward LaJae Jones and graduate center Noel Brown rank top three on the team in rebounds.
With past success near the basket and owning a +236 point differential in the paint, comes expectations to get boards going forward, according to Schmidt following the loss to George Washington.
“I thought the rebounding was a disappointment in our offense,” said Schmidt. “We are not a great shooting team, so usually we win the points in the paint. [That didn’t happen], so that needs to get fixed. We have got to play harder, and we must be more active [going forward].”
How will the Bonnies hope to improve physicality going forward? Noel Brown emphasized that physicality starts with the right mentality
“It’s a personal thing,” said Brown. “You are looking at the center across from you, and in a sense, you have to hit someone. [We] have to be a little bit tougher. You can teach drills at times, but when someone is across from you, you have to hit them. It’s a sport.”
Bonaventure showed signs of growth following a 68-64 defeat over Rhode Island on Wednesday. The Bonnies closed the rebound gap as they were outrebounded by Rhode Island 32-31 and outscored the Rams 32-26 in the paint.
Bonaventure will have its next chance to build on their physicality when they head to Massachusetts to play A-10 foe, UMass. The tip-off is set for noon on Saturday. Feb. 15.
