Why all the pessimism?

[Chuck]

Do not understand all the pessimism. Bonnies have been playing competitive games against quality opponents on the road. Didn't see anyone predicting wins against Hampton and Wright St. Actually the few predictions stated these are going to be difficult games. I was expecting big double digit losses in both games, something we've become accustomed to for the last 3 years. Bonnies surprised me by being very competitive in both games (being 3 points behind with under 6 minutes in both games).

Looking at Pomeroy, Bonnies worst game is the 11 point loss to Boston U, but it looks good when compared to the 28 point lost to them at home last year. This team and individual players have made significant progress over last year. Team and individual players deserve praise and not criticisms.

www.kenpom.com/sked.php?team=St.%20Bonaventure

[jmp]

Chuck--Have to agree with you. Their is a distinct difference between pessimism and
constructive criticism. This team is light years away from last years. We are competitive
in road games and have a chance to win most of our home games. People must be
a little more patient. The facts remains we are NOT a good offensive team and we are
NOT good shooters. But we do play decent team defense and are making teams work
harder this year on their offensive end. Coach's ability to mix up the defense and keep
teams somewhat off balance gives us a chance. Once we get a really good point guard
along with Thomas , Matthews and the kid from Canada we will be much better offensively.
To shoot as bad as we do and still be in games is a testimony to their effort and heart to
play hard for Coach. It's not pretty but I feel we have a chance to win every game.

[u518370]

Amen Fellas. I'm happy with where the program is headed. I hope the players enjoy the holidays and then get back to work. We beat Binghamton by 17 the first meeting, so we've certainly got a good shot at our 1st road win. Given that the Bucknell game is at home(albeit w/out the students) I still give us a decent chance to be 7-7 heading into conference play. I think almost all of us would have taken that at the beginning of the year...
Go Bonnies!

[OceanStateBonnie]

Finally some sanity on the board.

[Deleted]

To quote a wise man, "They are who we thought they were!" There is talent on this ball club, just not enough. I agree with Chuck, there is nothing but hope for the future.

[res]

masters said:

We are competitive in road games and have a chance to win most of our home games.

That's exactly what causes the most angst for fans. They are in almost every game and that lends itself to the "coulda, woulda, shoulda" that always follows close losses. So the improved performance actually leads to, at least by some fans, increased criticism. Perfectly natural, if somewhat perverse.

Maybe I'm generalizing a bit, but I know I've usually felt better after blowout losses by the various sports teams I follow than after close losses. This year's Bona team is an exception, though. After years of blowout losses, I am impressed, for now, by their ability to stay in games, especially on the road where the overwhelming majority of college basketball teams lose a significant majority of the time. I do hope, however, that the program's improvement continues apace so that we can soon start to be impressed by wins.

[b4life]

Initial reactions after a close lose are always going to be a bit negative. I agree that we should try to keep it all in perspective. We have a good coach in Schmidt that has already shown he knows what he is doing. Our biggest obstacle is having such a short bench which is making road wins few and far between. I think the Bonnies have an A 10 upset or two in them. Also, they are going to make the A 10 tournament this. Go Bonas!

[az63]

Couldn't agree more with all you guys.

After last year's BU game I spoke to a member of their staff and he was appalled at the lack of effort by Sol's team. He said that they(BU) thought that coming off the loss to Niagara the Bonnies would put up maximum effort. He said he knew then that Sol needed to go.

Spoke to same BU staff member after this year's game and he said, "It'll take a couple of years but the new coach is the type who will get SBU back."

Remember, Scandal & Sol. We could have been like SMU football, so keep the faith.

We need to schedule & recruit in those areas that are our natural base. 2 good recruits per year and we are back in tournament picture in 2010-2011 season.

[B02]

This team has the potential to be a near .500 team next year if everything falls into place and your 10-11 stance is dead on.

[hamrucker]

jac said:

To quote a wise man, "They are who we thought they were!" There is talent on this ball club, just not enough. I agree with Chuck, there is nothing but hope for the future.

As another wise man said, "you play to win the game."

I'm pretty sure everyone on here recognizes the progress and is thrilled at the bright future ahead of us with Coach Schmidt. I think everyone is aware of the progress. That being said, it doesn't make tough road losses any easier, especially the way we've been losing. I don't think it's pessimism, I think it's the fact that people want to win. Which apparently is a new concept in sports.

People come here and complain after losses? Isn't that was a message board is for? I'd be worried if people weren't upset we lost last night. This team has been in every game except two, and those kind of losses are just harder to except than what we've been use to in the past four years.

[steveperry]

Have to agree with Ham here. Why is it the suddenly OK to only play competitive games? Sure, it's nice to see us playing mostly close games for a change and you can't expect to win every close game, but come on wouldn't it be nice to win some of these? It was nice to see us play good WVU and GW (when they came into the RC ranked) teams close the past couple years. But that doesn't mean i left with a smile on my face. Those games left a bad taste in my mouth and I thought "d**n, we coulda won that one."

Also, I see a fundamental difference between most you guys' definition of a competitive game and mine. Niagara, Eastern Michigan and Hampton were not competitive games they were games we could have and in my opinion should have won. We only scored 4 points in the last 10 minutes of the Hampton game and they outscored us 14-4, against Eastern Michigan 15-4 in the final 6 minutes and against Niagara we failed to put significant distance between us and them when we had the chance.

If you feel it's OK to label these games competitive and be happy with it then you've got something wrong with you. Those are three more victories we should have, I don't think one of those teams were better than us.

I'll put last night's game on the border. Yea we were competitive and no we probably shouldn't have won (they beat a very good Butler team and a solid Miami OH team), but we could have. It's not like they shot the lights out down the stretch to put us away. We got it to within 3, missed a FT and then gave up consecutive baskets. We had the momentum and gave it right back, there's no way I'm happy with this simply being a "competitive game," and neither should any of you.

[u518370]

hamrucker/steve,
If it's ok with you guys, I will decide when/if I'm happy with the Bonnies. I agree that the close losses are frustrating. I spend the last few minutes of these games updating the gamecast every 20 seconds and I'm upset after the loss. That said, I'm able to gain some measure of perspective in the hours following the game and I don't feel the need to "vent" on this board. Having realistic expectations does not make someone any less of a fan. Patience is a virtue...and it's something that is sorely lacking with today's sports fan.
Go Bonnies!

[sireltonruddock]

u518370 said:

Having realistic expectations does not make someone any less of a fan. Patience is a virtue...and it's something that is sorely lacking with today's sports fan.
Go Bonnies!

Apologies, but what exactly are "realistic expectations?" Of all the things on this board, it's the concept of realism that irks me the most. In any given season, I don't see what is so unrealistic about expecting one's team to win any number of basketball games.

Thanks, but I think I'll continue to be "unrealistic" and go into every game looking for a win.

[bigdobber]

No pessimism here. I see a significant change in all aspects of the program. I expect a competitive season and alot of reasons to look forward to the next few seasons. We have the staff and AD who will make it happen.

[hamrucker]

u518370 said:

hamrucker/steve,
If it's ok with you guys, I will decide when/if I'm happy with the Bonnies. I agree that the close losses are frustrating. I spend the last few minutes of these games updating the gamecast every 20 seconds and I'm upset after the loss. That said, I'm able to gain some measure of perspective in the hours following the game and I don't feel the need to "vent" on this board. Having realistic expectations does not make someone any less of a fan. Patience is a virtue...and it's something that is sorely lacking with today's sports fan.
Go Bonnies!

I'm not saying I don't have patience, and I love the direction I see Schmidt taking us already. But does that not mean we should not want to win? I highly doubt Coach Schmidt sits in his office after a tough loss and says, "wow, we could have had that one, but it's a good thing I've got the team going in the right direction with some good recruits coming in." He wants to win, the players want to win and the fans should want to win.

It is a breath of fresh air without a doubt to be playing in these close games. I'm willing to bet out of the four close losses we've had, at least three of those would have been blowouts in the past. But I still want to win, sorry, those must not be "realistic expectations."