Looking Ahead...

[thebonafan08]

Barring a rather large upset tonight. The next game against UMASS is huge in A-10 tournament implications. Right now we are tied with three other teams with 3 wins in the A-10, 2 of which we have already beaten, the third team being UMASS. If we can beat UMASS and win one out of GW/SLU/Charlotte we finish with 5 A-10 wins.

Now there is a lot of basketball to be played but a win against UMASS would give us a tie breaker over three likely A-10 tourney teams. I think its feasible to say that it is not probable all three teams (Umass,LaSalle,Richmond) get more than 2 more A-10 wins, putting us in a position to be as high as a 9 seed in the tournament which would give us a solid opportunity to get an opening round win. All of this of course rests on beating umass and picking up a win somewhere else all of which I am not fully confident we can do.

Again, a lot of basketball to be played who knows who can get hot or cold and what type of team we really have but just something I was thinking about.

Hopefully we can have an even better discussion tomorrow morning if Bona pulls off the best upset in quite some time tonight.

[Cassian]

Lately my "gut" has been pretty good about these things and I believe we win tonight and probably lose against UMass.

For all the degenerate gamblers out there we are -14 tonight and should definitely cover at the very least.

[njbona02]

I think we lose tonight unfortunately and then beat UMass. I think in the end we will lose a tough close game. My concern is that even with a bad back Baron can shoot and we do not have the best perimeter defense. i think we get to 6 A10 wins though and be the 9 or 10 seed.

[jbuffalo]

14 point spread? Did they finally release a clear line? I couldn't find one and thought maybe they hadn't set it yet because of uncertainty over Baron's injury..

Thanks for the info, and I'd say we should cover as well, One would hope at least!

[wgt]

Actually our perimeter D has been solid all season. Unlike recent seasons, we have kept some good shooting teams well below their season averages. In conference play we are #1 in keeping opponents to just 30% from beyond the arc. And # 4 in opponents shooting FGs at .422. Our glaring deficiencies are caring for the ball & making treys. I am pleased with the progress made in what was a very poor defense under JvBK & Solomon.

[therc]

My thoughts on the last few games of the season:

1. Tonight will be tough. URI is extremely tough at the Ryan Center, with their only loss being to Xavier, and that was a close game. The Rams are decent on the boards, can really shoot the basketball and if you don't play very solid defense, they'll score at will. But what concerns me most is the fact that they force a ton of turnovers. That doesn't bode well for us, especially with the way we've turned the ball over against the Dukes and Explorers.

2. I'm intrigued with the game on Saturday against UMass, and I really believe it will play a role in dictating what seed we receive in Atlantic City, if we go at all. The Minutemen are a streaky team. They only lost by 2 at Xavier, recently got beat by 4 at home against St. Joe's, and beat Richmond by 9 at the Mullins Center. They also have impressive home wins against Dayton and Temple as well. UMass can either look really good, or really bad. Let's hope its the ladder on Saturday.

3. I agree with the general sentiment that our games at George Washington and at home against Charlotte will dictate whether or not we make the tournament. If we lose at GW, we're in trouble. I've believed for some time now that our final contest against Charlotte will determine whether or not we make the conference tourney. This is, of course, if we don't "steal" a win in between those games. Looking at the schedule, those are the two games that we SHOULD win. Any victories in the others would be icing on the cake for me.

4. Waaaaaaaaay back in October and November everyone was talking about how we would both win and lose some games that we shouldn't. Well, so far that's certainly been the case. I'm disappointed with two games in particular - Canisius and Fordham - but I honestly believe this year has been a success, no matter what happens from here on out. I'm excited about where Schmidt is taking us as a program, and hopefully the next step is Atlantic City following the end of the regular season. If that's the case, I will certainly be there to support the Bonnies!