The Mark Schmidt Thread

[bonaballa1]

Schmidt losing to Dambrot 3 times in one season is wild. What the heck happened? It’s usually the other way around.

[coach]

I really think the game plan this year should have been Banks driving to the basket and either making the bucket or drawing the foul and going to the line 20 plus times per game. His foul shooting was the only offense this whole team could rely on. I don't understand how these guys shot so bad. With 4 minutes to go in the first half I saw 4 airballs on open looks. I don't get it. At D-1 level how do players miss everything on open looks??? Love Pride but he hit the shot clock on a runner inside the foul line. This group is full of good basketball players and good scorers but they looked lost and they also look slower than the rest of the Atlantic-10. They struggle with quick defenders. Bona's has to bring in quicker players with fundamentals which is going to be tough to do. They also need more consistent three point shooters. They have had one of the lowest three point percentages in the NCAA if you take out the rare games a few of them shot really well and they dominated some of the non conference teams. I bet the shooting percentage this season in league play was horrendous. I've never watched a team so lopsided ever.

[bigcat]

Some observations and opinions:

Where does Schmidt go from here? Will b interesting to see what players leave or stay. I agree that our lack of athleticism other than Barry was the most glaring weakness on this roster. The experience didn’t seem to translate into an intelligent, cohesive style of play.

Pride is a nice player but I was astonished by his lack of athleticism. He seems to be quick at times getting to rebounds but plays at a lower speed most of time — like he was unsure or unable to be the lead star most of us were predicting. He shot lights out from deep during a few OOC games but was so slow to get off his shot later in the season. How many times during the last two weeks did Chuck appear to have an open look only to hesitate? Same with Assa. I don’t recall Chuck having any breakout A10 games where he was the best player on the floor — and certainly not over the final three weeks. Many times he was on the bench at crunch time. Our program cannot afford to bring in/invest in experienced transfers who do not play at an All-A10 level (ie star/stud).

Mika seemed to wear down as the season progressed as Luc was buried on the bench. It was strange how it unfolded. Or maybe MAW was just not able to match the quickness and/or strength of A10’s very good group of guards. Mika battled and had some nice games but Bona PGs usually are — and need to be — the best PG on the floor 90% of the time.

Can’t recall a season where we pounded the ball into the post like this season. AN was more of an inside-outside threat and wasn’t a traditional stationary big man. OO was an extraordinary defensive talent and so smart but was our 5th option on offense. Chad and Noel were surrounded by guards who had good three-point percentages but it seldom equated to a dynamic, balanced inside-outside game. The offense looked sloppy and disjointed more times than not.

Schmidt is a great coach but the roster he assembled this season with all starters returning was not his finest recruiting effort. Maybe we looked good on paper but there were too many holes and weaknesses. Too many players who underachieved.

Not Schmidt’s fault that 4 of the 5 Iron Man players hit the road unexpectedly two years ago. This past off-season there were no excuses. I get that coaches are learning to adjust to the NIL/portal era… but the lack of consistency proved that the 2023-24 formula/plan was not a good one.

Yes, Mark somehow got this group to the A10 semifinals but that certainly was not the goal or expectation of most fans in Sept/Oct after and heading into league play. The team did not improve - it took a step back for every step forward.

[coach]

Mar 17, 2024 3:33:36 GMT -5 bigcat said:

Some observations and opinions:

Where does Schmidt go from here? Interesting to see what players leave or stay. I agree that our lack of athleticism other than Barry was the most glaring weakness on this roster. The experience didn’t seem to translate into an intelligent, cohesive style of play.

Pride is a nice player but I was astonished by his lack of athleticism. He seems to be quick at times getting to rebounds but plays at a lower speed most of time — like he was unsure or unable to be the lead star most of us were predicting. He shot lights out from deep during a few OOC games but was so slow to get off his shot later in the season. How many times during the last two weeks did Chuck appear to have an open look only to hesitate? Same with Assa. I don’t recall Chuck having any breakout A10 games where he was the best player on the floor — and certainly not over the final three weeks. Many times he was on the bench at crunch time. Our program cannot afford to bring in/invest in experienced transfers who do not play at an All-A10 level (ie star/stud).

Mika seemed to wear down as the season progressed as Luc was buried on the bench. It was strange how it unfolded. Or maybe MAW was just not able to match the quickness and/or strength of A10’s very good group of guards. Mika battled and had some nice games but Bona PGs usually are — and need to be — the best PG on the floor 90% of the time.

Can’t recall a season where we pounded the ball into the post like this season. AN was more of an inside-outside threat and wasn’t a traditional stationary big man. OO was an extraordinary defensive talent and so smart but was our 5th option on offense. Chad and Noel were surrounded by guards who had good three-point percentages but it seldom equated to a dynamic, balanced inside-outside game. The offense looked sloppy and disjointed more times than not.

Schmidt is a great coach but the roster he assembled this season with all starters returning was not his finest recruiting effort. Maybe we looked good on paper but there were too many holes and weaknesses. Too many players who underachieved.

Not Schmidt’s fault that 4 of the 5 Iron Man players hit the road unexpectedly two years ago. This past off-season there were no excuses. The lack of consistency proved that the formula/plan was not a good one.

I get that Mark someone got this group to the A10 finals but that certainly was not the goal or expectation of most fans in Sept/Oct after and heading into league play. The team did not improve - it took a step back for every step forward.

Well the one recruit we have coming is a 6'9 shooter so hopefully he's a real consistent shooter. Assa and banks should improve. Duane Thompson is supposedly a stretch forward-did he redshirt since he saw no time? Noel is Noel. They had a 6'11 recruit in town for the last home game of the season. Definitely need to find some legit scoring. Ugh. You are right-the team did not get better. I think they spiraled down. They looked bad the last 2 regular season games, as well as the conf tourney games. They didn't look good against Loyola-they looked lucky with a good game change plan. They looked awful yesterday vs Duquesne. when players are shooting poorly wouldn't you expect them to hustle and play solid defense to make up for it?? Not this team. They shot poorly and played bad defense. Can't win that way. oh well.

[bigcat]

Coach, you are assuming every player stays and every newcomer (new frosh and redshirts) can be a productive A10 player immediately. I hope so because it’s a good foundation — but you never know about a first-year starter/player and if our role players can become stars or grow to the next level. No one wants a repeat of bringing in new guys who underachieve and do not fit.

[chrismoses]

Mar 17, 2024 1:08:53 GMT -5 bonaballa1 said:

Schmidt losing to Dambrot 3 times in one season is wild. What the heck happened? It’s usually the other way around.

Duquesne is pretty good, No?

[catt]

Duquesne is good, I hope they go far in the tournament. Mark got his 20 win season but I am hoping those RS learned a lot. Glimmer of hope is that we have a good Putnam pipeline and some great recruiters.

[ddsmugs]

Asked earlier....Did Rose lose his red shirt status playing in one game yes or no? Not sure our sets were so difficult to learn...most opponents understood to extend defense against us...what were the adjustments from Schmidt?

[buffalo]

Mark Schmidt can coach the Bonnies as long as he wants. The best active head coach in Buffalo/Western New York with the exception of Buffalo Bandits head coach John Tavares in my opinion. Go Bonnies! Let’s Go Buffalo

[coach]

Mar 17, 2024 6:47:15 GMT -5 bigcat said:

Coach, you are assuming every player stays and every newcomer (new frosh and redshirts) can be a productive A10 player immediately. I hope so because it’s a good foundation — but you never know about a first-year starter/player and if our role players can become stars or grow to the next level. No one wants a repeat of bringing in new guys who underachieve and do not fit.

I'm assuming most stay because what options do they have to upgrade??? Teams equivalent to bona's or a step above aren't really going to want any players from this team. That's the one good thing about competing against the Portal and NIL-Bonnies don't really have any players that teams are drooling over. I tell you what, coaching with NIL and portal can not be fun when you have to replace the core of the team year after year. Imagine 3 starters hitting the portal and you have to replace three starters that you thought would be around a year or two. I don't like the whole Portal bullshit. it's going to ruin the best part of college basketball-WHICH is the small schools that come out of nowhere and compete. it sucks and I have never been less interested in college hoops until last year. I am kind of glad the 1 bid A-10 got 2 teams in the tourney but it makes me wonder how Adams, Posley, Dion got snubbed. That team would have killed this Dayton team.

[mike5647]

Joe Manhertz is gone! Let’s make a clean sweep and replace Schmidt. There’s a great young coach at Gannon U in Erie, PA. He was the associate head coach last year of the DII National Championship team from the state of CA. This year his Gannon team already won 30+ games and is in the Elite Eight in the NCAA’s DII. He plays two five man teams and rotates them every five minutes and presses full court the whole game. They are averaging 90 pts per game. The coach’s name is Jordon Fee.

[Sipowicz]

Mar 23, 2024 13:53:06 GMT -5 mike5647 said:

Joe Manhertz is gone! Let’s make a clean sweep and replace Schmidt. There’s a great young coach at Gannon U in Erie, PA. He was the associate head coach last year of the DII National Championship team from the state of CA. This year his Gannon team already won 30+ games and is in the Elite Eight in the NCAA’s DII. He plays two five man teams and rotates them every five minutes and presses full court the whole game. They are averaging 90 pts per game. The coach’s name is Jordon Fee.

Thanks for posting JORDON's Dad. Didn't BONA once hire a Gannon coach before?

[ohs73]

Only one problem -- Bona hired a Gannon coach before (Tom Chapman) and he failed miserably.

Granted, Fee has done a whale of a job turning Gannon's squad into a contender to win the D-II national title. But it's only his 1st year there.

[bjif]

If Mark returns the most immediate change is to get rid of that go nowhere weave. It is not conducive to penetrating towards the basket and it eats close to 20 seconds of the 30 second clock which produces some wild and entertaining shots.Secondly is to teach Div.1 athletes to stay in bounds.
Agree that guys in portal with 2 years of eligibility should be our recruiting targets. Need staff to bring us players who can produce on consistant basis.Sorry in advance that my spell check is on vacation.

[ohs73]

Obtw, the wheels came off the Gannon wagon with a thud. Cal State San Bernardino routed Fee's Knights, 99-65 in the D-II qtrs.