Observations after 3 Games

[wgt]

4 players in double figure scoring

No one playing more than 32.6 mpg

11 players given mins to see what they bring to the game

After the Alfred game I had concern about our scoring, rebounding and inability to get to the stripe against a Div III squad. That concern has been largely dismissed since over a snap shot of 3 games we are putting up 77 ppg, +5.3 rebs and are averaging 18.3 FTA (71.4%)  to our opponents 9 FTAs.  CHANCE (78%) & DASONTE (76%)  get to the line a lot. They account for 57% of our FTs !

Scoring the TREY has been a problem (28%). 

HINTON leads the team knocking down 5-12 (42%).  MELVIN really  likes the TREY (tied with CHANCE for most taken 15) but with a poor 20% result. I expect him to turn that around resulting in a much improved team TREY threat.

NOEL has cut back on his propensity to foul and I like his 3.0 Assist/To ratio.   Rebounding continues to be a problem (4.3). It's an aspect of his game that is a weakness and I don't see significant improvement in his board play. 
 
We see why CHANCE is a 4 star guy. 21 ppg, 53% FGs, 7.7 rebs, leads team in steals (7), tied with blocks (3), leads team drawing fouls and getting to the stripe (78%)

Liked their use of the 1-2-2 full court D slowing down the offense at FGCU

Their length and quickness narrows the passing lanes and creates steals (8.7 a game)

For so many guys playing together for the first time their 11.7 TOs is good. Especially since I see lots of quick, sharp passes to guys constantly in motion. 

Moving forward I think NOEL will become more of an offensive threat down low with his soft jump hook. He has taken the least # of shots of our starters while converting on team best 65%. 

[Sipowicz]

Good job WGT
Not to keep “beating that dead horse” but this is the Bandwagon, really don’t want to debate the merits of “hedging” but NOEL picked up his 3rd 20 feet from the basket in a game they really needed his bulk. Also, a little less dribbling from NOEL.
Haven’t given up on NOAH, being the last one on campus may have lengthened his adjusting and learning curve.

[derhut]

dare i say moore has a essie hollis-esque look to his game. no one will be essie...but, has that look ....hinton and thompson....so far, impressive

[bigcat]

Yes - tremendous improvement since Kent and Alfred. Bowen looks to be a stud. The perfect Bona-Schmidt PG1. Whatever we need he provides it. Didn’t know he had that keen ability to get to the rim and draw fouls or finish.

We don’t need to shoot better than 30 or 33% from deep with this roster. Yes that would be fan-tabulous. We only need 2 or 3 guys to be consistent from deep … like Hinton and Thompson at 40%. Jones looks like he will be a 35% shooter or better from deep.

Those 3 guys help to spread the floor for Moore, Melvin, Bowen and others. We know those slashers like to take threes — we just need them to be around 27% or better and take good shots.

Our shooting percentage in the paint should remain high all year so let’s avoid the bad three balls and the turnovers. Don't get out-scored by 20 pts behind the arc.

Not every team needs to be Davidson from deep.

[ceharv]

Thanks wgt and others. Great start but as someone pointed out elsewhere when you are winning, everything looks good. Let’s review and revise after our first loss and the first two-game losing streak.

So much was uncertain about this group going into a season where the guys had no experience playing with each other or in Mark’s system. IMO the two biggest questions answered (at least partially) so far are that (1) Bowen can run this offense well and (2) Brown looks able to hold up physically in longer stretches on the court then he’s ever had to either last year here or in his time at GW. Whether either of those things would be true were two of the biggest questions in my mind going into the season and so far, so good.

Like others I believe our three point shooting will come around and improve significantly once the rotation gets settled and guys get used to their roles. I think Bowen is already learning when and where to get the ball to our shooters to give them the best opportunities, a critical job for a quality point guard to succeed at.

And of everyone on the roster, Bolanga was certain to be the last to become effective just because he was the last to join the team and has so little playing time with the rest of the guys.

[Chuck]

Player performances
— Chance is among the top 8 in the A-10 in the following. Scoring (3rd) FGs (5th) FTA (3rd) rebounds (8th) and steals (2nd). That is 5 categories where Chance is among the leaders in the A-10. When was the last time a Bonnie accomplished this? It has been a really impressive 3 games from Chance.
— Dasonte is the perfect description of the role of a PG. Has a solid A/T ratio of 2.2 and he doesn’t just distribute, but creates assists with his play making skills (drives to the basket and one on one skills). Impressive the different ways he scores going to the basket. Effective PGs get fouled. Chance attempts almost twice as many shots (38-21) but has just 2 more attempted foul shots. Then add despite having the 2nd fewest shot attempts by the starters, Dasonte is Bona’s 2nd leading scorer. Dasonte has been an impressive PG.
—Melvin has really struggled with his shot. Has the worse 3 point shot on the team (20%) and only Noah has a worse shot from the field than Melvin (33.3%). Melvin’s shooting percentage is much lower than it was at Wagner, because he is attempting more 3 pointers per game (5). Melvin with the worse 3 point shot, shouldn’t be attempting the most 3s on the team. Melvin still excels at rebounding (2nd on team) and as a playmaker (2nd on team with assists). I do not know anyone faster on the team during a fast break. Points on fast breaks is something this team has excelled at this season and a lot of this can be attributed to Melvin.
— Lajae’s limited offensive production has been shocking. Despite having 35 minutes more PT than Jonah (82-47) Lajae has scored just 3 more points. Lajae is still a quality player inside leading offensive rebounder and 3rd in rebounds (1 less than Melvin) and tied with Chance as leading team in blocks. I fully expect Lajae offensive production will improve.
— Noel is a double digit scorer (10.3 ppg) and by far leads team in FG% (65%). Has provided solid interior defense, especially the last game and without fouling being an issue.
— Jonah and Duane offer solid scoring off the bench. With a combine 25.0 minutes of PT (less than any starter) they are averaging 12.7 ppg, which would be 2nd on the team. They have solid shooting from the field (44.4 and 50%) and exceptional shooting from 3s (41.7 and 42.9%). I expected this from Jonah, but Duane has really stepped up his game.
— Mike with 10.3 minutes per game, has minimal stats. What is impressive is his play while on the court with one of the team’s best +/- for the season. In 3 games Mike has a +19 compared to Noel with +11. Last game is only time when Noel had a better +/- (12 to -4). In the other 2 games is a big edge to Mike (23 to -1). Difficult to explain, except so far Bonnies have played better with Mike on the court. Interesting to see if this continues. Mike provides solid interior defense and good rebounding.

www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/st-bonaventure/men/2025.html
atlantic10.com/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2024

[franchise33]

I have been quite surprised with our start. The team seems to be meshing very well considering we have so many new players.
Council has shot the ball poorly so far, but once he gets going I believe he is gonna be quite the catalyst for us.
Moore has looked very smooth.
Can’t wait for A10 to start .

Only surprise is Miles Rose is that far down the bench. Thought he might have a breakout year but that he seems to be logged jammed at the guard spot. Looks like he might be the 6-7 guard.

[Sipowicz]

It is great to have a Point Guard that can actually finish a drive down the lane.

[wgt]

ROSE has only 10 mins in the Alfred game. He had 6 points on 3-5.

[bigcat]

Doesn’t appear to be a path for Rose to get meaningful PT. Other than injury or blowouts - probably not. It’s a testament to our talent and depth.

Schmidt spoke about PT on his coach’s show earlier this week. He says (paraphrasing) players earn PT during practice and they stay on the court by playing well in games. If you don’t play well in games we take you out. He also continually says you win with older guys. Miles is neither an older guy nor one of our top 10 players.

Coach also said some guys are going to be unhappy but he wants to win with good kids, and everything else is secondary. Everyone wants to win. Competition makes us better. You need to prove it to his staff that you deserve PT.

Maybe Miles hangs in there … keeps getting better … improving his shooting and PG skills … and he gets his chance in the future. Maybe next year. Maybe not. Too many other good players to leap over.

[CoachSBU]

The one thing I love about this group is that they are already playing better as a "team" than last year's gang did all season. I hope that Melvin doesn't feel as compelled to lead in scoring and takes more pride in his other assets to lead like Welch and others have done (eg. Rebounding). He really has a flat outside shot that gives him less of a chance percentage wise to score which already seems evident to me with his stats. This team already has some of the best basket drivers we have seen in Bona history with a tendency to score at these times.