12/15 Game Thread: St. Bonaventure vs. Akron (in Believeland)

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Not gonna bother trying to actually do a long post after what happened last time. Loren Cristian Jackson is really fucking good. The rest of the Zips are either unknowns or mediocre. Please let this game happen...
 
I've had my hopes dashed more often than Harold Stassen, but I'm still assuming the Bona v. Akron game will happen. It's now Monday AM. Do they travel to Cleveland today and stay at a hotel? I hope it's one that follows stringent hygiene.
 
I am just going to pretend this game isnt happening so I will either be pleasantly surprised tomorrow afternoon or have no reaction at all.
 
I was pleased with how they played. You never know how they will start out of the gate with lack of practice and games so to see them play as well as they did and win over a decent opponent, very encouraged. Everyone contribued, Shoon was a monster and our big 3 led the way.

Now lets just get someone else on the schedule. Everyone else in the A10 is getting good games at the last minute and we have not done anything.
 
Bona03,

Who else in the A10 has gotten marquee games? URI-57, Dayton-3, Rich-38, VCU-68, SLU-49 and Davidson-75 were all top 75 in the NET rankings last year while Bona was 122.

That ranking is not going to do you any favors when it comes to scheduling. It's as simple as that. Could we have scheduled a low end game for last week and one more for this week? Probably, but those games aren't helping our RPI, so they don't do us a world of good.

If it weren't for our positive test, we would most likely have scheduled replacement games for the MTE Tournament.
 
Nice to see a game like that from OO, where he should dominate and not get in foul trouble. Didn’t actually see it, so just a few questions.
  1. Didn’t realize Roberts wasn’t going to play, sounds like we should have him Sat?
  2. How did Creal look in his time?
  3. Winston’s lack of minutes, we went small or something else?
Good to win a game we should have, even with some putrid 3pt shooting.
 
Good win, and just one game but I have to say I feel same way I did in 2nd half of last year--worried every time the ball ends up in Winston's or AJ's hands. Call it the "Planutis Syndrome." Unlike Bobby, though, they are great physical talents but poor decision-makers and ball doesn't go in enough on their wild charges to the basket. Again, just one game, and usually would ignore but: To me they regressed after mid-season last year so one worries this is more than a brief snapshot. . I am betting they end up far down on the depth chart (where there is now a lot of depth) and at least one will transfer out at end of year....
 
Give Vasquez and Winston some time. They didn't get a traditional freshman-to-sophomore offseason.

Vasquez, in particular, looks to have slimmed down. That should improve his legs over the long haul. I really like the kid's foundational skill set. He can finish through contact at the rim and create his own shot on the perimeter. Get a bigger sample size than one game in a wacky season like this.

Winston needs to get it together on D. He'll have his good showings on offense, but until he stops losing his man and being out of position on defense, he won't reach his full potential. Adaway is basically his polar opposite in that his offensive repertoire isn't too explosive, yet he rarely gets lost on D. Watch Adaway move his feet and beat bigger PFs to the spot. That's how a smaller, athletic kid can get away with playing that position in the A10. I'm confident, with time, Adaway and Winston can form a stellar platoon. One will match up better than the other with certain opponents.

Go Bona. Sink the Flying Dutchmen.
 
Really liked what Creal brought to the table - his passing was spot on he seemed like he had been with the team far longer than he actually has - and he didn't shy away from the basket when given the chance. He showed some serious chops when it came to his passing down low to Shoon. Schmidt even left him in for a few mins with Lofton in the 2nd half. I'm always a little skeptical of guards that have a good game or two ala Matt Johnson, but I think Creal is more dynamic and may be able to spot Kyle a few more mins if Schmidt deems this roster worthy of abandoning his traditional 8 man roster approach.

The only three Dom made the whole game was off the dribble - I may be nitpicking here, but it seems like he struggles when shooting off the pass, even when he's wide open? More perceptive posters can correct me if I'm wrong - I know he's streaky and they were in a cavernous NBA area, but it felt like he was waiting for his defender to face up to him so he had an excuse to dribble before his shot.

Adaway looked like everything he was advertised to be - composed, athletic and a serious leader on the floor. Looking forward to what he can bring to this team.

In general I was impressed with the passing and anticipation most players had given it's been so long since they last played. Still careless with the ball at times, but I'll chalk that up to too much time off between games. Overall just happy this game way played and we walked away with a W - can't wait for Saturday.
 
Business as usual. Starters wound up being 90% of our offense. Played lackadaisical with a lead down the stretch. Schmidt panic button runs the top 5 to secure the W. Used to drive me nuts, now I expect it. Given our results, I'm not going to complain. Next up.
 
OO and Lofton have a special connection. They seem to always know where the other is on the court/is going to be. Seeing OO find Lofton on backdoors adds a fun wrinkle to the offense. One the other hand Akron had no one relatively capable of guarding OO so he had space to operate and time to survey the floor. I hope he can continue being a distributor, a passing big creates easy baskets for all his teammates, ie Grant Golden.

I was really surprised that Winston got the first chance at being OO's backup. I have always thought of him as an oversized 3 rather than a small 5. I wonder if the staff continues using him at the 5 against bigger teams or if it was only a thing because Akron was so small.

Shot selection for Winston and Vasquez is a problem. Vasquez every once in a while forgets he has teammates and goes 1 on 5, I think that will get better with experience. Winston loves the deep 3 and his range is really the college line at best. I think both of these guys will make a jump during this season once they settle into their roles.

I had read how big Shaw was but reading something and seeing it on the floor are two entirely different things. I think he will struggle against teams that predominantly run a ball screen offense since our typical man scheme is for the big to push the guard away from the screen and that takes really quick feet. However against the likes of SLU with Bell and French, Dayton with Jordy, UMass with Mitchell, and Duq with Hughes, Shaw will be called upon and looks like he can contribute.

As far as Welch shooting off the dribble vs catch and shoot. Last year he made 72 threes, 62 were assisted. So depending on how many of those assisted 3s were catch, pump, side dribble, shoot, I'd say he does ok in catch and shoot situations. What I cant tell you is how many of those opportunities he had or his shooting % on purely catch and shoot. I dont see him as a guy that is going to dribble into a pick and roll and pull up to shoot which is how Bonnies teams of the past have generated off the dribble 3s.
 
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