Bonnies @ SUNY-Buffalo Game Thread (12/30, 7:00 PM)

WestEndStench said:
We got bullied by Mballa and let the same guy that killed us last year do the same exact thing this year. However, 21 fewer FT attempts despite outscoring them by 20 in the paint is questionable officiating at best. That, coupled with an atrocious 3 point shooting night really did us in.

First 15 minutes of the game we looked like a top 5 A10 team. The next 23 minutes after that we looked like a big pile of shit. Oh fucking well.
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Exactly what I was thinking. The foul disparity was overwhelmingly obvious. We didnt get one and 1 opportunity to their what, 3? We need Shoon out there as much as possible so when he gets called for shitty touch fouls it is maddening. His 1st and 5th were total garbage. That said, we played like absolute shit most of the game and still had a chance to tie in the final minute. On to George Mason. If we start 4-0 in A10 this will all be forgotten.
 
If Bobby is truly lights out in practice, then I have to think there’s some sort of defensive issue (either intensity or ability) with whoever is guarding him.

I’m not trying to knock the kid because, in absence of offensive firepower, he has been solid with some of his other intangibles at times.

But as I mentioned before, he just Looks overmatched out there more often than not. He had a few nice takes to the hoop last night, but he had more moments where a physical/athletic overmatch was cringe worthy.
 
Bobby's release point on his shot is barely higher than a chest pass. Watch Dom shoot a 3 and compare it to Bobby. Dom keeps the ball up high and almost never is on his heels. It's one fluid catch and shoot motion, where he stays on his toes. Bobby is flat-footed and gets almost no elevation. Granted, this form also makes it tough for Dom to create a shot off-the-dribble, but I think he can still learn to create space.

I'm higher on Ale and Winston than a lot of you guys, I guess. They are raw products, but the talent is absolutely there. You can't do what they did against Rutgers with just dumb luck (especially without Osun). Ale and Dom are like Kyle and not afraid to shoot. Sure, that can be bad sometimes, but we need that mentality if we're gonna be better than middle-of-the-road ass La Salle. I'm doubtful Okoli and Carpenter will ever get there, and Matt Johnson seems like he's out of position at backup PG. Winston should just never play center, EVER. He's not big enough. I also wish Ale would get a green light a little more in first halves. He'll have to learn sooner or later what he can and can't shoot.

All in all, I'm excited about how many of you all are joining us in creating a new Bona home. This game thread had almost as many posts as the B*ndwag*n game thread. It was the first real game thread here and it was a game that I'm sure some people that would have posted during were actually at the game. I hope with a game in DC and on a Sunday post-holidays, more people will be online and choose us here. I'll bring my same stupid Twitter nonsense with some actual discussion like above. Get more people over here so we can make this shit bigger. We'll get more other A10 fans on the general board too so we can trash those jabronis throughout the season hopefully...
 
BonaCommenter said:
I hope with a game in DC and on a Sunday post-holidays, more people will be online and choose us here.
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It’s young and only a small sample size,
But the posting community here seems like one who’s actually watching the game as it happens and then discussing afterwards. As opposed to the collection over on the BW who are typing away after one missed jumper about the downfall of the program, missing 2 minutes of game play in the process.
 
Community Bank 3Pt Tee said:
It’s young and only a small sample size,
But the posting community here seems like one who’s actually watching the game as it happens and then discussing afterwards. As opposed to the collection over on the BW who are typing away after one missed jumper about the downfall of the program, missing 2 minutes of game play in the process.
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I agree, I just know that shit can fizzle after the first initial few days. @SBUnfurled was at the game last night, but he and I are among those doing the grassroots crap to get more non-B*ndwag*n types here. As long as you all are along for the ride, we'll build something cool here.
 
The content and discussion on this new board is great. This is what the other site has been missing for a while now. I plan to read often and contribute on occasion. I've got no dog in the fight regarding the boards but love Bona hoops, intelligent basketball takes and inside intel on what may be going on behind the scene with the team. SBUnfurled was a great addition last year and this will provide additional perspective on the team. Also, great to see some familiar posters on this board who have great takes but I haven't seen lately. Nice job guys!

Regarding last night, really frustrating to lose to UB! Because others have done such a good job of breaking down the game I'll just add a couple of opinions - I love where this backcourt is going over the next 3 years with Lofton/English/Vazquez. All ballers with skill and grit. AJ's talent is undeniable, he just needs to continue to get the opportunity to play college basketball. The guy who will be the biggest beneficiary of time on the court and playing college basketball is Justin Winston. Justin also has undeniable ability, the biggest upside on the team outside of Shoon, who just needs to adjust to college basketball. Last thought, when our 4's are struggling like last night, I'd like to see Dom slide to the 4 and play Lofton/English/Vazquez.

Thx for the new site!
 
BonaCommenter said:
Bobby's release point on his shot is barely higher than a chest pass. Watch Dom shoot a 3 and compare it to Bobby. Dom keeps the ball up high and almost never is on his heels. It's one fluid catch and shoot motion, where he stays on his toes. Bobby is flat-footed and gets almost no elevation.
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This is almost word-for-word what I said while leaving that shit-hole last night. Bobby has a very slow release, minimal lift, and shoots it flat from just above his shoulders. Because of this, he needs to be WIDE open to get a shot off. Dom releases the ball above his head and from the apex of his lift, which allows him to catch and shoot it successfully. If he had any handle, he'd be able to create his own shot a lot more. On a positive note, the two of them crash the boards and are pretty good rebounders, both averaging over 5 a game.
 
ChuckKlein said:
This is almost word-for-word what I said while leaving that shit-hole last night. Bobby has a very slow release, minimal lift, and shoots it flat from just above his shoulders. Because of this, he needs to be WIDE open to get a shot off. Dom releases the ball above his head and from the apex of his lift, which allows him to catch and shoot it successfully. If he had any handle, he'd be able to create his own shot a lot more. On a positive note, the two of them crash the boards and are pretty good rebounders, both averaging over 5 a game.
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Agreed and Bobby did have some good boards again last night to his credit. However he CANNOT shoot a 3 unless we draw up a play for him to be wide open. If there's a defender within 10 feet of him, I assume he's gonna miss. 5 feet and I assume it's gonna turn into a fastbreak...
 
Ditto those comments on Bobby. Can we talk for a second about how on god’s green earth he was just about a 50% 3 pt and 90% ft shooter at the mount? I have seen nothing from his form that would indicate those percentages are possible.
 
Shoon needs to figure it out. He is too valuable to take so many frivolous risks on defense. The kid needs to manage his adrenaline a bit better. You can bet that future opponents are going to attack him in the same manner seeking cheap fouls or poor judgment. Bottom line, Shoon needs to play at least 30 meaningful minutes per game if Bona is going to compete.
 
Jimmy Chitwood said:
Shoon needs to figure it out. He is too valuable to take so many frivolous risks on defense. The kid needs to manage his adrenaline a bit better. You can bet that future opponents are going to attack him in the same manner seeking cheap fouls or poor judgment. Bottom line, Shoon needs to play at least 30 meaningful minutes per game if Bona is going to compete.
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Jimmy Chitwood said:
Shoon needs to figure it out. He is too valuable to take so many frivolous risks on defense. The kid needs to manage his adrenaline a bit better. You can bet that future opponents are going to attack him in the same manner seeking cheap fouls or poor judgment. Bottom line, Shoon needs to play at least 30 meaningful minutes per game if Bona is going to compete.
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We saw the same thing with Nicholson and it took him a solid 2.5 years to get to the point where he could stay out of foul trouble consistently. Obviously In his case, the same was true in the sense his presence was beyond essential to their success.

I agree with a prior poster who lamented about not getting it inside to him more. We never even tried. His offensive development is ahead of where it was last year, and we need to take advantage of that until teams make it impossible to, at which point, someone else is going to be open to make plays.
 
Bonniesmaga2020 said:
Ditto those comments on Bobby. Can we talk for a second about how on god’s green earth he was just about a 50% 3 pt and 90% ft shooter at the mount? I have seen nothing from his form that would indicate those percentages are possible.
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Yeah, you'd think free throws would at least translate, since 15 feet is 15 feet in every gym. I'm guessing NEC ball is just way slower than even most of the mid-majors we play OOC. I cant see how he's going to create space in A10 play except maybe against the pillow fighters.
 
Bobby struggled to get his shot off vs. Kent St... so he will struggle against any teams that close out and know his scout (so pretty much most A10 teams). He’s found a new role and will do well in it.
 
Last night's rotation/game flow and win probability. You can see the dry spells from around 8 minutes to around 3 minutes left in the first half, as well as from 8 to 4 minutes in the second half.
UBrotation.png
SBUubWinProb.png
 
I was surprised and disappointed to see Osun get punked by the likes of Mballa. Such are the travails of young talent, so I'll repress my disappointment and hope that we continue to see improvement, though I know it probably will be an inconsistent trend. If we play .500 in the A10 and finish on a high note in Brooklyn I'll be satisfied and, since this board seems to have a pretty sensible group of contributors I assume I won't be accused of lukewarm fandom for saying so.
I may rankle some for saying this, however: much as I enjoy this venue, I don't think it will stay that way for long. Success will attract more participants and, sad to say, there is a certain element of class lacking in the Bona fan base. You see it on the Bandwagon and soon the usual suspects will be here.
 
As of now, I think Bobby is a guy who can knock down a wide open three in transition or on a kick out after an offensive board. I agree that his release point and the time it takes to get off a shot is a factor. The difference between practice and games could also be a confidence thing. The pressure of shooting in a game is way different than practice. With that said, he does a lot of little things that are valuable to the way Schmidt likes to play. Even though he is not a huge scoring threat, I think the offense moves better with him because of the way he swings the ball, gets offensive boards and fights for loose balls (very similar to Idris). I hope AJ and Winston can catch on to these small things because they’re natural ability to score can take us to another level and I’d love to see them get more minutes as the season rolls on.
 
Citizen X said:
I was surprised and disappointed to see Osun get punked by the likes of Mballa. Such are the travails of young talent, so I'll repress my disappointment and hope that we continue to see improvement, though I know it probably will be an inconsistent trend. If we play .500 in the A10 and finish on a high note in Brooklyn I'll be satisfied and, since this board seems to have a pretty sensible group of contributors I assume I won't be accused of lukewarm fandom for saying so.
I may rankle some for saying this, however: much as I enjoy this venue, I don't think it will stay that way for long. Success will attract more participants and, sad to say, there is a certain element of class lacking in the Bona fan base. You see it on the Bandwagon and soon the usual suspects will be here.
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If we had a tougher A10 schedule I might agree with this BUT the teams we play twice are GW, Mason, Duquesne, Fordham and Joe's. Based on that I'd be disappointed with going .500 in conference play. We could win 8 games in this group.
 
This is probably the wrong thread but to me 12-4 is the expectation with the schedule we have
 
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