Bonnies @ URI-Kingston (Wed. 12/30/20 at 4:00 pm)

Not surprised at all. Winston, while talented, never seemed to click with Schmidt and his demeanor didn't seem great from an outsider's perspective. Leaving after a whopping two games shows me all I need to know about him.

Figured something had to give with the depth on the team, and now we've seen two transfers before the New Year.

I guess if you buy what Schmidt says, then this isn't too surprising. You have to try and win now because there's nothing stopping these kids from leaving. Have to be a little concerned with the potential roster in two years, but then again, there's always the waiver wire.

@Bill Russell Has Bona ever really fielded consistently strong teams outside of Hoops and Swimming? I know WBB results are bad, but it seems that outside of WSOC and occasionally baseball, our other sports are never consistently good.
 
Did I miss something--where is Holmes? Presume he did not transfer with Winston....
 
He started the game, but made a few mistakes and hasn’t been back in since. Gotta get him back in the flow.
He doesn't seem like the guy Schmidt would bench for a couple mistakes. I missed the first 2 minutes, so I don't know how bad they might have been.
 
Schmidt is an abrasive mofo. And he has a real tight leash. But he's gotten results. I'm not sure he's done some heroic job at the U. but satisfactory no doubt. That's the landscape these days. Winston bitched out. I still think he's got a great set of skills and will fit in somewhere.

Now we look like dogshit most of the game blame it on OOC, blame it on terrible shooting, 5th chance points by URI, whatever. But we just aren't there. Yet at least.
 
He doesn't seem like the guy Schmidt would bench for a couple mistakes. I missed the first 2 minutes, so I don't know how bad they might have been.

I think Gary Nease said on the broadcast that he had back spasms. You have to wonder if he would have helped stop the bleeding when we went down 11 in the 2nd. We dug out of that hole, but it was way too much work to get back in the game. I did like what Roberts gave in his first game, but I have to think he doesn't know Schmidt's offense nearly as well as Holmes yet.
 
That was just horrendous. They looked like a team that hasnt played at all. That's a game they win by 10 usually. I saw Holmes with an ice pack during one of the timeouts so it had to be an injury. He probably gave it a go and couldn't. At least the schedule softens up after Richmond but man, this was ugly.
 
Schmidt is an abrasive mofo. And he has a real tight leash. But he's gotten results. I'm not sure he's done some heroic job at the U. but satisfactory no doubt. That's the landscape these days. Winston bitched out. I still think he's got a great set of skills and will fit in somewhere.

Now we look like dogshit most of the game blame it on OOC, blame it on terrible shooting, 5th chance points by URI, whatever. But we just aren't there. Yet at least.

I agree with your whole post, but I'm particularly focused on the last part about not being there yet. Its a reminder of the reality that, we probably would have played like shit and lost a game or 2 that we felt we shouldnt have amongst those 6 that we never got to play. And and the end of the season, losing a couple of those but winning tonight wouldn't be any better for our optics and metrics come March. The notion that we are not yet there is stark reminder that, even with a full season, this team is not quite at the point of being able to put together an at large body of work. Hopefully as the year goes on, we'll see enough from the guys to mark that as a reality for next year. I'm as guilty as anyone of probably forgetting that after only 2 games, and getting ahead of myself as to how far along this group actually is at present.

So I'll end with a positive. Adaway showed grit tonight that was a massive part of why the 11 point second half lead quickly evaporated into a one possession lead. He's shown so far certain intangibles we all lamented a lack of last year, and I'm excited to see that continue to grow and be integrated into our overall identity.
 
...but the lack of foresight by our staff and entire athletics department continues to stunt SBU’s potential growth...
I'm going to say something that sounds crazy, and I'm not fully convinced myself, but it might be time to move on. I don't get the notion that this staff is getting us to the next level, which would be year in and out NCAA appearances. Forget winning tournament games, let's just get through an OOC without a resume damaging win. Let's get out the gate one of these seasons we have a supposedly loaded roster. Let's have a rotation that doesn't rely on starters play 95% of the minutes. Can we keep a big man from transferring? Can we not see the same mistakes at the start of every season, we don't have 5 freshman starting every year. Can we have a season where it doesn't take the previously mentioned resume-imploding losses to figure out personnel? Sell yourself to P5s to absorb that learning curve.. not easy, I get it, but if this season taught us anything about scheduling it's that we aren't doing a good job.

It's easy to type something like this after a loss but what could we do with, say, $500K that isn't tied up in staff compensation until the next staff gets good enough that we have to pay a ton to keep them? So maybe they get a COVID pass for now. Or a "thanks for all you've done" pass. However you want to classify it. But the reality is that Bonaventure people get comfortable. Bona fans get comfortable. It's not an egregious suggestion to say there needs to be accountability, and we should always strive for more.
 
That was quite painful.
I'm going to say something that sounds crazy, and I'm not fully convinced myself, but it might be time to move on. I don't get the notion that this staff is getting us to the next level, which would be year in and out NCAA appearances. Forget winning tournament games, let's just get through an OOC without a resume damaging win. Let's get out the gate one of these seasons we have a supposedly loaded roster. Let's have a rotation that doesn't rely on starters play 95% of the minutes. Can we keep a big man from transferring? Can we not see the same mistakes at the start of every season, we don't have 5 freshman starting every year. Can we have a season where it doesn't take the previously mentioned resume-imploding losses to figure out personnel? Sell yourself to P5s to absorb that learning curve.. not easy, I get it, but if this season taught us anything about scheduling it's that we aren't doing a good job.

It's easy to type something like this after a loss but what could we do with, say, $500K that isn't tied up in staff compensation until the next staff gets good enough that we have to pay a ton to keep them? So maybe they get a COVID pass for now. Or a "thanks for all you've done" pass. However you want to classify it. But the reality is that Bonaventure people get comfortable. Bona fans get comfortable. It's not an egregious suggestion to say there needs to be accountability, and we should always strive for more.
I think barring a major scandal, Schmidt has a job for life. He could probably lose 20+ games for the next three or four years and be safe.

I love Schmidt and don't think we should overreact, but he might be a Fran Dunphy type. Great consistent coach who will give you a quality record every year, but is not elevating you to the next level.

For the record, I am 100% happy with Schmidt today and doubt that changes in the immediate future.
 
I think it's a little crazy to have that thought right now, but not so crazy to acknowledge that having that thought down the line is a possibility.

Right now I'm patiently remaining optimistic things will pan out. But if come March of 2022 this group of juniors never makes an NCAA tournament, that's a big problem. To have 3 freshmen starters on a team that came a 3 point shot away from the dance never materialize to an NCAA appearance would be a huge blunder on the part of the staff and administration. Not to mention to have the same team 2 years in a row not net any results. Regardless of past accomplishments or atta-boy, feel-good top 5 finishes. If that comes to pass, I'm going to have a hard time swallowing that and moving on with a simple 'what are you gonna do?'.

Talk about getting ahead of myself though. I echo cripset's thoughts on being happy with him today and am reasonably confident it'll stay that way.
 
Speaking of transferring big men, since the transfer portal is the wild west now, is there any chance we can get a big guy in here to give us size at the 4 when needed. No way is Shaw as good as Adaway, but we have no other choice right now than to put Shaw (or Osun) at PF when the matchup requires it like SLU. The Evil Bills will eat us alive with a 6'5" guy down low.
 
I think it's a little crazy to have that thought right now, but not so crazy to acknowledge that having that thought down the line is a possibility.
That's kind of how I feel about it, it seems crazy to myself as well, but it is important to not be too comfortable.
 
I remember the “he can’t get you to the next level” remarks about Jim Baron, and going for the flashy hire to replace him ended horrifically.

By no means am I putting a ceiling on the SBU hoops program, but one of the ways we’ve been able to attain and sustain success has been to identify, acknowledge, and embrace who and what we are... and almost as importantly, what we are not.

This program thrives on cohesiveness, player development, and cultivating the Bona culture. Schmidt has become very good at this; having said that, he is not above criticism. Failing to fill our scholarships has hamstrung good teams’ depth, be it by injury or transfer, for years.

You simply can’t be holding 1-2 every year in this climate. Many cite the desire to keep one in case a mid-year transfer becomes available. I’m sick of that shit. When has the Schmidt staff EVER successfully landed an impact player (or any player?) in that manner? Stop chasing the white whale, Ahab, and try to ANTICIPATE potential in-season roster shortcomings. To repeatedly carry one point guard per year is f’ing ludicrous.

It’s okay to criticize a coach—even one we all deeply admire—for that type of shortcoming. He makes a ton of cash for the Olean market, and while he’s almost universally appreciated and loved, there is definitive growth to be made within the program.
 
I'm glad you said what you did, Bill Russell. Back in the Baron days, I continually argued that he was the best we could hope for. That may not be exactly how you are presenting it, but what I mean is that I believe that under Baron, and again, now, under Schmidt, the program is at (to borrow a concept from my Economics classes) Pareto Optimal, meaning we can improve one aspect of it only by diminishing another aspect. The best we can hope for under those circumstances is that after all is said and done, we break even from whatever changes are made.

A lot of guys hear me say "the best we can hope for," and respond he's one of those old guys willing to accept that we can never be any better. I don't believe that is the case. I do, however, see a ceiling for this program. Do I think we can win a national title? In a word, No. I would say the ceiling for this program is a realistic hope for the occasional Sweet 16 run and, maybe, a once in a lifetime a flukey Final Four (which has already been used up for my lifetime). I also believe the path to that ceiling is through someone like Schmidt that gets what the school and community are all about, sells that, and builds contenders through development.

So, do I get frustrated that we have too many transfers and don't fill the roster? You bet I do. Those are areas where I wish Schmidt would do better and where I believe he is open to criticism based on what any of us know. Given that though, I think the likelihood of regressing with a coaching change is greater than that of becoming "the next Gonzaga." Maybe Butler, but Brad Stevens is another once in a lifetime thing.
 
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