The Bonnies: 2022-2023 Season Thread

[Bona03]

Related, I am disappointed with Evans a little bit. Defensively he is really active and does a good job but his offense is not what I expected. I guess I thought we had a Michael Lee type. He didnt score a ton his freshmen year but he gave us 6 ppg. That was in 18 mpg. I am certainly not saying I want Evans gone or anything but I just thought we would get more from him. Once he puts his offense together, he will be a hell of a player.

 

[Bill Russell]

Related, I am disappointed with Evans a little bit. Defensively he is really active and does a good job but his offense is not what I expected. I guess I thought we had a Michael Lee type. He didnt score a ton his freshmen year but he gave us 6 ppg. That was in 18 mpg. I am certainly not saying I want Evans gone or anything but I just thought we would get more from him. Once he puts his offense together, he will be a hell of a player.

Yes, but I still want him getting big minutes. He needs to be developing in game situations. In fact, I’d much prefer we go back to starting him over Moses. That’s not a knock on the latter, but I really liked the scoring threat off the bench and setting a defensive tone out of the gate.

 

[Bona03]

Yes, but I still want him getting big minutes. He needs to be developing in game situations. In fact, I’d much prefer we go back to starting him over Moses. That’s not a knock on the latter, but I really liked the scoring threat off the bench and setting a defensive tone out of the gate.

If the season goes further south, I also think Schmidt should switch that back. When he made that switch, these guys took off and won those 3 big games so Its hard to go back at the moment. Although Flowers has seemed to have cooled off a bit so now might be the time to switch it back.

 

[3rdShayCripSet]

We need SOMETHING out of our bench. We were all on board with Flowers starting we when beat VCU, UR and UD, but we need some reinforcements off the bench from our "second team."

Evans has definitely been underwhelming this year, but he seems like a decent ball handler and a good defender. I feel like he could be a LaDarien Griffin type player for us going forward.

 

[GregMitch]

Come on folks, Evans has shown nothing this year on offense. ZIp, nada. When he actually made a jumper last game I nearly fainted. But, as usual, it was his only FG. Has no moves to basket and when he, by necessity, has to pull up and launch an 8 footer he always misses. I love him, too, as a good guy and maybe on defense but gets bullied by big guys even there. Shall we mention his foul shooting? You will say, only a frosh, but many frosh never do develop, as we have seen in past. Imagine if we had gotten RJ Luis, as looked to be the case for quite awhile.

What people overlook is--it's easy to say "we have a lot of talent" or "so and so is very athletic"--but nearly every team in A10 and nearly every player in top 8 rotation has talent and is athletic. But it's all relative. The current team--again, relatively speaking--is mediocre in talent and athleticism. Even Farell is very limited--can launch those 3s but rarely drives and has games (many) where he only gets off 3 or 5 shots. Hill has shown very very little. Rumpel can make a great pass and then dribble to a TO within 15 seconds. Banks and Luc have both shot 30% now for past 18 games--that's 3/4s of a season in the olde days. Banks and Flowers are both FOUR year players already. Are they going to get better? Mellouk--are we really going to go there?

Venning is only one you could say has the potential to be a 1st or 2nd all-A10 next year and only because of position he plays and other top centers will have moved along. Even Chad, with his good offense, has real issues on fouls and not that great a rebounder for a center and dribbles way too much. Still: a plus. But we need a very good recruiting/transfer year.

 

[Community Bank 3Pt Tee]

Come on folks, Evans has shown nothing this year on offense. ZIp, nada. When he actually made a jumper last game I nearly fainted. But, as usual, it was his only FG. Has no moves to basket and when he, by necessity, has to pull up and launch an 8 footer he always misses. I love him, too, as a good guy and maybe on defense but gets bullied by big guys even there. Shall we mention his foul shooting? You will say, only a frosh, but many frosh never do develop, as we have seen in past.

What people overlook is--it's easy to say "we have a lot of talent" or "so and so is very athletic"--but nearly every team in A10 and nearly every player in top 8 rotation has talent and is athletic. But it's all relative. The current team--again, relatively speaking--is mediocre in talent and athleticism. Even Farell is very limited--can launch those 3s but rarely drives and has games (many) where he only gets off 3 or 5 shots. Hill has shown very very little.

None of what you say is incorrect, but there is an important distinction that seems to often be lost in these discussions.

Evans will probably never be an explosive offensive player. What I see is a longer, more athletic player with the attributes Idris Taqqee had.

Hill has shown very little offensively. He has shown some solid defense and rebounding chops. What I see is a player with every bit of the athleticism and potential LaDarien Griffin had.

We can all agree we are 1-2 go-to guys short of being where we want to be. It’s important to not overlook that most good teams, at our level especially, include guys 4-5 others who are solid- and more importantly in our case- cohesive snd experienced together. That is why we place importance on Hill and Evans. Yes, let’s hit the trail hard for more, but let’s not overlook the importance of guys like that developing into solid A10 complimentary roles.

As far as Yann, limitations and all, I challenge you to find a freshmen under Schmidt who, as a freshmen, was decidedly ahead of where he is now. He’s got much to work on still, but so did the rest of the guys we’d consider our best players over the last 15 years when they were freshman.

 

[3rdShayCripSet]

Bona fans desperately wanted a shooter this offseason, and now that we have one, they want him to be someone who can take it to the hoop? Maybe his game his what is it. A 3 & D type player...What's wrong with that? 9 & 6 while shooting 41% from deep is pretty good for a freshman.

Farrel and Venning are the only ones on this team the team that merit no criticism. I'd throw Banks in there as well. He's playing the most MPG in the country and is still shooting in line with his career averages. Not sure what people expected of him coming in to the season, but he's met expectations.

It's like trading for a SS who's a career .260 hitter and then getting disappointed he doesn't bat .300. Banks is a volume shooter and a good defender. He was never going to be the type of player that hits 40% from deep.

Regarding Mellouk, Evans and Hill. They are pretty much all in fact freshman. Bigs that stick it out in Schmidt's system have improved. Dion Wright, LaDarien Griffin, Da'Quan Cook, Marquise Simmons, Demitirius Conger, Youssou Ndoye and Denzel Gregg all were very solid players for SBU that did virtually nothing as freshman...be patient.

No one with half a brain thought this team would be close to a postseason club. This is still a very young team and as long as they get most of these guys back next year, they will improve.

Do we need 1-2 transfers that can score? Absolutely. But we have a nice young core of players that we can build around. These aren't seniors or juniors that are struggling. They are freshman and sophomores in year one of Schmidt's system.

We will probably see Max and possibly Hill leave, but it would be disappointing to see Mellouk or any other player leave at this time.

We have seven losses on the schedule that could have been wins. We are not as far off as some think. Disappointing, yes, but a couple of impact/solid transfers makes this team a threat in the A10 next year.

It's not much of a stretch to say this team could be 19-8 with the youngest team in the country.

 

[Bill Russell]

I’d be fine with everyone coming back, but it would be surprising to see someone like Max stick it out in this “I need to play starter’s minutes or my NBA stock will be harmed” era.

Our program’s bread and butter is player development. Projects like Evans, Mellouk, and Hill are how we build quality future teams with multi-positional players to surround a “star” or two. Keep those guys, coach them up, and utilize their length and quickness to allow Schmidt to really crank up the defensive intensity between the 3-5 spots.

With the one ride we have open now, a guard is the obvious priority. Even if another one opens (almost certainly these days), a third guard signee should be at the top of the list. Get Luc into his natural role as a Kendall Anthony-style off-ball jitterbug.

 

[Community Bank 3Pt Tee]

Bona fans desperately wanted a shooter this offseason, and now that we have one, they want him to be someone who can take it to the hoop? Maybe his game his what is it. A 3 & D type player...What's wrong with that? 9 & 6 while shooting 41% from deep is pretty good for a freshman.

Exactly! Right now, if he improved no other aspects of his game, he would still be on pace to be a more consistent, efficient version of Welch.

I think the bench/starter disparity of the last 2 years has given us a bout of collective amnesia regarding how teams are usually built. It’s like we forget role players matter too. Guys are discussed as expendable if they don’t seem like they’ll be a stud, all conference caliber player.

 

[Bill Russell]

I think the bench/starter disparity of the last 2 years has given us a bout of collective amnesia regarding how teams are usually built. It’s like we forget role players matter too. Guys are discussed as expendable if they don’t seem like they’ll be a stud, all conference caliber player.

This.

 

[1946TobaccoBowlMVP]

Yann may not take guys off the bounce multiple times a game but let's not pretend that he hasn't scored at all 3 levels this year. As for the comparisons to Welch I'd argue he's already a more complete player on offense than Welch is in his 5th year. This is not said to be a knock on Welch but a comime to Yann. Yann also has to be the best offensive talents as a frosh since Adams.
I know Yann spent last summer with Tyler Relph to work on his game and hope he does again to continue to improve and round out his skill set.
Oh and not for nothing Yann leads the team in rebounds. To call him limited is just fucking ignorant. But I guess he isn't Micheal Kobe LeBron as a frosh.

As for hoping players leave a big part of the trams struggles is every team that theyplayed has way more hours of playing together. If you don't think that's a factor I can't help you. Also if a player leaves you better be able to replace him with a better player. That's going to be easier with a Quadry Adams than say a Moses Flowers, Luc, or Hill.

And are we really going to shit on Venning? The guy has been a work in progress, transforming his body into a division 1 athlete while averaging 12 & 5 playing in a conference that's at least a step above his previous.
Yeah he dribbles too much and is poor passers and because he'll only be 2nd or 3rd team A10 so we better throw away a promising player for the next Chinonso Obokoh.

 

[tastylicks]

For real. Every team needs role players. Well said community bank tee

 

[Bill Russell]

Who shit on Big Chad, Tobacco? He’s clearly a key foundational piece moving forward.

 

[tastylicks]

Banks works his balls off on defense. I think it sets a good example for the younger guys

 

[Bill Russell]

Banks works his balls off on defense. I think it sets a good example for the younger guys

No doubt about it. That’s why he barely comes out of games; however, he’s extremely limited offensively if it isn’t a catch-and-shoot situation. He needs to be a third option, but we don’t have that luxury this season (thanks again, KL, OO, and DW, for the last-second Pearl Harbor job!). As is, he’s being asked to do too much offensively. No other options, though. Sigh…

 

[brownindians85]

Venning is only one you could say has the potential to be a 1st or 2nd all-A10 next year ...

You've seen Yann play right? Big Chad is probably my favorite current Bonnie, but Yann is often the best player on the court.

 

[1946TobaccoBowlMVP]

Who shit on Big Chad, Tobacco? He’s clearly a key foundational piece moving forward.

I misread. My apologies

 

[Bona03]

I love a lot of what you guys said over the weekend. To me what we need next year is a taller guard who can defend. Watching Bishop and Adams have their way after turning the corner exposed our guards lack of size. Banks and Luc do their best but they are not bid enough to stop guards like that. We saw the same thing vs La Salle.

 

[Community Bank 3Pt Tee]

What an idiot!

I was happy to be an idiot!

We stink. I’m looking forward to this years free agency (cringe) because this season is more dead to me than Derek Zoolanders dead mother.

 

[Bona03]