@svetz17
Last night the St. Bonaventure Bonnies fought valiantly, but ultimately fell to the Florida Gators 73-66. If you saw the spread by Vegas, you’d expect much more of a blowout at a +14 spread for the Bonnies. Despite a tough loss, we learned a lot about the Bonnies. Let’s breakdown some of the key takeaways from the matchup.
Jaylen needs a backup: The star junior point guard Jaylen Adams has dealt with some cramping issues since the beginning of the season. Last night though, cramping reared its ugly head several times in the game. Most notably past the 10 minute mark of the 2nd half, Adams appeared to limp around the court and had to be taken out of the game. With projected backup sophomore guard Nelson Kaputo out for 7 more games, Adams needs someone to step up or he’ll continue to struggle. Ideally, Adams would get 32-33 minutes a game, but right now he’s seeing close to the full game. Hopefully Head Coach Mark Schmidt can make some adjustments.
Matt Mobley is the real deal: We could see the Steph Curry and Klay Thompson of the NCAA with the addition of junior guard Matt Mobley to complement Adams. Mobley showed up big draining 6 three-pointers and scoring 28 points. At one point, he literally was the offense. If he can provide just half of that production on a consistent basis with a few uptick flashes, the Bonnies could improve on last year.
Foul trouble will haunt the Bonnies: The Bonnies struggled to keep their bigs on the court, as Chinonso Obokoh picked up three fouls in 10 minutes and freshman Josh Ayeni fouled out in 7 minutes. That’s unacceptable. Not to mention fellow freshman Amadi Ikpeze picked up three fouls in 19 minutes of play. Coach Schmidt needs to work with his bigs on how to stay out of foul trouble, or the Bonnies could see several size mismatches this season.
Quick Hitters:
– Idris Taqqee was asked to do too much last night. He’s a 3-and-D guy first and foremost. He can excel in that role and having him finish as the leading rebounder, run the offense and become a slash scorer makes no sense. Oh yeah, what the hell, he was the leading rebounder. Good on him, but the guard should never lead the team in rebounds.
– Rick Barry’s son shot free throws granny style. No, it’s not Jackie Moon.
– Turnovers killed the Bonnies last night. They need to tighten the passing lanes and overall Adams has to take care of the ball more.
– Despite the negatives, the Bonnies looked good against a solid Florida team. Now they head to Texas for the Lonestar Showcase. They should be the favorite to win it all.
