By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team has the opportunity to complete a season sweep of its Big 4 rivals this season as they prepare to square off against Niagara in its final non-conference affair of the season.
However, a sweep of that nature is not on the mind of coach Mark Schmidt, who, while understanding that every win is valuable in its own right, is much more focused on what the win could mean for his team as they prepare to dive into the Atlantic 10 portion of its season.
“I want to win the Atlantic 10, that’s what I want to win,” Schmidt said during his pre-game media availability. “Every game is special. You only have 32 opportunities no matter who you’re playing, if it’s Mansfield or it’s the best team in the country. Niagara, we know, is a big rivalry, it’s been going back for decades. … So we know it’s going to be a tough game again. They’re always tough. We just want to win no matter who we play.”
And as the non-conference chapter of the Bonnies’ season begins to wrap up, the key to winning those games has been the defense. Currently, the team ranks 12th in the nation in scoring defense, and for a team that was in search of an identity just a number of weeks ago, Schmidt admitted they are well on their way to establishing one.
“We’re getting that identity, it’s not completely there, but I think our guys are understanding that the way we’re going to win games is on the defensive end,” Schmidt said. “Rebounding, defensively, we’re getting into the ball, disrupting things, we’re getting steals, getting in the open court. And I think our guys see that. It’s become the personality, and it’s got to continue to be that way. We got to win on the defensive end.”
An area, specifically, on defense in which Bona has been able to separate itself from its opponents is in its rotations. Schmidt noted that when you have a, pretty much, brand new team like he has this year, it is not just about implementing an offense, he has to make sure his guys put in the same amount of work on the defensive side of the floor or else the system doesn’t work.
“It’s all about positioning,” Schmidt said. “Our rotations have been good. We have some breakdowns, but I thought we’ve done a good job on the ball, making sure there’s a guy at the rim and splitting the backside. There’s a bunch of rules. That’s why, when you have a whole new team, it’s not just offense that you’re trying to teach, it’s defense. Everybody has different rotations and expectations and rules. So, I think the longer we’re practicing, the better we get. And you know, we’re getting better in those rotations.”
But as much the Bonnies are being praised, now on a national scale, for its defense, they are blocking out the noise.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Schmidt said. “It’s one game at a time, it’s one possession at a time, and they know the importance of it. No matter if we were ranked 150th in the country in defense, they know the importance of it. And one of the reasons why we’ve got off to a good start this year is because of our defense. They see it and they recognize it, and they understand if they want to win, this is how we have to play.”
But the offensive side is still important, and as the Bonnies have been able to establish themselves as one of the nation’s toughest defenses to crack, they have been able to generate their scoring as a result of their defense.
In their previous two matches, against Providence and Siena, they have been able to jump out to quick starts and, for the most part, sustain those leads, save for a few minutes towards the end of each affair. According to Schmidt, that is exactly what they will want to do again.
“You always want to get off to a fast start, I think you talk to any coach in the country and they prefer to get off to a fast start (rather) than a slow start,” Schmidt said. “I thought against Siena, for the first couple of minutes, it was a little bit sluggish, and then we picked it up, and we picked it up in the first five minutes of the second half, which is just as important as a fast start in the first half. But yeah, everybody wants to do that. If you can, great. If you can’t, you better buckle down and continue to work and get better. That’s everybody’s goal.”
Another fast start for Bona will mean shutting down the Purple Eagles’ five players who are averaging over eight points per game, led by Jahari Williamson’s 11.5 and Olumide Adelodun’s 10.9 per contest.
Niagara has been in a number of close affairs thus far this season and if the Bonnies are to head into the holiday break with a Big 4 sweep — however valuable that may be — and wind in their sails heading into A10 play, they will need to keep their foot on the gas.
St. Bonaventure and Niagara are slated to tip-off at 1 p.m. on Dec. 21 at the Reilly Center.
