By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team received a good deal of attention after its Atlantic 10-opening win, but ahead of its clash with Fordham on Jan. 4, coach Mark Schmidt knows there is no time to ease off the gas.
The Bonnies, winners of a 77-75 thriller over VCU on Dec. 31, will travel to face a conference opponent for the first time this season, one that has enjoyed a decent amount of success against them over the last couple years.
Of Bona’s last four games against Fordham, it has been the loser of three, winning the most recent affair.
But the past is in the past and in preparation for a matchup with a side that has a probable level of confidence, according to Schmidt, his team are anticipating Fordham to provide similar looks to VCU. Its fast-paced attack will look to get downhill while its defense will present different looks over the course of the fixture as to try and throw off any offense going against it.
“They’re aggressive, Keith (Urgo) does a really good job,” Schmidt said. “They really play with a lot of energy. … They push the ball in transition really hard, they’re really disruptive, they try to get in passing lanes and don’t let you really run your stuff, they try to take you out of what you want to run. They’re attacking the offensive glass, they’re positive, plus-2 on the backboard, and they turn teams over. … They’re downhill, very similar to VCU. They get into the paint, they kick it out, and that’s when they make their 3. They’re formidable. That’s going to be a really difficult game. They’ve had success against us in the last couple of years, so I would assume that they have a lot of confidence.”
Jackie Johnson III has been the main source of offense for the Rams this season, averaging over 18 points per game. However, there are plenty of other options around him that are capable of scoring. Jahmere Tripp (11.0 ppg), Japhet Medor (9.9 ppg) and Joshua Rivera (9.7 ppg) are each more than capable of taking the lead on the scoring front.
“Johnson is really, really aggressive, he’s really talented, he can really score the ball,” Schmidt said. “When he’s shooting the ball well from 3, he’s really hard to guard because he has that off-the-bounce game. All of those guys are good players. They back guys down … and they play really physical. We got to try to keep the ball above the foul line as best we can. … We got to do a good job on ball-screen defense, we got to keep the ball in front of us, … we got to keep them out of transition, got to handle the ball so we’re not turning the ball over so they can get numbers on us.”
Currently, the Rams average just under 76 points per game, which is 10th in the A10. At the same time, they concede an average of just over 75 per game, which is currently last in the conference for scoring defense.
But while the numbers on paper may give the Bonnies an edge, Schmidt made it clear that he believes this game will be far from a cake walk and that they will be attacking every game from here on out with the same level of intensity. A level necessary for success in the A10.
“It’s like every game is a playoff game,” Schmidt said. “Every game, you got to treat it like it’s the most important game of the year. Fordham is really good, especially at home. Forget about whatever those preseason rankings are, I don’t even believe they should have those. We’re certainly preparing for a Fordham team that is capable of winning the Atlantic 10.”
A big question for Bona as of late has been the health of point guard Dasonte Bowen and when he will make his return. Schmidt noted that it won’t be in this upcoming game against Fordham, meaning that once again Melvin Council Jr. will presumably make the start at the 1 with Jonah Hinton starting at the 2.
Hinton recorded a career-high 16 points against VCU, and has recorded double-figure points in back-to-back games for the first time since his three-game streak earlier this season against Canisius, Florida Gulf Coast and LeMoyne. Seeing his scoring increase has been a big positive for Schmidt, but in order to play at his top-level, he noted that he would like to see more on the opposite end of the floor from him.
“He’s shooting the ball better,” Schmidt said. “You look at his stats, early on, it was over 40% from 3, and he’s been struggling from 3. He hit some big shots against VCU, but … (on) the other side of the court, he’s got to defend better. … We don’t have a guy that’s going to get 20 rebounds for us, we got to do it as a team, and our guards have to get 3, 4, 5 rebounds apiece. That’s how we’re going to be successful and that’s one of the areas where he needs to improve. He’s going to continue to understand the offense and take good shots. When he’s shooting the ball and making them, we’re a better team offensively.”
Now, as for whether Schmidt thinks this year’s Bona team can reach its ceiling, he’s still unsure. But what he does know is what his team needs to improve upon if they are to reach that level and have success against Fordham.
“We didn’t defend very well against VCU, we didn’t rebound the ball very well against VCU, we didn’t shoot the 3 well against VCU, those are areas that we got to improve on,” Schmidt said. “We only had nine assists. So there’s a lot of room for improvement in all those areas. We got to become a better defensive team, a rebounding team, an assist team, all those areas. Now, can we get there? I don’t know. But that’s what we have to do. We have to get better in all those areas if we are going to continue to be successful.”
St. Bonaventure will tip-off against Fordham on Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.
