It’s about as unfavorable a situation as it gets.
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team, instead of the typical 12 or 13, has played just two non-league contests heading into the start of Atlantic 10 play. It’s coming off an 11-day layoff, one created by the canceled Buffalo game and Christmas, its second pause of at least that long since Nov. 19.
Nearly a month into this peculiar campaign, coach Mark Schmidt still isn’t quite sure “what we have.” The Bonnies still aren’t in optimum game shape and have had little opportunity to work out the usual early-season kinks.
Moreover, their next opponent, Rhode Island, has already played eight games (tied for most in the league), and is battle-tested, having faced the likes of Arizona State and Boston College and Seton Hall.
Bona, though, has tried to remain upbeat despite continually challenging circumstances in this coronavirus-ravaged season. And that’s the attitude it’ll take into today’s league-opener against the Rams (4 o’clock, ESPN+-live stream, WPIG-FM, WHDL-AM), inside the Ryan Center.
“YOU JUST accept it and do the best job you can,” Schmidt said on Tuesday. “We knew this was going to happen. When it happens, it’s like a punch to the gut, but it is what it is, and we just have to go along with the schedule and adjust. It’s not an ideal situation. A lot of teams are going through it the way we have, so you can’t look at it as the cup is half-empty. You’ve got to try to be positive, and now we’re going to play.
“It’s not perfect playing only two non-conference games getting ready for the Atlantic 10, but that’s how it is. I know our guys are excited to play … no matter who they’re playing.”
Schmidt’s teams have fared well in A-10 openers, winning nine of 13, including six of the last seven. Bona’s only loss in that span came in 2018, when starters LaDarien Griffin and Dominick Welch had just returned from injury.
The widely-held belief before it began was that this season may end up being a league-only proposition. That’s essentially the approach Bona will take: forget what happened in November and December; let’s see what we can accomplish in league play.
“It’s just, turn the page and now you get ready for the second part of the season, and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Schmidt, whose team has the technically true distinction of being the only Bona group in 42 years to head into A-10 play unbeaten.
“We’re not at our best. It’s great to be 2-0; we beat two very good teams (in Akron and Hofstra), but I wish we had 12 games under our belt, so we can get a better feel for what we have, and the guys can get a better feel for how we want to play. But that’s what we’ve been dealt and we’re going to do the best job that we can.”
OF COURSE, even in turning the page, there’s no let up.
Bona has an extremely difficult 1-2 punch to start the league campaign, following today’s visit to the Ryan Center, where it’s 2-10 all-time, with a road contest at Richmond, the A-10’s preseason No. 1, which was formerly nationally ranked.
And after having last played on Dec. 19, a 77-69 victory over Hofstra, it’ll have to reacclimate itself against traditionally one of the conference’s most athletic and physical teams in the Rams.
Rhode Island has dropped three-straight, including its A-10 opener to Davidson (67-58), to fall to 3-5, but that record is a bit misleading. The Rams, under third-year coach David Cox, took both BC and then-No. 18 Arizona State to the wire before falling short and beat Seton Hall (76-63) and South Florida (84-68) handily. It also has close losses to No. 13 Wisconsin (73-62) and Western Kentucky (68-65).
URI, picked to finish sixth the preseason poll, has a relatively new-look team this year, featuring a blend of returning veterans, high-major transfers and touted freshmen. Still at the heart, however, is star point guard Fatts Russell, a reigning First Team All-Conference selection who’s currently averaging 14 points and four assists and exploded for 29 points in the Rams’ 81-75 win over Bona last January in the Reilly Center.
The 5-foot-10 dynamo remains priority No. 1.
“Fatts Russell is the guy, the engine that makes them go,” Schmidt said. “When he’s playing well, they’re really good. He’s had some games where he’s gotten in foul trouble and he’s been on the bench. (And) even though they have other good players, (you can see the difference).
“He’s the Energizer Bunny, he’s the guy you have to stop.”
ASIDE FROM Russell, currently the Rams’ only double-digit scorer, URI has nine others averaging between five and nine points per game, including senior guard Jeremy Sheppard (9 points), Georgetown transfer Antwan Walker (8 points, 7 rebounds), former Maryland big man Makhel Mitchell (7 points) and Syracuse transfer Jalen Carey (8 points). And though the names may be different, the Rams’ brand of basketball remains unchanged.
“Same thing,” said Schmidt, whose team has dropped five of the last seven to Rhody and is in search of its first win in the Ryan Center since 2013 (with four losses since). “They play really good half-court defense, they really push the ball in transition. They try to score in the first 12 seconds of the shot clock, they go to the offensive glass. Russell is the leader, and as he goes, they go, but they’ve got high-major transfers, they’ve got length, they’ve got athleticism, they’ve got physicality.
“They’re a talented team that’s already played eight games. They did a really good job against Seton Hall. They have a better identity than we have. They’re the same team, just different players … good players.”
