ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Matt McCall saw it, this kind of rare intangible, in the 2017-18 St. Bonaventure basketball team.
“To me, the most impressive thing is how connected they are,” the UMass coach of those Bonnies, who’d just handed his Minutemen a 98-78 defeat inside the Reilly Center. “They’re a connected team. And when you can get a connected team that has that kind of talent … you’re talking about doing something special.”
And realize that prophesy Bona did, winning a school-record 26 games and beating UCLA in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament for the program’s first tourney victory in 48 years.
Three years later, opposing coaches have begun to view the current Bonnies in much the same light.
“St. Bonaventure is arguably the most talented, experienced, athletic group in our conference,” Saint Joseph’s coach Billy Lange said early last month, after his team had just suffered an 83-57 defeat in the RC.
“They’re together.”
YES, THIS group, though built differently, has taken on much the same feel as its predecessor, from its place at (or near) the top of the Atlantic 10 standings, to its extended win streak (7 and counting), to the national recognition it’s begun to receive, to its undeniable closeness.
And it’s done so despite, in some ways, facing more adversity than any Bona team that has come before it … or will after.
Bona, due to the pandemic, has dealt with pauses and postponements, starts and stops. It had almost no non-conference to prepare itself for the success it’s having now, sees sudden changes in opponents and, after the shelving of Wednesday’s game with Joe’s, continues to play under the cloud of COVID-19.
Coach Mark Schmidt’s team has endured three player departures (including one returning starter) since the season began at Thanksgiving, exits that have made the Bonnies smaller in both numbers and size.
At this point, even a 20-game season might be difficult to come by, leaving its prospects for a similarly sparkling March outcome uncertain.
And yet, it’s remained bonded throughout it all.
JUNIOR guard Jaren Holmes, after the Bonnies’ resounding comeback victory over VCU, described this as “the right group of guys.” Classmate Jalen Adaway, after a gritty road win over Duquesne, said, “our chemistry is through the roof.”
Clearly, these Bonnies, the nine who have so far survived the turbulent nature of 2020-21, have that way about them.
“They like each other,” coach Mark Schmidt said. “I’m a big advocate in relationships off the court — if guys like each other off the court, then they’re going to like each other on the court and it’s gonna be easier to play through adversity, through some tough times on the court if there’s solid relationships off of it.”
That, to the 14th-year coach, is as big a key as any to this 9-1 (7-1) start.
“The guys truly like each other and respect each other and you can see that in how we play. And we’ve got an experienced team, they understand how important chemistry is, so I think those two reasons are why we’re having some success. We’ve got good players … but the relationships — they’re tight and they enjoy being around each other and that’s very, very important.”
THE NUMBERS paint a similar picture.
All five Bona starters are averaging in double figures, making Schmidt’s team not only well-balanced, but difficult to guard on any given night. Four of those players have led the Bonnies in scoring at least once. And all five have proven themselves capable of being “the guy,” with individual season highs of 38, 28, 25, 24 and 22.
The latter is something that not even the 2017-18 squad could ever have boasted.
This team makes the extra pass — it ranks No. 3 in the league in assists (15.5 per game) and once had 27 in one contest.
It’s more than happy to defer to the hot hand, the way it did against Joe’s, when Bona continued to feed Holmes, who poured in a career-high 38. It visibly celebrates one another’s success.
Its bench, much like three years ago, is always engaged.
“WE DON’T have a pig on our team,” said Schmidt, when asked about his team’s balance after Saturday’s win over George Mason. “We don’t have a guy who all he’s worried about is scoring whether we win or lose. We have basketball players that want to win. I say all the time, everybody’s going to have their day in the sun. The guy that’s not playing well today, next game could be the guy that makes the big play.”
He added: “We have (guys) … that understand it’s not a one-man team or a two-man team. We need everybody playing and clicking for us to be successful, and I think they like when their teammates have success, and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve had some success — there’s no jealousy, there’s no animosity. We have basketball players that want to win.”
In 2017-18, that closeness, as McCall witnessed on that December afternoon in the Reilly Center, helped bring Bona all the way to the Big Dance. These Bonnies, if fate will allow, are hoping to ride their chemistry to the same destination.
(J.P. Butler, Bradford Publishing Company group sports editor, can be reached at jbutler@oleantimesherald.com)
