ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Mark Schmidt assumed his team wouldn’t make it through the rest of the year unscathed.
“There was going to be pauses, interruptions during the season and our guys understood that. And there’s going to continue to be pauses,” the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball coach said earlier this month. “I don’t think we’re going to go straight out the rest of the way without having some game canceled.”
He was right, of course.
But not for the reason one might expect.
The Bonnies’ road rematch with George Mason, scheduled for today, has been canceled due to the uncharacteristically inclement weather in the Fairfax, Va., area, league officials stated Wednesday. That announcement came Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the game had officially been added to Bona’s schedule.
FOR SCHMIDT’S team, it was merely the latest layer in an incredibly frustrating 2020-21 campaign.
Bona had become used to games being canceled and postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It had become adept at adjusting to an ever-changing schedule on the fly, having forged a 10-3 (8-3) record, put itself in the NCAA Tournament discussion and sat in first place in the league standings for nearly a month despite having to continually pivot from one presumed opponent to the next.
But to have to see another game go by the wayside when both teams are healthy and able due to heavy snowfall in one of the few Atlantic 10 regions where decent February weather might be expected?
That made for a whole new kind of stomach-punch to a team that, this winter, has already endured so many.
BONA HAS now had nearly as many games postponed or canceled as it’s actually played. As of Wednesday, it was one of just 45 teams in the country (of the 347 currently playing) that had been limited to 13 contests or fewer. And very few of the 44 others are having to deal with those issues while also competing for an at-large berth in the Big Dance.
That frustration, of course, is also being felt by the Bona fan base, which was hoping to witness a Tournament-caliber season in full.
“This is the stupidest season of all time,” one fan tweeted in response to Wednesday’s announcement.
“This is exhausting and I’m simply a fan,” said another. “Props to coach and the players for staying focused on the goal. Huge game against Davidson on tap.”
“Another one,” a different fan chimed in. “Bonnies will be lucky to get 15 games in.”
And that remains one of the central questions.
Even after a ravaged non-conference campaign, Bona might have hoped to play at least 20 games — its two non-league contests, plus the 18 it would have gotten in Atlantic 10 play. But even reaching that number is becoming less feasible.
As it stands, Schmidt’s team is scheduled to return to action Sunday in a home contest against Top 100 foe Davidson. After that, it has just one more confirmed game (a week from Sunday against Dayton) and three available makeup slots (Feb. 24 and the entire last week of the regular season, March 3 and 6). That means, if each slot is filled and barring any further postponements, Bona would have an 18-game season (16 league contests) under its belt heading into the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
THE BONNIES, all season long, have been quick to point out that for as tough as this year has been, they’re far from the only ones going through it.
And that’s true.
But even a team such as Saint Louis, which went more than a month between games and has played only six A-10 contests to date, has non-conference wins over LSU and NC State on its resume in addition to what it’s accomplished so far in league play (with scheduled games against Dayton, Richmond and VCU remaining). And even the Billikens have been able to play one more game than the Bonnies.
Bona, to be sure, would rather be playing this afternoon. But its silver lining is this: Game or not, it’s still sitting pretty in the NET rankings at No. 40. And it’s already reached the number of games needed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament (13).
In the meantime, Bona will continue to try to roll with the adversity that has come its way.
“When we started this season, we all sat down and told them, had a frank conversation, it’s like the season’s not going to be a typical season,” Schmidt said. “There’s going to be some interruptions. And who deals with those interruptions the best is going to be the team or the players with the most success.
“And that’s what we’ve tried to do. It’s not easy; it’s been a challenge, physically and mentally. We just gotta continue to work and if there’s another pause be able to handle that pause and be ready to come back and play.”
