WASHINGTON, D.C. — His thoughts on the need for rest are well-documented.
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team is among the nation’s leaders in committing the fewest fouls per game. Other than the relatively minor, albeit costly, ankle injuries to Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi this winter, its version of the “Ironman Five” has mostly remained healthy each of the last two seasons. And so, with those factors in mind, depth, coach Mark Schmidt has said, can become a bit overrated.
But even the 15th year coach agreed that a break was probably in order.
Bona, out of necessity, played a gauntlet of an Atlantic 10 schedule following a 25-day COVID-related pause, cramming 17 games into a period of just over seven weeks, including a stretch of four games in eight days in mid-February.
But by beating Richmond last Friday to secure the No. 4 seed and a weekend quarterfinal in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Bona assured itself of its first full week off since early January. And for a lineup that boasts (?) four players in the league’s top five in minutes played, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Yeah, really important,” Schmidt agreed. “Usually you have the two bye weeks where you give the kids off a weekend just to get away from it, not just from a physical standpoint, but from a mental standpoint. We didn’t have that luxury this year, so yeah, we took advantage (of this week) in terms of both the mental and physical part of it.”
In their 29th game of the year, none of those starters, Schmidt said, will be 100 percent, noting, “there’s always gonna be bumps and bruises. But having a week off and having the weekend to rest I think will help us. Will it help us win? That’s yet to be determined. But I think it helped us.”
— A year ago, Bona didn’t need its famously boisterous following to win the A-10 Tournament.
Yes, Schmidt’s team won the title contest before a few hundred fans inside Dayton Arena and had a limited crowd on hand for its NCAA game against LSU in Bloomington, Indiana, but that was a far cry from what they’d seen in previous postseasons.
Now, however, it will be able to welcome the full Bona contingent.
For the first time in three years — when Bona played Saint Louis for the 2019 title before an incredible St. Patrick’s Day audience inside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center — the A-10 Tournament will return to its typical format. That comes after it was canceled in 2020 due to the onset of the coronavirus and the unique setup last year involving different locations, scant attendance and a gap between the semifinals and championship.
But Bona figures to be well-adjusted after playing in full venues again this year, and after experiencing a brown and white takeover of South Carolina for the Charleston Classic back in November.
“Yeah, we’ve experienced it,” Schmidt said. “It would have been different if this was the first game we were playing in front of fans. “We had the experience down in Charleston, and all year the support has been terrific.
“It’s gonna be great to have fans in the stands (this weekend), but we’ve been through it now for 28 games, so it’s not gonna be anything new. But I’m glad there’s fans in the stands. It’ll make the atmosphere and the experience that much better.”
— It’s never been lost on Schmidt just how much of a difference Osunniyi makes defensively.
With the 6-foot-10 center in the lineup, Bona was plus-226 in the paint this season. Without him just last Tuesday in a road loss to VCU, it was outscored 44-30 in that same category.
Shoon ranks fourth among all active players in career blocks (290) while also possessing as sound an ability as anybody to take charges. Behind him, Bona outrebounded 17 of 28 opponents while finishing in the top half of the conference in total rebounds per game, offensive rebounds and rebounding margin.
On Tuesday, Osunniyi became just the seventh player in A-10 history to repeat as Defensive Player of the Year. He not only broke Caswell Cyrus’ program record for career blocks in Friday’s win over Richmond, but moved to the cusp (four shy) of the top 10 in A-10 annals.
With a healthy Osunniyi, Bona goes from potentially being at risk of a quarterfinal round exit to one of the favorites to repeat as A-10 champions. And to Schmidt, his latest accolades, which include a second-team all-conference nod, are well-earned.
“He has a unique talent,” Schmidt said of his senior center. “His timing … he just knows how to block shots without fouling. And he’s the key to our defense. When he’s not in there, we’re not nearly as good defensively. We don’t have a rim protector, we don’t have anyone where when teams go in there they’re not afraid of anybody.
“But he anchors our defense, he makes our defense. When he’s in there and he’s active, we’ve got one of the better defenses in the country. Hopefully he’s healthy and he can play well on Friday. But he’s the difference from a defensive standpoint and he’s been a difference for the last four years. He deserves to be the Defensive Player of the Year back to back and he deserves to have the block record. He’s that talented.”
