ST. BONAVENTURE — Coming out of the first media timeout, it resembled a hockey line change: four players off, four players on.
The new-look St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team displayed its depth right away Monday night against Cal State-Northridge. Of its 13 scholarship players, 10 are completely new to the program and two played little or not at all last winter. With so much newness, finding optimal lineup combinations remains on the coaching staff’s to-do list.
Bona used 11 players overall against Cal State-Northridge. How deep does Mark Schmidt anticipate going with this group?
“I really don’t know,” the 18th-year SBU coach said. “We have a lot of guys and there’s not a big separation from one to 10, 11, 12. So we’re trying to figure out lineups; who plays well with who? You don’t want to have three or four guys in there that can’t shoot. So it’s a learning process for the coaching staff as well as for the players. And we’re not gonna have one guy that’s going to score 30 points. If you look at our rebounding today, we did it collectively. I think that’s how we’re going to have to do it from an offensive standpoint. We’ve gotta do it collectively.”
History suggests Schmidt may eventually settle on a tighter rotation of eight or nine around Atlantic 10 Conference play, if not sooner.
But the volume of options, for now at least, reflects the changing world of college basketball team construction.
“Certain guys are going to have better days than others and then the next game, it’s gonna change,” Schmidt said. “I think we have good guys that understand that, that are gonna accept their roles, and their roles are gonna change. Usually you have five or six or seven guys that are much better than the eighth, ninth and 10th guys. But in this portal world that we’re in, I just think that the guys are more balanced. So now hopefully somebody, a couple guys, take that step and separate themselves. But right now, we have 10, 11, 12 guys that can play a little bit.”
— Among those six Bonnies off the bench was French freshman Noah Bolanga, who played 10 minutes. Bolanga showed flashes of his intriguing talent after landing with the program late in the summer and receiving an NCAA waiver for immediate eligibility after playing in the French Pro League as a teenager for Orleans Loiret Basket.
He showed some playmaking ability (two assists) for his 6-foot-8 frame and knocked down a pull-up 3-pointer for his only points.
“He wasn’t here for the summertime, we just got him late,” Schmdit said in response to a question on Bolanga’s playing time. “He’s going to be a good player. He’s still learning the system. He played 10 minutes today. So he has a bright future.”
— For most Bonnies, this marked their official home debut after playing an exhibition with Alfred University last week. The Reilly Center held an announced attendance of 3,859 fans.
Bigger games are to come, and some fuller, louder crowds, but the home fans impressed Chance Moore, who came to Bona after two seasons at Missouri State and one at Arkansas before that.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Moore said. “Coming from Missouri State, we didn’t really have too many fans. So it just felt great having that energy, having that excitement. We know (when) we make a big play, everyone’s cheering … that makes us want to play hard.”
— Bona looked its best when pushing the pace on Monday, likely a reflection of the athletic, wing-heavy roster. Starting guards Dasonte Bowen and Melvin Council Jr. led the team in playing time.
Bowen made his offensive mark at the free-throw line (9-for-13, 11 total points), while Council did some damage in transition. Council grabbed three steals and scored all of his nine points in the first half. The Rochester native and Wagner transfer cut through the CSUN defense with impressive quickness and showed some finishing ability inside.
— “We don’t have an identity,” Schmidt acknowledged of his new group after one game. That will take more time, both in practice and games.
Co-captain center Noel Brown thinks playing hard will be the fastest way to learn that identity.
“It’s important that we go hard in (scrimmages and practices) so we can figure out what we’re good at and what we’re not good at,” he said.
“As a new team, as a new roster, realizing our identity, maybe (it’s) attacking that paint, really trying to dominate that paint, being super aggressive, being super physical as opposed to last year. I know people are getting to know each other, we’re still getting to learn how to use each player correctly but I think we will do that as we practice, we move on from game to game and just improve as a team. But it’s been great. I mean, fantastic. I love these guys.”
