St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Date: Wednesday March 6th, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center (Senior Day!)
TV: ESPN+
Analytic Ranks: 81st (KenPom), 80th (EvanMiya), 71st (Haslametrics)
NET Ranking: 66th
2022-23 Record: 14-18, 8-10 (T-8th in A10)
2023-24 Projected Record: 20-10, 11-7 (T-5th in A10)

Head-to-Head: 36-30. Last year's 83-81 overtime victory at the Reilly Center ended GW's five game losing streak in the series. During that time, the Buff & Blue dropped two home contests, meaning that they will be looking for their first home win against Bona since 2017 - a game which GW won 76-70. In that game, they took a 13 point lead into halftime before holding on in the second half. The Bonnies held a major advantage in the turnover department (they committed just 8 turnovers compared to 16 that MBB committed) but GW had a sizable advantage shooting the ball, going 50% from 3 (10 made threes) compared to just 22% from 3 for Bonaventure (5 made threes). TyCav finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds, while Jaren Sina had 22 with five made threes.

The two home losses were by 6 and 5 points, so there should be somewhat of an expectation that GW can keep things close at least if enough players are available (although MBB has been performing better on the road than at home lately).

Last year's overtime win was not that different from many of the conference wins the team had last year. GW raced out to an 11 point halftime lead, holding the Bonnies to just 21 first half points (without looking, I'm assuming that's the fewest the team gave up in a half all season). With just under nine minutes to play in the second half, GW had extended their lead to 18 points. Unfortunately, MBB started to run out of gas and Bona made five threes in the last quarter of the game. I'm not sure there's a moment that sums up GW's inability to secure a key rebound in recent years than the final sequence in regulation in last year's game. Banks missed a layup, Bona got an offensive rebound. Venning missed a layup, and then the ball gets tapped out directly to Luc who nails a jumper to force overtime. That's three opportunities in the final two seconds of the game - only something recent GW teams can pull off. As the team was known to do last year, they managed to regroup in overtime and pull out the win. BA made a huge three to keep the game close after GW got down 4. JB then got fouled on a three and made all free throws to pull out the win. In a place that's notoriously hard to win in, the team won at the Reilly Center for the first time since 2014.

Looking at the stats for the game, it seems impossible that this year's squad would be able to pull off something similar. GW shot 51% from the field, compared to just 38% for the Bonnies. They outrebounded them by 8, and perhaps the most astounding stat was that GW had 17 assists compared to just 9 for Bonaventure. Would love to see something like that soon. The only category that helped the Bonnies stay in it was turnovers, as GW coughed up the ball 19 times compared to just 8 for the home team. BA led the way with 28 points, JB added 25, and Ricky finished with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Max led the team in rebounding with 15 for the game, his second best performance in that category last year (he had 16 against Richmond). 




Offensive Efficiency: 79th (KenPom), 94th (EvanMiya), 53rd (Haslametrics)
Defensive Efficiency: 98th (KenPom), 73rd (EvanMiya), 81st (Haslametrics)
Pace: 264th (KenPom), 233rd (EvanMiya), 289th (Haslametrics)
Roster Rank: 89th (EvanMiya)
Offensive Shot Quality Rank: 128th
Defensive Shot Quality Rank: 72nd
Rim & 3 Rate: 79% (236th)

Strengths (2023-24 Season):
Opponent Steals Per Game - 4.9 SPG (17th)
Free Throw Percentage - 77.4% (19th)
Opponent Rebounds Per Game - 31.4 RPG (24th)
Opponent Free Throw Percentage - 68.5% (29th)
Opponent Field Goals Attempted Per Game - 54.1 FGA (31st)
3-PT Field Goal Percentage - 37.2% (32nd) (another three point barrage coming!)
Opponent Defensive Rebounds Per Game - 22.5 DRPG (33rd)
Opponent Offensive Rebounds Per Game - 8.9 ORPG (58th)
Opponent Blocks Per Game - 2.7 BPG (61st)
Opponent Field Goals Made Per Game - 23.8 FGA (61st)
Opponent Points Per Game - 67.5 PPG (62nd)
Field Goal Percentage - 46.3% (90th)
Opponent 3-PT Field Goal Percentage - 32% (91st)
Opponent Turnovers Per Game - 13 TO/G (94th)
Blocks Per Game - 3.8 BPG (120th)

Weaknesses (2023-24 Season):
Free Throws Attempted Per Game - 18 FTA (T-244th)
Opponent Assists Per Game - 13.6 APG (251st) (Move the ball!)
Opponent Personal Fouls Per Game - 16.1 PF/G (266th)
Field Goals Attempted Per Game - 56.6 FGA (286th)
Rebounds Per Game - 33.3 RPG (296th)
Defensive Rebounds Per Game - 23.5 DRPG (298th)

Key Returning Players:
Daryl Banks III (Senior; Los Angeles, CA) - 15.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.1 spg; 36% FG, 34% 3-PT, 83% FT per 38.3 mpg
      Last Season @ Bona: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; 5-18 FG, 5-12 3-PT, 3-3 FT in 43 minutes.

Chad Venning (Junior; Brooklyn, NY) - 12.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.4 bpg; 58% FG, 64% FT per 28 mpg
      Last Season @ Bona: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 blocks; 9-14 FG, 4-4 FT in 42 minutes.

Kyrell Luc (Junior; Dorchester, MA) - 11.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.7 spg; 36% FG, 30% 3-PT, 74% FT per 33 mpg
      Last Season @ Bona: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; 5-13 FG, 0-3 3-PT, 2-2 FT in 28 minutes.

Moses Flowers (Senior; Dorchester, MA) - 9.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1 spg; 45% FG, 37% 3-PT, 61% FT per 25.3 mpg
      Last Season @ Bona: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; 5-13 FG, 2-9 3-PT, 3-7 FT in 38 minutes.

Assa Essamvous (Sophomore; Libreville, Gabon) - 8.9 ppg, 6 rpg, 1.1 apg; 44% FG, 42% 3-PT, 68% FT per 31 mpg
      Last Season @ Bona: 8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals; 3-8 FG, 2-6 3-PT in 39 minutes.

Key Losses:
None. Basically the polar opposite of last season!

Key Transfers:
Charles Pride (Senior transfer from Bryant; Syracuse, NY) - 14.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.3 spg; 45% FG, 37% 3-PT, 85% FT per 34.1 mpg
Mika Adams-Woods (Senior transfer from Cincinnati; Syracuse, NY) - 9.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.1 spg; 43% FG, 37% 3-PT, 84% FT per 29.9 mpg
Noel Brown (Junior transfer from George Washington; Leesburg, VA) - 3.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg; 58% FG, 53% FT per 11.2 mpg

Preview:
Ever wonder what it's like for a team to return virtually no production from the previous year? That was what Mark Schmidt and his St. Bonaventure Bonnies faced going into last year. The one player who stayed, Justin Ndjock-Tadjore, transferred out after playing in just one game. Given that, it would have been stunning if the Bonnies did not take a step back last year from the level of play that everyone has come to expect from a team coached by Schmidt.

At the same time, it was probably the right move to change things up from the core that brought the team so much success over the previous four years. The trio of Kyle Lofton, Osun Osunniyi, and Dominick Welch went 76-43 overall (.638) and 46-22 in conference play (.676) in their four years in the league. Bona fared even better in the last two years with the additions of Jalen Adaway and Jaren Holmes, who were actually the top two scorers on the team in the final year that the core was all together. During this time, Schmidt became known for riding his starting five for full games and not playing much of a bench. The Bonnies would make the NCAA tournament in 2020-21 as a 9 seed but the fact that they were unable to return the following year running it back in 2021-22 was a disappointment and it was for the best that Schmidt reset the roster and give the aforementioned core a change of scenery for their extra COVID year.

The Bonnies had a very topsy-turvy season with a brand new team. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the lack of continuity led to the team fading down the stretch of the season - they lost seven of their final eight games. To give you a sense of just how much Schmidt has elevated a program that would otherwise be considered a bottom tier team in the A10 (no disrespect, but it's hard to overlook the location which hurts recruiting), Bona finished under .500 in conference for the first time in nine years and finished with the fewest wins overall in the last ten seasons under Schmidt. Regardless of how you feel about Jon Rothstein and his catchphrases, when he tweets out "Mark Schmidt. MORE with LESS" it's definitely one that is earned. There certainly aren't many coaches that could do what he's done at Bona. It's one thing to win at Dayton, a team that's had success under every coach that's been there. It's another to do it at Bonaventure.

Last year's squad had little familiarity playing with each other, but where St. Bona had the biggest drop compared to the previous year was on the offensive side of the ball. The Bonnies fell nearly 200 spots in offensive efficiency to 261st nationally (per KenPom), the worst ever finish for Schmidt since taking over the program (and yes, that includes the team that won just eight games total in his first year there). The team was more experienced and won more games in conference than this year's GW team, but there are some comparisons that can be made between the two. Bona shot nearly 3.5 percentage points worse from inside the arc than the previous year and also turned the ball over at the highest rate that had been seen in over a decade in Olean.

There were fewer lapses on defense, but Bona was visibly more vulnerable inside without Osunniyi around. Also, I'm not sure there was a bigger drop off in the country when it comes to defensive free throw rate between the previous year's squad and last year's team. In 2022, Bona was 17th nationally in defensive free throw rate, playing sound defense without fouling. Just one year later, they ranked 341st in the same category, their worst finish in the KenPom era. It's unclear how much of that coincided with plays previously being called charges now being called blocks but Bona certainly had a foul problem. Without much of a bench, that became a bigger issue.

The good news is that all five starters from last year's team returned this season. The same cannot be said for the bench, but when guys aren't getting much run that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. St. Bonaventure went a respectable 9-3 during OOC play with solid wins over Akron (the favorite to win the MAC) and Oklahoma State. While the Cowboys have disappointed this season, a win over a Big 12 team is always a good thing. Like us, they won at VCU for their first win in conference play but surprisingly the team has not won three games in a row in the A10 yet. A win tomorrow would get them there. The Bonnies are 10-0 on the year when they score 80+ points. GW has been better lately in holding teams under that threshold, but I'm not sure this is a team that they want to get into a shooting contest with - especially if key players remain out for MBB.

In the backcourt, Daryl Banks III, Kyrell Luc, and Moses Flowers return.

Banks, a preseason all-A10 first-team selection, made 79 threes at a 34% clip last year but shot under 39% from inside the arc as well. As a result, when the threes weren't falling at a decent clip he often needed volume in order to put up points. He came to Olean with solid defensive fundamentals having previously spent time at St. Peter's under Holloway but I think it probably says more about the current state of the A10 that he was a preseason first-team selection, because his primary strength is shooting and he was a fairly streaky one last season. Banks hasn't been needed as much this season as Schmidt landed some reinforcements in the backcourt - he's only hit double figures in just six conference games this year although unfortunately one of them was in their last game against Loyola when he scored 26 and made four threes so he has some momentum going into tomorrow. His season high in points both last year and this year both came against St. Joe's - maybe just a coincidence, but interesting nonetheless.

Luc, who came to Bonaventure after winning rookie of the year at Holy Cross in the Patriot League back in 2022, was very pesky defensively (pretty easily led the team in steals) and did a great job facilitating the offense but his height often hindered his efficiency offensively. Given the logjam at guard, I'm not exactly surprised that Schmidt has used him quite a bit less this year. He hasn't even logged 10 minutes in a game since January and has yet to score in double figures this season. Barring injuries or a blowout, I don't think he plays more than a few minutes tomorrow.

Flowers has definitely been the most steady of this trio through two years. He shot 37% from 3 (up to 39% this year) and unlike Banks/Luc was able to score a bit inside as well. The one area where he struggled though was at the FT line where he was just 61%. Given his shooting percentages everywhere else that makes you scratch your head a bit but he has improved to 79% this year so perhaps it was an anomaly. His minutes have been a bit all over the place this year but he's become more of a factor again of late, posting double figures in three straight games while logging 30+ minutes in each.

Up front, Chad Venning and Assa Essamvous (formerly known as Yann Farell) will retain similar roles from last year.

At this point, I think you can say Bonaventure does a better job at developing bigs than most programs in the A10. Venning did take a step forward in his second year at Morgan State but he was only a part time starter at a MEAC program. Since arriving in Olean, all he's done is score. In 60 games with the program, he's finished in double figures in 48 of them. As a GW fan, it's hard to comprehend what it's like to have a big that is productive like that. He's very adept in the post and is patient when making his move. Not sure MBB has any answer for him given he's scored in double figures in all but one game (@ Duquesne, which happens to be GW's final regular season game of the year).

Essamvous (his full legal name is Yann Farell Assa Essamvous apparently and wanted to better represent his lineage from Gabon, thus the name change) made the all-rookie team last year. Had Bona finished above GW in the standings, he may very well have taken home rookie of the year honors over Max. Last season, he led the team in rebounding while shooting a team best 42% from 3 with 65 made on the year (2nd on team). His numbers have more or less remained the same compared to last year (a slight step back in efficiency). Like Banks, he has only finished in double figures in a handful of games this year (five to be exact) so hopefully he has one of his more off games tomorrow and not a 7-7 performance from 3 like he had against Fordham a couple weeks back.

I said effectively all of Bona's bench from last year transferred but one other guy did stay. Barry Evans, a Baltimore product, is an athletic forward with limited shooting range. He's yet to finish in double figures this year but rebounds at a strong clip and his length allows him to be disruptive defensively as well. When I say limited shooting range, I'm probably being a bit kind - he's 7/30 (23%) from three in his time at Bonaventure and is a dreadful 12/38 (32%) from the FT line. Not sure how the latter is possible for a non-center but I guess Schmidt values his strengths more than his weaknesses.

Finally, Schmidt landed a trio of transfers from the portal last offseason - Mika Adams-Woods (from Cincinnati), Charles Pride (from Bryant), and Noel Brown (you don't need me to tell you where he's from). The former two players are both natives of Syracuse who returned to the upstate NY region after productive careers elsewhere.

Adams-Woods, who held a GW offer seemingly an eternity ago, leads the team in three point shooting on the year (46%) as well as assists (3.7 apg). I am already dreading a number of missed rotations that free him up to knock down multiple threes. If there's a silver lining, it's that he has struggled a bit shooting the ball in his last five games (a combined 12/41, or 29.3% from the field). He's also alternated double and single figure scoring performances over the last six games. You shouldn't be surprised at this point to find out that he's coming off a single digit scoring performance so I'm prepared for the worst going into tomorrow.

Pride averages exactly as many minutes per game as Adams-Woods (30.9 to be exact) and isn't that far behind in terms of his efficiency behind the arc (41%) while leading the team in both rebounding as a guard (6 rpg) and steals (1.2 spg). He too has alternated games in which he's scored 10+ points and games where he's failed to hit that threshold in his last six contests played. Once again, you shouldn't be surprised that he's coming off a game where he didn't hit 10 points. I just don't know that GW is capable of stopping both players from going off whether or not the trend continues.

Finally, expect Noel to see roughly 15 minutes or so of action backing up Venning. Nice to see him develop some up at Bona - it's easy to forget that he only really started playing basketball seriously a couple years before coming to GW. I don't think he plays quite enough for him to have a legitimate revenge game like JoeBam had for VCU, but he has made 18 of his last 21 shots near the rim and will probably be good for a couple buckets going up against us.

There isn't much at this point that I hope to see given how things have gone, but for JB's sake in his final game at home I really hope everyone goes all out to try and get a win. With Valparaiso winning the other day, it's now just six teams that have lost as many games or more as GW (VMI, UT Rio Grande Valley, Missouri, Pacific, DePaul, Cal Poly). If IUPUI loses today, that would be seven teams. Pacific, DePaul, and Cal Poly have already fired their coaches. Let me be clear that I'm not saying or suggesting anything with regards to CC - just representing the quality of teams that we are in unfortunate company with currently.

I'm sure Trey will have extra motivation as he grew up with some of the guys on Bona. Can we see more passing offensively and see the team rotate as well as they possibly can defensively? Hopefully some players who were out Saturday can play tomorrow as well - especially Antoine since it will be his final home game as well in Foggy Bottom.

Projected Score: St. Bonaventure 80, GW 73. 26% chance to win (KenPom). ESPN gives us an 18.4% chance at getting a win.
 

1) Noel Brown wouldn't hurt on this team as a backup.
2) With our luck, Noel will probably be the designated career high scorer or with our luck and 3pt defense, even make a 3. 

Gwmayhem wrote:

Piranha...what am I missing?  There are certainly more than 6-7 schools who've lost more games than GW this season.  Were you referring to conference games?  Consecutive games? 

I didn't phrase it very well. I was referring to the seven other teams with active losing streaks of 12 games or more. There are definitely a lot of teams with worse records.

I am of two minds about tonight. On the one hand I am  loyal fan, but on the other it is my birthday today and I don't want to spoil it by watching another stinker of a performance from this team. (I'll probably watch, just because deep down I really do hate myself).
I won't have any issues getting the "hate juces" going for Team Olean; I still remember the last time they were scheduled for Senior Night (they didn't show, instead having a temper tantrum over being caught cheating).

Was nicer viewing when Pastos' mic was out of key.

Team playing the same as they have been lately, but what a difference it makes when our shots are falling… Hope it continues.

Jacoi & Jun are moving the ball well now--hope it continues!

Not getting blown out so far in honor of GWAA's birthday. Even leading for him at the moment.

Pretty clear Bishop’s going out swinging.

I like the awareness by GW to go inside and try to get that 7th foul.