Pollock: Bonnies' Schmidt doesn't want to hear that 12-1 talk as St. Bonaventure takes on Bucknell tonight

By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist

Bonnies’ Schmidt doesn’t want to hear that 12-1 talk

Too early to speculate?

Why?

The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team is off to a 7-1 start and if it can prevail in its next five games before the Atlantic 10 campaign commences, it will be the best start since the 1969-70 team won its first 12 games before losing a 64-62 decision at Villanova.

Of more recent significance is that coach Mark Schmidt’s Bonnies are on track for the best non-conference start in the Eastern Eight/Atlantic 10 era.

That quest resumes tonight in Lewisburg, Pa. where Bucknell (4-5) entertains St. Bonaventure (7 o’clock, Bonnies Online Network, 100.1 FM).

After that the Bonnies host Buffalo (4-4, Dec. 7, 4 p.m.), face Providence on a neutral court at Mohegan Sun Arena at Uncasville, Ct. (5-4, Dec. 14, 5 p.m.), visit Siena (4-4, Dec. 17, 7 p.m.) and end the non-conference slate entertaining Little Three rival Niagara (3-5 Dec. 21, 1 p.m.).

Bona opens its A-10 schedule on New Year’s Eve (2 p.m.) at the Reilly Center against Virginia Commonwealth.

CLEARLY, that remaining non-conference slate has the Bona faithful thinking of a 12-1 finish heading into the demanding Atlantic 10 schedule.

What’s fascinating is that this quick start has been fashioned by Schmidt on the fly, as all five starters are transfers, though one of them, 6-foot-11 center Noel Brown, from George Washington, is in his second year with the Bonnies.

Their only loss was a 72-67 decision to Utah State, winner of the ESPN NIT Tip-off Classic in Kissimmee, Fl. last week. The Aggies were unbeaten but Bona led at intermission and was up nine in the second half before Utah State rallied. Bona was still leading with under 12 minutes to play, fell behind by double figures, then rallied to make it a 5-point loss.

The Aggies, North Texas and Bonnies were well-matched, though Northern Iowa lost decisively twice, including to the Bonnies in the third-place game.

The good news for Schmidt’s crew was that after rolling past six lower-level opponents — no win closer than nine points — though Cal- State-Northridge (6-2) and Bryant (5-4) have winning records, the Bonnies proved they could step up a bit in class and be more than competitive.

WHEN IT was mentioned that Bona fans are looking at the upcoming schedule and thinking 12-1 heading into conference play, Schmidt cringed.

“We should be so lucky,” he said with a cynical laugh. “We’re not good enough to overlook anybody … especially on the road. We prepare for the team in front of us, not the Saturday game, or the break or the Providence game. It’s one game at a time and it’s coach-talk but that’s what we preach. Sometimes it goes in one ear and out the other.

“You’ve got to shut out all the noise. All we’re guaranteed right now is a 7-25 (record) and 7-25 isn’t good enough. This is the biggest game on the schedule because it’s the next game and that’s what we’ve prepared for … we have to play well if we’re gonna win and I think the kids know that. They see that Richmond game and figure, ‘If (Bucknell) can beat Richmond, they can beat us.’”

Schmidt added, “They’re preparing for us too … it’s not like it’s a pickup game for them. They’re doing the scouting just like we’re doing. They’re always difficult games (with Bucknell) … they’ve got good players, they’ve got a 7-footer and they’ve got a couple of guys who have come in from Atlantic 10 schools. We may win or lose, but if we lose, it won’t be because we’ve overlooked them.”

AS FOR the season so far, Schmidt admitted, ““We’ve had some good wins and we’ve done some good things but we’re not really good at anything and we’ve got to start at being good at something. We defend sometimes, we run good offense at times, we rebound sometimes, we take care of the ball most of the time. But good teams do it most of the time and we’ve got to be more consistent in all of those areas.

“That’s why, in my mind, we lost to Utah State … they go on a 17-3 (second-half) run … we’re not defending the way we need to, we’re turning the ball over. And then, we go on a big run at the end. We have to be consistent … that’s the challenge we have as coaches and players. You’re not going to play perfect but you can’t go into those 3-4 minute droughts where you’re not scoring and not defending.”

(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Star and Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)

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