By Paul Gotham
That St. Bonaventure’s Marcus Posley took game-winning shots in consecutive games would have been noteworthy, not to mention making both attempts. As the player of the week awards roll in, and sports information directors scramble to find historical significance for this feat, what can get lost is the story of a player and a system which allows him to succeed.
“He’s very confident in his ability,” Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said during the weekly Atlantic 10 tele-conference. “As a coach, that’s what you want. You want somebody who wants the ball that wants to take big shots. He’s been that for us.”
And Posley has taken plenty of big shots . In his first season wearing brown and white, the junior guard leads Bona and is third in the conference averaging 17.1 points per game. His 2.9 three-pointers rank second in the A-10.
Posley began his college career at Ball State where he started eight of 30 games during his freshman season. When a coaching change was made at the end of the year, he opted for a change of scenery. Posley transferred and played his sophomore season at Indian Hills Community College before arriving in Olean.
“He wasn’t a typical junior college guy who was coming in that did not understand the work ethic you need or the commitment it takes to be successful at this level,” Schmidt commented. “The transition was much easier for him than it is for a typical junior college player.”
Posley has topped double figures in all but four games this season. The Rockford, Illinois native has netted 20 or more on nine occasions including a 36-point performance where he hit 8-of-11 behind the arc.
“He’s pretty proficient off the bounce, and he hits from long range,” stated Derek Kellogg whose UMass club comes to the Reilly Center, Wednesday night. “Any time that you got a guy who you have to cover behind the three-point line, who can also put it down and has the freedom to go score the ball and make plays, that’s a dangerous player.”
As Saint Joseph’s Phil Martelli notes Posley is following the likes of Andrew Nicholson and Matthew Wright who have been Bona’s featured scorers of the recent past.
“It’s an extraordinary offense,” Martelli said. “Mark Schmidt’s playbook is thicker than most phone books. He has a way of making sure that his featured guys get a lot of opportunities. You can do all the game planning you want and all the scouting reports and study all the tapes that you want. You can’t get to every play that they run. I don’t mean this disrespectfully to Posley, but he’s the man this year.”
Maybe it’s a case of being in the right place at the right time. Posley, though, has taken full advantage of the opportunity.
Saturday’s buzzer beater came in a half-court set. A scoop shot high off the glass which snapped a 71-all tie as Bona upset the No. 18 Virginia Commonwealth Rams.
“His confidence is probably the biggest thing,” VCU head coach Shaka Smart said. “It’s just impressive. Being a first-year player in their program he doesn’t ever second-guess anything that he does. It doesn’t matter if he missed the last three shots. He’s going to be on the attack. He’s going to feel like that next one is going in. It took some guts even to take the last shot that he took against us.”
Posley made his move from left to right with four seconds remaining and split a pair of VCU defenders in the lane.
“Usually you run something with seven, eight seconds so you have an opportunity for a putback,” Schmidt joked when recalling the play. “My first inclination was, Hey! Get your butt going. Let’s go.”
“We had the ball in the right guy’s hands. He made a play. When good players make good plays, they make the coach look good. You want to get a shot up. You want to take the ball to the basket. You don’t want to take a soft shot or a long shot. You want to attack, and that’s what he did.”
Posley finished Saturday with 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting including four makes behind the arc.
“Coach Schmidt runs some great stuff,” Smart added. “He puts Posley and other players in really good positions to be successful.”
On Wednesday, Posley went the length of the floor as Bona won at Davidson, 62-61.
“He’s sort of like Marshawn Lynch for Seattle,” Davidson head coach Bob McKillop. “Give him the ball and let him go.”
“There are a lot of kids in this league who haven’t tried two game winners in their life let alone make two in a week,” Martelli added.
One week after dropping two games, the Bonnies (13-8/6-4 A-10) turned the tables. Their meeting with UMass (14-9/7-3) is a chance to climb in the standings. UMass has won four straight.
“We’re just trying to take it one game at a time,” Schmidt said. “I know it’s coach speak, but you have to. If you look ahead, you’re going to pay for it. I’m glad we’re playing well. I’m glad we have six wins. If we don’t do what we’re supposed to do come March 7th (final day of the regular season) we’re still going to have six wins.”
A 7 pm tipoff is scheduled at the Reilly Center.
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