By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team’s bond this season has faced several challenges.
Three players departed the program since preseason: one before Thanksgiving, one before the team’s first game and one before second semester. Bona didn’t play until Dec. 15 due to COVID-related cancellations, including a quarantine due to multiple positive tests. And after winning their first two contests, the Bonnies lost their conference opener at Rhode Island in unmoving, shorthanded fashion.
Bonaventure’s 9-1 record and first place standing, coach Mark Schmidt says, is a testament to its team chemistry.
“I think they like each other,” Schmidt remarked. “I’m a big advocate of relationships off the court. If guys like each other off the court then they’re gonna like each other on the court. It’s gonna be easier to play through adversity, through some tough times on the court if there’s solid relationships off of it.
“I think that’s one of the huge keys: guys truly like each other. They respect each other and you see that in how they play. And we’ve got an experienced team; they understand how important chemistry is. I think those two reasons are why we’re having some success. We’ve got good players, and all that stuff, but I think relationships, they’re tight. They enjoy being around each other. That’s really, really important.”
The tangible numbers lend credibility to the intangible thought process. Bona is tied for 42nd in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio and 58 percent of its made field goals have come off of an assist. All five of its starters average at least 10 points a contest and, after Dominick Welch‘s 22-point outing against George Mason, each starter has at least one 20-point performance to his name this year.
“We don’t have a ‘pig’ on our team,” Schmidt said after the win over George Mason, using his distinct term for what others would call a “ball hog.” “We don’t have a kid that all he’s worried about is scoring, no matter if we win or lose. We have basketball players that wanna win. I say it all the time, everybody’s gonna have their day in the sun. A guy that’s not playing today, next game could be the guy that makes the big play.”
Bonnies junior Alpha Okoli could be most representative of the group’s flourishing chemistry. Okoli has seen just two minutes this season and hasn’t logged 10 or more minutes in a contest since a Bona loss to Davidson exactly two years ago Monday. Despite playing the least minutes of a talented guard group, Okoli has never sought a transfer out of Bonaventure and remains close friends with his teammates.
As the program’s followers learned in 2017-18, especially when Jaylen Adams, LaDarien Griffin, Courtney Stockard and Idris Taqqee all fouled out of the Davidson triple-overtime classic and lightly-used freshman Tshiefu Ngalakulondi recorded the go-ahead dunk, a postseason run requires every scholarship player at one turning point or another.
“We have an amazing group of guys. Our chemistry is through the roof,” Jalen Adaway commented two Saturdays ago after defeating Duquesne in Pittsburgh. “Everybody’s character and their attitudes each and every day, I’m so blessed to be part of such a group, along with our coaching staff.”
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