Boy did these Bonnies have me fooled. This is what I tweeted after their exhibition victory over Mansfield on Nov. 8:
Most depth and athleticism of any team Schmidt has had at SBU. We’ll see if it leads to more wins. #Bonnies
— Vinny Pezzimenti (@vpezz) November 8, 2014
I suppose that’s a par-for-the-course reaction that we fans spew during the ups and downs and various swings that litter a long college basketball season. After soundly beating Ohio, the Bonnies were on their way to a season of plentiful victories. After an embarrassing loss to Maryland-Eastern Shore, they’re horrible. I hate to say it, but last night’s defeat would’ve been deemed downright despicable even during the Anthony Solomon years. I tweeted this last night, and I stand by it.
This might be the worst #Bonnies loss since Walsh College walked out of the RC with a W some 20 years ago.
— Vinny Pezzimenti (@vpezz) December 23, 2014
That isn’t to say this season is a lost cause. That would be an overreaction. The Bonnies still have 18 games to play against Atlantic 10 opponents. It’s a long season.
Nevertheless, my optimism about this team took a huge hit last night. Ian and I agreed during a conversation last week that the best case scenario for these Bonnies was 21 regular season wins, two more in the conference tourney, a 23-9 record and spot on the NCAA tournament bubble. The worst case was 18 wins.
It doesn’t take long for views to change.
I’m not sure what will play out during A-10 play. All we can do is use history as a guide.
This season is already 10 games old. Taking those games into consideration, the Bonnies are a very average team destined for a very average A-10 finish.
How do you win at Ohio, nearly knock off Pitt and lose to Siena and UMES at home?
Consider:
- Andell Cumberbatch, Youssou Ndoye and Jaylen Adams have been inconsistent.
- Denzel Gregg hasn’t improved as much as we thought.
- The point guard is a freshman who makes freshman mistakes.
And these problems have been made worse because the bench is so short.
I wrote a couple weeks ago that this was another typical .500 Bona team under Mark Schmidt. I stand by that comment. Winning 15 or 16 games isn’t a bad thing considering the Bonnies place on the college hoops totem pole. Still, I had visions of an NIT berth for this team back in November.
Boy, was I wrong.
