St. Bonaventure Basketball: Analyzing the Bonnies’ recent hot streak
By Stu Luddecke
Added Defensive Weaponry
In the Bonnies’ first eighteen games — up to the loss to Dayton that brought them to 6-12 overall — they had allowed their opponents to score 67.7 points per game. That’s far from a number to sneeze at, but it seems relatively porous when juxtaposed with how they’ve performed since that point. Since their trip to UMass on January 23, the Bonnies have been allowing their frustrated opponents to score an average of just 58.4 points per game.
It’s tough to pinpoint the exact cause of such a drastic change in defensive efficiency, and perhaps there are certain intangible, chemistry-related factors that could never be accounted for through statistics. One factor that’s easily apparent on paper, however, is the recently consistent playing time of two key players that battled the injury bug for much of the early going. LaDarien Griffin, the lengthy defensive specialist who had been in and out of uniform with an ankle injury, has provided much-needed size, experience and depth to an otherwise small and young rotation. As a versatile 6’6” 215 lbs stretch 4, he can be assigned to guard essentially every opponent’s best player, regardless of their position.
The other defensive difference-maker for the Bonnies has been the promising freshman Dominick Welch. He appeared in just ten of the Bonnies first eighteen games, but since then has played in every game for an average of 28.2 minutes. It’s possible that as a 6’5” guard, he’s just been able to wreak that much more havoc on the perimeter than his 6’0” counterpart Nelson Kaputo (who has seen his playing time decrease since Welches’ return).
Even in the games where Griffin and Welch aren’t directly forcing turnovers and tough shots from opponents, just their availability has allowed Schmidt to work with a deeper and more versatile rotation than he had to start out the season. The ability to keep fresh legs in the game can’t be overrated and, provided they can stay healthy down the stretch, it’s one of several traits that will make the Bonnies dangerous in Brooklyn.