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LOCATION: St. Bonaventure, NY
CONFERENCE: Atlantic-10 (East Division)
LAST SEASON: 14-15 (.483)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 8-8 (t-4th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Bonnies
COLORS: Brown & White
HOMECOURT: Reilly Center (6,000)
COACH: Jim Baron (St. Bonaventure '77)
record at school 93-109 (7 years)
career record 167-180 (12 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Joe Lombardi (Youngstown State '81)
Brian Nash (Keene State '92)
Tyrone Weeks (Massachusetts '98)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 18-10-14-17-14
RPI (last 5 years) 93-151-104-117-165
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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It's not surprising that a pair of seniors, guards Tim Winn and David Messiah Capers, grace the cover of St. Bonaventure's preseason basketball prospectus. What is surprising is the absence of a third senior starter. Maybe that's because 6-9 center Caswell Cyrus pulled an occasional disappearing act during the 1998-99 season. Cyrus (12.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.0 bpg) was a perfectly good player for the Bonnies. What struck many as odd is that he wasn't great. After two consecutive years of dramatic improvement, Cyrus reached a plateau as a junior. Instead of dominating, he was merely complementary. And a team with postseason aspirations limped home one game under .500. That's the bad news. The good is that St. Bonaventure gets a "mulligan" this year. Its key components are back for another postseason run. Only now their target is a necessity rather than a luxury. It will take a while for head coach Jim Baron to assemble another veteran nucleus such as this. "They have to make a run," said one Atlantic 10 scout. "[Baron] only has one NIT win in seven years." To be fair, the Bonnies have reached the NIT twice under Baron. And they have had the misfortune of playing in the same division at a peak time of both Massachusetts and Temple.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B BENCH/DEPTH B
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES B
Hoop analysts should never discount the importance of putting the ball in the basket. With a three-point percentage last season of just .258, St. Bonaventure was last in the Atlantic 10 by a wide margin. The domino effect on the Bonnies' season was remarkable. Forced to play poor shooters such as Tim Winn, Isaac King and J.R. Bremer because of their other contributions, coach Jim Baron witnessed a chain of events which undercut his best player, center Caswell Cyrus. With no respect for the Bonnies' perimeter game, opposing defenses were able to cluster around the already-thin Cyrus. The young center's frustration mounted throughout the season, and a promising campaign ended with an overtime loss to Dayton in the opening round of the A-10 tourney. Few teams need the clean slate of a new season more than St. Bonaventure. This year represents the final opportunity for the current nucleus to inch the Bonnies back toward the national stage. Otherwise, they will go the way of teams led by the likes of Harry Moore and David Vanterpool good, but never great. A fast start, which was not possible last year due to Tim Winn's suspension, could make all the difference. That and the occasional jump shot might even result in a postseason berth. |
This season, only Temple is a dominant Atlantic 10 team. And there is no juggernaut in the West Division, either. The road is open for an experienced squad such as St. Bonaventure to make some noise. Winn is a good place to start. An early-season suspension did not help his game or the Bonnies last year. And the 5-10 point guard must improve his shooting (.376 FG, .231 3PT) to make his numbers really count. As it is, Winn's 13.0 ppg and 5.7 apg are somewhat discounted given his poor shooting and 100 (4.3 tpg) turnovers. Capers, a 6-3 off-guard, was actually the better guard last year. He produced 11.2 ppg and 4.8 rpg in fewer minutes per game. He was also at least competent (.337) from three-point range. The small forward position is vacant, thanks to the departure of 6-5 swingman Isaac King (9.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg). King's departure may be addition by subtraction, in terms of both attitude and effectiveness. The Bonnies really needed a shooter on the wing; instead, King converted just 34.4 percent overall and an invisible 26.8 percent from three-point range. A newcomer, perhaps 6-5 sophomore Robert Cheeks, will man the "three" spot. Cheeks sat out last season as a non-qualifier, but posted 17.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg in 1997-98 for powerful St. Anthony's HS in Jersey City, N.J. If he could make a jump shot, he might get elected mayor of Olean. Instead, Cheeks is more a slasher and wing defender than a standstill scorer. Another option is a small, three-guard lineup featuring highly regarded 6-3 freshman Eric Siegrist (Spackenkill HS/Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). Siegrist has the necessary scorer's pedigree, the only questions pertain to his level of high school competition (25.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg). Yet Baron can't afford to pass on anyone who might be a shooter. Siegrist was considered one of the nation's top three-point shooters as a high school senior. The Bonnies will have to run screens for him, but should more than want to. The inside positions are in the generally good hands of Cyrus and improving 6-10 junior Peter Van Paassen (6.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Van Paassen was a solid performer, starting 19 of 29 games and holding his own around the basket. It is possible that his emergence, not to mention the woeful outside shooting, combined to hinder Cyrus' development. Cyrus remains one of the nation's premier shot-blockers. However, at 215 pounds, muscular opponents were able to force him into less than desired shooting positions. With his hands and athleticism, Cyrus should do better than 48.1 percent on field-goal attempts. 6-1 sophomore J.R. Bremer (9.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.3 apg) started in place of Winn during the former's suspension, then continued to receive meaningful minutes throughout the year (28.3 per game). Bremer fits right into the St. Bonaventure guard line; he can't shoot, either (.237 3PT). Spare parts include 6-3 senior James Hayden (2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg), 6-6 sophomore Vidal Massiah (1.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg) and 6-5 junior Bob Dziengeleski (3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg in four games before a medical redshirt). 6-8 sophomore Elton Ruddock and 6-6 soph Andy Stinson saw action in just three games apiece. Quadir Habeeb, a 6-8 power forward prospect from Buffalo, N.Y., has opted for prep school. In his place is 6-7, 230-pound freshman Hamilton Rucker, an August signee from Clear Creek (Tex.) HS. "We were fortunate to find a kid of his caliber this late," said Baron. "We just felt we needed some help in the frontcourt."
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