Why Rhody MBB's Backcourt is Clearly Better than Saint Bonaventure's
For some strange reason, I have seen quite a few people on Twitter that believe that Saint Bonaventure's backcourt is better than Rhode Island's. Of course, this caught my attention and I have to address this matter. Since many of the people that hold this belief are Bonnies fans, I am not surprised. These are the same people that single-handedly cost their team a game on February 4, 2017 in their home gym because of a court storming (with 0.4 seconds left) versus VCU. Who storms the court against an unranked VCU team? They are clearly not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Oh well, I guess that is neither here nor there.
People say that Rhode Island's backcourt is extremely deep so some people believe that they do not have the quality to match it. In fact, that is quite the contrary. E.C. Matthews, Jared Terrell, and whoever starts between Jarvis Garrett and Jeff Dowtin are all clear candidates to be on the Atlantic 10 First Team. Now that is something to rave about! I really want to know if Bonnies fans took the time to watch Stanford Robinson take the Oregon Ducks to school in the Round of 32 in the 2017 NCAA tournament? Robinson is primed to be Rhode Island's sixth man again this season and an occasional starter. So, the man that dropped 21 points (10-12 FG) on Oregon - a team that made the Final Four (and was one rebound away from the National Championship game), may not even start with the Rhode Island Rams.
Saint Bonaventure's entire team, never mind their backcourt, is not an elite defensive unit that can stop Dan Hurley's group of guards. Between Rhode Island's seven guards that will see playing time this upcoming season, six of them would be starters on Saint Bonaventure's team. In addition, at least four of those seven guards would be starters on most college basketball teams in power conferences. But Saint Bonaventure has a better backcourt, right? I have yet to even mention that Daron "Fatts" Russell, one of the seven guards that will play for Dan Hurley, could dribble circles around the Bonnies' backcourt and he may see minimal playing time in his freshman season. The depth of the Rhode Island backcourt is nice but they bring quality production on a nightly basis. Jared Terrell, E.C. Matthews, Jarvis Garrett, Jeff Dowtin, Stanford Robinson, Christion Thompson, and Daron Russell contribute on both ends of the floor.
For the Bonnies, Jaylen Adams is the one player that has shown the capability of giving the Rams fits in the past. Everyone else that is returning to Saint Bonaventure's 2017-2018 team has looked incompetent against Rhode Island. Oh, and yes, I watched every single second of the Bonnies' pathetic showing at Rhode Island last season from the front row of the Ryan Center. In their quarterfinal matchup in the 2017 Atlantic 10 tournament, Adams was the only one who showed up (21 points). Meanwhile, his backcourt partner, Matt Mobley, scored just 8 points and they all came from the free throw line (0-4 FG and 0-2 3PT).
In my eyes, Matt Mobley is so overrated and my opinion has never wavered. I still laugh at people giving the kid credit for playing the most minutes per game among all Division 1 players. I don't care how many minutes anyone plays, I care about how well they play. In Mobley's case, when he goes up against ELITE defensive teams, I expect to see a pile of bricks on the court by the end of the night. If someone out there want to say that Jaylen Adams is better than one of Rhode Island's guards in a head-to-head matchup, I can see that side of the argument. With that said, a backcourt is only as strong as all of its parts and Mobley does not stack up, at all. Obviously, the remainder of Saint Bonaventure's guards are not even worth talking about.
The one thing that no one can argue with me about is how can Saint Bonaventure's backcourt be the best in the conference if they couldn't even carry their team into the NCAA tournament last season? Last season, there was so much leeway because of how badly teams from power conferences played. Unless Jaylen Adams, Matt Mobley, and the rest of Bonaventure's guards magically all grew 10 inches and learned how to shoot like Stephen Curry, they are not the best backcourt in the Atlantic 10. They are in the conversation, but certainly not the best. I bet that by the end of the season, even if the Bonnies do not make the NCAA tournament (AGAIN), they will be heralded as "the best backcourt in the Atlantic 10". Give me a break.
Needless to say, I will drag myself to Olean, NY this upcoming basketball season to see Rhode Island's backcourt dominate the Bonnies' backcourt.
