USC - this is from Edward at Right Angle Sports; hope it helps
St. Bonaventure (+1.5) at Toledo - 4:00pm Pacific
I have been very impressed with this Bonnies team. First year head coach Jan
van Breda Kolff has come in and installed a fast paced attacking scheme that
so far has left opponents for the most part dizzy. They opened the season
with a very impressive win at Cleveland State by 15 points. They took
control of the game early and never looked back in that one. They then
knocked off a pesky Niagara team by 15 points in their second game. Last
time out, they bolted to an 18 point 1st half lead over #18 Boston College.
On the hot shoulders of All-American Troy Bell, the Eagles mounted a 2nd half
rally and pulled away late. It was an impressive performance nonetheless.
The Bonnies badly lack inside size and strength but they make up for it with
lots of speed. Sophomore point guard Marques Green is playing like an all
league candidate so far averaging 16.0ppg & 6.0apg. Senior guard J.R. Bremer
will be one of the nations most prolific scorers this season and is averaging
22.0ppg already. Two others are also averaging in double figures and a total
of 6 players have made at least 2 3-pointers through the first three games.
The Bonnies commit only 12.8 turnovers per game while forcing 19.3 and lead
the A-10 with a +6.5 turnover ratio.
The Bonnies should do very well against teams that do not have strong
frontcourts, and not many teams can fit the bill better than Toledo this
year. The Rockets lost all three of their frontcourt starters from last
year. They are very undersized and inexperienced down low right now. They
are utilizing a 3 guard lineup similar to the Bonnies. The Rockets lost 4
seniors (4 of top 6 scorers) from last years team including star forward Greg
Stempin. This year they are very young with just 1 senior and 2 juniors.
They head into this game with a 1-2 record, the lone win coming over IPFW
(who is 0-5 right now) by 9 points. In their last game they lost by only
three at George Mason, but it should be noted that it was GMU's first game
without leading scorer Tarver (24.3ppg) due to injury. The Bonnies should
relish the fact that Toledo only plays one player bigger than 6-7 and he only
averages 4.0ppg & just 13.7 minutes per game. I look for the frontcourts to
be even and the Bonnies deep and talented backcourt to be the big difference
here. Bonnies start quick again and do not look back. St. Bonaventure 1
UNIT
[This message has been edited by Anders (edited 12-01-2001).]
