Happy Halloween!!
As a disclaimer I watched the first half online before heading out trick or treating with the kiddos so my analysis is part watching, part box score, part highlights. The exhibition games are a great way for the team to get their feet wet and work out a few kinks before the season starts. Today's game was no different. I felt as though Keiser was a strong exhibition opponent and certainly better than Concordia or St. Michael's (save for last year). I especially liked the fact that they had some size to test the frontcourt. Darren Payen continued to impress with his versatile offensive game. He is smooth finishing around the rim and is a creative finisher. His athleticism is top notch and already looks to have a good feel for the offense. He will be a very big contributor on this year's team as he is going to play big minutes and have a major role in the offense. Unfortunately for me as much as he impressed me on the offensive end he disappointed just as much on the defensive end. He looked completely lost on defense and his rotations were extremely slow. A handful of times it was clear he had no idea where he was supposed to rotate to. He also struggled to block out on rebounds and seemed to struggled with timing when going for a rebound. Now this was his first game action in over a year so I may be jumping the gun a bit, but he definitely has to improve on the defensive side of the ball. He will be an important piece on this years team. The other big takeaway was how great a fully healthy Kurt Steidl can be. His looked so much more athletic and aggressive in this game. Finishing with a double double of 13 points and 10 rebounds and looking confident. He is the best rebounder on the team(except Wills) and seems to have found some extra bounce to his game. I was very impressed by the improvement from last year and he is pushing himself into another level. Cant wait to see what he can do this year. It was interesting to see Nate Rohrer off the bench so quickly and then he played productive minutes. He certainly has the opportunity to carve out a role on this team. Everyone else did their thing and looked like the players they need to be. Except Ernie Duncan. He walked off the bench with a injury and did not return to the game. I am crossing my fingers that it is not his back and hope that it is nothing serious. Also I found it odd that Dylan Sinnickson did not play at all. It seemed like he would be able to carve out a few minutes but at least initially those minutes may be going to Rohrer. My one complaint was that Vermont is still unable to run an effective out of bounds play. Seems like something they should be able to execute with more effectiveness. Also the same narrative as last year is going to be true: Vermont is going to struggle to rebound the ball. They compensated in a few different ways last year and they will have to continue to do so this year to win games. Overall the team looked solid and on track to be where they should be at this point in the season. I am so excited to get back into Patrick for the St. Mike's game next week. I will be posting an America East preview later this week so keep an eye out.
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