Vermont at Siena 12/29/16

Vermont 76 Siena 60

Vermont picks up a good win on the road to close out 2016, beating Siena for the seventh consecutive year. Full disclosure, I absolutely dread the Siena game every year. It is always physical and what feels like hundreds of fouls are called. This leads to terrible game flow, too many foul shots, and a game that is not fun to watch. This one was no different as there were 50 total fouls called. Pastos' behavior on the sidelines has improved from where it was years ago, which is a bonus, but the games tend to devolve into free throw shooting contests. I digress. Even though Siena has been struggling this season, this is a good win for Vermont. Siena has four 1,000 point scorers and is a very experienced team who always plays well at home. Peyton Henson's injury has challenged the Cats depth and they have responded in a big way. The credit for this win goes to the depth of Vermont and players being ready to step up when their number is called. In the first few games it was Drew Urquhart stepping up for Henson. In this game it was a collective effort led by Darren Payen. Payen had been the forgotten man this year as he struggled to be productive in limited minutes. This game saw him get back to the form he showed last year with quick decisive moves inside for easy hoops. Payen scored a season high 17 points to lead all scorers. Getting Payen some confidence before the conference schedule is crucial especially with the timetable for Henson's return still very much up in the air. Along with Payen the rest of the bench mob contributed as well. Dre Wills finished with 8 points 6 rebounds. Nate Rohrer and Cam Ward added 5 points 3 rebounds each. Vermont's defense continues to look better and better. Becker's willingness to mix in the zone this year is paying huge dividends. The mixing defenses is throwing other teams off and gives the Cats the ability to change the feel and control the pace of the game. In years past Vermont would have no answer if a team was shredding their man to man and when they played zone it always felt like a hail mary. This year the zone is a weapon. Vermont knew Siena struggled shooting the ball from the outside playing zone right out of the gates forced Siena to change their gameplan and the Saints struggled to execute. Vermont has even been able to rebound out of the zone which is a feat by itself. The Cats offense at times is still choppy and their hot outside shooting from the beginning of the year has all but disappeared. It feels like they are going to put the good offense and good defense together at some point this year. Henson's health is going to be a key factor going forward as it seems like it might be a fairly significant injury with the amount of time he is expected to miss. One more game to go before they dive into the conference schedule. Vermont has made the progress that they should have to this point in the season and are heading in the right direction.The Cats can't look ahead to conference play and need to take care of business against Harvard on Monday. Harvard is a tough team and winning games at home is very important. Winning the final non-conference game to drive the momentum into the conference schedule is crucial for the confidence of this team.

P.S. I was unable to watch the Butler and game and the holidays got the best of me so I did not post following that game. My sincerest apologies. This is my last post of 2016 and I can't wait for another year of writing down my thoughts about Vermont basketball. Happy New Year to all those who read my blog.