Exhibition: Concordia at Vermont 10/29/17

Vermont 92 Concordia 64

And the state of Vermont collectively holds its breath.

Another strong exhibition showing but the Cats was marred by an injury to senior captain Trae Bell-Haynes. He came down awkwardly grabbing a rebound in the second half. He was in obvious pain and did not put any weight on his left leg. His teammates carried him of the court and behind the bleachers. He did return to the bench and walked through the handshake line and to the locker room under his own power but with a significant limp. It goes without saying that an injury to the reigning player of the year is significant. Vermont fans everywhere will be crossing their fingers hoping that Bell-Haynes avoided a significant injury. I will refrain from any more speculation until there is some word from the team. Ernie Duncan also seemed to leave the game with an injury or was a least being  protected as he played a very small amount at the beginning of the game. He did go down hard toward the end of the game on Friday so I am hoping it was just precautionary. On to the actual game action. Bell-Haynes looked great going 7-7 from the field on route to 17 points. He had some incredible finishes weaving through the lane and continues to blow me away with his ability to finish at the rim. Stef Smith had another great showing and is definitely ready to contribute from day one. He knocked down two threes as part of his 10 points and played tough aggressive defense. Most of his mistakes are in the form of making the typical "freshman" passes that just don't work in the college game. He is ahead of schedule and will be a crucial part of this team.  Everett Duncan knocked down 4-5 shots from behind the arc for 15 points. He looks ready to be the guy to pick up where Kurt Steidl left off. He may not be able to provide the intangibles that Steidl did right off the bat but his shooting ability will keep him on the court and contributing. The other parts of his game will hopefully continue to grow throughout the season and if they do he will be a very solid contributor. Payton Henson and Anthony Lamb continued to do their thing and they are going to be a tough cover this year. Bailey Patella looked very good in this game. He has a nose for the ball and has that innate feel for the game that you can't teach. I am sure his slight frame has people thinking redshirt and that may be the case but he has the skill set to contribute this year as well. Skyler Nash still seems to be getting a feel for the speed of the college game and the Vermont system. He needs more repetitions before he is ready to contribute. Vermont is going to be very thin up front this season and it is going to leave them open to difficulties with foul trouble. Samuel Dingba and Drew Urquhart are very up and down during their time on the court. They will need to find consistency over the next few weeks to help shore up the Cats' post depth. The defense has a long way to go to get up to the standard that Coach Becker is accustomed to and this is where they are going to miss the graduates from last year the most. The offense is there but last year they won a lot of games by making big defensive plays and getting big stops. The new guys have a long way to go and even the returners are getting used to playing without the senior defensive leaders from last season. It will be interesting to see how this affects the Cats through he first part of the non-conference schedule. I will be posting an America East preview this week and a Vermont team preview the following week before the Cats open their season against Kentucky.