Vermont at Yale 12/1/19

Yale 65 Vermont 52

Vermont struggled to find an offensive rhythm and dropped a tough road matchup with Yale. Yale was favored in this game so the loss itself is not surprising. Vermont has won three years in a row in some very tight battles and it was Yale's turn to execute. However the struggles of the Vermont offense are becoming a major concern. The offense just looks awful. Teams have figured out that the Cats struggle to make outside shots so they are collapsing into the paint and making driving to the rim very difficult. As a result the offense is choppy as the Cats players probe for driving lanes with little success and settle for outside jumpers. They need to really shake things up on offense in hopes that someone can get jump started. Stef Smith was completely ineffective today. He finished with zero points and turned the ball over 4 times. He is the key cog in the Vermont offense and his inconsistent play to start the season is a major reason for the teams struggles. Without him as a reliable secondary option, teams can focus all of their defensive attention on Anthony Lamb. Lamb is working hard to fight through the extra attention and willed himself to 18 points and 7 rebounds. However he is falling in love with the three pointer and it is greatly impacting his efficiency. His percentage has plummeted as his attempts have increased. He is shooting 2.5 more threes per game than last season but only making 23% of his attempts. The defense is focusing on stopping him from getting to the rim and Lamb is playing right into their hands by settling for jumpers. As a result he has been getting to the free throw line at a much lower rate. Drawing fouls and making free throws is a significant part of his game. He has to find a better balance between his perimeter game and his post game. His offensive imbalance is indicative of a trend for the Cats across the board. Over the first 4 games (all wins) Vermont averaged 24 attempts from three and 23 attempts from the free throw line per game. In the 5 games since, those numbers have changed to 30 attempts from three and 10 attempts from the free throw line per game. Getting to the free throw line is incredibly important and Vermont is making it easy for opponents to keep them off the free throw line by settling for long jumpers. The supporting cast is contributing positively in every other aspect of the game besides at the offensive end. They are hustling and playing tough defense but are just unable to make a consistent offensive impact. The road gets tougher as Ben Shungu's injury could keep him out for much longer and Daniel Giddens left today's game and did not return. He looked to be in a fair amount of pain. The Cats are going to have to band together and dig deep with Cincinnati on deck. That will be another tough game where they are going to have to show up and execute the game plan effectively.