Happy New Year to all!!
In the first post of the 2022 I thought I would take a few minutes to ruminate on some thoughts that have been rattling around my head. First off, the conference opener against Albany this weekend was postponed as COVID comes roaring back to disrupt life once more. As the days of December passed, it was increasingly clear that there were going to be very similar schedule disruptions to last season. Due to COVID disruptions, when the Cats return to action on January 6th they will have played one game in the past month. It is very hard to stay sharp and in game shape with these types of long layoffs. I would expect a little rust whenever they return to action.
Now that the non-conference portion of the season has ended it is time to take a fresh look at where each team stands. Let's start with the easy ones. Maine continues to be one the worst teams in all of DI and there doesn't seem to be a solution on the horizon. Binghamton has also looked like they will again be in a race to the bottom. NJIT and Albany have been very inconsistent and will have some surprising wins and head scratching losses during conference play. UMass Lowell and UMBC look very competitive and will be part of the middle tier that pushes the top teams. New Hampshire has shown some flashes of real potential but is very hard to judge because it has come against a very weak schedule. I am very intrigued for the new conference opener on January 6th against the Wildcats as a great test of how the teams stack up. Stony Brook started slow and has dealt with a few injuries but comes into conference play hot and has all the pieces that made them the preseason favorites. Elijah Olaniyi's health the rest of the way will determine if they have enough to get over the hump. Hartford is a real enigma. They have been awful this season coming in a 2-10. They have dealt with major injuries as Dejuan Clayton has missed significant time and Jared Kimbrough is injured as well. They did manage to get Traci Carter back a few weeks ago for one more go round, which is one of those COVID year crazy stories as he was a freshman at Marquette in 2015(!). There is just no way to project the Hawks right now. Now onto the Cats. As it stands now I think they have moved themselves into the pole position. They played a very tough schedule and of equal importance it was significantly tougher than the rest of the league. Finishing 8-4 is impressive and they accomplished that mark while not playing their best basketball. I think the shooting/offensive struggles have been largely overblown as their poor 3pt shooting is balanced by very efficient shooting numbers inside the arc. As I have said previously I think it is dangerous to become fixated on one aspect of a team and measure the totality of their success based on that one piece. The Cats do so many things well and the chemistry is there. In reality, Vermont's most significant deficit is their very poor offensive rebounding where they are almost dead last in the country. They do offset that weakness by preventing offensive rebounds at an elite rate, but the Cats are not giving themselves many second chances. The defense is elite as no opponent reached the 70 point mark against Vermont in the non-conference. If they can remain healthy, they currently have the inside track on the regular season title.
I have also seen a lot of discussion about Ben Shungu's offensive struggles and how he is the key to their offensive improvement. I think that is somewhat of an unfair storyline. His offensive numbers are right in line with the rest of his career and his scoring is up. Shungu is a great player who does many things well, but a go to and efficient scoring machine is not really who he is. He has always been an offensive player who lets the game come to him and many of his points come out of hard work and physical play. The defense, the leadership, the clutch play down the stretch is what Shungu will always hang his hat on. The key to the Cats offense is someone out of the Mazzulla/Sullivan/Gibson/Deloney/Fiorillo part of the rotation becoming a consistent offensive threat. In the last game Aaron Deloney finally gave the Cats the offensive spark they have been looking for and that type of game is what they have been missing. It is pretty clear what Vermont is going to get out of Ryan Davis, Isaiah Powell, and Shungu. What is dragging down the offense is everyone elses production. If Vermont get more games from the rest of rotation like Deloney's effort against Colgate, watch out.
Health and happiness to everyone and I hope to be back at Patrick on Thursday.
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