Canadian tour game two: McGill vs Vermont

Vermont 70 McGill 61

TJ Hurley to the rescue!

After watching most of his shots roll out for the first game and a half on the exhibition tour, freshman guard TJ Hurley caught fire from deep and knocked down 5 threes in the fourth quarter to hold off a hard charging Redbird team. As I have said previously Hurley's mechanics are a thing of beauty and every time he shoots it looks like it is going in. He is going to be a key piece for the Cats this season. These first two games have had great atmosphere with tight games and teams trading big buckets one after the other. It means that execution and efficiency have suffered a bit for the Cats but it makes for a great experience. McGill was ready to play and made tough shots. I love the fight in both of the first two opponents this weekend. I seriously can't get enough of Nick Fiorillo passing out of the high post. He has such a great feel for how to deliver the ball and puts his teammates in great spots to score. Dylan Penn was frustrated by McGill's physical defense for most of the game and then took a hard fall late. He was in a considerable amount of pain so I hope that it is nothing serious. Finn Sullivan sat today from the get go with what seemed like a minor tweak. The other young guys who missed yesterday's game got their first run with mixed results. Jorge Ochoa provided a nice offensive spark in the first half. He has a really nice stop and pop game. On the defensive end he is still struggling with the rotations, which is to be expected. Perry Smith Jr. also struggled to find a rhythm because of difficulties with the defensive rotations. The Vermont defensive system asks a lot of its bigs and because these rookies are going to be looked to for an immediate impact this season, they have a steep learning curve. Those froncourt minutes are going to go to whoever gets up to speed the fastest. Sam Alamutu saw his first minutes and he is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Offensively he is still trying to find his place but he gives the Cats a big, strong, physical presence on the defensive end. Overall after the first two games Vermont looks exactly like a team trying to incorporate seven new players. The chemistry has come and gone, roles have been gray and undefined, and many of the new guys are still adjusting to the college game. On the defensive side on the ball, the kinks are usually worked out by the start of the season because eventually the players that are comfortable in the system get the minutes and the ones that don't, work their butts off so they can get on the court. Offensively, finding out where the scoring is going to come from and who is option A, B, or C are the biggest questions this team will be looking to answer come the regular season. TJ Hurley made a case for the shotmaking role in today's game. All it took was one to go down and he never looked back. Man, what an exciting final quarter.  One more and then back into basketball purgatory until October. Can't wait for tomorrow!