Basketball at the Aud

What a beautiful weekend for a little basketball.

Today was the annual trip down to the Barre Auditorium to see the Vermont Men's basketball team intrasquad scrimmage. As always it was fun to see the action and get excited for this season's team. The biggest overall takeaway is how much talent and depth this year's team has. This is creating tremendous battles at each position and guys are working hard to improve and be ready to contribute when their number is called. There were several impressive performances from today's action but the standout was clearly Aaron Deloney. He scored from everywhere and was relentless on both sides of the ball. He certainly looks ready to build on last years breakout and fill some of the scoring void left by the graduation of Ben Shungu and Ryan Davis. Kam Gibson also impressed which carried over from the shorter scrimmage at the season ticket holder pick-up event on Wednesday night. He looks more confident and more comfortable in the offense. He showed off his ability to score at every level and demonstrated confidence in running the offense with the ball in his hands. Matt Veretto played today after missing the Canadian exhibition tour with an injury. He looked comfortable running the offensive sets and showed a great touch from the outside, knocking down a few threes. He looks ready to contribute which will be key to allow for the young post players time to learn the system and get up to speed. Ileri Ayo-Faleye also looks ready to give big minutes in the post. Long and athletic with a nice shooting touch as well. Perry Smith and Jorge Ochoa are brimming with talent but need more time to learn the defensive system. They are in a similar position as many young big men during Becker's tenor, struggling to stay out of the doghouse. The Vermont staff is very demanding of young bigs and everyone from Drew Urquhart to Ryan Davis spent many hours getting earfuls from the coaching staff in their early years. The good news is that if the players buy in and are committed they do see tremendous improvement with the most striking example being the transformation of Ryan Davis from his freshman to senior seasons. In the limited opportunities that I have been able to see Sam Alamutu play, today was the best he has performed. His defensive abilities are tremendous as he harassed ball handlers the length of the court on every possession. His physicality on the defensive end is going to be a great weapon for Vermont this season. On the offensive side he finally found some rhythm knocking down a few shots and getting to the rim. Last year's redshirt looks like a great decision and he looks more ready to contribute this season. TJ Hurley has improved each time I have seen him play. He is looking more and more like an instant contributor and a future star. Proving to be far more than a shooter today he demonstrated tremendous body control finishing around the rim. He has great size, pace, and IQ at the guard position. I love the way Jackson Skipper plays. Lost in the shuffle of more heralded recruits, Skipper is one of those players who just makes plays. He plays with a very high motor and has really well balanced skills. His might not contribute as much this season but has tremendous long term potential. Robin Duncan is the clear leader on this team and is ready to be a steady presence on both sides of the ball. He makes everyone around him better and his shot looks much improved. Nick Fiorillo really broke out last season but is poised to build on that and be a centerpiece for this team. His improvement over his career have been tremendous and is a testament to his hard work. Finn Sullivan went down hard several times in the first half and ended up sitting out most of the game with an elbow injury. In all of the games I have seen Finn play this offseason, he has been hitting the floor a lot and ending up with bumps and bruises. Last year it was clear that he was an intense player and so far this season it has gotten him into some tough spots. Hopefully it is just a string of bad luck because when he plays with focused intensity he is tremendous. The injury to Finn opened up major minutes for Michel Ndayishimiye and he played well. He has made strides on the defensive end and is lightning quick with the ball. I am excited to see the beginnings of the rotation taking shape during the exhibition games coming up as there are many different combinations that the Vermont coaching staff could deploy. I will be writing an America East conference preview sometime soon and then will have a Vermont preview shortly before the opener on November 7th. I am pretty excited that today marks the beginning of weekly Vermont basketball again. 

P.S. I have also watched the Vermont Women's team in the preseason and I would suggest getting to some games this year as well. They have a long stretch of home games during the non-conference and they look ready to make a run at the top of the league again this season. They are similar to the Men's team with a small group of experienced returners and a group of exciting young players.