Thursday, January 5, 2023

Becker becomes the all time wins leader at Vermont

Vermont 74 Bryant 64

A big congratulations to Coach John Becker on becoming the winningest coach in Vermont history. It felt fitting that his big win came in a ugly grinder of a game as a nod to the Vermont teams of Becker's early years (but did it have to be that ugly?). An incredible accomplishment and a testament to the program that he has helped build over the last twelve years. 

Vermont dominated the game from start to finish and used their trademark defense to hold Bryant well under their season average and force 21 Bulldog turnovers. The game was a masterclass in scouting, preparation, execution, and a team first mentality. The Cats forced the uptempo Bryant team to play at a slow pace and frustrated them with physical defense and a deliberate offense. Bryant was welcomed to the America East with the trademark foul plagued second half. It was a throwback performance for Vermont on a night where they struggled to make shots and break through on the offensive end. Tonight was the night this team started looking like a championship caliber team. They never wavered in a game with tension and high emotions, never got caught up in the moment, and executed the game plan. The Cats only turned the ball over 4 times despite relentless Bryant pressure and with both their primary ball handlers in foul trouble. Vermont continues to hound three point shooters, holding Bryant to 4/21 (19%) from three. A huge start to conference play for the Cats, and a big statement against another conference contender.

Aaron Deloney bounced back from his tough game against UMBC to lead the Cats with 19 points. Deloney shot 5-7 from three and provided his trademark spark off the bench. Matt Veretto once again roared out of the gates with the first seven Catamount points and finished with 13. He continues to impress and played a team high 31 minutes in tonight's game. Kam Gibson and TJ Hurley both used big nights from the free throw line to round out the Cats double figure scorers with 11 and 12 respectively. Hurley played well on the defensive end as well with a couple a steals and 4 rebounds. He was a little banged up at the end of game but hopefully it is a minor tweak. Robin Duncan once again set the tone and provided calm leadership on the court while chipping in 9 points of his own. The defensive rotations were really solid in this game and a reliable rotation is beginning to develop as players are settling into the system. 

The atmosphere in Patrick was great, especially considering the choppy play. This team is really coming together and playing with great poise since they returned from their marathon November road trip. On to New Hampshire on Sunday before the big showdown with UMass Lowell next week. 

12 comments:

  1. I was only able to listen to the game since don't have ESPNU but there was a noticeable lack of emphasis on Penn scoring. I also thought they might have gone after Walker more when he got his 3rd foul but difficult to tell when not seeing the game. Also what do you think of Faleye's progress and prospects. Any word on Fiorillo's progress? Congrats to Becker and team. Impressive win for them!

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    1. Penn is not as effective against a zone defense. That was really all it was. Walker was subbed in and out effectively and Bryant kept him hidden of defense. I like Ayo-Faleye's potential. He is improving on defense but still need to slow himself down. He is often playing too fast and struggles to catch the ball effectively under the hoop. Haven't heard any official work but i would be surprised if he is able to come back and make an impact this season.

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  2. The contrast between the two coaches was stark: Grasso, hair on fire, yelling screaming, jumping around. Becker, calm standing on the sidelines arms crossed with that half smile on his face. And the teams: Bryant players pregame body language: we are going to show who the new boss is in the AE. Catamount players: lets get to work. Becker and the Cats did what they had to do with class and great D and teamwork. A great win! I hope TJ is OK. Announcers did mention that Fioriollo might be done for the year. Any news on him ,Lee?

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    1. As I said a masterclass in program building and getting guys to buy in. No official news but I would be surprised if he returns and makes an impact this season.

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  3. Bryant’s immaturity showed big time with the technicals. We got 6 pts from them and late clutch foul shooting from Kam and Aaron turned out to be the difference. I think I was most impressed with 4 turnovers against a full game press. Not sure we can beat them next time at their place. We were fortunate to get them on a down day where they shoot/score so poorly and got into foul trouble. Their trio of stars will be tough to counter. But there does seem to be some immaturity and carelessness which might be their undoing. Given their potential explosiveness it had a nail biter feel to the end. Ok, enough about Bryant. For the Cats to win this one is huge for their confidence and understanding what their roles and rotations look like and how to play defense…2 games in a row! They won this game shooting a lower FG % and wiped out in the RB comparison. Yahoo!

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    1. Honestly that is basically how Bryant plays. They are helter skelter and rely on getting more possessions than their opponent to make up for their lack of offensive efficiency. They are kind of a coin flip in how effective they are gonna be on any given day because they rely so heavily on individual isolation plays. Bryant is a tough place to play with a very enthusiastic crowd and it will be a battle filled with even more emotion now. Vermont's ability to slow the game down and sacrifice their own offense to keep the pace slow will continue to be a challenge for Bryant.

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  4. How do opponents construct a game plan against Vt when nearly half their points come off the bench? They were out rebounded nearly 2 to 1 and still win… and the leading scorer changes versus each different opponent. Tough to plan for…
    Great game planning by Becker and the coaches!!! That’s Vermont style basketball and why Becker is the best coach record wise to date.

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    1. That is what has separated Vermont from the rest of the league over the past several seasons. Exceptional depth and a team first attitude. Anyone can go off and the players don't care who it is. Becker and his staff really are elite when is come to player development and game planning.

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  5. I think the rebound differential is a bit misleading in regards to the fact that the turnover difference was +16 hence fewer shots to rebound. In watching the game uvm by no means looked outmatched on the glass or overpowered. I too was sort of thinking that we were lucky at how bad they shot the ball and that maybe they lose this game on the road or in the conference tourney but there are a few things to that. One, a great defense beats a great offense. Maybe uvm was responsible for their poor shooting. Secondly, we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well either. Their zone defense is very porous and we missed a bunch of short to midrange jumpers that were completely uncontested. Had we made some of them the lead would have been more like 20-25 pts midway through the second half and would have looked more like the blowout that the game was. I think uvm is continuing to improve especially on the defensive end and should easily win the regular season. Bryant’s hype seems to be a bit unfounded and maybe self created. For starters they come from one of the worst leagues in college basketball and they also lost a lot of players. Yes they beat Syracuse but sadly that doesn’t mean anything anymore, and they almost just lost to Binghamton at home. I think umass lowell is good and umbc too but those three teams will probably lose 4-5 games in conference and I can’t see that happening to uvm considering how well coached we are and we have the steady leadership of our seniors. I know JB really wanted to win this game but I’m surprised smith jr and alamutu received no playing time(anything to that?)….

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    1. As has been proven over the years a strong defense is needed to win a title. Bryant's defensive limitations are going to hurt them this season. It puts a tremendous amount of pressure on their offense and if they cant get out and run they struggle to put teams away. Their quick hitting offense is their defense in a way. The Cats missed a lot of open shots and could have blow the game wide open. I think Bryant will still be at the top of the league because of their individual talent and uptempo offense. I do agree that I don't see a healthy Vermont team losing more than 4 games at the most. Three or less would be my prediction. Perry still needs work of defense and I think Alamutu's inexperience with ball handling against the pressure was why he did not play.

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    2. That’s a good point about Sam, I figured his athleticism would have helped in transition def but didn’t think about the other side of the ball. 5 turnovers against a full court press for the whole game is tremendous…

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  6. Absolutely. Watching Duncan's growth into the heart and soul of this team has been tremendous. He is underrated because he is not flashy and offensively limited but how much he has raised the level of his game this season is incredible. Basically doubling his production across the board. Career season for sure. Vermont is spoiled with both Penn and Deloney. Penn can carve up man to man defense and Deloney is a zone killer. Vermont can move them around interchangeably and the opposing defense has to pick its poison.

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