Vermont gets a 15 seed and travels to Columbus Ohio to play the 2 seed Marquette Golden Eagles on Friday. I thought I would give you my initial gut reaction before I write a full preview sometime this week. First off, for the first time in a while I feel like Vermont and the fans can just enjoy this year's NCAA tournament experience. The last several times they have made the tournament it felt like there was a lot of pressure to win even as a low seed, as if the success of the entire season depended on it. Those years as a popular upset pick are their own type of fun, but being the underdog who no one gives a chance to win is even better. So I am really going to enjoy and savor this one. Making the tournament in back to back seasons (for the first time since the three-peat from 2003-2005) has been the goal that I think was the next step in the program's rise and they accomplished that. Also how great for Kam Gibson to get to play in his home state. Now onto the game. I actually kinda like the matchup for the Cats. Every year they make the tournament it has felt like they play teams that are equipped to exploit their weaknesses. Big, strong, post oriented teams. Marquette is one of the best offensive teams in the nation and could certainly run the Cats out of the gym, however they are not a dominant rebounding team and don't have dominant rim protection. As a Shaka Smart team, they force a lot of turnovers and one of Vermont's strengths has been taking care of the ball. I could see Vermont's slow, deliberate pace helping them be disruptive to what Marquette wants to do. Then maybe a crazy hot shooting night from three and who knows? It is just nice to look at the makeup of a tournament opponent and see some ways that Vermont might matchup up decently for a change. I will dive into the numbers and provide a full preview sometime before Friday's game. Can't wait.
I agree with you Lee. I like this matchup considering the options available at the 15 (even 14) this one fits Vermont. I caught a couple of their games and although impressive and explosive on offense we might just match up well.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Gonna be fun.
DeleteFirst thing I did was look at their roster and their size is not that of Florida state or Purdue of yrs past. Then looked at their schedule, they won a ton of games by 2-6 points. Yes that’s a testament to being tough and clutch but maybe we can catch a break, unlike last yr, and steal one.
ReplyDeleteYeah it will be nice not to play a team with multiple 7 footers. The winning close games is always an interesting thing. On the one hand it means good late game execution. On the other hand it means their seed could have been much lower if a bounce or two had not gone their way.
DeleteMarquette has been prone to opening round jitters.
ReplyDeleteAs have Shaka Smart teams recently.
DeleteLee, thanks for your great work all year:
ReplyDeleteI have watched quite a few Marquette games- I am a Big East fan being a Hoya Alum (yikes). A couple of thoughts: this is a team that pre-season was picked 9th in the BE. They are not as physically imposing as say UCONN, so they rely on movement, passing and good shooting. Their most important player by far ( and BE player of the year and BE tourney MVP ) is Tyler Kolek, perhaps the best PG out of RI since Ernie D. One of the great passers in college BB. This is a real TEAM, but they will be playing another TEAM.Could be interesting.
Thanks for reading. Hope the Hoyas make a great hire. That is exactly how I look at it. These teams are "cut from the same cloth" so to speak. Both play together and are a sum of their parts.
DeleteVermont hangs it hat on defense and Maquette is smaller than most highly ranked teams. No turnovers, decent rebounding and someone gets hot. Finn is overdue to have a great shooting night. Who knows?
ReplyDeleteThat is the formula!
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