There it is.
40 minutes of Catamount basketball (maybe 37 but you get the picture).
Vermont dominated a shorthanded and overmatched NJIT squad to sweep the early conference homestand. That game really put on display this group's strengths. The win was powered by the Cats depth, shotmaking, toughness, unselfishness, drive to win, and leadership. From start to finish Vermont maintained focus and executed really well. The passing over the last two games has been impressive with another 20 assists in this one. You can really see the joy that this group takes from each others success. The ball was zipping around and finding its way to the best shot. A great win to build momentum going into a very tough early season road trip.
Jace Roquemore and Aaron Deloney put on an absolute point guard clinic in this game. The pair combined for 26 points, 11 assists, and 0 turnovers. Roquemore is epitomizing the Vermont program's "next man up" matra, stepping right into the starting point guard role and putting up a dominant performance. He finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and knocked down 3/4 from deep. Kudos to him for buying in and working hard to be ready when it was his time. He is providing the veteran presence that Vermont was looking for this offseason. Aaron Deloney has settled into the "starter off the bench" role and is thriving as a facilitator. Over the last 4 games Deloney is up to 18 assists and 0 turnovers. You can see how much he LOVES getting that perfect pass to a teammate for a big bucket. Today he finally got some shots to go down and finished with 12 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds. TJ Long led the Cats with 17 points on 3/6 shooting from three. His ability to hit tough shots is such a valuable asset for Vermont. Ileri Ayo-Faleye had some huge dunks, big blocks, and continues to pick the right spots to shoot the three. Sam Alamutu was great off the bench finishing with 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Total team win with everyone who played finding a way to contribute.
Huge road trip over the next two weeks that includes an always difficult Binghamton game in Vestal and both of the other potential contenders in UMass Lowell and Bryant. A great opportunity to take stock of the league and an early conference litmus test for the Cats.
AD was amazing, some of his passes were just terrific. Can't forget it was his strong "thread the needle" pass to TJ Long that won the Yale game. Roquemore was so steady and what a replacement for Bogues. Credit to Becker and the staff for bringing in Bogues and Roquemore. I sure hope that Bogues comes back and is at full strength. The Cats are a solid team that can win the league with todays bunch, but with Shamir, we might see something more.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Roquemore motivates Bouges to get back!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great team tune up for the upcoming road trip. The assists tell the story. This team chemistry will be the best tool for securing a conference title. Team defense and offense!!
ReplyDeleteAD was great today. Hopefully he builds off this and can carry this type of play vs tougher opponents. If he can, we are dangerous. Jace is taking advantage of his opportunity, amazes he didn’t even play in many of the games early on. Big game! Go Cats Go!
ReplyDeleteIt was so good to see many of the hardworking reserves get some valuable and deserving time / how to go Coaches /
ReplyDeleteNow if the team can combine great front court and backcourt play at the same time. That is the recipe for success. The AD and Jace game we just witnessed allows us to move beyond Robin Duncan and his various partners in crime. Holding teams below 60, impressive A/TO numbers and a lot of Ileri sprinkled in would be nice…oh yea, and shooting those 3s at the level we are capable. Oh and one more thing: tough as nails rebounding because it appears we will have our hands full with some AE teams when it comes to the boards.
ReplyDeleteTwo toughest games of the season at UM Lowell and at Bryant we should know a lot more about this team particularly depth wise by Saturday night. Not expecting Bogues back but we seem to have enough depth to overcome his injury . There seem to be a lot more pieces to this years Team and Becker seems to be getting the pieces to fit together . Here’s hoping we stay on a roll.
ReplyDeleteDon't sleep on Binghamton.
ReplyDelete