A good old fashion beatdown
Auburn overwhelmed Vermont with their pressure defense and handed the Cats their first loss of the season. The Tigers are a top 10 team with national championship aspirations and played like it from the start. Vermont's offense never got off the ground as Auburn's full court press and perimeter ball pressure completely disrupted everything that the Cats tried to do. The Tigers forced 16 Catamount turnovers and smothered everything at the rim. After holding UAB scoreless from three, the law of averages swung back in a big way as Auburn couldn't miss from deep. It is never fun to lose a game that badly, but going 1-1 on the road trip can be viewed as a success and this game will give Vermont plenty to look at and use as motivation to get better.
Noah Barnett and Seth Joba's development was a big time bright spot during the road trip. They both showed flashes and are going to give the Cats the frontcourt depth they have been desperate for the last few seasons. Barnett's rebounding and hustle are going to be a huge asset and Joba looks comfortable offensively. His ability to stretch the floor and knock down threes is going to be really valuable. Sean Blake was active on the boards and gives the Cats another scorer off the dribble. He will have to clean up the turnovers but those freshman mistakes will likely become fewer as the season goes on. Outside of the first few minutes against UAB, Shamir Bogues really struggled to get to the rim and finish. Feels like the missed time during the preseason created some rust and he is still getting back into the swing. Same for TJ Long. Ileri Ayo-Faleye's offseason work to improve his shooting looks good so far. He also had some great blocks, continuing to establish himself as an elite defender. Becker used this as an opportunity to send a message to the struggling starters and get the deeper parts of the rotation more minutes and a chance to show what they can do. Shy Odom made his Catamount debut and continues to try and get back to his old form and adjust to the Vermont system. He hit a nice three early and tried to establish himself down low in the second half. He is still getting comfortable with when to push within the offense and was a little loose with the ball.
Now the Cats head back up north and get ready for a game at Merrimack on Saturday. It will be really interesting to start to see the rotation forming and how the coaching staff uses what they learned on this opening road trip.
The noise from the Auburn student section must annoy their own fans, let alone the opposing teams.
ReplyDeleteIt was incredibly loud.
DeleteVermont was out of their league, literally. The difference in speed and physicality was striking.
ReplyDeleteTwo different levels.
DeleteThere was no way the Cats were going to win that game, but I think the short turnaround from the UAB battle hurt their performance
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
DeleteCoach Becker would do well to remind the players of John Wooden's saying, "be quick, but don't hurry" to limit turnovers.
ReplyDeleteFor sure!
DeleteThe athleticism was ridiculous. But they should have been able to adjust with how over challenging Auburn was on steals. That should have been able to get the ball in after the first few times they pressed and had a few struggles. But even inbound was a problem.
ReplyDeleteBright spot Sean Blake needs the keys to the second unit. Kid can absolutely ball out.
Blake still turns the ball over a bit too much to be the main man. Better suited as a complimentary role for now.
DeleteI hope Pearl bought Becker and Co a round after that beat down. And Pizza for the team. Pearl had a lot of bench he could have used.
ReplyDeleteHome opener.
DeleteGood to see Shy playing. What are your thoughts about his performance given “injury comeback”? I know Becker wants to be up tempo, but I wonder if UVM had played old school and worked the clock and showed slow down patience how much closer the game might have been. But then again, the 3s were pouring in from everywhere! Final Four potential Auburn is.
ReplyDeleteLove Shy's rebounding, struggling with turnovers and finishing.
DeleteEvery team has an off night and this combined with being somewhat sluggish resulted in Auburn running circles around the Cats.
ReplyDeleteThey are much better than the final score reflects.
The younger guys got to get some real playing experience against a big time power team .
The Cats learned a lot from this experience
Every game in a opportunity for growth.
DeleteYep, no miracle could have saved them from that drubbing. The team athleticism of Auburn was just too much. Auburn will have to fix the leaks in the roof it rained so many 3s. Nice to see our young bigs show some strength and skill. It’s going to be an exciting season as this team jells.
ReplyDeleteFor sure.
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