Yale 65 Vermont 50
Yale took over with a decisive second half run and handed Vermont its second Ivy League defeat this week. The first half was a classic Yale/Vermont grinder with both teams playing tough defense and making offenses use the entire shot clock. Vermont came out in the second half and took a 6 point lead before Yale responded with a big run to take control of the game. The parallels to the 22-23 season continue as this game was a near mirror image of the last time Vermont played at Yale when they let a halftime lead slip away before losing big. Once again the offense struggled to find a rhythm and finding consistent, effective lineups is continuing to be a tough task. This week is really a pivotal moment for the Cats. They have a week to maybe get healthy and find a rhythm before a stretch of winnable games to close out the non-conference. With the adversity and struggles so far this season, any sort of reset or positive momentum before the conference schedule will be huge.
TJ Hurley led the Cats with 21 points on 5-8 shooting from three. It was nice to see him get some shots to go after struggling mighty against Brown. Shamir Bogues finished with 12 points as the only other Cat in double figures. Bogues is struggling to get that burst to the rim that made him so effective last season. Sean Blake finished with 5 points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds. Unfortunately the turnovers (and free throw shooting) continue to make it hard for him to make a consistently positive impact. However, his rebounding is impressive. Jace Roquemore and Ileri Ayo-Faleye struggled mightily in this one, combining to go 1-19 from the field, including 1-13 from three.
The conference portion of the season is still king and there is time to make some headway before January.
I wish I could keep up with all the comments but I do not have the time. I also hope that we as the fanbase can find a way to support this program even when things are not going as planned. Vermont has had a crazy amount of success and if we are going to be there when they are on top, we have to be ready to lift them up when they are at the bottom.
And while we wait.....GO SOCCER CATS!!!!! COLLEGE CUP!
Just watched another classic from our soccer CATS, 2-0 over Pitt! On to uncharted waters, the Final Four.
ReplyDeleteAs far as basketball, I guess we could say we miss the Duncan Bros, but we did have them for what seemed forever.
Will always be a fan, just don’t get it…. I’m hopeful they right the ship but tough to watch these games. 50 points vs Yale. Yikes. Does Colgate still have those big guys that gave us fits the last few years or have they graduated?
ReplyDeleteColgate has a 6'11" 270 pounder and a 7'0 freshman, so they do have some size. However, they are 2-7 on the year.
DeleteThey play Kentucky this week - so probably 2-8 when we get them.
DeleteThey play Northeastern tomorrow in Boston - good to compare how they do vs how we did against Northeastern.
DeleteColgate lost to Northeastern by 3 points. Very balanced scoring for Colgate as 5 players had between 12 and 15 points.
DeleteSo far the season has been a disappointment . There were certainly winnable games and if I have one critics that Becker has not been able to find the “‘right l combinations . . I’m guessing when we get to conference play that Becker will shorten the bench . Blake appears to be the real deal and I expect him to be a strong candidate for rookie of the year. Among the guards he has the best combination of penetration and ability to get to the rim and outside shit . Every other guard can do one or the other but not both. Also I expected more from Odom , hopefully he finds his game but Ileri , Nick and Noah should be more than adequate to cover the front court . Right now the Csts seem to be disconnected and while there is a wealth of talent on this team how Becker blends that talent will determine how far they go . This may be among Becker’s deeper teams but the top of the heap is not as good as the Davis Shungu Lamb Smith Duncan core . As of right now I’m not as optimistic as I was before the season began . So far I’m big on Blake best freshman guard since TBH and Ileri just seems too inconsistent. There is still time to fight the ship but the beginning of the season is very close and the must get it together quickly .
ReplyDeleteYech that was a bad one. Hurley looked good, but other than that.. Well the defense played well in the first half. Caused turnovers. Got a few offensive rebounds too. But the offense was ugly all game. Long will help when he's back but the other guys need to step up. Let's not forget, Yale was missing their best player. Injuries are gonna happen.
ReplyDeleteWhat we're seeing is partly a recruiting problem. Blake looks like a keeper. But these days you can't whiff in the transfer portal and not be hurt by it. Shy Odom looks too small and too slow to be the post scorer he's trying to be -- and he's lousy on defense. Perriman just isn't a rotational player at the D1 level. Other teams in the AE brought in players that can help. Vermont did not.
Of course the elephant in the room is Bogues. He has regressed. I believe he was the best two-way player in the AE last season. He's clearly not the same guy this season. Is he injured? What is his injury? Will he get better any time soon?
I think the biggest problem with this team is they seem shell shocked on offense. Everyone is trying to help but they’re all trying to do it themselves. So it’s either forcing a drive in isolation or putting up a bad 3. They need to mix it up, back door cuts, post, iso kick out, just keep the ball moving and things will free up. It’s like their intensity on defense isn’t nearly matched on offense. Maybe it’s because they know what they’re supposed to do on defense and they’re just not as well coached on offense? And lastly the biggest enigma and miss this yr was expected great things with ileri. He looks completely lost on offense and I think that’s the piece where our expectations for this season really lied. Shamir was up and down last season mainly due to injuries and that’s what we’re seeing this yr. But ileri was on an upward trajectory all yr and I was expecting him to be a beast this yr. He’s been terrible on offense and if that doesn’t turn around we’re going to have a hard time even making the conference finals…
ReplyDeleteCoaching staff needs to completely redesign their offensive plays/sets. Agreed on Ileri. There are ways to get him involved more.
Deletei watched the game with interest (1970s Catamount). The biggest problem i saw was too much dribbling and too little movement on offense. Yale packed in the defense, and UVM kept bouncing the ball, They have to figure spacing and movement. They are talented (way more than when i played), but they are stagnant and tentative on the offensive end.
ReplyDeleteIf the players listen, the talent is there. If not.....it will be a bad AE run
The process will work itself out. The coaches will have to adjust their offensive scheme. For example, Ayo- Faleye shooting 13 threes (making 1) is certainly an obvious unsustainable stat. Without Bogues at 100% the threat of the slash through the paint to score disappears, this impacts the easy assists to the bigs, and hurts the offensive rebound stat. It’s all interchangeable. I have confidence in the coaching staff; they are certainly on this…
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I think we lack the athleticism, explosion off the dribble that many other teams have. Bogues and Blake are it. Bigs either lack verticality (Nick, Shy, probably Seth) or lack the confidence or touch to go strong and effectively to the hoop when the ball gets delivered closer to the hoop (Nick, Ileri, Noah and Seth). Our bigs are just not a strong interior presence except some on defense (Ileri, Noah and maybe Shy). These guys need to believe that going up strong and scoring or having the skill to draw fouls is one of the ways out of this funk. (This from someone who speaks who has no expertise)
DeleteIt looked like the same contest in 22-23 . Yale blew them away in second half.
ReplyDeleteThe talent is there no question about it.
When Long and Firillo return from injuries we will see a turn around in play . No guarantees but they will resume their winning way. Illeri is super on Defense and can be very good offensively. Bogues apparently has a nagging foot problem which prevents him from being his best
I look forward to the Conference play where all the marbles are
Sean Blake played 22 minutes and had 7 rebounds to lead the team; three tied with 4. Thats one serious problem ( certainly not for Blake )..
ReplyDelete