In a well played game on both sides, Brown came out on top. Looking down the boxscore, it is uncanny how even almost every category finished out. Two good teams, locked in a chess match. The first half was back and forth with neither team pulling away and smooth shot-making on both sides. Brown came roaring out of the gates in the second half and the Bears took at 12 point lead. Vermont used a strong defensive push to cut the deficit to two. It was back and forth from there and then Bears star Kino Lilly Jr took over down the stretch to pull out the victory. Have to tip your cap to Lilly Jr as he hit some very tough shots down the stretch. Both teams played really strong defense and had to work for every point. That was a great college basketball game and an exciting atmosphere.
Noah Barnett got the Cats off to a hot start and finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds. He is really stepping up and learning on the fly filling in for the injured Cats. Sean Blake led the Cats with 13 points and was electric during the second half comeback. He gives them such a valuable dimension on offense with his creative finishing ability around the rim. Blake and Barnett are seizing their opportunities and are showing improvement every game. Shamir Bogues battled throughout and finished with 11 points and added 3 steals and 2 blocks in a team high 35 minutes. Ileri Ayo-Faleye struggled for much of the game, drawing Becker's ire, but responded with a strong finish, making some big stops on defense and hitting a crucial three. He finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Seth Joba made some nice plays and continues to improve his physicality on the boards. Gavin Perryman played all seven of his minutes during the second half comeback and provided energy and hustle that fired up the Cats. TJ Hurley struggled mightily with the Bears physical defense. Brown was committed to making his night difficult and he finished 1-10 from the field.
The injury bug continues to tamp down Vermont's ceiling, but the improvement from some of the young players is a promising sign if Vermont ever gets to play a game with their full team. Now the Cats head down to Connecticut for a tough road game against Yale. Should be another hard fought physical game with the Bulldogs out to avenge last seasons miracle finish.
"TJ Hurley struggled mightily with the Bears physical defense" Seen this movie before. Does not bode well for the cats when one of the primary scorers wilts under pressure, and no post game as a relief valve.
ReplyDeleteSean Blake is an emerging star he continues to show improvement from game to game . While I don’t expect he will start this season I expect he will play near starter minutes . He looks to be the best attacker of the rim on the team the best UVM has had since TBH
ReplyDeleteNot better than Dylan Penn or Shamir at attacking the rim at this stage of his career. Maybe he could be but not yet
DeleteOnce Brown made Hurley a non-factor, the game was pretty much over. 53 points? Not going to win many games with that total.
ReplyDeleteLack of rebounds at the end of the game killed them. And, having to call 2 time outs in a row to get the ball in shows how vulnerable this team is to a press.
ReplyDeleteBurning two timeouts because somebody can’t creat separation is an embarrassment
DeleteFiorillo or long would normally take the ball out in that spot. Instead they were watching like you and me.
DeleteTallest guy on the floor for Brown was 6'7" still out-rebounded the taller/longer/heftier cats, another glaring issue to resolve
DeleteJoba needs to ditch the pink shoes!
ReplyDeleteReally? That’s what you focus on? The man can wear whatever he wants!
DeleteStick with basketball relevant topics…
DeleteJust trying inject a bit of humor into these doom and gloom posts.
DeleteI know you’re a glass type full guy Lee but this is getting a bit worrisome. Quite honestly I don’t think it’s an injury thing because the way I see it TJ long and Fiorillo are not much of an upgrade over Jace/Blake and Joba/Barnett. As for Odom we never knew what to expect. But this team is getting beat on all the little things. How is it that Brown is game planned to full court press something they’re clearly not accustomed to and we’re successful. This is high school basketball and we’re not executing with a guy like bogues it should never be an issue. For heaven’s sake they had to call two time outs to inbound the ball. There is no sense of urgency and it shows. We’re getting out hustled and out classed against teams we should beat. How many offensive rebounds at crucial points did we give up which has been a problem all year. What I don’t understand is how we have success at doing something and then just stop. You mean to tell me Brown made such an adjustment on Barnet that we just stopped feeding him the ball? And even if they did it should free up shooters so where’s our adjustment? It’s hard to watch this sloppy halfa$$ed effort game in and out. And yes Blake is something great to build on because he seems to have the it factor that the rest of this team lacks…..
ReplyDeleteMan it’s like people forget 22-23 when we started out 2-7. This team has not been healthy all year. Basically didn’t have a pre-season w their rotation. How can you say tj long (last years leading scorer) and fiorillo (6th year guy and 3 year starter when healthy) aren’t improvements?? When this group gets healthy we’re as talented if not more so than anybody else in the AE, which in a one bid league is all that matters. If you people wanna invest in this program and actually build a new gym than maybe we could move to the CAA or A10 where non-conf matters some but in AE, all that matters is 3 games in March. And guess what…. The rest of league does not want to see us
DeleteIf only 3 games in March matter, then maybe we should cancel the season and just play the 3 games in March
DeleteRoster has about 3 legit D1 players on it, coaching, leadership and heart are required, maybe it’s too much, time will tell.. Not buying injury excuse, all teams have them.
ReplyDelete7 of last years top 9 are back, plus ROY in MEAC two years ago. This is a dumb statement.
ReplyDeleteAgree
DeleteI know the game plan is to take their time and get set up for the press break but they still struggle. With Bogues and Blake I think it’s at least worth a shot to rip the ball out of the net and immediately go before they can set up/ let their bigs sit back and relax for five seconds while we throw the ball to the ref and wait. This team is lifeless
ReplyDeleteBrown was shooting beyond the circle and missed on several . They bounced off the glass/ rim. Cats need to have the big guys near their basket to pull down the rebounds more. They also need to improve their rhythm in offensive end
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, they are still very strong team . Coming back from a 12 point deficit to make it a 2 point deficit to a very good Brown team , speaks for itself.
Rebounding continues to haunt this years Cats and injuries have nothing to do with that. Its great to see the development of Joba and Noah,but they are not yet good rebounders. Ileri certainly can be- with his high flying athleticism, IMHO he should be averaging 8-10 a game. The Catamounts have always been a "gang" rebounding team ( apologies to Ryan D. and A. Lamb ) under Becker, but this gang aint getting it done. Great D is great- unless you give the other team 2 or 3 or 4 shots.
ReplyDeleteFrustration mounting. Injuries are not the reason. If Nick and TJ hadn’t missed time we wouldn’t be seeing Barnett or Blake play nearly as much. So let’s stop with the injuries. At this point this is just a bad team. They can’t score. They can’t rebound. They can’t inbound a ball or break a press. They turn the ball over at a high rate. Losses to Merrimack, Iona, Brown and Fairfield, man that is tough. The coaches need to look at their schemes. With all these athletes and depth, we do we always shoot the ball with between 4-7 seconds left on the shot clock? Let’s push the ball. Our personnel is designed for this.
ReplyDeleteI believe Brown had 4 guys in street clothes last night. Injuries are a fact of basketball life for all teams.
DeleteAgree that Injuries are not the root cause of Vermont's struggles. They weren't any better when Long and Nick were playing.
DeleteThey have to do something different. What about with our athletes and depth we are pressure ball and press the other teams, feel like this will be the only way to beat Yale. We play our typical slow down, wait and wait to get a play off and chuck it up with 5 seconds on the clock we will get blown out of New Haven. This is a team that just came very close to beating Minnesota (Big 10) and Rhode Island (A-10). The good news is, it still early to coach and develop our way out of this. Blake and Barnett have been wonderful surprises. Maybe instead of force feeding Hurley, he gets his offense in the flow of the game? He was great in the first 5 minutes of northeastern. Got 10 points quickly within the game.
DeleteThere appears to be a huge disconnect in the continuity and fluidity of the offense. Except for small spurts, this team has not shown the willingness to make the extra pass. It appears we are using an NBA style offense with ISO ball and 3 if not 4 guys watching. Where is the player movement and the traditional Vermont ball movement? It appears that when players are driving to the basket they are only looking to make a play for themselves. Even Blake who has showed his ability to blow by defenders is only looking to score for himself which has also resulted in a bunch of turnovers. Where is the kick out pass to the perimeter or drop off or lob to the big fellas. This type of offense so far has not resulted in many open looks and easy scoring opportunities for anyone. Let’s get back to more movement and making the extra pass.
ReplyDeleteNobody is going to like this, but here goes. Here is Vermont's future - can't get the new stadium built, doesn't have the resources to attract high level recruits, is in a crappy one bid league, and will always be a low seed in the tournament (i.e .first round loss) assuming they make the tournament. I guess people are satisfied with that. Maybe Hartford had it right when it dropped to D3. Vermont might actually win a D2 or D3 championship - oh, wait - they already had trouble with D2 and D3 teams this year.
ReplyDeleteTrue
DeleteMaybe the NCAA needs to have a D1-A division for the mid-majors with its own tournament instead of having those schools always butt heads with the big boys in the tournament. Kind of like where football is now with its FBS and FCS divisions.
ReplyDeleteWatching the game, it seemed clear Brown had better players. Vermont was playing catch-up the whole second half. Lilly was the best guard on the floor. Lewis was the best big. And on defense they focused on not giving Hurley any open looks. Simple.
ReplyDeleteWithout Bogues dominating, Vermont really isn't a very good team. He's the key to making everyone around him better. Last night Blake was their best offensive player. I couldn't understand why Coach Becker didn't have him in there during crunch time.
In an interview, Becker said he doesn't know what the answer is to fix the team's issues. Not a good thing to say for a head coach. If that's the case, he might as well read this blog and take our advice.
ReplyDeleteMost of these comments are ridiculous. I get it though, you want to see the team do well, as do I. However, the only thing that’s important is how well they’re playing near the end of the conference schedule and into the post season. All this playing time for the guys well into the bench and guys who don’t normally start will be very beneficial, as well as all this adversity they are facing now. Patience
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! Couldn’t have said it better!!
DeleteWinning our conference should b the measurement. Money talks and at this point we aren’t competing with top schools in country, but winning our regular season and conference tournament is the goal. With this years team it’s going to b a challenge, I’m excited to see how we do, certainly not a given.
ReplyDelete