Ouch.
Vermont threw the first punch with a 10-0 run to start the game. UMBC counter-punched with a big run of their own and the Cats couldn't get up off the mat. When the final bell sounded, Vermont suffered their worst home loss during the Becker era. The Retrievers are the best shooting team in the America East by a wide margin and they showed why in the game today. They, like many teams this year, are coming in hyped and ready to exercise the demons from Vermont's stretch of dominating the conference. Near perfect execution by UMBC this afternoon. Meanwhile, Vermont's body language had quite a bit of "here we go again" as the game was slipping away. Injuries continue to sap any momentum from the Cats season. For a team that has struggled to score and make shots consistently, to lose their most consistent shooter and scorer in TJ Hurley is one too many body blows to take. The Retrievers were able to sit back in a zone defense, unafraid of the perimeter threats. As a result, all of the shots at the rim were contested and the Cats are struggling to make contested twos this season. This is the pivot point for the Vermont season. This experience can either galvanize the Cats to make a final push or bury them under the weight of expectations.
Ileri Ayo-Faleye led the Cats with 14 points but was inefficient offensively, shooting 4-15 from the field and 1-7 from three. Another blog jinx after praising his three point shooting on Thursday. Sam Alamutu had a nice stretch attacking the basket in the second half and finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Shamir Bogues stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals but struggled to make an impact after a hot start. Nick Fiorillo also struggled through an inefficient afternoon, finishing with 11 points and 7 rebounds on 4-12 shooting. Jace Roquemore was the one bright spot from the perimeter, knocking down 3-6 from distance for 9 points. Sean Blake struggled to finish around the rim but continues to take better care of the ball and finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds. The injuries have really sapped Vermont's depth and neutralized their normally impactful bench.
Some hard truths and hard work for Vermont this week as they try to bounce back on the road at Binghamton on Thursday.
Won't be the last loss this season. Sorry, I know they are the only game in town, but the Cats are a mediocre team in a weak conference.
ReplyDeleteDo we know if we are going to get anything from Odom? Came in hyped, what is the injury?
ReplyDeleteWhat I hear is that Odom is out for the year due to multiple concussions. Don't know if that's true, but don't expect anything from him this season.
DeleteTransfer portal was not kind to the Cats this year. It only gets harder going forward without NIL at UVM.
DeleteLee thanks for all you do and putting this blog together. I don’t expect you to respond to all of the posts but any time you see something that you might have some insights on it would be great to hear your perspective. The thing I’m really struggling with is this team seems to really be outmatched from a talent perspective in just about every game. Did the whole just not improve or even go backwards or has their defensive system/prowess over the years just masked the fact that we haven’t recruited that well? It seems every night the other team has 1 or 2 guys that can just torch the nets and we don’t have anything resembling that. All of these teams have guys that get easy buckets driving or will hit their open 3’s. We really don’t have any play makers. Even Hurley when he has a big game it’s usually from playing within the system. This team as constructed even with a healthy long and Hurley doesn’t seem on paper to have the talent to dominate the league like it has. Clearly everything imaginable has gone wrong this yr. J young jetting screwed us in the transfer portal, Odom not materializing, long not coming back healthy, a myriad of other injuries have all contributed to what we’re seeing on the court but im afraid this is the tip of the iceberg. Blake seems like a keeper but Joba looks like another miss. Time will tell with Barnet but he still needs a lot of work to be a consistent 8-10 pt a night guy. And heading into next yr TJ looks to be the only solid player on the team. I hope this isn’t a throw in the towel moment(and I hope you don’t Lee on this blog)for the program with everything it’s built over the past 20 yrs but the future right now is bleak….
ReplyDeleteUnless they can score big in the portal or get some JUCO transfers (I hear offers are out to 2 of them), next year's team looks very weak. Other than Hurley, where are points going to come from next year?
DeleteAgreed. It will be a whole new team. Coaches have to get out and recruit.
DeleteI saw a lot of fight and heart from our team today. Missing our two outside shooters was too much to overcome today, I am unsure if we can get them back this year but if we can we can still win this conference. A lot of players hit some good minutes today. Got to get and stay healthy to have this chance though.
ReplyDeleteWhat did Umbc have, 44 points at the half? 60 with 5 or 6 gone in the second half. They took the pedal off the gas towards the end but it seemed like they could've scored 100 if they'd wanted to. I truly like the Vermont players, and I recognize that this was a good UMBC offensive team, but this was a terrible defensive performance. The effort just wasn't there. Fiorillo and Joba weren't covering anybody. Even good defensive players like Roquemore and Alamutu weren't getting it done. And coach Becker was slow to call timeouts, make substitutions or change defenses. Call this one the 'no floor burn game'. Weak effort. They don't have the talent to win this way.
ReplyDeleteDisappointing . The arguably two best shooters on the team Hurley and Long , did not play due to injuries. Had they played then UMBC would likely have been beat due to the fact they be double teaming these two and leaving inside the circle with more room to penetrate to the basket.
ReplyDeleteSen Blake looks better with each game and he will only improve I believe
With an almost empty bench now, it’s a bit over whelming for the current starters who get exhausted.
Don’t count them out just yet
UMBC looked so athletic and smooth and played like they knew they were going to win this game as UVM had no inside presence…and if they did get to the rim, more times than not could not finish. On the other side, UVM looked so clumsy and played often a little out of control. Sigh. These past Becker years have been a remarkable and splendid run. It’s somebody else’s turn this year.
ReplyDeleteBut hopefully Cats play for pride and individually look to improve their own skills and come conference time, at least get to the semis. Then it’s upset time, but we would need TJ Hurley for sure.
High point of the year was the 1st game down in Alabama…seems like years ago.
They lack a leader. Someone that won’t let them feel dejected. They get down and they can’t get out of their way. I thought initial game plan was good, use our athleticism to create offense by pressing them. UMBC adjusted and we never had an answer. To not be able to bust a zone defense at this level in college is terrible. Scouting report is now out. Pack it in on Vermont.
ReplyDeleteGone from this team in 2 months are Nick, Ileri, Long, Bogues & Jace. Other than Hurley, do we have a starting caliber kid ready to go? Outside of freshmen and transfers, next years lineup:
Blake, Hurley, Sammy, Barnett & Joba. I sure hope we do better on the portal this off-season. Odom and Perriman have been non factors, maybe hurt, maybe not? Joba just can’t find a groove, consistently gets beat on defense and his hands are tough at times. Maybe this off-season will be the season where he makes that jump?
Without the TJs we have zero shooting. And we don’t have a playmaker (Deloney). I thought Bogues would get to rim and dish to Ileri or kick out to a TJ for a 3, but that offense hasn’t happen.
This team may win 1 game in AE tourney (at home). But semis will be vs UMBC in all likelihood with Bryant looming in Finals. Just don’t see it this year. Hopefully this is a one year bump in the road, but what is returning will need to be added too. Becker and coaches will have to recruit hard.
This team has a lot of winners on it. They will not give up. If they can just get healthy for the AE tournament, they will be dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are right. When they were healthy they weren’t clicking either. And the conference has more parity. Maine is really good this year.
ReplyDeleteFrom Becker- Hurley may return tomorrow against Binghamton. Long is getting cortisone shots in his knee. If that doesn't work he may apply for a medical redshirt. Odom - apparently week-to-week, but time is getting short.
ReplyDeleteI still have hope for this team...they have the talent to get it together. I do not have confidence in the future of the program continuing the excel in the Mid major ranks. Nothing to do with Becker or UVM, but NIL is going to kill the potential excellence of all the mid-majors. I appreciate Bogues and Ileri for sticking with UVM when $ were out there for them. Sorry- but this is a different and unpleasant college basketball world. The players deserve what they can get but it does harm all but the "Power" Six
ReplyDeletemaybe the future lies in a split Division 1 - the mid-majors shouild establish a Division 1A with its own tourney and establish rules more akin to recruiting before the transfer portal and NIL.
ReplyDelete