The individual player development still showed through and continues to be the bread and butter of the Vermont program. Even with less times and years with players, there are steady improvements and buy in. TJ Hurley transitioned from shooter to scorer, Sean Blake became an all around contributor, Gus Yalden improved exponentially on defense (and from three), Noah Barnett went from energy guy to crucial starter, Lucas Mari became a defensive disruptor, and Momo Nkugwa a calming presence at the point guard position. If you rewind to the beginning of the season, these evolutions did not seem likely. Year to year continuity might be a thing of the past but even within a single season, there is tremendous room for growth. The most difficult part of the new era is the never knowing what the next year will bring and the inability to project a roster for the next season. This year the team cohesiveness took a bit longer than usual but it still had the Cats playing good basketball in March and had players making progress throughout the season. It is worth mentioning that overall this was a very young team with a significant part of the rotation in their first or second full college season. That inexperience was a big contributor to the in game swings in effectiveness.
I am really going to miss the TJ's. They never really got to play together at their full potential but the excitement and shotmaking they brought over their time was really fun. They both gave us so many exciting moments and played their hearts out. Despite this group's struggles this season there was a bit of extra energy to the team. A lot of that credit goes to Yalden for bringing personality and fan engagement but guys like Barnett, and Nkugwa, and Blake also brought highlight plays and energy. The big swings in effectiveness during games resulted in huge runs and as a result this group of Cats almost always made the game interesting right up until the final buzzer.
Two seasons ago, the defense was strong and the offense struggled. That put the emphasis this past offseason on improving the offense, potentially at the expense of the defense. During the non-conference portion of the season, it looked like that goal had been achieved as the offense hummed along and the defense struggled to get stops. It looked like a different style of Vermont team was going to be on the menu. Then as conference play approached, suddenly the defense began to catch up and the offense began to stall. That would foreshadow the rest of the season as Vermont again became a defensive minded team trying to survive scoring droughts. It was a genuinely weird season as the offensive talent and shotmaking was there but never seemed to fire on all cylinders. So I did what I love to do and go look at the numbers.
On barttorvik.com, there is a great table that takes a year over year look at a team's numbers. It is a great way to dig in a double check what you saw and felt during the year and to get at what the real difference was between a successful year and a year that fell short. The post COVID seasons are a great data set as the Cats have won three titles and fell short twice. The overall efficiency numbers have declined over the last several seasons but many of the underlying numbers are the same between the title and non-title seasons. They struggled to defend the three this year but that was also showed up in the 21-22 season. The defense not forcing a lot of turnovers is consistent year over year etc. This years team continued the staples of the Vermont program with efficient two point shooting, low turnovers, great defensive rebounding, and strong two point defense. So what was appreciably different? The three point shooting is an area of concern as over the last three seasons the percentage has been at its lowest during the Becker years. The big outlier for this years squad was how much they fouled on defense. Playing defense without fouling has long been a hallmark of Vermont teams and this year they put their opponents on the line significantly more than any of the post COVID teams. That is a backbreaker for a defensive minded a team and there were many times this year where it cost them games. Cleaning up that single area would have added several wins to this years squad.
Now it is time to look ahead. With the transfer portal opening later and for less time, it will be interesting to see if that changes how the college basketball offseason looks once again. If the Cats can retain some of their core pieces they will be able to be more selective in how the coaching staff wants to roster build. If it is going to be another big roster overhaul, there will be more uncertainty. Last season they were forced to take big swings on unproven young players that yielded inconsistent results (much like the bygone era of high school recruiting). So far only Ben Wesson has entered the portal but it doesn't technically open until after the national title game so it will be through April until the roster becomes clearer. It will also be interesting to see who the coaching staff targets. The "add shooting and offense" mission had mixed results and ultimately did not have the effect that they were hoping. I think shooting will still be a priority but I think a creator off the dribble and reemphasizing defense will likely be an area they will look at.
Look out for posts from all angles once portal season is in full swing as next year's roster takes shape!
Lastly, as always I appreciate everyone that still reads along and goes on this ride with me. I know that shutting off the comments reduced the interactive experience and that was a tough decision, but ultimately it allowed me to balance things in a better way. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for sharing this journey of college basketball fandom with me.
