So now that AE play is done... Congrats again to UVM.
Looking forward to next year. I think this year is and last year were probably uvms two best years to walk into ncaa tourney... They were far superior during regular season. I do see the gap closing further next year. Sbu, umbc (if they get any recruits) , Albany and uml will all be better and I see further pushing uvm.
Very early preseason picks... (uvm fans you can join in on this thread after you're done playing)
Vermont
Stony Brook
Albany
UMBC
UMass-Lowell
Binghamton - only if Bruce and Ty Stewart will be back, otherwise I'd drop them to 8th and move UNH and Maine up a spot
New Hampshire
Maine
Hartford
I'm not saying they will be top 3, but expectations for UA will be very high. Will be returning something like 85% of this year's scoring, the starting 5 will have a year under their belt, Clark will be in his second real year of D1, the bigs will have another summer of workouts, and 2 highly touted recruits entering.
Going to be hard to knock UVM off it's perch, SBU will be tough. Bing should be improved. UML should be improved. I'll never count Odom out. Maine should be improved. Really only Hartford and NH seem destined to be at the bottom. Next season should be an extremely good one for the AE.
I'm not saying they will be top 3, but expectations for UA will be very high. Will be returning something like 85% of this year's scoring, the starting 5 will have a year under their belt, Clark will be in his second real year of D1, the bigs will have another summer of workouts, and 2 highly touted recruits entering.
Going to be hard to knock UVM off it's perch, SBU will be tough. Bing should be improved. UML should be improved. I'll never count Odom out. Maine should be improved. Really only Hartford and NH seem destined to be at the bottom. Next season should be an extremely good one for the AE.
They are losing their second and third scoring options (Caleb Stewart and Show), their two best defenders (Davis and Barnard) and their reliable backup point guard (Rose).
If anything, I expect the team to perform even worse next year, even if Bruce does return and play like he did in 2017-18.
If you want to keep it really simple, the question around the league for next year is basically this: will the gap between Lamb and the next best player in this conference- whomever people would say that was, Lutete? Lynch? Yeboah?- be as wide next year as it was this year? Because that gap this year was ginormously wide.
If Becker and Lamb are both back next season- I think they should be but nobody ever knows- and stay healthy obviously, senior year Lamb is a scary vision.
I am biased of course, but for the regular season and assuming Becker, Lamb, et al return, no injuries, I'll take UVM over the field any day.
We will have three good to excellent perimeter defenders back (Steph, R-Dunc and Shungu). We'll miss Dingba's rim protection, hoping Ra takes it up a notch
Can we knock down enough threes to keep the swarm off of Lamb? That will be a big question next year
Ben Shungu went from averaging 6.2 minutes per game last year to 18.5 this year, an average which rose as the season went on. He started the last five games, averaging 25.4 minutes. I'm excited to see him continue to develop; he's become an important piece for Vermont.
I won't pick anyone over a team that has Lamb. As long as he's at Vermont, they have to be favored to win.
I think the top half of the league seems pretty decent next year with Vermont, SBU, UMBC, Albany and UML all bringing back some real nice talent. Bottom half looks to be awful as usual...
Vermont getting more from a local walk-on than most teams get from scholarship players they had to travel the country recruiting, says about all you need to know with regards to why the W-L totals for the Catamounts over the last 20 seasons are what they are while other programs find it so difficult to string together back-to-back 20-win seasons.
Clancy Rugg also comes to mind.
There isn't a more deserving school in the AE who earns the title of truly being a "program" in the sense that they have an idea of how to develop players to win basketball games, and they do it. Rosters are always changing, but Vermont just keeps winning. Lonergan left, Becker steps in and just keeps winning. Very impressive, and certainly there are fans across the conference who must be a little envious of those who get to watch and follow such a program every winter--I'd know, I am one of them!
Ben Shungu, Clancy Rugg, and Chad Powlovich were all walk-ons who earned a scholarship. Each was also Vermont's HS Mr Basketball. (Is that right? Am I missing anyone?)
You gonna really try that nonsense with UMBC missing two significant contributors (KenPom) in Akin and Curran for most of the year?
Stop it, you're better then this...my point remains as long as Lamb is around, UVM will be the favorite but these things are cyclical.
Down the stretch even this year...struggled with Hartford, lost to UMBC, SBU pushed you at home. It's not gonna get easier with losing your best shooter and one of your best defender and two players that were 5th year seniors and had a ton of experience.
Going into next year UVM needs to shore up outside shooting and get some production inside or the gap will further narrow.
I think he missed the first game but the cyclical nature is very true.
We are making an assumption that SBU hires a good coach and everyone stays. But if someone like Yeboah can graduate, then that has a huge impact on everything.
Someone sent me a PM last night, not sure how true but Yeboah apparently is set to graduate in 3 years. Can anyone confirm it's true? SBU is in a lot of flux right now...we'll see how it plays out.
for real.. UVM losing TBH, didn't miss a beat. Losing Duncan, NOT going to miss a beat either. They have two amazing constants next year.. Becker and LAMB... LAMB LAMB LAMB!! those two losses to UMBC in reg season didn't mean shit when they got blown out in the title game...
okay, you're comparing Akin/Curran to Lamb... UMBC beating UVM is not the rule, it was an exception this year.... sure there are chances they can beat UVM with Curran and Akin back, but even with those two back, UMBC still loses some important pieces, but, IMO (these are all opinions, so no need to get your panties in a bunch), IMO, UMBC isn't touching UVM in AE play next year, no one is, and it's ok pal..
still stands:
UVM > everyone else, not close because of LAMB and Becker
UMBC beating you is the exception? UMBC is 3 out of the 4 including beating you on your home court to win a trip to the dance last year. LOL...but like you said, you didn't miss a beat.
I think Stef Smith makes that jump next year... everett and Moll also takes a big leap
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Professional and College Basketball Forums
8M posts
37.4K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Competitive Basketball players and enthusiasts. Talk about everything from the NBA to college basketball to even everything but basketball. It's all here!