Not all of our March Impact Player Profiles come from slam dunk tournament teams, or power-6 teams. Some of our favorite potential players are the ones that haven’t shown up on too many team’s scouting reports come March.
When considering this description, one player that comes to mind is University of Vermont’s senior star Anthony Lamb, who was all over the court against Florida State, notching 16 points and 8 rebounds in an extremely close loss, and that was with one of his poorer shooting performances. He had a few uncharacteristic misses at the free throw line, which he referred to as something “he’ll sit on all year”. Lamb has come back with a vengeance this year, averaging 17 points and 7 boards a game, and that is in an American East conference that knows first-hand about Lamb’s abilities, often double or even triple-teaming the 6’6 forward. After a handful of tough conference games in which he was held to 12 or less points in four consecutive match-ups, Lamb has adjusted to the added attention, notching three straight games of at least 20 points, including his most recent effort – a season-high 33-point onslaught on Albany, where he shot 10-17, as well as 10-10 from the charity stripe.
That Lamb is adjusting to being the center of attention for every opponent could be bad news for Vermont’s potential opponents in March. Now the America East almost never gets more than one team in the tournament, so the Catamounts are not a slam dunk to make the dance, as they’ll almost certainly need to win their conference. And if they do, the Catamounts will be served a tough match-up as a 13th or 14th seed. But, much like when they played Florida State last year, Lamb won’t be the center of anyone’s attention in March, as blue-bloods don’t often regard mid-major stars worth double-teaming. This means Lamb will have an opportunity to put the Catamounts on his back, and help Vermont make an inspiring underdog run in March.
They have to get there first, but if they do, consider this a warning to any ranked team that draws the Catamounts: Anthony Lamb is coming, and, after falling just short last year, he has a mission to accomplish.
College Kids Talking College Sports 