AmEast Tournament and Beyond

[dslyank]

OK. Monday morning QB's or attacks/middies if you prefer; how do we proceed from here??

My first thought is if Connor can play at all, move him OFF the ball. Remember he came here as a scorer first and only became the feed man later. Tehoka is suppose to be an incredible passer--maybe it is time he shows it; or let Davis or Reh run the point if you will. 

Early in the year, when the D was playing well Perla, Fillipowski, Hill and others seemed to be getting a lot of minutes over some of our "regulars"; maybe it is time to get them back in there again?????

OK. Coaches, former players, et All;  how do we get back on track????? Even if you have thrown the towel in feel free to reply--what we say here means @#$%^ anyhow.

[AlbanyFan2018]

The little glimpse I got into Connor's initial injury is that it was more serious, and was at least a 4-6 week recovery. When he went down on that penalty against Harvard that set him back even more. I applaud his courage, but the long game and with the wins we had in the bag Albany was going to get into the tournament.

I haven't talked with anyone since the game, but my gut says Connor is done unless we make it Memorial Day weekend and then maybe, just maybe he can get on the field.

I think our close defense is stronger, and more athletic overall then last year, but the loss of Osika is huge at the SSDM. I don't know what the situation is with Zellen, but we need some bigger bodies up top. We have given up way too many soft alley dodge shots this year, and that may be part of the reason for the early slides on defense.

Ron John is a bigger guy who saw some time early, but none recently, but overall our SSDM's while very tough are under sized. We need to fix the rotation or concept heading into the tournament. 

Offensively, I have been surprised from the get go that we do not have more Canadian concepts. Merrick coaches the Canadian team with Brown from DU, and we don't do anywhere near the picking and backside stuff, nor do we spin the ball like Denver. I don't know if that is a personnel issue or what, but with Fields out we don't seem to have anyone that can consistently beat his man one on one other than when McClancy inverts. We have several really good catch and shoot guys, but Eccles isn't that guy. Both Burgmaster's have shown an ability at times to create and shoot, but that is about it. We have to find some way to create hands free opportunities for our outside shooters.

I think Tehoka has been banged up for a while and it very well could be the freshmen wall. Other than the Syracuse game he really hasn't been effective the entire year. He still has the ability to make the incredible pass, handle, or shot, but at least now in his development I don't think he has shown that the offense can run through him. He just draws way too many double teams which leads to turnovers. Diamond has shown some ability to play X, but does he have the confidence?? I don't know. Justin, more so the last two years, showed the ability to get around X and make a shot, but lately he has been just about exclusively an off ball guy. Can he  take over the offense now?? I don't know.

I think we are in trouble, and I say that because even when we were scoring 15-20 goals a game the offense was rarely pretty, and when the second and third line guys came in I saw more hero/summer ball stuff then guys working a system. I think the way the offense is constructed now we would have a hard time scoring more than 6-8 goals against a quality defense with a stud FOGO like we saw on Sunday so to go far, surprisingly it is going to come down to the defense and JD IMO.

 

 

[uofalbany]

We need matchups against anyone but Yale or Denver in the tournament, considering their fo guys.

I thought TD would dominate against everyone. I was wrong.

 

[JPompo6]

Wow.... not to be critical of other posters but it was 1 really bad game. A game where one of the best players in the history of college lacrosse goes down with and injury in the first quarter and one in which we faced one of two face off men who is about as skilled as ours but stronger. If we have to play Denver or Yale in the first round, yes we might be done for. That is not going to happen. Maybe in the second if the committee hates us as much as I think.

The thing I am most concerned about is the fact that the staff has had 4 years to figure out the ten man ride going back to the collapse against Notre Dame in the Qfinals and somehow seems to still be perplexed. I have heard to connor will be able to play in some capacity when we need him. He might be moved to an off ball position, like he was suppose to be doing against Yale, but he will be playing none the less. 

In future games against all teams not named DU and Yale, this is how I expect the game to go. TD wins the vast majority of face-off's, we tone down the offense a bit and use the 4 dodge (wing dodge) and use the initial dodge and pick/roll to generate a slide then sling it to the opposite high mid who now has a clear 1-1 and see what happens. The more "cautious" offense leads to less time on D which allows them to play harder for longer. If you think our D is the problem, it isn't.... Stone is one of the best UA has EVER had, if not the best. Our D gives up goals because they get worn down and aren't as tuned in due to the reliance on our offense to score a ton of goals. 

I would hope that the guy getting paid the big bucks gets the clearing situation figured out in a hurry. That's my POV..... 

[JPompo6]

^^^^ UALBANY hahah that is too good. 

[AlbanyFan2018]

You are way more knowledgeable than I am, but I see this as a troubling trend and not just one bad game. I will agree that this was a pretty bad perfect storm match up especially with little to no prep time and I also agree the defensive woes at time IMO have not been with the close D guys, more SSDM's and a penchant for one pole in particular (maybe he is being told to do so) but sliding when there is no need to slide.

Edited April 23, 2018 by AlbanyFan2018

[JPompo6]

I wasn't saying that. I think we can agree that there have been some glaring issues that go under the rug because we keep winning. As much as I realllllllyyy don't like Quint, he has been right that the AE schedule makes it hard to get better. That is why I am happy we played Yale and under tough circumstances. I think even with a healthy Fields we would have lost. Yale is playing GREAT right now. They are so under rated it isn't funny. 6 guys taken in the MLL draft speaks to that. 

I just wanted to get ahead of the "THIS SEASON IS OVER" talk. I agree with you on another point.... put Fields in one of those braces you see lineman where and stick him on the crease.

[AlbanyFan2018]

Agree with you and as much as it pains me also agree with Quint on the AE schedule. 

[uofalbany]

Quint has always been a downer on Albany, or maybe just a realist.  Anyone following UA to even to the smallest degree knows the AE is a major hinderance to testing our skills.

I’m still pissed that Benson sucks at scheduling.  Glad we faced the adversity now rather than the early round of the tourny

Edited April 23, 2018 by uofalbany

[olddog71]

The loss yesterday at Yale was certainly disheartening, without the injury to Connor even more so.

I rank this loss for 2017-18 up there with the men's basketball loss to Stony Brook with the greatest disappointments of this year's athletic schedule. 

I look back about ten - twelve years to the time when UA won its first Commissioner's Cup. How thrilled I was, and then I feel spoiled now. Times have changed.

[AlbanyFan2018]

2 hours ago, uofalbany said:

Quint has always been a downer on Albany, or maybe just a realist.  Anyone following UA to even to the smallest degree knows the AE is a major hinderance to testing our skills.

I’m still pissed that Benson sucks at scheduling.  Glad we faced the adversity now rather than the early round of the tourny

Don't  quote me on this, but I am pretty sure the scheduling is completely up to Coach Marr. I heard him on several occasions that he tried to get Rutgers on the schedule this year but it fell through and he is or was in talks with Tiffany at UVA. Not a lot of people want to play the Danes.

[alum73]

3 hours ago, uofalbany said:

Quint has always been a downer on Albany, or maybe just a realist.  Anyone following UA to even to the smallest degree knows the AE is a major hinderance to testing our skills.

I’m still pissed that Benson sucks at scheduling.  Glad we faced the adversity now rather than the early round of the tourny

Do you know for a fact that Benson is doing the scheduling?  I don't.

[nysteve661]

Listened to Marr on Wylands show.  He is a players coach.  Did not seem upset or critical by teams performance  in specific areas although the questions were fluffy.  Why not ask him about ground ball effort losing 40 of the 55?  Said team doesn't adjust well when Fields came out.   Why not coach?  Happened before.  Also said they need to work on 10 man ride on clears.   Has that not been practiced?  Can't adjust in-game?  Have to wait till this week to work on it?  As for Fields, waiting for dr but said if good, can play Saturday.  Are we nuts?  If this team can't be Hartford without Fields, then we don't deserve a bid.  

[HOF2013]

21 hours ago, JPompo6 said:

I wasn't saying that. I think we can agree that there have been some glaring issues that go under the rug because we keep winning. As much as I realllllllyyy don't like Quint, he has been right that the AE schedule makes it hard to get better. That is why I am happy we played Yale and under tough circumstances. I think even with a healthy Fields we would have lost. Yale is playing GREAT right now. They are so under rated it isn't funny. 6 guys taken in the MLL draft speaks to that. 

I just wanted to get ahead of the "THIS SEASON IS OVER" talk. I agree with you on another point.... put Fields in one of those braces you see lineman where and stick him on the crease.

And tape the frigging knee UNDER the brace!

[HOF2013]

23 hours ago, dslyank said:

OK. Monday morning QB's or attacks/middies if you prefer; how do we proceed from here??

My first thought is if Connor can play at all, move him OFF the ball. Remember he came here as a scorer first and only became the feed man later. Tehoka is suppose to be an incredible passer--maybe it is time he shows it; or let Davis or Reh run the point if you will. 

Early in the year, when the D was playing well Perla, Fillipowski, Hill and others seemed to be getting a lot of minutes over some of our "regulars"; maybe it is time to get them back in there again?????

OK. Coaches, former players, et All;  how do we get back on track????? Even if you have thrown the towel in feel free to reply--what we say here means @#$%^ anyhow.

The Burmasters on D is NOT working.  They are too small and just get pushed around.  Sorry but facts is facts folks.  Put the big guys in - I agree!