AlbanyFan2018

I was just able to watch the replay on ESPN. I heard Mike on the broadcast say we played no zone, and maybe it was because we didn't want to show it again to UVM. I am not sure if I agree with that at this point in the season. As you said the defense is a mystery, and seeing the same mistakes over and over by the same group of guys just doesn't make sense. None of us know what they are being asked to do, but he either has the wrong combination of guys out there or he has confused the living daylights out of them. Either way that is a coaching problem.

and whatever the pregame meal was don't serve that again! 😀 It was like they ate Thanksgiving dinner before the game.

Hardly looking like a team fighting for their season.

I should have left at the half!

I had to pull over the car during Roger's interview with Coach Marr. You could absolutely hear the frustration in Scott's voice. I disagree with some of the comments about this being a poorly constructed team. Clearly there isn't an offensive horse on this team the coaching staff can ride as we have had in the past. There are some good athletes on the team, but not the high end guys like an Osika or McClancy, but we do have some solid guys in the midfield who can get up and down the field, and while we don't have the Lyle or Connor at attack there is a skilled group of guys. For the life of me I don't understand with a talented offensive mind, and Canadian in Thomson as the OC we are not running a more Canadian style offense based upon cutting, two man games, and quick passing. We don't have anyone who can break down a defense so why do we continue to see guys trying to do that? I am not going to single out players, having had one that was sometimes ripped on the forum, but we have guys repeatedly dodging into tackling dummies, trying to beat guys from X and it just ain't happening. If a defensive trio can't play a lick of non zone defense then we have the three wrong guys out there or they are being asked to do the wrong things. I think it is a combination of the two. The lack of off ball awareness is mind blowing. There has to be a combination of three guys, or maybe it is tweaking one or two that allows them to play better as a group. in past years it was a small middle getting beat which caused the defense to have to over rotate, but this year that is not really the case, and we just can not play defense. We have a one game season on Friday, and then the Yale and Penn games assuming we win, which we absolutely should, are basically scrimmages the last two games to figure out what the heck is going on, and restart for the AE playoffs. If I see the same garbage, and same guys playing defense and offensive guys dodging into walls then I will have to officially give up on the Danes until we have some major shake ups in the coaching staff/philosophy.

Dane Train lacrosse last night. A win as others have said that could give them all a lot of confidence. So good to see Ramos in the cage. Now that he can play, the way he gets transition going have to think he starts going forward.

We do have several JUCO/transfers making an impact on the roster now. I suspect if Covid had hit during our Thompson/Fields run we would have had a number of top transfers come to Albany. I couldn't even guess why Rutgers has become a top landing spot for so many players, other than playing in the Big 10. OCC will probably be our top pipeline for JUCO transfers, and I never heard if the coaching staff actively scours the top JUCO programs, and not sure what the hit rate is of guys moving from JUCO to Div I.

Well said. We have all been waiting to see that sort of fire from the team and the coaches. I talked with a few of them at the tailgate and you saw a definite positive feeling. A win will do that, but I got the sense as you said that whatever personnel adjustments that were made as well as how we are playing offense and defense have given them more confidence.

Definitely more of a Dane Train sort of effort. We don't have the offensive firepower, but if they play that hard the rest of the way they can still grab a tournament spot by winning the AE tournament. Can Bingo be the team to beat?

Hard to say if Scott has lost the fire or not. As I have said many times I believe he has the job as long as he wants it. From my vantage point during the recruiting process and while we were part of the team, Coach Marr is a big time delegator and relies upon his assistants more than a lot of coaches as well as strong senior leadership. I think Scott needs to reevaluate his commitment level, and surround himself with a staff that complements his strengths and weaknesses.

You lost me on one part of your post. I have said that I thought at the tail end of our time with the program that at least from my perspective I saw this coming, and it started when TD left the program. I agree with everything you said, and in the recent fund raising letter, Marr was praising the defense which again was lackluster at best.

I was hoping that the Maryland loss would fire everybody up, but wow I can't believe how rock bottom things are now. I have been sounding the alarm bell for awhile now, and hoped I would be wrong, but this is just sad and extremely disappointing. The program has been lost for several years IMO, and the chickens have unfortunately come home to roost. Time for a complete overhaul.

This is when the rubber meets the road. The AE is a total crapshoot at this point, and with Stony Brook still unable to play in the AE tournament, it is all about winning AE games, and getting better. I understand from one of my last dad's on the team, there was a lot of challenging going on this week. Coaches challenging players and vice versa, in a good way, so let's see if they come out like the rest of the season rests with a victory and as important improved play against Bingo.

D - you are getting your wish 😀 Coach just said going back to the two way middie system this week.

Not to pile on too much, but a quote from Coach Marr “I think we certainly have to regroup,” Marr said. “I told the boys after the game we all have to look in the mirror, including myself, and figure out what we’re going to do and how we’re going to approach next week with spring break. We’ve done a lot of different things since the spring, changed our system two or three times … We have to go back to the drawing board a little bit.”

Well said. It's long past time to find the best defensive coordinator/recruiter possible and if it is an alum great, but time to expand who is on the staff.

I can't speak to Gattuso or Brown, but my impression is/was that Scott gets to call all of his shots with minimal to no interference from the AD. However, there is no about UA's facilities are not where they need to be in terms of having an on campus indoor facility, team nutrition, and a few other things, but that is probably more about life at a SUNY school. I am not sure what Benson could do, but it feels like the University missed an opportunity with the great 5-6 year run of improving the facilities and athletic coffers. There are too many high school players chasing a limited amount of slots so when it comes to lacrosse I think this is more about the coaching staff, how they train and prepare, recruiting, etc., than the AD.

This schedule with this team is more than a bridge too far, but the teams we were on it would have been awesome. I do think the schedule can be a big plus in recruiting to a mid major school, but then you have to back it up. I LOVE your support for the program, and you are right, the AE is such an up and down league week to week there clearly is a path to the NCAA, especially with Stony Brook being in the penalty box for leaving. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I honestly don't see how this can be turned around this year or even next year. I can't remember if it was in the paper or the radio show, but when you hear the head coach saying we ran hard on a Monday before the first game on Saturday, then you don't have any hay in the barn. I just don't see the complementary parts on offense, in a set offense we don't have an outside shooter, and we don't have anyone who can dodge from X. Enough has been said about the defense. There are kids with a lot of skill on this team, but the hard work rarely gets put in during the summer and off season. I said it before, but how do you find out the week of the first game that you either don't have the guys to play two way middies or the team isn't in shape to play that style? Albany and teams like Albany have to be the hardest working teams in Div I lacrosse and the sad fact is we are not that.

I had to walk around the park a few times to cool off from that embarrassment, and that is what it was. I think some of you guys maybe have felt I have been a bit too negative lately, but I saw the unravelling of the program several years ago, and this is where we are now. I am never going to blast people on a public forum, but all I can say it is probably time for some reevaluating the program, coaches, where players are recruited from, and the player development program. I have said a bunch of times that I saw this train wreck coming during Tehoka's and TD's freshmen year, and then it really went into the weeds when TD left. His leaving wasn't necessarily the reason, but why he left IMO said a lot about what was and wasn't going on. The biggest issue is preparation in the off season, and player development. For example, look how much Miles Thompson and Blaze's bodies changed after Albany. The first year we played Maryland down in Delaware we got pushed around like rag dolls. There are some good guys standing around on the sideline that the coaches gave up on. It started when we lost to UVM three years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday when we were up 6-3 and Patterson hit the pipe on a wide open shot, the ball bounced to the UVM side, they scored, we lost the momentum and lost and it has been all downhill since then. IMO the coaches gave up on a lot of the guys on that team, and then we had the covid shortened season. I am very, very disappointed in the current state of affairs. I said before that Scott has probably earned lifetime employment if he wants it, but I am tired of the coach speak, and it is time for some big time changes. I haven't had a player on the team for two years now, but still hear a bit, and this team has lost confidence.

This year and maybe next will be the final years we see the fallout from the 5ht years and transfer super teams which is what Maryland is right now. Only Ramos stuck around, and for whatever reason he isn't playing. I agree with you but am going to disagree a bit. I can't say what is going on now, but Gleason, Cox, and Eccles were very good recruiters and evaluations of talent. Marr was very hands off, and other than Desko back in the day I probably saw Marr the next least amount actually on the road recruiting. He was very hands off, and delegated a lot to the other coaches. I don't know if that is still going on or not. There is a ton of talent out there. There are more kids playing high school lacrosse in more places, and not a lot of DI teams. The ACC is going to get the cream of the crop, but with 8-12 player classes, and 70 or so teams there are a lot or really good players out there, and they are all not in NY anymore.

IMO this is much more about player development and how they build the roster than in recruiting of individual players.

Don't know what is up with Ramos. He is still on the roster. I have to assume he is injured.

The difference in the 2nd half IMO was going to the zone and UMass not having crisp outside ball movement and someone who could can the 12+ yard shot. They continually tried to dodge GLE and jam it into the middle. Making that move was a great call, and through four games based upon the personnel we are going with, that probably needs to be our base defense or some combination of switching back and forth. We do have a lot of tall guys, with big wingspans who can disrupt passing lanes. We just don't play good team defense when it comes to sliding and ball watching. I find that odd, because we do play zone well which requires you to have a much bigger off ball presence. I haven't understood the defense since Maloney became the coordinator. I do think the offense will get a bit better with Yunker playing. He gives us that coach on the field to mix in with all of the young guys we are playing. I know UMass's best offensive player was out for the year, and another starter as well so we saw a pretty depleted team yesterday. Maryland has the guys who can stretch a zone defense so it will be interesting to see how we try to stop them.

If we rely on zone defense against teams that can really move the ball it will really get ugly. I am not sure what UMass was doing. They have a great coaching staff, and it looked like they didn't realize we were in a zone just about the entire second half. I think part of the problem on the offense is we are four games in and still looking for the combinations that will work together. We really don't have anyone who is going to break down a defense so it is going to be pushing the ball as you say when we have the chance, which I think we did for the most part, and a lot of crisp passing and cutting. The defense is very good in spurts when it comes to one on one defense, then it quickly breaks down with bad slides and ball watching. Again, tip of the cap to Heller who really made a lot of good in close saves today.