ualbany mlax UAlbany MLAX Game 5 at University of Maryland, College Park, MD Saturday MAR 12, 2022

[Dane96]

46 minutes ago, HOF2013 said:

Not blaming his coaching, blaming the recruiting.  Def seems to be an issue.  Need a better D coach, just saying

Who is responsible for recruiting?  Serious question. 

[bob87]

42 minutes ago, cwdickens said:

Final: Maryland 24 UAlbany 6 .....quoting someone from an earlier comment "UGH"

Wow. Between the hideous weather ( no baseball and softball today)  and a 10 am start, glad I cancelled this trip and am spending all day inside at Harvard. Ivy league and ecac hockey quarterfinals game. 

[cwdickens]

While assistants go out and scout players  .... bottom line Coach Marr is responsible for recruitment .... problem is with more teams playing lacrosse ....talent tends to choose the power conferences ACC, BIG Ten and IVY .... the AE schools rarely recruit a top one hundred player .... and the transfer portal is an issue for AE schools

[AlbanyFan2018]

2 hours ago, HOF2013 said:

I just can't watch anymore.  Why not put a different goalie in?

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

[AlbanyFan2018]

2 hours ago, HOF2013 said:

No not questioning that at all.   They have to do a better job recruiting...  NEED defensemen and two way middies who are quick laterally not just fast.

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

[AlbanyFan2018]

44 minutes ago, cwdickens said:

While assistants go out and scout players  .... bottom line Coach Marr is responsible for recruitment .... problem is with more teams playing lacrosse ....talent tends to choose the power conferences ACC, BIG Ten and IVY .... the AE schools rarely recruit a top one hundred player .... and the transfer portal is an issue for AE schools

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.

 

[AlbanyFan2018]

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.

[dslyank]

You all said it. EMBARASMENT. 

I really never understood why Scott  found it necessary to schedule 6 of 7 top 20/10 OOC games. A couple/3 maybe? But I am not giving up on this team though. Two much talent there and the AmEast teams including vT and Brook also getting beat today. Unless, as some say CONFIDENCE is totally down the tube, there is time and an avenue to turn this thing around. Maybe its' just blind HOPE? 

I DO agree that UA whether it is lack of administration support, coaching, bad recruiting , or bad player development LOST an amazing opportunity, by NOT taking advantage of its final four appearance. We certainly can no longer compete with the elite.

Edited March 12, 2022 by dslyank

[Dane96]

35 minutes ago, AlbanyFan2018 said:

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

This.  It wasn't like we were regularly pulling in players that were ALWAYS top 100.  We pulled in blue collar kids or kids with talent but not a well-rounded game.  Then we molded them.  Something has literally been lost the last few years...and I don't know if we can get it back.  As another poster stated, with other schools jumping in the pool...we need to right this and right it fast. 

[dslyank]

Just now, Dane96 said:

This.  It wasn't like we were regularly pulling in players that were ALWAYS top 100.  We pulled in blue collar kids or kids with talent but not a well-rounded game.  Then we molded them.  Something has literally been lost the last few years...and I don't know if we can get it back.  As another poster stated, with other schools jumping in the pool...we need to right this and right it fast. 

Agree 100%. I've said repeatedly for instance, two-way middies are NOT born that way. Everyone, wants to be the alpha scorer; but in our dane train run, (like you said) kids knew their roles and worked hard to develop and contribute in any way possible.

[AlbanyFan2018]

29 minutes ago, dslyank said:

You all said it. EMBARASMENT. 

I really never understood why Scott  found it necessary to schedule 6 of 7 top 20/10 OOC games. A couple/3 maybe? But I am not giving up on this team though. Two much talent there and the AmEast teams including vT and Brook also getting beat today. Unless, as some say CONFIDENCE is totally down the tube, there is time and an avenue to turn this thing around. Maybe its' just blind HOPE? 

I DO agree that UA whether it is lack of administration support, coaching, bad recruiting , or bad player development LOST an amazing opportunity, by NOT taking advantage of its final four appearance. We certainly can no longer compete with the elite.

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. 

 

[cwdickens]

4 hours ago, HOF2013 said:

No not questioning that at all.   They have to do a better job recruiting...  NEED defensemen and two way middies who are quick laterally not just fast.

The comment about to me says it all to me for MLAX .... our problem is not hard to figure .... achieving the solutions are the difficult part .... there is to be a common thread whether football, basketball and MLAX ....recruitment, coaching and scheduling .... the unhappiness and disappointment in the big three men sports continues

[nysteve661]

25 minutes ago, cwdickens said:

.... the unhappiness and disappointment in the big three men sports continues

Bingo!  And we have a winner.  Usually comes down to management who are ultimately responsible for success and/or failure.  The criticism for these three men's sports had fallen to Gattuso, Brown, and now Marr, certainly most warranted.  Who is the one common denominator?  The man above them, Benson.  We may not see success till Rodriguez replaces him with someone who can make the tough decisions, provide the best leadership, and the best hires when necessary(too soon to tell on DK).

[AlbanyFan2018]

32 minutes ago, nysteve661 said:

Bingo!  And we have a winner.  Usually comes down to management who are ultimately responsible for success and/or failure.  The criticism for these three men's sports had fallen to Gattuso, Brown, and now Marr, certainly most warranted.  Who is the one common denominator?  The man above them, Benson.  We may not see success till Rodriguez replaces him with someone who can make the tough decisions, provide the best leadership, and the best hires when necessary(too soon to tell on DK).

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.

[Laxdawg20]

Benson is not hurting the lax program at all. It’s not like they do not have administrative support & they don’t need help in getting admissions in on potential players, it’s a state school not Notre Dame. I still like having the very tough schedule have to give the recruits the visibility of playing programs like Maryland, etc. they always  have offensive players never an issue but they have to build up the D and have a legit D coordinator, not an offensive middle running it. The D has been brutal to watch to start this season.