Maryland 2024

[keno in reno]

Blowing half a dozen clears, losing almost every quarter faceoff, and being unable to close out a game like that is what Unserious teams do.

It was nice to see Stobaugh see the field, pick up a great GB, feed Erksa for a goal….and then never see the field again. Meanwhile Owen Murphy who is shooting 16% coming into the game takes the last shot. He’s 23 years old by the way.

Shoutout to Maltz for the great 4Q. Dudes always been a gamer.

Yes that was a great assist. He did get in 1 more time and they actually scored.
I'm fine with Murphy taking a shot. I mean who else is going to. He had a good look and it worked against Richmond. We were only in the game because of a couple fluke goals, and Logan played well.

[AllaboutLax]

Good look for final shot but bad placement. The offense is a work in progress and there were a couple of new looks. Face off's were an issue and 7 had 4 turnovers. Got to clean that up.

[Finster]

Look at the game winning goal.

https://x.com/lacrossenetwork/status/17 ... 06937?s=46

51 and 50 particularly just ball watching. The entire defense on the wrong side of the ball.

Ugly playing by Maryland.

[keno in reno]

Good look for final shot but bad placement. The offense is a work in progress and there were a couple of new looks. Face off's were an issue and 7 had 4 turnovers. Got to clean that up.

The offense is past work in progress. It's just not above mediocre to average. There aren't many games on the schedule where you can say Maryland wins the offensive matchup.
I get Erksa up top. Putting Kelly up top is just a wast of time for him and the team. He's not a middie, he's a good wing shooter. If you're not gonna play him at attack, it's just a wasted 80 seconds and that's not his fault.
We lose every ground ball battle, which is huge. Tillman's a hall of fame coach, but he's not being his best this year.

[youthathletics]

Look at the game winning goal.

https://x.com/lacrossenetwork/status/17 ... 06937?s=46

51 and 50 particularly just ball watching. The entire defense on the wrong side of the ball.

Ugly playing by Maryland.

51 had the GB, and decided to one hand cradle and lost it…unfortunate.

[Finster]

Look at the game winning goal.

https://x.com/lacrossenetwork/status/17 ... 06937?s=46

51 and 50 particularly just ball watching. The entire defense on the wrong side of the ball.

Ugly playing by Maryland.

51 had the GB, and decided to one hand cradle and lost it…unfortunate.

Then just stood there.

[jff97]

Good look for final shot but bad placement. The offense is a work in progress and there were a couple of new looks. Face off's were an issue and 7 had 4 turnovers. Got to clean that up.

The offense is past work in progress. It's just not above mediocre to average. There aren't many games on the schedule where you can say Maryland wins the offensive matchup.
I get Erksa up top. Putting Kelly up top is just a wast of time for him and the team. He's not a middie, he's a good wing shooter. If you're not gonna play him at attack, it's just a wasted 80 seconds and that's not his fault.
We lose every ground ball battle, which is huge. Tillman's a hall of fame coach, but he's not being his best this year.

Great point about GBs. Seemed like Michigan was outhustling Maryland and playing with more grit.

[jrn19]

Michigan won the two games last year in blowouts. You’d think this would light a fire under Maryland to come out and get revenge. Instead Michigan seemed more fired up by some slight over a handshake last year and got the early start - and while they didn’t take advantage of it; they looked like the team with more intensity all game. Same story this team has had for over a month now.

The second midfield is a mess cause they’re trying to get as many loyal soldiers playing time as possible instead of just fielding the best 3 players for the team. Whittier looked good today, I’m not sure where he’s been for weeks. Mentioned Stobaugh already.

Clearing was a problem against ND. Then they had an issue with Brown. It was again a reoccurring issue against UVA. It all burned down today. Instead of being fixed and improved on over the last month.

These are all things that have just not been the case with the program for a long time. Something is not clicking. There were things off and similar issues last year but they still had some experienced heads and they turned the corner after a tough start. This year it’s nosediving. It’s just not what Maryland lacrosse has been. Something’s gotta change to get things pointed in the right direction cause the status quo right now is not working. The inputs are spitting out average results relative to where this program has been. And maybe that has something to do with the inputs, but that’s on coaching as well.

Hopefully they can start next week. Would be a huge, huge win

[coda]

Michigan won the two games last year in blowouts. You’d think this would light a fire under Maryland to come out and get revenge. Instead Michigan seemed more fired up by some slight over a handshake last year and got the early start - and while they didn’t take advantage of it; they looked like the team with more intensity all game. Same story this team has had for over a month now.

The second midfield is a mess cause they’re trying to get as many loyal soldiers playing time as possible instead of just fielding the best 3 players for the team. Whittier looked good today, I’m not sure where he’s been for weeks. Mentioned Stobaugh already.

Clearing was a problem against ND. Then they had an issue with Brown. It was again a reoccurring issue against UVA. It all burned down today. Instead of being fixed and improved on over the last month.

These are all things that have just not been the case with the program for a long time. Something is not clicking. There were things off and similar issues last year but they still had some experienced heads and they turned the corner after a tough start. This year it’s nosediving. It’s just not what Maryland lacrosse has been. Something’s gotta change to get things pointed in the right direction cause the status quo right now is not working. The inputs are spitting out average results relative to where this program has been. And maybe that has something to do with the inputs, but that’s on coaching as well.

Hopefully they can start next week. Would be a huge, huge win

I agree with this. It’s hard to explain, but for years the one thing you knew about a Tillman Maryland team was they were not going to beat themselves. You had to earn the W. They were going to play great defense (still true), compete on GBs, and take care of the ball. That hasn’t been the case, since mid/late season last year.

[keno in reno]

Michigan won the two games last year in blowouts. You’d think this would light a fire under Maryland to come out and get revenge. Instead Michigan seemed more fired up by some slight over a handshake last year and got the early start - and while they didn’t take advantage of it; they looked like the team with more intensity all game. Same story this team has had for over a month now.

The second midfield is a mess cause they’re trying to get as many loyal soldiers playing time as possible instead of just fielding the best 3 players for the team. Whittier looked good today, I’m not sure where he’s been for weeks. Mentioned Stobaugh already.

Clearing was a problem against ND. Then they had an issue with Brown. It was again a reoccurring issue against UVA. It all burned down today. Instead of being fixed and improved on over the last month.

These are all things that have just not been the case with the program for a long time. Something is not clicking. There were things off and similar issues last year but they still had some experienced heads and they turned the corner after a tough start. This year it’s nosediving. It’s just not what Maryland lacrosse has been. Something’s gotta change to get things pointed in the right direction cause the status quo right now is not working. The inputs are spitting out average results relative to where this program has been. And maybe that has something to do with the inputs, but that’s on coaching as well.

Hopefully they can start next week. Would be a huge, huge win

I agree with this. It’s hard to explain, but for years the one thing you knew about a Tillman Maryland team was they were not going to beat themselves. You had to earn the W. They were going to play great defense (still true), compete on GBs, and take care of the ball. That hasn’t been the case, since mid/late season last year.

It's not at the Duke/Danowski post 2014 feel yet, but it is noticeable that the talent level has dropped (understandable considering the levels they've been at) but they are getting seemingly outhyped, outhustled and even outsmarted many, if not most games since last year. Or maybe it's just a talent deficit.

[Pork42]

This team acts like machine. Too Predictable. Time to play street ball be creative take chances, start laying people out and have some fun. Play with nothing to lose and maybe squeak out a few more wins.

[a fan]

Michigan won the two games last year in blowouts. You’d think this would light a fire under Maryland to come out and get revenge. Instead Michigan seemed more fired up by some slight over a handshake last year and got the early start - and while they didn’t take advantage of it; they looked like the team with more intensity all game. Same story this team has had for over a month now.

The second midfield is a mess cause they’re trying to get as many loyal soldiers playing time as possible instead of just fielding the best 3 players for the team. Whittier looked good today, I’m not sure where he’s been for weeks. Mentioned Stobaugh already.

Clearing was a problem against ND. Then they had an issue with Brown. It was again a reoccurring issue against UVA. It all burned down today. Instead of being fixed and improved on over the last month.

These are all things that have just not been the case with the program for a long time. Something is not clicking. There were things off and similar issues last year but they still had some experienced heads and they turned the corner after a tough start. This year it’s nosediving. It’s just not what Maryland lacrosse has been. Something’s gotta change to get things pointed in the right direction cause the status quo right now is not working. The inputs are spitting out average results relative to where this program has been. And maybe that has something to do with the inputs, but that’s on coaching as well.

Hopefully they can start next week. Would be a huge, huge win

I agree with this. It’s hard to explain, but for years the one thing you knew about a Tillman Maryland team was they were not going to beat themselves. You had to earn the W. They were going to play great defense (still true), compete on GBs, and take care of the ball. That hasn’t been the case, since mid/late season last year.

It's not at the Duke/Danowski post 2014 feel yet, but it is noticeable that the talent level has dropped (understandable considering the levels they've been at) but they are getting seemingly outhyped, outhustled and even outsmarted many, if not most games since last year. Or maybe it's just a talent deficit.

Talent. You'll notice the griping about bad coaching is hitting every single Fan Thread here.

For 10 or so years, UMd has had players that, compared with nearly every other team, that were a little bit faster, a little bit better on ground balls, a little bit better in the cage, and a little bit more accurate with shooting. Add that up, and you're in the Final Four every year no matter what your coach does.

I say this as a Syracuse fan who's dealt with the same talent deficit, watching them get beat all up and down the field for several years now. Same thing has hit UNC, Duke, Loyola, Yale, Denver, and on and on. After making the FF loaded with transfers, how's Rutgers looking the last couple years? .

I'll say this, though....the games are SO much more fun to watch when 4/5's of the schedule aren't blowouts. It's SO hard to win these days, and I think we're all still used to seeing a team like Delaware on the schedule in January, and chalking up a win before the first faceoff. Now? If your team doesn't bring their A game, they're gonna go home all sorts of unhappy playing almost any D1 team. Almost.

Heck the #1 ranked team in the Nation was just dropped by an unranked Boston squad. Has that ever happened before?

imho.

[Wheels]

The offensive scheme isn't working for this group of players. There is nothing happening off ball in dangerous spots this year. Erksa played more up top today, which I think is a good thing. He's just not big enough to dodge against big defensemen that are mobile enough to stay with him. Think it's time to adopt some of what UVA used to do with Moore and Shellenberger. But it's noticeable that there's hardly anyone getting open off ball who is in dangerous spots. This isn't about beating a guy because there are several guys who can win match-ups. Once they do and the defenses start rotating, the ball never ends up in a stick that's in a dangerous spot.

The lack of early and transition offense is killing them. Right now, according to LaxRef, the Terps are 61st in the nation time to first shot. In previous seasons, you could count on 2 or 3 goals a game from transition or early offense. You rarely even see the Terps try anything early or push in transition.

McNaney has been below 50% in raw save percentage for 4 straight games. It wasn't like he was bad today. He didn't give up any bad goals this week. He made one really good save early in the game, but he's not stealing a save or two like he used to. Again, no bad goals today, but he wasn't a difference maker today.

Tills is being stubborn with Wierman. Coming into the game today, Wietfeldt had won 18-24 against Wierman over 2 games last season. He didn't win a face-off in the first quarter. He won 5 of 9 in the second. He went 6-13 in the second half. At some point, don't you at least give Keethler a couple of reps to change up the pace a bit?

As JRN said, the 2nd MF line is a serious problem. They look like the first midfield line did last season.

6 failed clears today. In two of the last 4 games, they've been below 90%. They were one gb away from at least having the chance to hold for the final possession. Instead it ended up in the back of their own net.

Headed to Happy Valley next weekend and staring down AQ or bust. When your whole strategy is to take the air out of the ball on offense, you're going to get into a bunch of 1 goal games. Anything can happen in 1-goal games. Of the remaining 4 games, there's 1 you feel good about (sorry Rutgers fans). Even the OSU game is going to be a grind. The only thing they do well is play defense. That's going to be another 1 goal game.

[Essexfenwick]

Wierman might be wearing down.

[youthathletics]

Michigan won the two games last year in blowouts. You’d think this would light a fire under Maryland to come out and get revenge. Instead Michigan seemed more fired up by some slight over a handshake last year and got the early start - and while they didn’t take advantage of it; they looked like the team with more intensity all game. Same story this team has had for over a month now.

The second midfield is a mess cause they’re trying to get as many loyal soldiers playing time as possible instead of just fielding the best 3 players for the team. Whittier looked good today, I’m not sure where he’s been for weeks. Mentioned Stobaugh already.

Clearing was a problem against ND. Then they had an issue with Brown. It was again a reoccurring issue against UVA. It all burned down today. Instead of being fixed and improved on over the last month.

These are all things that have just not been the case with the program for a long time. Something is not clicking. There were things off and similar issues last year but they still had some experienced heads and they turned the corner after a tough start. This year it’s nosediving. It’s just not what Maryland lacrosse has been. Something’s gotta change to get things pointed in the right direction cause the status quo right now is not working. The inputs are spitting out average results relative to where this program has been. And maybe that has something to do with the inputs, but that’s on coaching as well.

Hopefully they can start next week. Would be a huge, huge win

I agree with this. It’s hard to explain, but for years the one thing you knew about a Tillman Maryland team was they were not going to beat themselves. You had to earn the W. They were going to play great defense (still true), compete on GBs, and take care of the ball. That hasn’t been the case, since mid/late season last year.

It's not at the Duke/Danowski post 2014 feel yet, but it is noticeable that the talent level has dropped (understandable considering the levels they've been at) but they are getting seemingly outhyped, outhustled and even outsmarted many, if not most games since last year. Or maybe it's just a talent deficit.

Talent. You'll notice the griping about bad coaching is hitting every single Fan Thread here.

For 10 or so years, UMd has had players that, compared with nearly every other team, that were a little bit faster, a little bit better on ground balls, a little bit better in the cage, and a little bit more accurate with shooting. Add that up, and you're in the Final Four every year no matter what your coach does.

I say this as a Syracuse fan who's dealt with the same talent deficit, watching them get beat all up and down the field for several years now. Same thing has hit UNC, Duke, Loyola, Yale, Denver, and on and on. After making the FF loaded with transfers, how's Rutgers looking the last couple years? .

I'll say this, though....the games are SO much more fun to watch when 4/5's of the schedule aren't blowouts. It's SO hard to win these days, and I think we're all still used to seeing a team like Delaware on the schedule in January, and chalking up a win before the first faceoff. Now? If your team doesn't bring their A game, they're gonna go home all sorts of unhappy playing almost any D1 team. Almost.

Heck the #1 ranked team in the Nation was just dropped by an unranked Boston squad. Has that ever happened before?

imho.

You are not wrong. Take notice of what the teams that have slightly risen above the pack are doing. And those of the past that had success then faded a bit.

They each played (more) freely, as if they are playing pickup in the backyard, with the green light, and most importantly, a chemistry of the 10 in live action. It was Denver in the Matthews era, Albany with the Thompson’s, Terps with Rambo, Brown with Malloy, PSU with Ament, now UVA and ND currently, with Cuse and Michigan, knocking on the door and Army AND JHU in that same discussion.

I vividly recall Tillman telling the world that Rambo helped him loosen up when he told Tills “we got this Coach”.

Terps currently do not have those guys (yet) and I do not believe Phipps has shown the creativity elsewhere either.

[coda]

Michigan won the two games last year in blowouts. You’d think this would light a fire under Maryland to come out and get revenge. Instead Michigan seemed more fired up by some slight over a handshake last year and got the early start - and while they didn’t take advantage of it; they looked like the team with more intensity all game. Same story this team has had for over a month now.

The second midfield is a mess cause they’re trying to get as many loyal soldiers playing time as possible instead of just fielding the best 3 players for the team. Whittier looked good today, I’m not sure where he’s been for weeks. Mentioned Stobaugh already.

Clearing was a problem against ND. Then they had an issue with Brown. It was again a reoccurring issue against UVA. It all burned down today. Instead of being fixed and improved on over the last month.

These are all things that have just not been the case with the program for a long time. Something is not clicking. There were things off and similar issues last year but they still had some experienced heads and they turned the corner after a tough start. This year it’s nosediving. It’s just not what Maryland lacrosse has been. Something’s gotta change to get things pointed in the right direction cause the status quo right now is not working. The inputs are spitting out average results relative to where this program has been. And maybe that has something to do with the inputs, but that’s on coaching as well.

Hopefully they can start next week. Would be a huge, huge win

I agree with this. It’s hard to explain, but for years the one thing you knew about a Tillman Maryland team was they were not going to beat themselves. You had to earn the W. They were going to play great defense (still true), compete on GBs, and take care of the ball. That hasn’t been the case, since mid/late season last year.

It's not at the Duke/Danowski post 2014 feel yet, but it is noticeable that the talent level has dropped (understandable considering the levels they've been at) but they are getting seemingly outhyped, outhustled and even outsmarted many, if not most games since last year. Or maybe it's just a talent deficit.

Talent. You'll notice the griping about bad coaching is hitting every single Fan Thread here.

For 10 or so years, UMd has had players that, compared with nearly every other team, that were a little bit faster, a little bit better on ground balls, a little bit better in the cage, and a little bit more accurate with shooting. Add that up, and you're in the Final Four every year no matter what your coach does.

I say this as a Syracuse fan who's dealt with the same talent deficit, watching them get beat all up and down the field for several years now. Same thing has hit UNC, Duke, Loyola, Yale, Denver, and on and on. After making the FF loaded with transfers, how's Rutgers looking the last couple years? .

I'll say this, though....the games are SO much more fun to watch when 4/5's of the schedule aren't blowouts. It's SO hard to win these days, and I think we're all still used to seeing a team like Delaware on the schedule in January, and chalking up a win before the first faceoff. Now? If your team doesn't bring their A game, they're gonna go home all sorts of unhappy playing almost any D1 team. Almost.

Heck the #1 ranked team in the Nation was just dropped by an unranked Boston squad. Has that ever happened before?

imho.

I think there is legit talent on Maryland. You can put together a nice offense around Erksa, Spanos, and Malaver. I do think the offense is in desperate need of a stretch shooter.

[[email protected]]

Unfortunately I think we are actually seeing the true talent of the players without having the likes of a Jared or Logan...the concern is that it does not appear that Erksa or Spanos have taken a step forward but have leveled off, last year they were the unknown but now other teams focus on them and they are struggling...and there really is no younger guy that has played that makes you think that there is some one waiting in the wings...the lack of grit is discouraging....at this point they might have to win the Big Ten tournament to make the tournament...and if I am Tills I am using the next 4 game to prepare for the Big Ten tournament..

[a fan]

Michigan won the two games last year in blowouts. You’d think this would light a fire under Maryland to come out and get revenge. Instead Michigan seemed more fired up by some slight over a handshake last year and got the early start - and while they didn’t take advantage of it; they looked like the team with more intensity all game. Same story this team has had for over a month now.

The second midfield is a mess cause they’re trying to get as many loyal soldiers playing time as possible instead of just fielding the best 3 players for the team. Whittier looked good today, I’m not sure where he’s been for weeks. Mentioned Stobaugh already.

Clearing was a problem against ND. Then they had an issue with Brown. It was again a reoccurring issue against UVA. It all burned down today. Instead of being fixed and improved on over the last month.

These are all things that have just not been the case with the program for a long time. Something is not clicking. There were things off and similar issues last year but they still had some experienced heads and they turned the corner after a tough start. This year it’s nosediving. It’s just not what Maryland lacrosse has been. Something’s gotta change to get things pointed in the right direction cause the status quo right now is not working. The inputs are spitting out average results relative to where this program has been. And maybe that has something to do with the inputs, but that’s on coaching as well.

Hopefully they can start next week. Would be a huge, huge win

I agree with this. It’s hard to explain, but for years the one thing you knew about a Tillman Maryland team was they were not going to beat themselves. You had to earn the W. They were going to play great defense (still true), compete on GBs, and take care of the ball. That hasn’t been the case, since mid/late season last year.

It's not at the Duke/Danowski post 2014 feel yet, but it is noticeable that the talent level has dropped (understandable considering the levels they've been at) but they are getting seemingly outhyped, outhustled and even outsmarted many, if not most games since last year. Or maybe it's just a talent deficit.

Talent. You'll notice the griping about bad coaching is hitting every single Fan Thread here.

For 10 or so years, UMd has had players that, compared with nearly every other team, that were a little bit faster, a little bit better on ground balls, a little bit better in the cage, and a little bit more accurate with shooting. Add that up, and you're in the Final Four every year no matter what your coach does.

I say this as a Syracuse fan who's dealt with the same talent deficit, watching them get beat all up and down the field for several years now. Same thing has hit UNC, Duke, Loyola, Yale, Denver, and on and on. After making the FF loaded with transfers, how's Rutgers looking the last couple years? .

I'll say this, though....the games are SO much more fun to watch when 4/5's of the schedule aren't blowouts. It's SO hard to win these days, and I think we're all still used to seeing a team like Delaware on the schedule in January, and chalking up a win before the first faceoff. Now? If your team doesn't bring their A game, they're gonna go home all sorts of unhappy playing almost any D1 team. Almost.

Heck the #1 ranked team in the Nation was just dropped by an unranked Boston squad. Has that ever happened before?

imho.

I think there is legit talent on Maryland. You can put together a nice offense around Erksa, Spanos, and Malaver. I do think the offense is in desperate need of a stretch shooter.

Oh, I agree! My point is: other teams have caught up, or have more talent this year, is all. Tillman has kept your crew at an absurdly high level for a VERY long time. Impossible to have that be a permanent state these days.

Wouldn't surprise me, not even a little, if they were in the Final Four this year. Tillman isn't working with a bare cupboard.

[AllaboutLax]

Erksa is the only attack with speed to separate from a pole. You need another attack that has some shake that can create. That will free up time and space for shooters up top. 4 and 7 don't have the speed to separate. How about setting a pick behind the cage for change.

[Wheels]

Erksa is the only attack with speed to separate from a pole. You need another attack that has some shake that can create. That will free up time and space for shooters up top. 4 and 7 don't have the speed to separate. How about setting a pick behind the cage for change.

The thing with Erksa is that if he's against a more mobile defenseman who can stay within range to keep a stick in his gloves, he's going to struggle because of his size. The last two weeks have shown that, and he's going to get similar defenders from here on out. When you get defensemen who can run, you have to get into their bodies to negate their reach. That's not Erksa's game because he's not a big guy weight-wise. He's also not a change-of-direction guy like an Ament or Sowers who have high end speed. Those guys didn't really get into defenders' bodies to negate their length, but they could change directions at the drop of a dime. That's not Erksa's game, either. He's a speed dodger right now.

I wonder why they're not running him out of the box like they did with Kyle Long. Let him get a full run at his defender down the alley and force defenses to rotate straight away.

Malever is your change-of-direction player. The problem right now is that the Terps only have 2 good outside shooters...Murphy and Kelly. Maltz can stretch a defense, but it's not his strength. Murphy got that distance shot today to tie, and he hit the goalie in the stick. Of course, he doesn't get many opportunities like he did in 2022. He's part of a 2nd MF line that shuffles 5 guys throughout the game.

I don't think the issue with the offense is the parts per se. There are dodgers. There are shooters. There are distributors. But the offensive system right now isn't catering to those parts. It feels like the parts are being forced to fit a system that maybe isn't the right system for those parts.

There's very little transition.

61st in the nation in time to first shot. Conversely, the defense is first in the nation in opponents' time to first shot. Meaning, it looks like the strategy is to slow the game down at both ends of the field. Maybe Tills feels like he can't get into a shoot out because there's a lack of talent. Maybe he doesn't quite trust the decision making of the players (lots of turnovers suggest that might be the case...although 6 of the 17 TOs today were on failed clears from the defense).

But we're missing a lot of opportunities early or in transition (where teams have beat Michigan...the 40th ranked defensive efficiency team in the nation), and that would really help loosen things up, IMO. They're just not taking chances. That looks like a feature not a bug to me. But who knows, really.