Just some thoughts:
wgdsr wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 11:50 am
hopkins played well. narewski and the d were very good.
surprised no mention was really made at the lack of assisted goals (2 non- manup?), just dodging to score praised.
You take advantage of what the other Team gives you. You don't play a rigid game plan. Good for the Players and Coaches to be flexible in "real time".
steel_hop wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 11:29 am
Good game. One thing that it is tangentially mentioned. The defense has played much better than they have over the last 4-5 years. But, the one thing that got me was how aggressive players were with stick checks. Hopkins long sticks and short sticks were constantly on offensive player's hands making it tough to shot. As Dixon said "they are laying the lumber." They caused a number of turnovers and forced Rutgers players to make either decisions quicker than they wanted or bad ones.
Compare the defense last night to the past years under Petro where it was a passive positional type. Both have pros/cons but I think most players want to more aggressive and just live with the consequences.
Some weeks ago, Coach Milliman stated in his weekly message to Alumni that the Team needs to be more aggressive and physical. Coach Scott and Chic always preached the same sermon. I thought that Dixon's comments were more of a criticism than praise. A Team needs to intimidate the other side. Lacrosse is a very physical game and is often "won" by the plays not on a stat sheet or noticed by the fan in the stands. Coach Scott insisted on the execution of "fundamentals" and that specifically included aggressive physical play. I remember Scotty stopping practice when someone scored off the crease and was not knocked to the ground, singing in a high sarcastic voice, "Little Johnny Hopkins boys, don't knock anybody down. If you hit someone with an elbow, say sorry sir." We knew what He wanted. We had a big physical Team. No pretty boy was going a celebrate a goal in front of our Goal. They were going to get hit hard and go down. This 2021 Team is now playing aggressive and energized lacrosse. That is good to see.
Last observation. Lacrosse is a Players' game. (like hockey, soccer, basketball). The Coaches give you schemes and patterns that you use in games. But as a Player, you need to read the changing situation in front of you and react, You need to read the "field". I think that the current Coaches understand that and are trusting the players. That is the way Scotty, Chic, etc coached. My impression is that Pietramala did not and put his players in a controlled "box". No fun and not, in MHO, the way the Game should be played.
Good for the current Coaches and Players. Keep it up.
