Hobart 2023

[LeeRoggy]

I've been reading a lot of comments and had a few thoughts of my own.

Clearly, we all are seeing the athleticism in this sport take a major leap forward the last 5 years, and that is a combination of size and speed, so size differentials are getting magnified on the field. With 75 D1 programs, and all the places around the country to recruit from (obviously I see this down here in Florida) it's time to recruit specifically for SSDM with size. And I mean 200lb+ size. Certainly, on a big squad, there's room for some 'projects' with size to try to develop.

A common debate in sports is do you recruit to the style you want to play, or do you adjust your approach to what you have to work with? Going back and forth in a season this short should mean you pick your approach and recruit to it. We score plenty of goals against our punching level, but any mid-range team that plays a 'big boy' struggles to score against the defenders they can put out on the field. We got spoiled the last few years with the Holdens, Archers and Scotts, who could play against anyone and put up numbers. We knew coming in the offense was a work in progress anyhow, so Tuesday's result should not have been a shock.

The issue with playing nervous should get Greg to think through whether his structure of team leadership councils, etc., needs some adjusting. In ANY competition, the goal should be to play as well as you can, not live and die with the W's and L's. You can only control the input (how you prepare), not the final result. Too many variables to focus on the latter as sole determinant of success. This was John Wooden's philosophy and it certainly worked. Worrying about a result is NEVER a good way to approach ANY competition. It clearly leads to an atmosphere where doubt can creep in at the wrong time. I'm not in the conversations that players have among themselves, or the parameters of the councils, etc., nor how the coaching staff talks to the team, so it's all conjecture.

For the transfer portal thought . . . at 61 players you really can't keep them engaged and bring in one and done transfers without team chemistry being affected. And why transfer in for a year anyhow? Mostly to chase an NCAA run in my opinion, and we are not going to out-recruit the ACC/B1G Ten for those players. It's actually been the reverse, with us losing players.

I also don't know much about what goes on with the strategic approach to the program as seen by the school administration and if Greg has some parameters around who he can recruit, so there's that too when it comes to better athletes. We're the type of school a kid really wants to go to, but if they crave a big school, we have no shot at them.

I love the cache of being a D1 school and would love a few NCAA appearances along the way. It's a pride in this unique institution and what it represents. But it does have limitations in the recruiting battles that will never go away.

Let's focus on getting size for the SSDM position and skill on offense and see how that works over time. I was on the sideline at Naples and it was size at SSDM and Close D for Virginia, but their offense was based on skill, not big kids. Their offense NEVER STOOD STILL. That's how you maximize skill and IQ. Our offense has that design, but we don;t play it 60 minutes. Go out and play that way and let's see what happens.

[FMUBart]

Spot on LeeRoggy.. UVA is HUGE on the D end; offense isn't small, but their D man are giants.

[Farfromgeneva]

Rosa does remind me of Curtin, but still see him as more of an off-ball, catch-n-shoot guy. Seems as though the offense is usually initiated from the wings as opposed to X. Although the middie isolations tend to be dodging from behind(like Greene was doing), although not really looking to feed, just get to the cage(which could be due to the fact that a slide is rarely needed). Would like to see more big/little picks with the attackmen and maybe create separation for Anthony or Herilihy...

Agreed, Curtin could back down a much larger ACC/Big Ten AA Close D man, his calves were like tree trunks. He scored a goal on Syracuse in that classic 2010 game that would been impressive for a kid like Ian Dingman (damn TO call in OT when we had possession!) But build and work ethic similar.

Agree though he's a shooter more than crease player. Just want to utilize what I think I see in him. We should be leveragign strengths not shoehorning into a system - even if I do have confidence in Brundage and his system.

[LeeRoggy]

Spot on LeeRoggy.. UVA is HUGE on the D end; offense isn't small, but their D man are giants.

Funny thing is that Cornell's defense isn't particularly big at the back end either:

Gavin Adler is listed at 5'8" and 180
Jayson Singer is 6'1" and 215
Jack Fallows is 6' and 185

LSM/SSDM are actually bigger, like Davis (6'3" and 210), as are their Middies

Starters Tuesday
Kelleher is 6'3" and 220
Aiden Blake is 6'3" and 195
Wertheim is 6' and 180

Buczek was obviously a physical, big middie (when I knew him with the Launch, he was a bull in the China shop going downhill even in MLL) and it looks like he recruits middies like himself. You wonder if a big SSDM actually saves wear and tear on a close defender too.

Billy Coyle had 5 GBs at 5'7" and 175.

With 61 kids, you have to wonder about practice reps. Does our offense play enough against the starting defense or against the 7,8, and 9 defender?

Lots of variables.

[FMUBart]

Adler is small, but relentless. He reminds me of John Ednie back in the day. Not the biggest guy, but tough as nails and those PL77 poke checks carried a wallop!

[Ketch]

Spot on LeeRoggy.. UVA is HUGE on the D end; offense isn't small, but their D man are giants.

Do you remember Patrick Kerney from Virginia, who went on to play defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons? I stood next to him at a playoff game at Hopkins one time... Now if you want to talk about a physical specimen. He was HUGE.

[Laxgunea]

I'm still mixed on the size debate. We recruit these guys as juniors in high school and really don't know for sure how big they'll get. Someone like Wimer will be a big kid. He's a sophomore, and he'll be above 200 soon. But he came in pretty thin. Someone like Simas was a skinny kid, but he's much more muscular now. He doesn't get pushed around. Frank Brown was tall, but in his first years he was thin. Even as a senior he was just starting to get more muscular. Didn't seem to hurt his scoring. Come to think of it, Alex Love wasn't such a big guy, but those big SU longpoles had more than their share of difficulty with him. Granted, more size might have kept him healthier, but ... lots of things would have kept him healthier.
On the other hand, when we do have big kids, they don't always pan out as we hoped. Barthelme is like 6'7", but he doesn't use his body like a huge guy. Delaney is actually a big kid, as is Sampson -- both have bulked up over the years, but they just haven't made the cut for playing time.
I've been wondering where Horton is these days. I thought he was the best close D player out there at the end of last season, and he may have been one of the smallest. His slides were tight and he made good decisions. He also hustled. I'll go with hard play over size any day.
I think LeeRoggy's analysis is right on. What bothers me is this long term trend of not playing 60 minutes. There is some fatal flaw that makes that happen year after year. The short bench makes that issue even more puzzling.

[Farfromgeneva]

I'm still mixed on the size debate. We recruit these guys as juniors in high school and really don't know for sure how big they'll get. Someone like Wimer will be a big kid. He's a sophomore, and he'll be above 200 soon. But he came in pretty thin. Someone like Simas was a skinny kid, but he's much more muscular now. He doesn't get pushed around. Frank Brown was tall, but in his first years he was thin. Even as a senior he was just starting to get more muscular. Didn't seem to hurt his scoring. Come to think of it, Alex Love wasn't such a big guy, but those big SU longpoles had more than their share of difficulty with him. Granted, more size might have kept him healthier, but ... lots of things would have kept him healthier.
On the other hand, when we do have big kids, they don't always pan out as we hoped. Barthelme is like 6'7", but he doesn't use his body like a huge guy. Delaney is actually a big kid, as is Sampson -- both have bulked up over the years, but they just haven't made the cut for playing time.
I've been wondering where Horton is these days. I thought he was the best close D player out there at the end of last season, and he may have been one of the smallest. His slides were tight and he made good decisions. He also hustled. I'll go with hard play over size any day.
I think LeeRoggy's analysis is right on. What bothers me is this long term trend of not playing 60 minutes. There is some fatal flaw that makes that happen year after year. The short bench makes that issue even more puzzling.

The bolded is beyond bizarre. And a long term trend. I refuse to believe this is a heads forward beds situation forced on the staff.

Frank Brown was muscular as hell. You want skinny? Recall or check out Jeff Colburn, great player for us but man he was thin for his size (6’5”).

I’m super bused on upstate NY vs Balt area in general and chalk Barthlemes style to his St Paul’s/MIAA upbringing.

Totally forgot about Horton somehow but he should be a strong starter and presume he’s hurt. Haven’t seen as much of any or Duby either.

[BigHoss]

Very big game this weekend. Robert Morris is a unique opponent who plays a pairs, open style set offense. The issue with playing against this style of offense is knowing where to slide from, they force you to slide adjacent and they move the ball very well and take advantage of rotations. Hobart will need to communicate well off ball to get stops. I think we have a much better team, and this could be a big momentum shifting win I believe. Really looking forward to Saturday!

[SMAIN]

If the team wants to recruit players while juniors in high school.... check out the parents first.If they're big, the kid will be big also. My lady always tells me I have to work on my humor....

[KnowingWizardofODAC]

Very big game this weekend. Robert Morris is a unique opponent who plays a pairs, open style set offense. The issue with playing against this style of offense is knowing where to slide from, they force you to slide adjacent and they move the ball very well and take advantage of rotations. Hobart will need to communicate well off ball to get stops. I think we have a much better team, and this could be a big momentum shifting win I believe. Really looking forward to Saturday!

Hobart is gonna need to blow the back out of Robert Morris, it simply is a game of men and boys this weekend. Even though cornell son’d Hobart, this weekend could be a major coming out party.

[Farfromgeneva]

If the team wants to recruit players while juniors in high school.... check out the parents first.If they're big, the kid will be big also. My lady always tells me I have to work on my humor....

What if I coach youth and might occasionally check out of side of the parental tree even if it has nothing to do with evaluating the future prospects of my teams kids???

[FL-GO]

Latest pod seems more of a look back on the Cornell game - barely covered the RoMo matchup. Last 4 minutes give or take.

[BigHoss]

Clark is Bobby MO’s best player offensively by a mile. Let’s see how we are able to contain him.

[Laxgunea]

I just want to see a 60 minute game. The last half of the second quarter against Cornell showed that we can run with the big guys. Cornell is a great team, and I didn't think there was much of a chance we could beat them, but I thought we collapsed. The 20 to 5 gb ratio in the second half says it all. So will we show up for all 60 minutes? I think the Xs and Os will take care of themselves, at least on offense. RoMo has a great D, but so long as we don't retreat into solo play, we should be able to put up at least enough to win.

[FMUBart]

I’m going to zip up the Charlotte today to see JU/HPU in the Crown Classic. Looking forward to see future opponent HPU in person. Also, hoping to see Will Hardy for the ‘phins… not sure why we didn’t recruit him, at least a little?

We need to pick off at least 2 of the next 3 or the season may be ugly…

[Farfromgeneva]

I’m going to zip up the Charlotte today to see JU/HPU in the Crown Classic. Looking forward to see future opponent HPU in person. Also, hoping to see Will Hardy for the ‘phins… not sure why we didn’t recruit him, at least a little?

We need to pick off at least 2 of the next 3 or the season may be ugly…

I was told that we hit Hardy "hard" but Jax made it financially beyond compelling. Good for him. Syracuse on the other hand did not from my understanding.

If you are in Savannah, that's a trip. I've driven up to the Triad a ton from Atlanta and that's 6hrs (I make it in 5 sometimes...unless you are a cop)

[Farfromgeneva]

FFG Junior says Hobart needs to come out with their minds wrapped up like this! (He’s right)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F_JF8oSxXtM

[FL-GO]

Any alternatives to watch this game without an ESPN plus subscription?

[Farfromgeneva]

Yo, this guy singing the anthem is awesome! Like the worst karaoke singer who thinks he’s the next superstar!!!!