Maryland 2023

[stupefied]

The stick check thing continuing is hilarious. As keno I believe mentioned last week, the guy ran through a million stick checks, Maryland called a stick check as is in the rules, the refs checked it, deemed it to be illegal, it was a penalty, Maryland was already winning the game by 4, they won the game by 6. If calling a stick check is the worst thing a coach can do, then the coaches should take it out of the rules.

Coaches right to ask for inspection but 3 mins unreleasable is awfully stiff penalty. Maybe cut to two or make it releasable

until they do , someone should check sticks pre game

the very well known scenario is that fogo's sticks get contorted by way of the very nature of how the faceoff is conducted. a pregame stick check wouldn't matter in their case.

ftr, 2 minutes is now the penalty at nfhs for every stick violation. maybe (for the 1st time?), the nc$$ will follow their lead eventually.

excellent points

[stupefied]

Weirman will be in running for Tewarrton, he is a impact player

[jrn19]

The stick check thing continuing is hilarious. As keno I believe mentioned last week, the guy ran through a million stick checks, Maryland called a stick check as is in the rules, the refs checked it, deemed it to be illegal, it was a penalty, Maryland was already winning the game by 4, they won the game by 6. If calling a stick check is the worst thing a coach can do, then the coaches should take it out of the rules.

Coaches right to ask for inspection but 3 mins unreleasable is awfully stiff penalty. Maybe cut to two or make it releasable

until they do , someone should check sticks pre game

I understand that POV. I think 2 mins unreleasable would be fair. Anything releasable is always gonna be 30 secs or 1 min. 3 mins unreleasable should only ever be truly worst of worst and I don’t think this qualifies as that.

[jrn19]

Weirman will be in running for Tewarrton, he is a impact player

From the Terps, I’d put Makar up there as their guy right now. Pat Kav got the game winning goal on him and a hat tip to him for it, but over the balance of all of their games against one another, Makar has won the matchup and held him to below his career production in every one. He’s done that to everyone he’s played so far this year and he’s also upped the takeaways and been amazing off the ground. Just been phenomenal. Taken his game up a notch. But there are a lot of great defenders in the country. I thought Adler should have been a finalist last year

[viho]

Feel like the terps gave it away. OT’s were sloppy. Must have been fatigue. Zaps 4th quarter clear and traders hit in front of the bench near the end of regulation were highlight reel plays.

Wierman looked nicked up in the second half. His wings were great when he couldn’t get a clean draw.

Gutsy performance. Tillman and staff are amazing. Great day to be outside!

[Laxfanatic2022]

Weirman will be in running for Tewarrton, he is a impact player

From the Terps, I’d put Makar up there as their guy right now. Pat Kav got the game winning goal on him and a hat tip to him for it, but over the balance of all of their games against one another, Makar has won the matchup and held him to below his career production in every one. He’s done that to everyone he’s played so far this year and he’s also upped the takeaways and been amazing off the ground. Just been phenomenal. Taken his game up a notch. But there are a lot of great defenders in the country. I thought Adler should have been a finalist last year

If anyone has been watching him this year he most certainly should be this season…

[Laxfanatic2022]

Weirman will be in running for Tewarrton, he is a impact player

From the Terps, I’d put Makar up there as their guy right now. Pat Kav got the game winning goal on him and a hat tip to him for it, but over the balance of all of their games against one another, Makar has won the matchup and held him to below his career production in every one. He’s done that to everyone he’s played so far this year and he’s also upped the takeaways and been amazing off the ground. Just been phenomenal. Taken his game up a notch. But there are a lot of great defenders in the country. I thought Adler should have been a finalist last year

If anyone has been watching him this year he most certainly should be this season…

As in 77 on Cornell I was referring to. The ivies don’t get the big TV games so people don’t realize that dude is flat out incredible. Makar is not far off either. Makar and Adler will be battling for the schmiesser this year imo.

[MDralphie]

Quotes on mythical national champions? Not going to put that much effort into answering wgdsr.
However, the commenting from the selection weekend and post season from quint carc et al fed the perception of being so unfair for poor ND. Corrigan the complainer actually said very little. He knew he had a good team that didn’t win enough competitive games. Period
Terps have improved but still need better shooting and offense. SSDM’s getting better with Trader fast becoming one of the best. Goalie play has been very good but can’t expect Logan’s twin. BIG play will be coming just when Terps will be rounding into shape! ND goalie played very well. He is now 1-3 against Terps. Tying goal wasn’t but this game won’t keep Terps out of NCAA’s, poor shooting will. Our poles are excellent and any attack dominated offense will have trouble. Hope #20 and #52 are ok and we’re just cramping. Both had Trainer working.

[gtownterpfan]

FWIW . . .except for a bit of a hiccup at the end of the game, I thought Brennan looked pretty good carrying the ball and sensing opportunities to dodge. Maybe that will help Kyle Long, who seemed caught between shooting and dishing on those last possessions after he seemed to have a step on his defender, like he couldn't make up his mind. We all know those moments of indecision against better defenses are problematic. Shoot or pass, he just needs to make up his mind. Seeing signs from Erksa and Spanos that they are figuring things out. Also impressed with Maltz expanded repertoire-- always liked him as a finisher, but liking those sneaky shots when he doesn't really seem all that open. Kelly and Murphy (more Murphy than Kelly) should take a look at what he does and remember that not every shot needs a huge windup. Not that it necessarily decided the outcome, the officiating was less than impressive. A couple of calls were discussed then reversed, but It didn't seem like anyone even considered that the ND player was in the crease on that goal toward the end. And, yes, it really irks me when ND coach whines about every call even when his guy is clearly offside.

[MDralphie]

Both Kelly and Maltz are great shooters but did not shoot well. Long cannot turn it over 7 times as the prime initiator. We will lose all games with those stats.

[MoralTerpitude]

As for the shooting, I don't think they're going to improve much. Maybe Spanos seeing the ball go in the net will open the gates for him. The Terps do have some really good outside shooters...Murphy and Kelly can sling it. Maltz can too. But Brennan is more of that intermediate shooter. Koras and Long aren't shooters, though.

Believe what Tillman and Benson were trying to implement the last few years (and were extremely successful at) was a fundamental shift away from what skills their attacking players would need to efficiently score. The changed their offense so that it didn’t rely on big-little switches and isolation dodging, which rely on high levels of athleticism and ability to take defenders one-on-one. The ball-movement offense relied on precision passing, intelligent tactical play to create space for at least one player in the offense, and movement to unbalance a defense. Obviously this requires players that pass efficiently and quickly, make decisions more quickly, fundamentally understand how a defense is going to adjust to their movement, and understand how to find shooting positions where they are most efficient.

This was executed to perfection last year. So many of the Terps shots were pretty open due to ball movement and space created for the finish. Nearly every player on the offense (and even in transition) used this to capitalize on open shots; perhaps Khan and Long were the only ones that didn’t (though Long certainly created several opportunities).

Obviously this year’s group is much less experienced in this system, and we haven’t seen anything close to the ball movement we saw last year. But we’re starting to see hints of it, and I saw at least two examples of players freeing themselves for unguarded shots near the crease against the Irish. As the players start performing better in this system, and start trying to create less by dodging and pure athletic moves, the Terps will get more open shots, and their shooting percentage will improve.

Last year most of their offense had played in this system for at least two years. Only Donville, Murphy, and Khan had not, but Donville is a very intelligent player, Murphy was usually the recipient of final passes, and Khan created more via dodging. This year only Long, Murphy, and Koras have played significant game minutes in the system, while Maltz, Kelly, and Brennan have practiced within it. The freshman and redshirts are dealing with a very complex and demanding offensive system for the first time.

[Wheels]

As for the shooting, I don't think they're going to improve much. Maybe Spanos seeing the ball go in the net will open the gates for him. The Terps do have some really good outside shooters...Murphy and Kelly can sling it. Maltz can too. But Brennan is more of that intermediate shooter. Koras and Long aren't shooters, though.

Believe what Tillman and Benson were trying to implement the last few years (and were extremely successful at) was a fundamental shift away from what skills their attacking players would need to efficiently score. The changed their offense so that it didn’t rely on big-little switches and isolation dodging, which rely on high levels of athleticism and ability to take defenders one-on-one. The ball-movement offense relied on precision passing, intelligent tactical play to create space for at least one player in the offense, and movement to unbalance a defense. Obviously this requires players that pass efficiently and quickly, make decisions more quickly, fundamentally understand how a defense is going to adjust to their movement, and understand how to find shooting positions where they are most efficient.

This was executed to perfection last year. So many of the Terps shots were pretty open due to ball movement and space created for the finish. Nearly every player on the offense (and even in transition) used this to capitalize on open shots; perhaps Khan and Long were the only ones that didn’t (though Long certainly created several opportunities).

Obviously this year’s group is much less experienced in this system, and we haven’t seen anything close to the ball movement we saw last year. But we’re starting to see hints of it, and I saw at least two examples of players freeing themselves for unguarded shots near the crease against the Irish. As the players start performing better in this system, and start trying to create less by dodging and pure athletic moves, the Terps will get more open shots, and their shooting percentage will improve.

Last year most of their offense had played in this system for at least two years. Only Donville, Murphy, and Khan had not, but Donville is a very intelligent player, Murphy was usually the recipient of final passes, and Khan created more via dodging. This year only Long, Murphy, and Koras have played significant game minutes in the system, while Maltz, Kelly, and Brennan have practiced within it. The freshman and redshirts are dealing with a very complex and demanding offensive system for the first time.

Great post.

When Tills and JL Reppert went into the 2019 offseason (after the UVA QF loss), they wanted to make the offense less predictable. He's talked about the offense with Rambo and Heacock being like a run-based football offense where you knew what was coming but had to stop it. When Kelly graduated and Jared and Logan took the keys to the offense, they wanted to implement an offense that no two plays were the same. The two keys to the offense were 1) getting someone to draw a slide to get the defense moving, and 2) the ball never dies in anyone's stick.

Right now, the ball is starting to move better. The reason they moved Murphy back to midfield is the ball was dying in his stick as he tried to dodge, and this led to turnovers and stagnant offense. The other persisted problem was they don't have as many guys who beat a defender to draw a slide. That's why they inserted Erksa at attack and put Signorello and now Whittier on that second midfield line. Erksa has done great at getting defenses moving, as you saw yesterday against Chris Fake, who couldn't match Erksa's foot speed.

But teams are slow to slide to Maryland right now. Long isn't a goal scorer. He's just wired to distribute. He's really unselfish. A lot of his turnovers result from him passing instead of shooting. It's just who he is, and you can see him now trying to be more of a scoring threat. Erksa gets to the corner but is still hesitant to shoot (or a half second too late to shoot). There were a couple of times yesterday where the Terps passed up really good shots because they're trying too hard to find the perfect shot. Now, they've also played some really good goalies this year, and it looks to me like they're trying to be too perfect on shots.

This offense would be a lot better if Malever wasn't hurt. You'd have someone behind the goal that can win a lot of match ups, can score, or can dish. They just don't have that guy yet this year.

I do think Spanos is going to turn into that guy.

[MoralTerpitude]

With his improved dodging, I actually think Maltz is becoming that guy. Have to rewatch the game, but believe he did operate from the X abit yesterday.

[PulpExposure]

I do think Spanos is going to turn into that guy.

I do, too. Watching his senior season like I did, he absolutely dominated, and dominated very good defensemen.

With his improved dodging, I actually think Maltz is becoming that guy. Have to rewatch the game, but believe he did operate from the X abit yesterday.

Maltz is a lot better than I thought. He's definitely just a pure scorer, and some of the goals he scores are super creative. The only thing though is teams are still pretty happy to stick a shortie on him.

He does score against that matchup (though any good attackman should...), but I haven't seen him consistently dodge or beat a long pole yet this year. Again have to rewatch the ND game, but that's something I've noticed this entire year.

[stupefied]

Impressed that Maryland could have won ND game. Thought offensive drop off would be larger given all the personnel losses. Obviously still a legit contender.

[keno in reno]

I do think Spanos is going to turn into that guy.

I do, too. Watching his senior season like I did, he absolutely dominated, and dominated very good defensemen.

With his improved dodging, I actually think Maltz is becoming that guy. Have to rewatch the game, but believe he did operate from the X abit yesterday.

Maltz is a lot better than I thought. He's definitely just a pure scorer, and some of the goals he scores are super creative. The only thing though is teams are still pretty happy to stick a shortie on him.

He does score against that matchup (though any good attackman should...), but I haven't seen him consistently dodge or beat a long pole yet this year. Again have to rewatch the ND game, but that's something I've noticed this entire year.

Not sure Danny's dodging is really much improved; he's just doing more of it. His goals are coming from really well-placed, clever shots while he's still pretty well covered. He's playing great so it doesn't matter how he scores. Now that he's playing on the outside, we do miss having a net-front presence like he was especially his first 2 years.

[MoralTerpitude]

Maltz is a lot better than I thought. He's definitely just a pure scorer, and some of the goals he scores are super creative. The only thing though is teams are still pretty happy to stick a shortie on him.

He does score against that matchup (though any good attackman should...), but I haven't seen him consistently dodge or beat a long pole yet this year. Again have to rewatch the ND game, but that's something I've noticed this entire year.

Maltz is actually second on the team with assists, and with the best A/TO ratio of anyone with more than two assists. He’s assisted from a range of different positions, and had good vision to make the final pass. He had a nice pass to find Murphy against the Irish when he was at the X with his defender hung up. He was covered at the X but still found Erksa for a gimme against Richmond. Beat two guys on a dodge and found Kelly in front of goal against Syracuse. Had a really nice transition skip pass to Kelly against Princeton.

And yeah, this isn’t something we saw from him in previous years… but he seems to have improved his game.

[wgdsr]

maltz was actually a feeder in high school, in addition to a wing shooter and sometimes finisher. not often a dodger. but he ran x a lot, as well as point on the break. could see how he'd project as a finisher in college, & mostly how he was used. thought he should've been in the main rotation last year, but you can't argue with the results. i expect his production to continue.

[WandL99]

Weirman will be in running for Tewarrton, he is a impact player

Maybe in rainbow land dude. If there is one guy in college lacrosse that I would not want to go up against right now it Brett Makar. He’s wearing the 1 jersey for a reason and he showing why he should be wearing it. The guy is a GB and CT machine and you can put him up against anyone in the nation and he will hold his own out there.

[10stone5]

Wierman will be a finalist for player of the year for sure,
of course barring injury.
He’s over 70%, likely to dominate Albany - so, call it well over
70% heading into that Pete LaSalla must-see “faceoff” in two weeks.

He’s a finalist for sure - I’d like to see the coaches allow him
to go to goal more - his scoring is down.