jrn19 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 10:55 pm
Shellenberger has 18 goals because the whole offense is built around the attention the opponents give to him and him drawing slides and then Cormier and Dickson catching open passes. Shellenberger is a better player but Dickson is having a far better season makes no sense. Shellenberger is the primary reason Dickson is having the season he is.
Was Kevin Lindley a better player than Pat Spencer because he scored more goals? Was O'Keefe better than Ament? Shellenberger wasn't hobbled in the Ohio State game when he had 0 goals. It didn't matter. UVAs offense isn't designed around Shellenberger scoring goals. If they wanted him to dodge and score, of course he could, we've all seen him do it a million times. They use the attention given to Shellenberger and exploit all the openings with ball movement and cutting and picks endlessly over and over. This isn't rocket science. The entire intent of the offense is for Xander Dickson to score more goals than Connor Shellenberger.
Like many sports arguments, both you and PC have valid points.
Dickson is having a better ‘year’, but Shellenberger is the better player. Btw, it’s not simply that Shellenberger gets the #1 pole that helps explain his lower goal totals, but even with the #1 pole, every defense except Maryland has to still have their heads on a swivel because Shellenberger can still get space even from the opponents #1 pole. That fact softens up an entire defense, and Dickson is simply brilliant anticipating his teammates’ moves. He’s further brilliant in locating his shots. Dangerous combination.
The analogy to Spencer/Lindley is apt. It’s interesting to see the development of strong-bodied initiating attack like Spencer, O’Neill, Molloy, and Shellenberger. Neither O’Neill nor Molloy have/had attack partners quite-as-high field-IQ as Spencer and Shellenberger had/have in Lindley and Dickson.
Next year Shellenberger will miss having such a brilliant teammate. You’ll see a difficult start from UVA in ‘24 as Shellenberger adjusts to that realization.