Hobart 2019

[LRoggy]

While there can be critique of the coach, I am of the opinion you have to look at the players.

The coach is not the one who did not pick up a ground ball, the coach did not make the wrong defensive slide, the coach did not get his stick checked out of his hands coming out of a time out, the coach did not stop chasing the goalie over the midfield line and a host of others bone head plays in this game.

With the tournament coming up, this is all mental...about being able to win and making a play....there are players that play the game and there are players that win games...two different things...they have the capability but do they have the internal make up to go out and make plays when it counts...we will find out.

No one here doubts anything you said shoothi . . . this discussion point we are making is that a tactical decision to change the offensive approach came out of the timeout early in the fourth when RMU was not able to stop anything we were doing at pace. I love Greg and how he's built this program. But the best way for this roster to win games is to play fast and we deliberately took that off the table when we could have broken it open in the early 4th and it came back to bite us. I've always subscribed to John Wooden's philosophy of taking care of what you can do and not worry about what the other guy could do. Yesterday we ignored that philosophy in the 4th, when staying with it likely wins that game and home field. One good thing that came out of yesterday is that going on the road might keep the distractions down. We should have gone undefeated on the road this year, with the two late given away losses.

[Farfromgeneva]

Why would a guy who played for Petro and worked for Bill tierney ever believe that letting players play fast and loose is strategically sound? If we wanted a running team this wasn’t the right hire. Why the staff (Management) has built inch a team given their own backgrounds is another question.

[oldbartman]

To give the coaches some credit, they have let the offense loose a lot of the season. It's just that their timing to reverse that in a game this offense could have won drives me crazy. This team has a ton of talent. You have to let them run amuck some times. Some of Coach Raymond's early teams had similar talent. They weren't given the chance to run like this team. Coaching, like every profession, is an ongoing learning experience.Hopefully, this last game was a learning experience for players AND coaches.

[6ftstick]

Why would a guy who played for Petro and worked for Bill tierney ever believe that letting players play fast and loose is strategically sound? If we wanted a running team this wasn’t the right hire. Why the staff (Management) has built inch a team given their own backgrounds is another question.

AHHH you mean guys with 9 national championships and he has one himself.

[Farfromgeneva]

Not seeing how that addresses my specific comment.

Still the ability to get to the NCAAs, had hoped we turned the corner from the two game slump scraping by bryant then playing well vs MSM. Glad I missed the st joes game if it was worse than this. Still need someone to step up and get it done. Some interesting numbers from Saturday:

Shots:
BART q1-3 - 11.3/q, Q4 - 5
RMU q1-3 - 9.7/q, Q4 - 19

Saves:
Bart q1-3 - 3/q, Q4 - 9
RMU q1-3 - 2.3/q, Q4 - 2

Turnovers:
Bart q1-3 - 3/q, Q4 - 5
RMU q1-3 - 2/q, Q4 - 0

Ground balls:
Bart q1-3 - 9/q, Q4 - 1
RMU q1-3 - 7.3/q, Q4 - 14

[oldbartman]

Game v SHU on Thursday is at 8:30 PM according to the NEC website. late night for the boys.

[Laxgunea]

Interesting stats farfromgeneva.
I agree that the players always have the ability to play better, but I thought what happened in the 4th against RoMo was a deliberate slowdown. I could be completely off on that (though at least a few other people on the forum seem to have seen it that way). If it was, then that is a coaching decision that did not take the nature of this team into account. Maybe he was gambling on throwing off RoMo's rhythm with a more controlled style. If so, it didn't work; the players got tense, made poor decisions, and played on their heels.
I have great respect for Raymond as a coach. I think he recruits and develops talent well, and I think he has built a core that could win the NEC tournement and surprise other teams in the NCAAs. But he'll have to get them playing all out for 4 quarters from now on.
And I'll say again: all respect to RoMo. Those statistics speak volumes about their team. If it is RoMo who ends up in the NCAAs, they also have the potential for surprising some teams.

[shoothi]

Turnovers:
Bart q1-3 - 3/q, Q4 - 5
RMU q1-3 - 2/q, Q4 - 0

Ground balls:
Bart q1-3 - 9/q, Q4 - 1
RMU q1-3 - 7.3/q, Q4 - 14

Even if there was a change in the game plan, these 2 stats categories tell me the players simply did not perform.

Turnovers: I have the ball and you want to take it away from me or take away the passing lane. Lacrosse 101 here guys...move and get open.

Ground balls....out ground balled 14-1 in the 4th quarter. Regardless of what style you are playing, when your team gets out hustled by this margin in the 4th...adios

So for me, show up ready to play, buckle up the chin straps and give an effort deserving of winning....enough of the faint of heart...this team has the best talent in the NEC, so reach down and take the NCAA bid.

[Bartman]

All valid stats and comments from shoothi. It was quite stunning to watch the 15 minute collapse of player performance and I also believe coaching strategy. It should serve as motivation...that was not us! Hobart is one of two teams in the tournament that is 2-1 against the other tournament participants, and Hobart beat that other 2-1 team and host. We will win the tournament if we play eight consecutive quarters at our potential, but this has been said over and over again..... Play hard from the opening face-off until the final horn. This team has enough talent, now give enough effort.... Go Bart!

[Jimmy2Times]

Watched every minute of the game on Saturday and to say that I was disappointed with the outcome would be a gross understatement. The game was right there for the taking and we simply did not get it done. Blaming the staff and or the players is pointless, they know they missed a great opportunity and do not need a bunch of "old guys" telling them what's what. When this team has been firing on all cylinders they are really fun to watch and are a very dangerous team. I do agree that they should let it all hang out and let it rip.

Truth be told, do not see a clear favorite amongst any of the four teams in the tourney and no disrespect to SHU, but would rather be playing them in the first round than having to take on RMU in back to back games. Let them and the Mount beat the hell out of each other in game one, and hopefully, we take care of business and take on the winner in the finals.

[FL-GO]

https://www.collegecrosse.com/platform/ ... ssion=true

They pick MSM this week after picking Hobart prior to the RMU game.

[kmartin]

I didn't get to see much of the first Sacred Heart game due to connection issues, but from what I did see and looking at the stats, we were fortunate to win that game. Lucchesi's best game of the year, and a 3-5 man up were the differences. SHU has a fantastic LSM and attack and this looks like a toss up to me. Hobart had a 2 goal lead twice in that game and SHU fought back both times and came within an inch of tying it up at the last second like SJU and RoMo did. I wonder if our early season strategy of playing a lot of people and wearing teams down has been abandoned a little as the season has worn on and collars get a little tight. Hard to say looking at the stats; would be interested in others' take. Teams have been able to catch us in the 4th quarter if they can hang around. Hopefully several of these experiences helps and doesn't hurt us. Sometimes you get a team that has that "oh no, not again" reaction to pressure. And SHU is very very strong on takeaways. I think they caused more turnovers than Cornell or Syracuse did. Our worst day (along with Cornell) clearing and like the Cornell game it wasn't because we were so bad it was because they were so aggressive and tough on D.

It is worth mentioning again what a great league NEC is for us. 4 out of 6 games this year were one goal games and who knows who will win this tournament. From Bryant stingy D and slow down to RoMO's run and gun and everything in between.

Whatever happens this is the best team Hobart has had in some time and I think on balance the best team in the league but sometimes the best team doesn't win. A bad shooting outing, a rough day in the cage or at the X, and who knows the season could certainly end on Thursday, or we could be hoisting the hardware on Saturday with more lacrosse to play. We are very Senior dependent which I like. Gilberston and Hancock in many ways hold the key as they play the hardest position and both have made big contributions to the program. They have to get it off the ground, stop their middies and get it cleared. Would love to see them, Aslanian, Pedecine go out with a bang along with all the other seniors who have contributed a lot to the program. Go Statesmen!

[reLAX]

https://www.collegecrosse.com/platform/ ... ssion=true

They pick MSM this week after picking Hobart prior to the RMU game.

Can Hobart still get into the tourney?

[FL-GO]

https://www.collegecrosse.com/platform/ ... ssion=true

They pick MSM this week after picking Hobart prior to the RMU game.

Can Hobart still get into the tourney?

Whoever wins the NEC tourney takes the league AQ. The regular season title only means something from a “bragging rights” and post season seeding tourney perspective. If Hobart can win Thursday and Saturday, they’re in the NCAAs.

[oldbartman]

KMartin, you're correct in your observation about our bench being shortened in the later half of the season. RMU ran their 2nd midfield a few times against us allowing the 1st line to stay somewhat fresh. THe best examle is us being out GB'd badly in Q$. I was surprised to See Quentin Birch having a few early runs as he has hardly been on the field this season. Are we banged up at middie ? We need all hands on deck v SHU. Beating a team twice in one season is a tough challenge.

[Laxgunea]

I was glad to see Birch out there. They said he is a freshman, but I think he redshirted last year. I think Simas was banged up for a while. And Mueller has been out ... did he play Sat? They credited Yanko with a goal but Ted Baker didn't think it was him. He's another one I'd like to see more of. I'd love to see a fully healthy team for Thurs.

[kmartin]

This is third hand but I believe Mueller is out for the season. He is missed for sure. I thought Simas was a little AWOL lately; an injury wouldn't surprise me as being the cause. He is a solid player who has had some growing pains in terms of decision making at times but as far as freshman go he is doing OK. I hope he is healthy just from a depth perspective as he is physically one of our strongest middies.

A lot of kids have come a long way during their career at HWS; I think Schweiter and Avedisian have had good senior seasons and hopefully they will lay it on the line this weekend and do particularly well.

I think we have been pretty good about playing a lot of guys on D so we are usually fresh enough; sometimes we get a little lazy on back cuts and do too much ball watching when we rely too heavily on the same guys. Ball watching can be a function of fatigue. Mixing guys in at midfield and attack like Holden, Archer, Scott is workable, even Aslaininan trying to get them matched up with a shorty and giving kids a rest can sometimes work if we have injuries to Simas and others at Midfield.

We were so close to getting into the play in game with Frank Brown's team when we the best team in the league but it didn't happen. And we snuck in in a year when maybe we weren't the best team in the league. So no taking any of this for granted. Go Statesmen!

[FL-GO]

NEC awards are out. No POTY recognition for any Hobart players. 3 guys on 1st team - Stanny, Christianson and Holden.

Pedicine, Scott, Aslanian and Madonna 2nd team. Knox, Madonna and Christianson on All Rookie team.

[stupefied]

https://www.collegecrosse.com/platform/ ... ssion=true

They pick MSM this week after picking Hobart prior to the RMU game.

Can Hobart still get into the tourney?

Whoever wins the NEC tourney takes the league AQ. The regular season title only means something from a “bragging rights” and post season seeding tourney perspective. If Hobart can win Thursday and Saturday, they’re in the NCAAs.

Rooting for Statesmen to win the NEC tourney. Lot of firepower when they move the ball.

[FL-GO]

“Lax Vegas Lines” has the Statesmen as a 1.5 goal favorite in tonight’s semifinal game.