RumorMill wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 11:40 pm
To start off with some transparency, I am a Dartmouth Alum and participated for 4 years on a varsity team (not lacrosse). I absolutely loved my 4 years at DC and am passionate about all things Dartmouth, especially their athletic teams! Although I didn't play lacrosse, I do have a long term interest in seeing the program become competitive and successful.
With that said, I don't see b1's earlier comments as critical of individual players, rather critical of the systemic issues that have been plaguing the program. There are many comments about recruits and recruiting (myself included). I'm not saying this is an easy job... but hey, it IS THE JOB! The coaching staff needs to recruit the RIGHT players for "their program". "Program" includes A LOT of factors. The school, the geography, the coaches style of play, the current players they have and what holes they need to fill, yadda, yadda, yadda. Again, that's the job. In addition you need to be able to work with what you have and what you get.
Note: MD, that's not being critical of the current staff, that's a blanket statement that applies to all programs.
I believe this is the answer to why other Dartmouth athletic teams have been successful within the Ivy League and Nationally. To quote one of my favorite movies (Miracle)... Craig Patrick, "You're missing the best players"... Herb Brooks, "I'm not looking for the best players, Craig, I'm looking for the right ones."
Kind of off topic but have been thinking about it for awhile... It's awesome that there is investment in an new "indoor facility", but has the lax team had access to Leverone? I know it's not state of the art, but I/we used to use it in the winter to get better!
Yes, true of any staff. Quite agree.
And I quite agree about recruiting the 'right players'; though Brooks already had most of the 'best' players from the US already on his Olympic roster when he said that about the last couple of choices. He knew that the glue guys, the guys he could get to do what seemed impossible, were essential. But he had zero guys on that team who couldn't skate the socks off of nearly any other collection of US (non pro) players.
But, yes, need to get the very best players who will love being in Hanover and who will fully embrace all that means, including the turnaround challenge. My sense is there's no lack of the latter aspect on the 2019 team.
We just need
more total guys with high lax IQ, with a few breakout players. Need a competitive FOGO badly. Need a downhill midfielder or two, need a stud attack man. Need to keep bolstering the pole corps, with upgraded stick work.
I don't think there's anything wrong with admitting that we have fewer high performance out of high school players on our roster than do our Ivy competitors. That will need to change in order to compete for titles. But it's not necessary to begin the forward momentum.
I too wouldn't put too much emphasis on the indoor facility in and of itself. It
does send a message of forward momentum and will help with recruiting. And it will definitely have some impact. I recall practicing in Leverone and, frankly, it was a joke. And that was back when first games didn't happen until March, and we traveled south in order to play those early games. And our southern foes didn't start playing until February, not January.
The indoor facility provides an opportunity for the full team to be practicing full field, clearing, riding, transitions, fast breaks, as well as half field systems. I'm hoping the lighting is really good, as it's terrible in Leverone. and seeing the ball is critical for lacrosse, unlike other sports.
Trying to do that on a snow plowed outside field in February is awful, with guys freezing and unable to even hear instruction in the wind. A little of that is fine, but it's not a way to improve.
But the indoor won't solve issues, it just provides an opportunity for more purposeful practice, an opportunity to coach. The players and coaches will need to take full advantage of that opportunity.
But we don't think it will be ready for 2020 winter...though it'll be close.