PLL 2023

[Unknown Participant]

Great write up. Thanks.

[Lax Mouse]

This did not feel like a game the Whipsnakes had any business winning at halftime, but a Puglise 2 and phenomenal goaltending by Krebs (17 sv, 65%) changed the direction of this game. Chaos looked great in the second quarter: ball movement and dodging were both at a high level and the team offense produced great shooting opportunities. Kurtz and Minicus were both cooking (3g each). Rowlett won the face-off battle and for large stretches in the first half, it seemed the Whips just didn't have the ball. It certainly affected their team offense, as everyone was dodging or shooting into trouble. Smith and Dordevic both got goals in the second half - Dordevic a 2 pter - but they barely had any touches in the first. Quint made a comment about how quiet Dordevic was, and it seemed a little unfair as he simply wasn't getting the ball in his stick. Stags said at halftime that they needed more initiation up top, and they certainly had more of it, but it still wasn't at the level it had been earlier in the season. Chaos put a shortie on Manny and double poled the midfield, which further limited their production. Williams and Rambo stepped up when they needed to, and in the end things started clicking. More consistency will be key moving forward. Dhane Smith had some ridiculous passes and assists today, but Krebs was a brick wall in the second. Midfield production regressed a bit, and the Whips went on a 6-0 run late. Neumann said mic'd up that Byrne should return soon, and they could sure use it.

[Lax Mouse]

Second game had a slow start but Archers pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back. An injury to Moore is a potential concern but man is this offense good. Schreiber is so unselfish that sometimes you forget how dominant he can be as a ball carrier, but he had plenty of moments tonight when he took charge, went to goal, and scored. He makes it look so effortless with a quick, deceptive release. He finished with 4g (including a 2) and an assist. The team is so good at moving the ball and finding the open shot. They're so fun to watch. Eight players had points with 13 goals, and their defense was stifling yet again.

The Chrome defense played okay enough through three quarters to keep them in it if they had a decent offense. A scuffle at the end of the 3rd (which led to some truly questionable penalties and non penalties) took the wind out of their sails a bit. This offense is just not good right now. You could tell they tried to play faster and more aggressively early, but a couple of crease violations killed the energy. King and Heacock both had goals in garbage time late against Washuta, the backup goalie. It'll pad their stats, but the truth is that the midfield is largely ineffective at being a threat. The attack has not played well enough either, but defenses have really been able to focus on them without a midfield that can challenge. They had a number of turnovers and costly penalties (PP goals in the first half allowed the Archers to pull away), but they also forced themselves into low angle shots and, when they did draw slides or doubles, had no one to pass to because no one else was in a good spot. Williams had a typical season debut in that he had several turnovers, failed to score, and got pushed around a bit, but he did show the ability to get his hands free and put himself in decent spots. He'll need to bury those if he gets another shot, which you'd hope he would (I feel like players need 2-3 games to settle and show what they can do). But I have doubts based on the personnel decisions made so far this year.

[Unknown Participant]

Soudan has to go. Chrome has been cursed w/bad coaching since inception. Probably desevedly since Brett Queener was an original member of the team.

[stupefied]

Believe Lax Mouse is spot on with his coaching comments . Chrome needs a complete overhaul especially on offense where chemistry and spacing is lacking . Oneill will be first pick but Shelleneberger or Pat Kavanuagh might be better fits for Chrome especially for Winaskaus who is too talented to struggle like this.Maybe worth trading back a spot or two if strong offer to flip. Meanwhile Atlas has excellent offensive talent but real questions on defenses whether it be transition, off ball or on ball. .CVP release, Dearth and Chick absences while #43 gets beat repeatedly raises some questions. Good to see many former Pios do well in Denver but late games out West for three weeks straight likely won't help tv viewership numbers.

[Lax Mouse]

Wasn't able to watch the Saturday games this weekend and haven't yet been able to get to the replays.

Would love someone in the industry to do a deeper dive into why the Chrome have regressed this much from last year's regular season and the championship series.

A cursory look at the stats show a team that is scoring nearly two times less than last year. All players have decreased production, and a number of key contributors haven't seen much time this year (and haven't been dominant with the looks they've had - Molloy and Nichtern). Has the coaching approach changed? Have all the players gotten worse? Shooting percentage is about 10% lower as a team, and with 2 games left they have half as many assists and 100 fewer GBs and 600 fewer passes than they had all of last year. FO and SV % are relatively comparable. They are around 15 TOs away from last year's total with 2 games left as well.

Anecdotally, there's lower energy and urgency on the offensive end. No one is demanding defensive attention. What was the offseason like? How did the coaches maintain a team dynamic?

I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but at the end of the day, the lack of coaching adjustments with personnel and play has to be looked at as the reason why this far into the season, things haven't turned around.

[lorin]

Wasn't able to watch the Saturday games this weekend and haven't yet been able to get to the replays.

Would love someone in the industry to do a deeper dive into why the Chrome have regressed this much from last year's regular season and the championship series.

A cursory look at the stats show a team that is scoring nearly two times less than last year. All players have decreased production, and a number of key contributors haven't seen much time this year (and haven't been dominant with the looks they've had - Molloy and Nichtern). Has the coaching approach changed? Have all the players gotten worse? Shooting percentage is about 10% lower as a team, and with 2 games left they have half as many assists and 100 fewer GBs and 600 fewer passes than they had all of last year. FO and SV % are relatively comparable. They are around 15 TOs away from last year's total with 2 games left as well.

Anecdotally, there's lower energy and urgency on the offensive end. No one is demanding defensive attention. What was the offseason like? How did the coaches maintain a team dynamic?

I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but at the end of the day, the lack of coaching adjustments with personnel and play has to be looked at as the reason why this far into the season, things haven't turned around.

[lorin]

Wasn't able to watch the Saturday games this weekend and haven't yet been able to get to the replays.

Would love someone in the industry to do a deeper dive into why the Chrome have regressed this much from last year's regular season and the championship series.

A cursory look at the stats show a team that is scoring nearly two times less than last year. All players have decreased production, and a number of key contributors haven't seen much time this year (and haven't been dominant with the looks they've had - Molloy and Nichtern). Has the coaching approach changed? Have all the players gotten worse? Shooting percentage is about 10% lower as a team, and with 2 games left they have half as many assists and 100 fewer GBs and 600 fewer passes than they had all of last year. FO and SV % are relatively comparable. They are around 15 TOs away from last year's total with 2 games left as well.

Anecdotally, there's lower energy and urgency on the offensive end. No one is demanding defensive attention. What was the offseason like? How did the coaches maintain a team dynamic?

I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but at the end of the day, the lack of coaching adjustments with personnel and play has to be looked at as the reason why this far into the season, things haven't turned around.

Molloy played middie coach decision, Nichtern was doing Army stuff for five months no lax, then comes back and coach puts him in a new position that he ever played, Nichtern should have been put right back at X with Molloy 7 and 3 with them together, so please don't bring those 2 guys into this mess.
And it all started because of a stupid wedding, I am positive some other big names have missed games for personal stuff but the coaches had their back and covered it up.

[lorin]

Wasn't able to watch the Saturday games this weekend and haven't yet been able to get to the replays.

Would love someone in the industry to do a deeper dive into why the Chrome have regressed this much from last year's regular season and the championship series.

A cursory look at the stats show a team that is scoring nearly two times less than last year. All players have decreased production, and a number of key contributors haven't seen much time this year (and haven't been dominant with the looks they've had - Molloy and Nichtern). Has the coaching approach changed? Have all the players gotten worse? Shooting percentage is about 10% lower as a team, and with 2 games left they have half as many assists and 100 fewer GBs and 600 fewer passes than they had all of last year. FO and SV % are relatively comparable. They are around 15 TOs away from last year's total with 2 games left as well.

Anecdotally, there's lower energy and urgency on the offensive end. No one is demanding defensive attention. What was the offseason like? How did the coaches maintain a team dynamic?

I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but at the end of the day, the lack of coaching adjustments with personnel and play has to be looked at as the reason why this far into the season, things haven't turned around.

Molloy played middie coach decision, Nichtern was doing Army stuff for five months no lax, then comes back and coach puts him in a new position that he ever played, Nichtern should have been put right back at X with Molloy 7 and 3 with them together, so please don't bring those 2 guys into this mess.
And it all started because of a stupid wedding, I am positive some other big names have missed games for personal stuff but the coaches had their back and covered it up.

Plus I still believe they can win the next 2 and get in.

[Lax Mouse]

My comments were certainly not attacks on Molloy and Nichtern, if you've read any of my comments you know that I believe Soudan (and Pressler) have made the most questionable lineup decisions this year. Obviously there are many factors contributing to their limited production this year (availability, practice time, external commitments, limited game action, coaching game plans and positioning decisions, etc.). The fact that they haven't produced a ton in the looks they've had this far is a fact (and Nichtern does have 11 turnovers in very limited action), but I've been fairly clear that players need at least ~3 games to adjust and show if they can contribute, and that really hasn't been afforded to either of them by Soudan. It's entirely reasonable to both acknowledge limited production and the factors behind it, some of which is outside of the players control.

This will be another tough week for me to see the games live with the late starts in EST and with some other commitments. I think we'll see a few of the top teams take the foot off the gas just a hair as they work to get healthy, and this might allow some of the middle of the pack teams to be competitive. I think Whips have a good shot to come out with a win, Atlas play a hobbled Cannons but I think the Boom Squad has a huge advantage in the middle of the field. I expect the Woods to beat down the Chrome and Chaos/Dogs to be super competitive. But what do I know

[Lax Mouse]

Chrome trade Jackson Morrill to the Whips for picks in this upcoming draft. Good get for the Whips, who could use a more consistent distributor and invert threat as they gear up for the playoffs. They've also got talent in the wings (Myers, Kennedy) and can afford to lose a draft pick or two even if they deal with some retirements this off-season.

For Chrome, Morrill has been one of their most consistently productive players the last few years and has been one of the lone bright spots this year. They're clearly cleaning house and prepping for a roster overhaul this off-season. With a loaded draft class, it's not a terrible move. There aren't that many young players with that much draft capital on the roster, and Wisnauskas proved this past weekend that there's more in the tank if he gets going. This, and the players the Chrome will be considering in this year's draft, made Morrill the best choice to trade for picks. Excited for Morrill to have an opportunity to play some winning lacrosse.

Soudan has really bungled this season after a promising championship series performance. Key contributors of that series were cut or benched, and Soudan stuck with a smattering of veterans that simply did not get the job done this year. I'd expect this roster, especially on offense, to look substantially different next year. I also wonder if a coaching change is on the horizon.

[lorin]

Chrome trade Jackson Morrill to the Whips for picks in this upcoming draft. Good get for the Whips, who could use a more consistent distributor and invert threat as they gear up for the playoffs. They've also got talent in the wings (Myers, Kennedy) and can afford to lose a draft pick or two even if they deal with some retirements this off-season.

For Chrome, Morrill has been one of their most consistently productive players the last few years and has been one of the lone bright spots this year. They're clearly cleaning house and prepping for a roster overhaul this off-season. With a loaded draft class, it's not a terrible move. There aren't that many young players with that much draft capital on the roster, and Wisnauskas proved this past weekend that there's more in the tank if he gets going. This, and the players the Chrome will be considering in this year's draft, made Morrill the best choice to trade for picks. Excited for Morrill to have an opportunity to play some winning lacrosse.

Soudan has really bungled this season after a promising championship series performance. Key contributors of that series were cut or benched, and Soudan stuck with a smattering of veterans that simply did not get the job done this year. I'd expect this roster, especially on offense, to look substantially different next year. I also wonder if a coaching change is on the horizon.

Agree with above, but will also add there is a big difference dodging short sticks then poles.( champ series)

[DeepPocket]

Chrome trade Jackson Morrill to the Whips for picks in this upcoming draft. Good get for the Whips, who could use a more consistent distributor and invert threat as they gear up for the playoffs. They've also got talent in the wings (Myers, Kennedy) and can afford to lose a draft pick or two even if they deal with some retirements this off-season.

For Chrome, Morrill has been one of their most consistently productive players the last few years and has been one of the lone bright spots this year. They're clearly cleaning house and prepping for a roster overhaul this off-season. With a loaded draft class, it's not a terrible move. There aren't that many young players with that much draft capital on the roster, and Wisnauskas proved this past weekend that there's more in the tank if he gets going. This, and the players the Chrome will be considering in this year's draft, made Morrill the best choice to trade for picks. Excited for Morrill to have an opportunity to play some winning lacrosse.

Soudan has really bungled this season after a promising championship series performance. Key contributors of that series were cut or benched, and Soudan stuck with a smattering of veterans that simply did not get the job done this year. I'd expect this roster, especially on offense, to look substantially different next year. I also wonder if a coaching change is on the horizon.

Agree with above, but will also add there is a big difference dodging short sticks then poles.( champ series)

Yes. This is a key here, no poles in the series. Looking forward to seeing O’Neill come into the league. This could be the catalyst that drives fans exclusively of the college game into some PLL interest. Throw in having a “home team” to have stake in and the dynamically changing league will continue to take shape.

[lorin]

Chrome trade Jackson Morrill to the Whips for picks in this upcoming draft. Good get for the Whips, who could use a more consistent distributor and invert threat as they gear up for the playoffs. They've also got talent in the wings (Myers, Kennedy) and can afford to lose a draft pick or two even if they deal with some retirements this off-season.

For Chrome, Morrill has been one of their most consistently productive players the last few years and has been one of the lone bright spots this year. They're clearly cleaning house and prepping for a roster overhaul this off-season. With a loaded draft class, it's not a terrible move. There aren't that many young players with that much draft capital on the roster, and Wisnauskas proved this past weekend that there's more in the tank if he gets going. This, and the players the Chrome will be considering in this year's draft, made Morrill the best choice to trade for picks. Excited for Morrill to have an opportunity to play some winning lacrosse.

Soudan has really bungled this season after a promising championship series performance. Key contributors of that series were cut or benched, and Soudan stuck with a smattering of veterans that simply did not get the job done this year. I'd expect this roster, especially on offense, to look substantially different next year. I also wonder if a coaching change is on the horizon.

Agree with above, but will also add there is a big difference dodging short sticks then poles.( champ series)

Yes. This is a key here, no poles in the series. Looking forward to seeing O’Neill come into the league. This could be the catalyst that drives fans exclusively of the college game into some PLL interest. Throw in having a “home team” to have stake in and the dynamically changing league will continue to take shape.

Agree O'Neil gets the media attention, but he has a lot of work to play at next level. He will see same D ND played against him he had a total of 3 points in 2 games. Canadian D not that great. I think Shellenberg and CJ Kirst will have a much better career then O'Neil.

[DeepPocket]

Yes. This is a key here, no poles in the series. Looking forward to seeing O’Neill come into the league. This could be the catalyst that drives fans exclusively of the college game into some PLL interest. Throw in having a “home team” to have stake in and the dynamically changing league will continue to take shape.

Agree O'Neil gets the media attention, but he has a lot of work to play at next level. He will see same D ND played against him he had a total of 3 points in 2 games. Canadian D not that great. I think Shellenberg and CJ Kirst will have a much better career then O'Neil.

Fair on both the Canadian D and the ND lock down. And more so, his 2 goals vs ND were on man-up opportunities (with all 3 points coming in the second half of these games). I know I watched them at the time, but I’d have to go back to see how they covered him. Not that Duke doesn’t have plenty of other threats, but with the supporting cast a PLL team holds, will teams be able to concentrate on one player as much as he likely faces in the collegiate game?

One might even suggest that it is in fact the overall high talent level of the PLL that causes the league to have such a high % of the goals coming in all sorts of creative and uniquely deceptive manners. Because it is so hard to get any kind of traditional looks vs these defenses, and then having to beat an all-world caliber goalie looking to make the save. And as such, with his bullying twister shots, one-handed over hands, toe drags, and exaggerated fake shot face-dodge shots, it could be suggested that O’Neill’s unique and creative game is better suited for the PLL than it is for the college game.

I don’t know how much I’d lay out on the two others mentioned having much better pro careers than O’Neill at the moment. But I’m excited to see it play out, and it’s great that the league has us talking about it.

[Lax Mouse]

Good points about the lack of poles in the CS. I suppose my point is less that these players would've definitively had a major impact for the Chrome this year, and more that it's crazy to me they weren't at least given chances to prove themselves more often throughout the season. Considering the amount of rope Soudan gave guys like Heacock (2g) and MacIntosh (5g 1a) throughout the season, it seems indefensible to me that guys like Williams and Rogers (being cut) weren't given more of an opportunity to show if they could contribute. Williams ended up playing two games and had a goal (1 fewer than Heacock had all season). Rogers ended up with 2g 2a in limited playing time for the Woods. Who knows what impact they would've had if they'd been given more opportunity (same with Molloy and Nichtern), but my biggest critique of Soudan this season was sticking with some of the same players that were just not having consistent game impact.

[Lax Mouse]

I'm out of the country and won't be able to watch games live until the championship, but excited for the playoffs. Any team could win it all, even the Atlas if they can come together.

I'm sure there'll be some good discourse around the number 1 pick. Soudan has shown he doesn't really care what the consensus is - he's going to go with the guy he feel best fits in his system.

I think Dan mentioned a while back, but there have been some rumblings about a significant amount of retirements after this season. Who knows, but that coupled with this incoming class indicates that some teams will look drastically different next year.

[DeepPocket]

I'm out of the country and won't be able to watch games live until the championship, but excited for the playoffs. Any team could win it all, even the Atlas if they can come together.

I'm sure there'll be some good discourse around the number 1 pick. Soudan has shown he doesn't really care what the consensus is - he's going to go with the guy he feel best fits in his system.

I think Dan mentioned a while back, but there have been some rumblings about a significant amount of retirements after this season. Who knows, but that coupled with this incoming class indicates that some teams will look drastically different next year.

Safe travels. Looking forward to your takes, on your return.

[LaxAllStars]

Quarterfinal look ahead

https://laxallstars.com/pll-playoff-qua ... l-preview/

[LaxAllStars]

Semifinals at Hofstra on Sunday
Ryan Boyle thoughts

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show ... fs-e291cvn