Hobart 2024

[statesmen2018]

Hate to say it but the reality is that we don't have a ton of division 1 guys on this roster. Athletically we don't stack up great against anyone. That was a desperate Albany team which might be one of their least talented in the last decade. They played like they needed the win, we played like we thought it would be fun to win. Injuries can't be an excuse. There is 50+ on the roster. Those should be 50 D1 guys who are capable of being productive on the field. Going to be interesting to see what the Syracuse game looks like in two weeks.

[FL-GO]

I think the above is an interesting critique and one I've wondered about also. Going back a few years, Hobart seems to have been declining, even if the W/L records of 2019, 2020 & 2021 (the latter two not being full seasons) would say otherwise.

Since then, it's been 7-6, 5-8 and now sitting at 2-4 with really only LeMoyne, UMass (bc of the UVM loss) and St. B's as likely wins the rest of the way for another lackluster 5-8 or maybe 4-9 season. Maybe it'll be 5-9 bc if we go 2-3 in the A10 we will get a game against the 1 or 2 seed and probably lose again.

I guess the question is how much longer Statesmen fans can wait for the "rebuild" to be finished with new scholarship additions, etc. It just feels like it may be time for the program to get a reboot as the last couple of years just doesn't feel like Hobart lacrosse anymore.

[SMAIN]

I believe the problem is attitude. I think the coach is a rather up tight individual and I think that comes across to the players. Playing tight rather than loose. Afraid to make a mistake. He should teach of course but the he should also allow the players to play their game without fear of a dressing down. Play tough, play hard and play loose. We'll all make mistakes but try to learn from them. Is the coach the problem?

[Laxgunea]

I don't think Raymond is the problem. If it is the lack of quality players, then the problem is recruiting. You can blame that on coaches, but when you look at the numbers, Hobart has had difficulty attracting students in general, not just lacrosse players. The current student population is less than 1700. There hasn't been a class of 500 in many years. In other words, Raymond is recruiting from a small pool to begin with. I think he does an outstanding job with what he has available. I am pinning some of this on the players. They need to pull it together. That's what I mean by asking if this year's woes are about youth. Are they just too inexperienced at this point? Will virtually the same team do much better next year because of another year of experience?
This season is now about development. I give LeMoyne the advantage this weekend, certainly if we play to avoid losing.

[oldbartman]

Remember, LeMoyne was in the D 2 championship game last year. There is real talent and good coaching on that team. This games smacks of the 2021 against LIU Post that we lost. The team came in with attitude of "they're just a D 2 team". It didn't go well. Former Statesmen Jack Grooms is playing his extra year for the Dolphins. He spent 4 years at Bart and knows a lot about how the coaches approach situations and players tendencies. So the team better regroup and focus. If not, Ronnie's will be very quiet.

[Bartfromboston]

We are a disciplined team which I view as a positive. But sometimes with discipline comes a fear of screwing up. And we just dont have any flow of energy on offense. We need playmakers in the game. It looks like we are a little afraid (just a little) of change. There are at least a few players that are not bad players at all but not going to make plays or be the reason we win a game. So we need to play a near perfect game to win against peer schools. One exception to this is our decision to put Valent in the mix on Faceoff and you can see what a scrappy tough athletic younger kid can do with the opportunity. We can still fix this - Roll Bart!

[man:down]

I don't know what is meant by "time for a reboot." What is a re-boot other than a new staff? Would a new staff reboot the type of / caliber players you are able to recruit. That is the sticking point.

I think the players at Hobart love the school and the lacrosse tradition and embrace the underdog mentality. But that doesn't make it easy to sell to kids you are recruiting. If you are a stand-out high school lacrosse player with decent grades and have the ability to play for a higher-caliber team and/or a higher caliber academic institution and/or a bigger more exciting school in a more attractive location - why would you pick a 1700 person D3 school in Geneva NY? That won't change (unless the scholarship money is used to grab a couple meaningful recruits who have other options) regardless of the "reboot" that someone could come up with.

SO the team remains the small school underdogs who need to be able to beat schools in a similar situation and shock some of the schools that get the higher caliber recruits. And I agree that comes down to playing loose and with confidence. I rarely make it to games but was at Albany and I saw some of that from the offense. What I also saw was an Albany team that seemed to keep making adjustments - especially in the 4th quarter. Hobart should try that too.

[FMUBart]

Hate to say it but the reality is that we don't have a ton of division 1 guys on this roster. Athletically we don't stack up great against anyone.

Been this way for years, maybe decades. Hobart hasn't been able to compete with the top 10 D1 teams in a long time. But, as per above, our roster is definitely not a D1 roster--not knocking the players, they're good, just not the top recruits. Too bad there isn't a 1-AA league like football...

[Laxgunea]

Man-Down, you are spot on. We get really great players who were overlooked by others for some reason, most often because of size. Two examples of that are Delano and Patterson. We also might pick up a really good player who was overlooked or developed a bit later (Madonna and Aslanian) or someone who has a connection to the school (Love). The currency exchange has essentially killed our Canadian pipeline ... no more Scott, Yanko, or Veltmann .... so we look for players either from the local area or from states that tend to fly under the radar. When it clicks, we are good, and when it doesn't, we aren't. I am still wondering if this year is just a very young team. They seem to feel pressure. It reminds me of the years at the tail end of TW's tenure. We have some very good seniors and grad students, but the future is with the juniors, sophomores, and first years.
There is no doubt these guys love the school and each other, and they play here because it is D1 and competes with great teams, plus it is a great education and a great alumni base. Also, in the NEC and A10 there is an AQ, so they can reasonably expect a chance for an NCAA game. I am not a "go back to D3" guy ... I hate that idea ... but I do think the best we'll ever do in D1 is crack the top 15 and win an NCAA game or two. Throw in an occasional victory over Cornell or Syracuse, and I'd be happy.
LeMoyne will be tough, but in a couple of years, their qualified recruits will be coming to us. We'll see what scholarship money does. I'm skeptical. I think we'd have better luck if we lowered tuition, but no one asked me. Still waiting on that call from Gearan ...

[FMUBart]

Well said Laxgunea....I believe most of us lax alums realized much of what you said when the reversal back to D1 was made. The thought of being middle of the pack in D3 is MUCH WORSE than playing D1(now with schollys). As you said, there is an opportunity, albeit slight, for Hobart to earn an NCAA bid. Objectively, it seems some other schools in the A10 have an easier time with recruiting than a small school in Geneva, NY. Losses are one thing, shellackings are another...

[man:down]

And just to pile on here, the coaching staff absolutely wants Hobart to play against high caliber teams AND the A10 has a handful of schools that may be more attractive destinations than Hobart - so the schedule is full of games where the Statesmen are the underdogs.

A10
(I am guessing on the academic parts here - but my point is that a degree from a higher academic school might be considered more attractive)
High Point - inferior academics but beautiful campus in a warm state and a larger school
UMass - comparable academics (depending on which program you are enrolled in), but big school with big school activities
St Joes - comparable (perhaps superior?) academics and a larger school in an urban area (Villanova light)
Richmond - superior academics, larger school, beautiful campus in a warm state
St Bonaventure - similar academics (perhaps inferior), similar size, similar location, less attractive lacrosse destination I would think

No coincidence that in the A10, Hobart only beat St Bonaventure last year.

[FL-GO]

Latest podcast is up:

https://hwsathletics.com/podcasts/hobar ... ode-77/169

[Bartfromboston]

Latest podcast is up:

https://hwsathletics.com/podcasts/hobar ... ode-77/169

Ted is always so kind. Didn’t hit the burning question of what are we going to do to address the lack of offensive production and shooting percentage. The answer sounds like more of the same which scares me a bit.

[oldbartman]

Latest podcast is up:

https://hwsathletics.com/podcasts/hobar ... ode-77/169

Ted is always so kind. Didn’t hit the burning question of what are we going to do to address the lack of offensive production and shooting percentage. The answer sounds like more of the same which scares me a bit.

Agree about the lack of scoring. But what about the defense? According to the NCAA website, Hobart has the 69th ranked scoring defense. We're giving up an average of 15 goals per game. Here I thought last year was bad.

[Bartfromboston]

Latest podcast is up:

https://hwsathletics.com/podcasts/hobar ... ode-77/169

Ted is always so kind. Didn’t hit the burning question of what are we going to do to address the lack of offensive production and shooting percentage. The answer sounds like more of the same which scares me a bit.

Agree about the lack of scoring. But what about the defense? According to the NCAA website, Hobart has the 69th ranked scoring defense. We're giving up an average of 15 goals per game. Here I thought last year was bad.

I kind of feel Ted is hitting the defense pretty hard the past few weeks. He rarely talks about shot selection and lack of offense energy. Raymond did hit it subtlety by saying that the guys that need to make plays aren’t making them and havent made them. And he talked about lost possessions. But there was no “now here’s what I am going to do” conclusion. It sounds like just keep practicing. I cant imagine if a goalie had that issue the answer would “just keep playing”.

[Laxgunea]

Not to be captain obvious, but one way to help the defense would be to have the offense hold possession longer. Some of that 69 rating comes from games like the Cornell game or Michigan game in which the D was flat out for a whole half.
We've had 20 minute scoring droughts in most games this year, including games we've won. L

[Bartfromboston]

I don't know what is meant by "time for a reboot." What is a re-boot other than a new staff? Would a new staff reboot the type of / caliber players you are able to recruit. That is the sticking point.

I think the players at Hobart love the school and the lacrosse tradition and embrace the underdog mentality. But that doesn't make it easy to sell to kids you are recruiting. If you are a stand-out high school lacrosse player with decent grades and have the ability to play for a higher-caliber team and/or a higher caliber academic institution and/or a bigger more exciting school in a more attractive location - why would you pick a 1700 person D3 school in Geneva NY? That won't change (unless the scholarship money is used to grab a couple meaningful recruits who have other options) regardless of the "reboot" that someone could come up with.

SO the team remains the small school underdogs who need to be able to beat schools in a similar situation and shock some of the schools that get the higher caliber recruits. And I agree that comes down to playing loose and with confidence. I rarely make it to games but was at Albany and I saw some of that from the offense. What I also saw was an Albany team that seemed to keep making adjustments - especially in the 4th quarter. Hobart should try that too.

I think you make some good points and maybe the answer is the opposite of what we are doing. Maybe we shouldn’t try and play every tough team in the country to get our butts kicked and pile on injuries and reduce confidence going into the tourney. We are barely an Atlantic 10 team and we fit better with the mid. Major conference where we would compete and the kids would enjoy the experience and then you could have your fill of recruiting that caliber. It sounds like we are trying to act like we are Johns Hopkins, work the kids until they can’t breathe, run a smaller number of players against giant teams and then you end up with concussions, injuries, fatigue, heads hanging. I also believed that playing the toughest teams would better prepare you for the league schedule — and I still do. But I dont think we can work the kids to injury and play such a small group of kids which them leads to additional injuries especially given our financial situation and not really a serious training or conditioning function compared to schools like Richmond or UMass. If we are going to play a bear of a schedule we need to literally work every kid in and keep the starters fresh when we know we are not getting a win - like Michigan in the second half or Cornell pretty much the entire game. Hopefully we start fast today and can rest a bit before Syracuse. Unless we are in the Syracuse game, we should definitely play deep that game before the A10 schedule. If anyone is at the game, please post how injuries look - its hard to tell on the webcast

[Laxgunea]

Best half of the season, except maybe first half against Michigan. Now, let's see 4 quarters and lots of the bench in the late 3rd and 4th.

[FL-GO]

Well that was easy and a fun one. Good to see some younger guys out there getting some goals. Won’t be any more easy ones rest of the way. Maybe this is a game the offense needed.

[catchnshoot]

Who is doing the color commentary on the broadcast with Ted?