Velvet.Fog wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 3:17 pm
Negatives: our SSDMs are - no surprise - a big concern. Yesterday we were missing our top two - 7 and 5. Of course there will be a drop off . 13 and 77 are now the top options. They each struggled in spots - but also had some good moments. 6 continues to struggle (although his play at the end was excellent). 38 got one run and waved at the dodger as he ran past him. The addition of 2 may be very important. He is an elite athlete and can help the team in a number of ways. But my beef is this: our scheme often positions the SSDMs to fail. They are guarding fast players 25-30 yards from the goal and letting them get a head of steam. They also press out without purpose at the worst times - late in the shot clock they sometimes overplay dodgers down the alleys and let them get to the middle of the field for good looks!! Why!! Just ride them down the alleys or do anything to prevent them from getting topside middle. So much work to do here. We need 7 back and 2 to continue to improve - and with 13 and 77 (and 6 in spots) it can be an effective unit. One other key thing: the SSDMS need to make the simple/correct pass in unsettled breaks. Don't shoot except in rare instances. On one play 77 had 30 all alone for a layup goal in Q4 and took an atrocious shot. No back up and ball went to Tigers. That goal was critical and we wasted it. Great teams do not do that!!!! Sad to say this - but that play felt like the OT faceoff v Michigan last year. They need to be coached up hard that they should not shoot in that spot unless there is literally nothing else!!!
13 was much improved this week, especially in the 2 man game. In the Penn State game, he was caught 1/2 way in between switching and staying with his man multiple times, led directly to 5-6 goals. He got beat a couple of time 1 on 1 against Princeton, which is not unexpected for a ssdm. But did a much better job on the 2 man game. Let's hope he keeps it up.
77 is a stud. He rarely gets beat and is decent on the 2 man game. He gets a little lost on 2nd slides in the rotation, but that will come.
Agree totally with the comments about pressing too far out and not turning dodgers into shooters by forcing them down the outside.