StephenBaldwin wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 10:33 pm
steel_hop wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 10:26 pm
HopDonk wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 10:12 pm
Been biting my tongue for about 5 weeks. Finally making an account to say… fire Crawley for the love of god.
Week after week he gives another example of why he needs to be replaced. We are not struggling for sharp shooters or dodgers on offense, we are desperately struggling on coordination and execution on offense. OC needs to go.
Forget the 10 goals allowed. It is the 1 goal in 3 quarters that lost us that game. Crawley does not have it and needs to be replaced.
The big question is it is basically the same guys outside of English and Kramf and the team is averaging at least 1.5 goals less a game. QuestIons that Crawley and Millman need to ponder.
The other issue is this team has very little killer instinct. It doesn't want to destroy teams. If ND was up 6-1 on Michigan that game is over. Hopkins has now lost 2 games this season up 6-1 in the 2nd quarter.
The team certainly doesn't know how to play when it is the big favorite and teams are gunning for them. That is a coaching and lockerroom ssue.
Hopkins does not have a Pat or Chris Kavanagh. They do not have an Eric Dobson or Jordan Faison. You can’t put teams away when you can’t consistently beat a man and draw a slide. Michigan dominated 1 on 1 matchups all over the field tonight.
That’s the thing … even Notre Dame doesn’t rely on the Cavanaughs or Faison to “consistently beat a man.”
The play I noticed most from yesterday’s Notre Dame humiliation of Virginia?
Reilly Gray (#17), a middie with a whopping 8 goals and 2 assists, dodges hard down the right alley. Gray doesn’t beat anyone on the dodge … NO ONE … but he gets several Virginia defenders moving. Those Virginia defenders are not rushing towards Gray. All they are doing is turning slightly to Gray and maybe moving a step or two towards him. Then Gray, having beaten NO ONE on the dodge, passes the ball to Chris Cavanaugh behind the net.
Now, does Chris Cavanaugh, who has moved offball and does not have a defender on him, make a spectacular dodge to the net and score? No, he passes to Max Busenkell (#23), a middie with a (now) whopping 8 goals and 5 assists, who finishes for the score (that was Busenkell’s 8th goal).
That play didn’t require a single player beating his man. It was all generated by Reilly Gray dodging hard, causing just a little movement from the Virginia D, some good offball movement from Chris Cavanaugh, and a nice finish from a guy who hasn’t tallied 10 goals yet.
Why can’t we see Collison, Peshko, and Grimes dodge hard, cause some movement on the opposing D, and set up a teammate for a goal?
Crawley and PM are relying far too much on the little guys like Bauer, Angelus, and Ayers to dodge and try and beat their man. Have the Big Guys dodge hard. If they beat their man, great. If they power dodge, can’t beat their man, and can still get a shot or pass off, terrific. If they can’t beat their man (or several defenders) but can still get the opposing D moving, wonderful. All three scenarios create good situations.
Right now, the Hopkins O is not forcing opposing Ds to move enough, and that is mainly due to underutilizing the Big Guys for aggressive dodges.
Opponents have figured out how to defend against the Blue Jays’ Tulip Ball.
Crawley and PM need to ramp up the aggression on O or the Blue Jays won’t last long in the tournament.
DocBarrister