i have to imagine somehow or some way more poles will show up on the roster by january. reilly is another who was out all of last year.blue angels wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:43 amTruthfully, we have a myriad of options on offense which is the least of our problems as we will be potent there, regardless. We have some great individual players but D is the area that is going to require the most work in the Fall. Agree that we were really thin(and Fortunate) at Close D. Greco and top reserve, Dol ,graduated. We have 3 superb incoming long pole prospects. I don't foresee all of them at Close but probably 2 will need to be out of necessity and there is ample playing time available including a starting spot. I am less certain who else on the roster is a viable candidate to start and wondered who else you think might figure into that competition? Chris Merle practiced with a pole some before he was injured and seems like he ends up as a LSM or short stick middle. We are also very thin at short stick. Hall Peters was an Under Armour AA but took a year off and then there is Ken Olexo who has been injured since high school. Neither played much or at all but were 1st years. How are they developing and is there anyone else?wgdsr wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:58 pm addendum to stupified...as that article probably speaks to if it's the one i recall -- the new and the old staff all have looked at moore as an attackman since as far back as high school -- moore didn't want to go there as a freshman, and then was willing to last year. and then sets the single season points record. more importantly, became the main assist guy to facilitate to others, particularly when kraus wasn't healthy.
i would be a little shocked if they messed with that, especially for any guy getting on the field for the first time. though i was surprised when they courted gray, so what do i know? anything could happen, but i see it as unlikely. moore is a rider like kraus and laviano. he's a facilitator. you want him on the field for all the fast breaks, rides, etc.
the middies the last 2 years were:
2018 - dox, moore, someone rotating in
2019 - early year- dox, conner + somebody : last 2/3 year- dox, conrad + somebody.
so the common denominator is dox, of course. there are a lot of other guys, and i don't think anyone can really predict right now who may be the ones getting the most burn. kirwan just did a recent podcast and espoused the "best 6 guys" on offense theory. they may settle on one other guy and rotate others around dox +1, or just have it be dox and the supremes.
as far as the d guys you mentioned, rock and conners have filled the lsm spot, and been very good at it. i don't see that changing.
with kology gone, they got thin with injuries last year @ pole, but i'd imagine we'll see a fresh face down low, whether it's one of the 3 new defensemen or someone from the roster.
what i would like to see if the "other mids" can step up offensively is for aitken to take more wings, middle of the field clears, etc. fill some of conrad's role himself. he was very good at it freshman year, and even a dip in offensive production would give the hoos a lot of what they're losing in conrad's void.
so hopefully olexo, peters, reilly, 3 1st years, and guy or 2 we don't know about. someone will get injured. hopefully, not as big a crop get hurt as last year.
no idea who has the inside track for starting, though i do expect whoever wins it will be good.
with losing 3 ssdm's (and gaining some poles back from injury), i expect merle would go back to ssdm. they'd still need to find one or 2 more on top of him.
