LaxPower Back-Up Stick

njbill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 9:23 pm Agree re Rix.

When she and Covie committed to BC the same year, that more than anything else started BC’s rise up the ranks.

She's why I started paying attention to BC. She and her sister are remarkable people.@forallwhofight is worth a look on Instagram.

njbill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:03 pm

LaxDadMax wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:40 am 10 years from now, barring a major rules change, will a single top 15 team play predominantly man vs. man defense?

You have given yourself an out by saying predominantly, but I think there will always be a place for man. Man defense is played in all sports. In any sport, if you have the personnel, you play, or can play, man.

My view is that it is tougher to beat an excellent man defense than an excellent zone defense. There are always holes in even the best zone defenses. Not so with the best man defenses.

To be fair, most top defenses are a combination of man and zone. There are one on one principles in many of the top zone defenses (like SB, JMU) and some zone principles in some of the best man defenses (like NW and MD).

LaxDadMax wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:54 am

njbill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:03 pm

LaxDadMax wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:40 am 10 years from now, barring a major rules change, will a single top 15 team play predominantly man vs. man defense?

You have given yourself an out by saying predominantly, but I think there will always be a place for man. Man defense is played in all sports. In any sport, if you have the personnel, you play, or can play, man.

My view is that it is tougher to beat an excellent man defense than an excellent zone defense. There are always holes in even the best zone defenses. Not so with the best man defenses.

To be fair, most top defenses are a combination of man and zone. There are one on one principles in many of the top zone defenses (like SB, JMU) and some zone principles in some of the best man defenses (like NW and MD).

I struggle with this discussion. The best defense is one that prevents goals, right? As my Dad used to say: "it's not how, it's whether."

Dempsey Arsenault belongs in this discussion as well. No other middie who's been named was half the defender, with the exception of McCool who's still a distant second. Also fantastic in transition, on the draw, on- and off-ball on attack. Still blows me away that BC couldn't win a championship with the big three.

For me, the greatest attacker conversation should be limited to those who are elite dodgers, cutters, and feeders. Who fills that? Treanor, KO, Apuzzo, mayyybe Ortega. Scane hasn't shown elite-level feeding (granted, she doesn't need to on that team) but has the other two. North is an incredible dodger and that's it. Factoring in the draw and the ride, Apuzzo and Treanor stand alone IMO. Unfortunately haven't seen Nielsen or Tumolo enough to add them in.

FTR I would not put Mastroianni on this list. Schwarzmann yes.

njbill wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:03 pm

LaxDadMax wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:40 am 10 years from now, barring a major rules change, will a single top 15 team play predominantly man vs. man defense?

You have given yourself an out by saying predominantly, but I think there will always be a place for man. Man defense is played in all sports. In any sport, if you have the personnel, you play, or can play, man.

My view is that it is tougher to beat an excellent man defense than an excellent zone defense. There are always holes in even the best zone defenses. Not so with the best man defenses.

I can think of a handful of zones (e.g. JMU 2018, Denver 2023, USC 2016, maybe SBU at their best) that were up there with the best man defenses. But in general I agree, it's much harder to run a *good* man but easier to run a *great* one.

The Izzy vs Charlotte debate is cute. I respect both, but Izzy does more for me than Charlotte. What I will always respect and give Charlotte mad credit for is the fact that she came from Texas and played the way she plays. Doesn't seem to be any East Coast Lax connection at all. She's pretty much self made. That's freakin impressive!!

Name from the recent past...SELENA LASOTA. An absolute great player, who came from Canada and went to Northwestern and left a far better player than she came in as a Freshman. And make no mistake, she was outstanding as a Frosh. I saw nothing that CN did that Selena had not already done.

I know the current talk (of some) has been that CN is the GOAT. No disrespect, but that ain't true. She's great, but not the greatest. I know that you shouldn't compare eras, but you would be crazy to think CN is greater than Gail Cummings Danson, Margie Anderson, Candy Finn, Kathleen Barret Geiger, Sheehan Stanwick Burch(she was a Killer), Kim Lambdin Ciarrocca, Kelly Amonte Hiller, Jen Adams, and the late great legend, Suzanne Mellis Sofarnos. So many great names and players.. I just cannot and will not say that ONE person is the absolute greatest. Everyone has their own opinion or feeling about this kind of thing. I can respect it all and do.

Wanted to touch back on this now that both careers are done. Scane and North had virtually the same number of honors (two Tewaaratons, one Natty but came painstakingly close to another, NCAA goals record) — who had the better career in your eyes/was the better player?

Kleizaster wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 8:41 pm

DMac wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:20 pm

njbill wrote: ↑Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:18 pm Of those I’ve seen, I would say Treanor. She is more creative, more powerful (yes, more powerful), and has a better stick than Scane or North.

Cuse fan aside, I would agree with this.
See World Games 2022. Incredible exhibition.

100% this. Treanor was and still is the the most talented lacrosse player i've ever seen. Her overall stick skills, quickness and power were a deadly combination. Scane and North probably have more shot power. But in terms of everything else, lax IQ, vision, treanor wipes the floor with them and it's not even close imo.

I do think North was better than Scane only because her shot was so legendary and the greatest the game has ever seen that it elevates her above Scane in other wise a dead even debate.

best players of the last 15 years.

1. Treanor
2. Cummings
3. McCool
4. Apuzzo
5. North
6. Scane
7. Ortega
8. Mastroianni

if we go beyond 20 years then it gets interesting and most people on this list will move down 4 or 5 spots except for Treanor and Cummings who will remain top 5

Katie Schwarzmann fans would like a word.

timber18888 wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2024 6:24 pm Wanted to touch back on this now that both careers are done. Scane and North had virtually the same number of honors (two Tewaaratons, one Natty but came painstakingly close to another, NCAA goals record) — who had the better career in your eyes/was the better player?

Interesting that both players came from non-hotbed places in the country: North from Texas, Scane from Michigan. Both were prodigious scorers. North took draws additionally but treated the ride like Kryptonite. Izzy rode with fierceness and determination before the Everson rule changes. I thought Scane passed out of double teams/slides a lot quicker than North, who would often force her shots (though she was often successful scoring in doing so). Enjoyed both players immensely but if I was drafting attackers for an all-time team, I'd take Izzy before Charlotte (though they would both make the team).