Re: PLL 2023
Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 8:02 pm
Great write up. Thanks.
Lax Mouse wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2023 10:55 am Wasn't able to watch the Saturday games this weekend and haven't yet been able to get to the replays.
Would love someone in the industry to do a deeper dive into why the Chrome have regressed this much from last year's regular season and the championship series.
A cursory look at the stats show a team that is scoring nearly two times less than last year. All players have decreased production, and a number of key contributors haven't seen much time this year (and haven't been dominant with the looks they've had - Molloy and Nichtern). Has the coaching approach changed? Have all the players gotten worse? Shooting percentage is about 10% lower as a team, and with 2 games left they have half as many assists and 100 fewer GBs and 600 fewer passes than they had all of last year. FO and SV % are relatively comparable. They are around 15 TOs away from last year's total with 2 games left as well.
Anecdotally, there's lower energy and urgency on the offensive end. No one is demanding defensive attention. What was the offseason like? How did the coaches maintain a team dynamic?
I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but at the end of the day, the lack of coaching adjustments with personnel and play has to be looked at as the reason why this far into the season, things haven't turned around.
Molloy played middie coach decision, Nichtern was doing Army stuff for five months no lax, then comes back and coach puts him in a new position that he ever played, Nichtern should have been put right back at X with Molloy 7 and 3 with them together, so please don't bring those 2 guys into this mess.lorin wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2023 5:39 amLax Mouse wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2023 10:55 am Wasn't able to watch the Saturday games this weekend and haven't yet been able to get to the replays.
Would love someone in the industry to do a deeper dive into why the Chrome have regressed this much from last year's regular season and the championship series.
A cursory look at the stats show a team that is scoring nearly two times less than last year. All players have decreased production, and a number of key contributors haven't seen much time this year (and haven't been dominant with the looks they've had - Molloy and Nichtern). Has the coaching approach changed? Have all the players gotten worse? Shooting percentage is about 10% lower as a team, and with 2 games left they have half as many assists and 100 fewer GBs and 600 fewer passes than they had all of last year. FO and SV % are relatively comparable. They are around 15 TOs away from last year's total with 2 games left as well.
Anecdotally, there's lower energy and urgency on the offensive end. No one is demanding defensive attention. What was the offseason like? How did the coaches maintain a team dynamic?
I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but at the end of the day, the lack of coaching adjustments with personnel and play has to be looked at as the reason why this far into the season, things haven't turned around.
Plus I still believe they can win the next 2 and get in.lorin wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2023 5:50 amMolloy played middie coach decision, Nichtern was doing Army stuff for five months no lax, then comes back and coach puts him in a new position that he ever played, Nichtern should have been put right back at X with Molloy 7 and 3 with them together, so please don't bring those 2 guys into this mess.lorin wrote: ↑Tue Aug 15, 2023 5:39 amLax Mouse wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2023 10:55 am Wasn't able to watch the Saturday games this weekend and haven't yet been able to get to the replays.
Would love someone in the industry to do a deeper dive into why the Chrome have regressed this much from last year's regular season and the championship series.
A cursory look at the stats show a team that is scoring nearly two times less than last year. All players have decreased production, and a number of key contributors haven't seen much time this year (and haven't been dominant with the looks they've had - Molloy and Nichtern). Has the coaching approach changed? Have all the players gotten worse? Shooting percentage is about 10% lower as a team, and with 2 games left they have half as many assists and 100 fewer GBs and 600 fewer passes than they had all of last year. FO and SV % are relatively comparable. They are around 15 TOs away from last year's total with 2 games left as well.
Anecdotally, there's lower energy and urgency on the offensive end. No one is demanding defensive attention. What was the offseason like? How did the coaches maintain a team dynamic?
I think there's plenty of blame to go around, but at the end of the day, the lack of coaching adjustments with personnel and play has to be looked at as the reason why this far into the season, things haven't turned around.
And it all started because of a stupid wedding, I am positive some other big names have missed games for personal stuff but the coaches had their back and covered it up.
Agree with above, but will also add there is a big difference dodging short sticks then poles.( champ series)Lax Mouse wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 9:40 am Chrome trade Jackson Morrill to the Whips for picks in this upcoming draft. Good get for the Whips, who could use a more consistent distributor and invert threat as they gear up for the playoffs. They've also got talent in the wings (Myers, Kennedy) and can afford to lose a draft pick or two even if they deal with some retirements this off-season.
For Chrome, Morrill has been one of their most consistently productive players the last few years and has been one of the lone bright spots this year. They're clearly cleaning house and prepping for a roster overhaul this off-season. With a loaded draft class, it's not a terrible move. There aren't that many young players with that much draft capital on the roster, and Wisnauskas proved this past weekend that there's more in the tank if he gets going. This, and the players the Chrome will be considering in this year's draft, made Morrill the best choice to trade for picks. Excited for Morrill to have an opportunity to play some winning lacrosse.
Soudan has really bungled this season after a promising championship series performance. Key contributors of that series were cut or benched, and Soudan stuck with a smattering of veterans that simply did not get the job done this year. I'd expect this roster, especially on offense, to look substantially different next year. I also wonder if a coaching change is on the horizon.
Yes. This is a key here, no poles in the series. Looking forward to seeing O’Neill come into the league. This could be the catalyst that drives fans exclusively of the college game into some PLL interest. Throw in having a “home team” to have stake in and the dynamically changing league will continue to take shape.lorin wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 12:16 pmAgree with above, but will also add there is a big difference dodging short sticks then poles.( champ series)Lax Mouse wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 9:40 am Chrome trade Jackson Morrill to the Whips for picks in this upcoming draft. Good get for the Whips, who could use a more consistent distributor and invert threat as they gear up for the playoffs. They've also got talent in the wings (Myers, Kennedy) and can afford to lose a draft pick or two even if they deal with some retirements this off-season.
For Chrome, Morrill has been one of their most consistently productive players the last few years and has been one of the lone bright spots this year. They're clearly cleaning house and prepping for a roster overhaul this off-season. With a loaded draft class, it's not a terrible move. There aren't that many young players with that much draft capital on the roster, and Wisnauskas proved this past weekend that there's more in the tank if he gets going. This, and the players the Chrome will be considering in this year's draft, made Morrill the best choice to trade for picks. Excited for Morrill to have an opportunity to play some winning lacrosse.
Soudan has really bungled this season after a promising championship series performance. Key contributors of that series were cut or benched, and Soudan stuck with a smattering of veterans that simply did not get the job done this year. I'd expect this roster, especially on offense, to look substantially different next year. I also wonder if a coaching change is on the horizon.
Agree O'Neil gets the media attention, but he has a lot of work to play at next level. He will see same D ND played against him he had a total of 3 points in 2 games. Canadian D not that great. I think Shellenberg and CJ Kirst will have a much better career then O'Neil.DeepPocket wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 1:23 pmYes. This is a key here, no poles in the series. Looking forward to seeing O’Neill come into the league. This could be the catalyst that drives fans exclusively of the college game into some PLL interest. Throw in having a “home team” to have stake in and the dynamically changing league will continue to take shape.lorin wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 12:16 pmAgree with above, but will also add there is a big difference dodging short sticks then poles.( champ series)Lax Mouse wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 9:40 am Chrome trade Jackson Morrill to the Whips for picks in this upcoming draft. Good get for the Whips, who could use a more consistent distributor and invert threat as they gear up for the playoffs. They've also got talent in the wings (Myers, Kennedy) and can afford to lose a draft pick or two even if they deal with some retirements this off-season.
For Chrome, Morrill has been one of their most consistently productive players the last few years and has been one of the lone bright spots this year. They're clearly cleaning house and prepping for a roster overhaul this off-season. With a loaded draft class, it's not a terrible move. There aren't that many young players with that much draft capital on the roster, and Wisnauskas proved this past weekend that there's more in the tank if he gets going. This, and the players the Chrome will be considering in this year's draft, made Morrill the best choice to trade for picks. Excited for Morrill to have an opportunity to play some winning lacrosse.
Soudan has really bungled this season after a promising championship series performance. Key contributors of that series were cut or benched, and Soudan stuck with a smattering of veterans that simply did not get the job done this year. I'd expect this roster, especially on offense, to look substantially different next year. I also wonder if a coaching change is on the horizon.
Fair on both the Canadian D and the ND lock down. And more so, his 2 goals vs ND were on man-up opportunities (with all 3 points coming in the second half of these games). I know I watched them at the time, but I’d have to go back to see how they covered him. Not that Duke doesn’t have plenty of other threats, but with the supporting cast a PLL team holds, will teams be able to concentrate on one player as much as he likely faces in the collegiate game?lorin wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 6:31 amAgree O'Neil gets the media attention, but he has a lot of work to play at next level. He will see same D ND played against him he had a total of 3 points in 2 games. Canadian D not that great. I think Shellenberg and CJ Kirst will have a much better career then O'Neil.DeepPocket wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 1:23 pm Yes. This is a key here, no poles in the series. Looking forward to seeing O’Neill come into the league. This could be the catalyst that drives fans exclusively of the college game into some PLL interest. Throw in having a “home team” to have stake in and the dynamically changing league will continue to take shape.
Safe travels. Looking forward to your takes, on your return.Lax Mouse wrote: ↑Sun Aug 27, 2023 2:44 am I'm out of the country and won't be able to watch games live until the championship, but excited for the playoffs. Any team could win it all, even the Atlas if they can come together.
I'm sure there'll be some good discourse around the number 1 pick. Soudan has shown he doesn't really care what the consensus is - he's going to go with the guy he feel best fits in his system.
I think Dan mentioned a while back, but there have been some rumblings about a significant amount of retirements after this season. Who knows, but that coupled with this incoming class indicates that some teams will look drastically different next year.