Brown 2024

[NNELax]

Lars is a bit of an outlier...not many HC's workout with their team...I have heard from a few former Brown guys he's tough to play for...not in a bad way...just very demanding. He has a different old school meets new school approach which has worked well for him...Him poaching a guy and turning around and blaming KC is lame...just admit you did it and move on....that's what he would demand of his players...

[MDlaxfan76]

Lars is very transparent about recruiting and poaching - more so than most coaches. His attempt at deference to his alma mater (imo) is laudable and not hypocrisy and/or weakness.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... fany/61967

Unless the kid is lying, which I find highly implausible, it went down as the kid describes. Kid and his family initiated it.

Note that he's the one with that quote about Lars being "adamant", not Lars. That's the kid's description of Lars staying hands off and instead having his assistant handle the inquiry and process. Obviously that doesn't mean that Lars didn't give a thumbs up for the 'flip', as he undoubtedly would be required to have done so, but whatever deal making was needed, discussion of expectations, etc, was handled by the assistant, empowered to do so.

I see zero wrong with that approach.

As an Ivy-first fan, I hate seeing a terrific player decommit from an Ivy choice and I love seeing such players decide to 'go Ivy', regardless of their earlier intentions. But that's the reality for Ivies every day. Whether it's due to academics, or the sunshine, or the pretty girls, or school or club friends, or...whatever, a commitment to an Ivy is never locked down permanently. No NLI.

Not a fan of whining about it. But I feel for Brown fans (who don't whine or attack the former coach).

[Brownlax]

As a Brown alumnus and as a former teammate of Lars, I think this is a big bag of nothing here. A kid decides that he wants to play at UVA over Brown. That is his prerogative and that is what is best for him. The kid did a classy move by informing the Brown coaches in person. I also think Lars handled himself in a classy way by extricating himself from the situation by letting Associate Head Coach Kevin Cassesse handle the situation. Lars is a class act and please tell me what D1 coach would not take the 6th ranked player in his class if they had the opportunity to grab him?

[Laxnation]

Got a chance to watch the first 4 quarters of the Brown scrimmage against Rutgers this weekend. Rutgers looked sharp and prepared. Brown has a few skilled players however the team was manhandled and looked confused. Maybe some of their starters didn’t play because the attack was completely ineffective, and the midfielders were forcing shots. Defense looks like a work in progress. After what I saw, it could be a very long season for the Bears.

[bearlaxfan]

Got a chance to watch the first 4 quarters of the Brown scrimmage against Rutgers this weekend. Rutgers looked sharp and prepared. Brown has a few skilled players however the team was manhandled and looked confused. Maybe some of their starters didn’t play because the attack was completely ineffective, and the midfielders were forcing shots. Defense looks like a work in progress. After what I saw, it could be a very long season for the Bears.

Estimated scores by quarter posted on Rutgers thread, FWIW. Fallball.

[1766]

Posted this in the Rutgers thread and it may be of interest to Brown fans. Obviously it's Rutgers centric highlights and a message from Coach Brecht, but gives some insight into some things Brown likely wants to fix, namely sliding on the defensive side. That's probably an expectation for a scrimmage in October. Does anyone know how many of Brown's expected players were sitting? Is the goalie a returning player or someone new in the cage?

Action starts around 2:16 if you'd like to skip the message from Coach Brecht.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9z-_nNFlik

[bearlaxfan]

Any inkling from fallball about the attack? DMac graduated, they had to move King up to attack in '23 and he graduated, the 3rd spot was a rotation.
Corsi & AMac are on the '23 roster as A/M. Just by eyeball last year, they should be on the field as much as possible, not coming out of the box.

[10stone5]

Ben Scandone clips from last year, quick, can get by his man,

https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxpX75eZ ... 2KdCaa7FXW

https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx908C9Z ... P7EHyktGLi

[bearlaxfan]

Ben Scandone clips from last year, quick, can get by his man,

https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxpX75eZ ... 2KdCaa7FXW

https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx908C9Z ... P7EHyktGLi

IOW... 2024 roster finally online

[bearlaxfan]

The Crosse Commission podcast #97 noted, laughing, in passing (can't give a timestamp, was on an elliptical) that Brown's '24 schedule looks like the coaching staff is trying to go the Murphy/UPenn route of high RPI, just-over-.500-schedule to get into the ncaa tourney. They think Daly's seat is getting warm, although he must have recently gotten an extension- 5 year contracts are standard, 2017-2022, then what, 3 to 5 year? Searched online, couldn't find any extension info.
Whadda ya think? Except for a 3 game stretch in '22, the results have been meh. Is making the IL tourney with a first round exit YOUR vision for this program? If they get there.
Happy Thanksgiving!

[bearlaxfan]

Interested to see Andrew Geppert has a second grad year at UNC, and is on IL's list of top 50 D1 players. Well done.

[The Orfling]

Interested to see Andrew Geppert has a second grad year at UNC, and is on IL's list of top 50 D1 players. Well done.

Great player. Maybe got a waiver (or equivalent) for 2021 during which Brown played only the one game?

[Matnum PI]

Will Aidan McLane play mid, attack, or split time between both?

[bearlaxfan]

Will Aidan McLane play mid, attack, or split time between both?

I posted this question earlier, to anyone who may have seen fallball. Answer was *crickets*.
My feeling is that given graduation losses at attack and lack of production last year from returning A's, he should be on the field full time.
I guess it will depend on which group need offensive support the most.
Same for Corsi, who is listed as A/M.

[Matnum PI]

Hmm. Your answer still helps. Thank you.

[mdk01]

See that Trevor Yeboah-Kodie blocked the Miami punt in Rutgers bowl win. Wonder of he could play lax for them next spring.

[White Shoes]

from Lax Reference

Keys to Victory: Brown
In the 2023 season, Brown's performance against conference opponents and teams with comparable LaxElo rankings revealed significant statistical patterns that correlated with their success (or lack thereof) on the field. The analysis, which encompassed 13 games, showed Brown with a record of 6 wins and 7 losses against these teams, indicating a competitive but inconsistent season. Our goal now is to try and isolate the metrics that really mattered.

A critical statistical threshold for Brown's offense was their shot-on-goal rate. In the 4 games where the team exceeded a 65.3% shot-on-goal rate, their record was perfect at 4-0, and they boasted an impressive scoring efficiency of 39%. However, this was not a regular occurrence, and in the 9 games where they were below this threshold, their record dipped to 2-7, with a reduced efficiency of 26%.

Shooting percentage also played a pivotal role in their outcomes. Brown went 3-1 when their shooting percentage was above 35.1%, and they scored on 40% of their possessions in those games. In contrast, a sub-35.1% shooting percentage was correlated with a less favorable 3-6 record and a 26% scoring efficiency, highlighting the significance of shot conversion in their victories. Obviously shot-on-goal rate and shot quality are tied together, so I suspect that this is less about accuracy from their shooters and more about the ability of the offense to produce high-quality looks.

And in fact, the team's ability to create assists was another key factor, with a record of 6-3 when they assisted on more than 53.8% of their goals. This collaborative style of play coincided with a 32% scoring efficiency. Conversely, Brown struggled without such teamwork, as shown by a 0-4 record and a stagnant 26% efficiency when they assisted on fewer than 53.8% of their markers. Ball movement creates assists, and assisted shots go in at a higher rate. Ball movement and passing is the thread that ties all three of these statistical nuggets together.

Individual player contributions from Aidan McLane and Jack Kelly also correlated with team success, albeit to a lesser extent than team-wide metrics. McLane's presence as a playmaker was notable, with the team going 4-2 when he tallied at least one helper. Similarly, Kelly's goal-scoring ability positively impacted outcomes, with Brown achieving a 3-2 record when he scored at least 2 goals. The team went 2-5 and 2-3 respectively when these guys didn't hit their thresholds.

Overall, the statistical trends from Brown's season suggested that their offense thrived on collaborative playmaking, and to a lesser degree, key individual performances. The fluctuation in their record based on these metrics highlighted the team's reliance on their initiators to create movement in the defense and high quality chances for their shooters. When the offense was more of a one-on-one affair, they struggled.

[BrownDad]

That’s really interesting but how do they think the 19 turnovers/game affected the outcomes?

[White Shoes]

Good point. That's a lot of wasted possessions.

[laxreference]

That’s really interesting but how do they think the 19 turnovers/game affected the outcomes?

Turnovers were certainly an issue. The Bears were 48th nationally in opponent-adjusted turnover rate and only Dartmouth had worse ball security among the Ivies. They did get it under control to a degree down the stretch though since their April TO rate was 33.7% compared to 35.0% in March.

That said, turnover rate was a baseline issue that affected them across games (which is why it didn't show up in the Keys-to-Victory analysis). They actually won their worst turnover rate game (Dartmouth) and lost their 4th and 5th best ball security games (Princeton and Yale).

Do they need to clean that up in 2024? Absolutely. But turnovers weren't a make-or-break issue for them in the same way shot quality was last season. At least that's my read on it. You guys watched the games, so I'll defer to you on the importance of turnovers.