Maryland 2024

[keno in reno]

Hopefully Alviti can help Wierman on face-offs. As fine as our LSM and SSDM play was this year, it sure seemed like the wing play was a net negative on face-offs. I don't know the stats and don't care to look them up, but taking away the easy matchups for Luke, it felt like we lost the majority of 50/50 face-off groundballs against good units.

[AreaLax]

Alviti finished the season with 4 goal, 6 assists, 40 Gb, 24 CTO. He took a shot in almost every game. So looks like he willing to run in transition

[Wheels]

Alviti finished the season with 4 goal, 6 assists, 40 Gb, 24 CTO. He took a shot in almost every game. So looks like he willing to run in transition

That's what I thought, too, seeing this news. Both he and Canfield are really good off the ground. I know Tills and Jake were frustrated they couldn't run more this past season. Alviti has length and can run.

[Terpslax1991]

Without any portal attrition, you have 10 offensive players with a lot of experience to fill 9 spots.

Siracusa wouldn't come back unless he's playing.

So you have Malever, Erksa, Kelly, Koras, Brennan, Maltz, Whittier, Spanos, Siracusa, and Murphy.

The Spanos/Whittier/Siracusa combo has a ton of chemistry. Murphy mixed in all year with Koras and Brennan. I wonder if the coaches will want to do much tinkering.

I think Tills will looks for a couple of shorties and a LSM in the portal.

I mean, respectfully, the offense wasn’t good enough to just keep it as is. Koras and Brennan and Long as a unit wasn’t good and Murphy mixing in for Brennan was better but it wasn’t a successful unit. If you have an offense that ranks where it did, you should be open to tinkering. Doesn’t mean wholesale changes, as Malever, Erksa, Spanos, Whittier and Kelly involved in some regard is a pretty set 5, but after last year some tinkering should be on the table. I don’t think the lineups were as optimized as they should have been; for example by the end of the year Spanos should have been running attack or at least taking both shifts at MF.

No inside information here at all, but I'd be surprised if one or two players didn't hit the portal. It's either going to be guys who've graduated or guys with at least 2 years of eligibility (i.e., academically, a transfer will work). The first MF line suffered when Brennan went into his season long shooting funk. For whatever reason, Brennan literally couldn't shoot high-to-low...even when he tried to. So he goes into a funk. Long pressed a lot, and let's be honest. Several of his turnovers this year wouldn't have been turnovers last year because throwing passes into the middle to Donville and Khan or throwing to where DeMaio and Wisnauskas would have been didn't work well with younger, less experienced players. But he did force things, too. But his TO numbers suffered from not playing with a bunch of PLL draft picks. Koras had a period during the season where he dealt with the death of girlfriend's mother. You can probably literally see when that happened when looking at his scoring numbers from week-to-week.

The deal with Murphy is that he's incredibly talented but can be hard to play with. Not from a personality perspective but from a predictability perspective. He'll carry when he should pass. He'll pass when he should carry. He'll shoot when he shoot pass. He'll pass when he should shoot. The way the offense works is that guys react to whatever their teammates are doing. Murphy made it hard at times for people play off of. When all he had to do was stand at the top left of the box and fire bombs from 12 yards, everyone knew what to expect and knew where he'd be.

The offense would have been better if Malever wasn't injured. Would it have been Top 10? Probably not. Would it have been Top 20? Most likely.

In terms of shooters, one of the things we'll all see more of next year is Spanos's shooting. Go back and watch his Malvern highlights. The guy can shoot it. He thought too much this past season and wouldn't shoot it much from 10+. That's going to change. Siracusa can also really sling it from 10+.

With Erksa and Malever next season, you'll have the Shellenberger-Moore set up. All of the sudden, Kelly will have more opportunities from the wing. Koras will get back to finishing inside. Things will naturally look different. Word on Malever is that he's quicker now than he's ever been. Got stronger and dropped a little weight. He's not wearing a brace at all and is back to full speed reps.

With 2 dodgers at ATT our shooting % should go up because guys will just get better looks.

The guy that shocks me is Brennan, there was a point 2 years ago were I would have said he was our fastest player. Running out of the box this year he never looked like he pressing the net but rather looked like he was content to just move the ball or invert. He needs to be a threat next year

[keno in reno]

So, that Maryland '22 team is going to look greater and greater with each passing season. The domination for most of the games is one thing, but winning all of the close games will separate them from other excellent teams. At the beginning of this season, UVA looked like it could threaten the Terps' undefeated run, and the Hoos' offense was at least on par with the Terps'. But the Hoos played 4 close games all season and lost them all. ND and Duke lost fewer, but they had similar numbers of close games.

It's not easy going 18-0. Funny that the Terps' worst game came in the national championship where the angry elf in the booth and other haters jumped all over Tillman and the squad, yet they still won comfortably. The offense was the story of '22, but that defense behind the offense is what made the team historic. I can still remember the angry elf screaming "ya gotta attack Rahill!" Great stuff

[Wheels]

So, that Maryland '22 team is going to look greater and greater with each passing season. The domination for most of the games is one thing, but winning all of the close games will separate them from other excellent teams. At the beginning of this season, UVA looked like it could threaten the Terps' undefeated run, and the Hoos' offense was at least on par with the Terps'. But the Hoos played 4 close games all season and lost them all. ND and Duke lost fewer, but they had similar numbers of close games.

It's not easy going 18-0. Funny that the Terps' worst game came in the national championship where the angry elf in the booth and other haters jumped all over Tillman and the squad, yet they still won comfortably. The offense was the story of '22, but that defense behind the offense is what made the team historic. I can still remember the angry elf screaming "ya gotta attack Rahill!" Great stuff

I don't think we'll ever see a short stick unit again like that one. All 4 made PLL rosters last season. All 3 close defenders made (or for Zappitello, will make) PLL rosters. Geppert will make a PLL roster (signed a free agent deal). That's pretty much the entire defensive unit.

After the Cornell game, I talked to Rahill about his post-season run. About Quint's calling him out on his podcast (Pietramala was the guest on that one and was like "Uh, yeah, I don't know about that.") and then on air. About teams game-planning to get him on ball. He literally responded: "F*** those guys."

Perfect.

[10stone5]

I don’t know what Quint is all up in arms over,

there are several Hopkins team on the undefeated list,
he won a national title and also played in one of the all-time
finals,

has Quint never heard,
You’ve Got to Give the “Devil” his Due ?!

[Wheels]

I don’t know what Quint is all up in arms over,

there are several Hopkins team on the undefeated list,
he won a national title and also played in one of the all-time
finals,

has Quint never heard,
You’ve Got to Give the “Devil” his Due ?!

Quint knows the game really well, and when he's talking about the game, he's good. But Quint also loves to troll because it makes him the center of attention.

[wgdsr]

sounds like rahill got the nunes treatment.

[keno in reno]

I don’t know what Quint is all up in arms over,

there are several Hopkins team on the undefeated list,
he won a national title and also played in one of the all-time
finals,

has Quint never heard,
You’ve Got to Give the “Devil” his Due ?!

Quint knows the game really well, and when he's talking about the game, he's good. But Quint also loves to troll because it makes him the center of attention.

He had a good one yesterday justifying PSU's transfer-heavy roster "well when you get pounded by Maryland and Rutgers you have no choice but to do the same". Tills got a beach house in the angry elf's head.

[MDralphie]

Yeah the “angry elf” so apt! Terps and Rutgers getting transfers are the only ones besides ND,Duke, OSU, HOP, SYR, GTown, Va…
At the game yesterday in Philly, we found ourselves in the ND fan section. Good crowd spirit but plenty of dumb comments. Had to switch stadium sides at half. Bright spot saw a young very strong looking young man wearing long sleeve gray T with red M. Looked familiar a few rows ahead of us, it was #27 Will S. Whether he plays LSM or Close, I do not believe he will be muscled out of position!

[Wheels]

I don’t know what Quint is all up in arms over,

there are several Hopkins team on the undefeated list,
he won a national title and also played in one of the all-time
finals,

has Quint never heard,
You’ve Got to Give the “Devil” his Due ?!

Quint knows the game really well, and when he's talking about the game, he's good. But Quint also loves to troll because it makes him the center of attention.

He had a good one yesterday justifying PSU's transfer-heavy roster "well when you get pounded by Maryland and Rutgers you have no choice but to do the same". Tills got a beach house in the angry elf's head.

I caught that one, too. He does it for sport. Because, you know, Duke never went to the portal. UVA and ND never went to portal.

Oh, wait...

[Essexfenwick]

You have to be crazy not to be using the portal. Players are being developed all over the country and they are all free agents. Is he living in an alternate reality? The fact that UMD fielded the greatest team of the modern shot clock era ( so in other words, the greatest team ever) with the most wins ever drives him understandably insane.

[NYterp09]

So, that Maryland '22 team is going to look greater and greater with each passing season. The domination for most of the games is one thing, but winning all of the close games will separate them from other excellent teams. At the beginning of this season, UVA looked like it could threaten the Terps' undefeated run, and the Hoos' offense was at least on par with the Terps'. But the Hoos played 4 close games all season and lost them all. ND and Duke lost fewer, but they had similar numbers of close games.

It's not easy going 18-0. Funny that the Terps' worst game came in the national championship where the angry elf in the booth and other haters jumped all over Tillman and the squad, yet they still won comfortably. The offense was the story of '22, but that defense behind the offense is what made the team historic. I can still remember the angry elf screaming "ya gotta attack Rahill!" Great stuff

Did anyone other than the ESPN ACC-stans think that this years UVA offense was anywhere close to last years Terp machine?

I thought it was funny how last year it was like pulling teeth to get Quint to talk about the terps “all-time greatness” during the season. But fast forward to this march and those guys can’t talk enough about the potential for UVA to be an all-time great offense.

[Wheels]

So, that Maryland '22 team is going to look greater and greater with each passing season. The domination for most of the games is one thing, but winning all of the close games will separate them from other excellent teams. At the beginning of this season, UVA looked like it could threaten the Terps' undefeated run, and the Hoos' offense was at least on par with the Terps'. But the Hoos played 4 close games all season and lost them all. ND and Duke lost fewer, but they had similar numbers of close games.

It's not easy going 18-0. Funny that the Terps' worst game came in the national championship where the angry elf in the booth and other haters jumped all over Tillman and the squad, yet they still won comfortably. The offense was the story of '22, but that defense behind the offense is what made the team historic. I can still remember the angry elf screaming "ya gotta attack Rahill!" Great stuff

Did anyone other than the ESPN ACC-stans think that this years UVA offense was anywhere close to last years Terp machine?

I thought it was funny how last year it was like pulling teeth to get Quint to talk about the terps “all-time greatness” during the season. But fast forward to this march and those guys can’t talk enough about the potential for UVA to be an all-time great offense.

Dan Arestia wrote a blog post comparing how good UVA's offense was this year compared to Maryland's from last year.

https://www.sticksinlacrosse.com/post/g ... va-offense

[10stone5]

So, that Maryland '22 team is going to look greater and greater with each passing season. The domination for most of the games is one thing, but winning all of the close games will separate them from other excellent teams. At the beginning of this season, UVA looked like it could threaten the Terps' undefeated run, and the Hoos' offense was at least on par with the Terps'. But the Hoos played 4 close games all season and lost them all. ND and Duke lost fewer, but they had similar numbers of close games.

It's not easy going 18-0. Funny that the Terps' worst game came in the national championship where the angry elf in the booth and other haters jumped all over Tillman and the squad, yet they still won comfortably. The offense was the story of '22, but that defense behind the offense is what made the team historic. I can still remember the angry elf screaming "ya gotta attack Rahill!" Great stuff

Did anyone other than the ESPN ACC-stans think that this years UVA offense was anywhere close to last years Terp machine?

I thought it was funny how last year it was like pulling teeth to get Quint to talk about the terps “all-time greatness” during the season. But fast forward to this march and those guys can’t talk enough about the potential for UVA to be an all-time great offense.

Dan Arestia wrote a blog post comparing how good UVA's offense was this year compared to Maryland's from last year.

https://www.sticksinlacrosse.com/post/g ... va-offense

That’s nice
but they’re not in the Finals,
this is what separates the top top teams and players.

[wgdsr]

So, that Maryland '22 team is going to look greater and greater with each passing season. The domination for most of the games is one thing, but winning all of the close games will separate them from other excellent teams. At the beginning of this season, UVA looked like it could threaten the Terps' undefeated run, and the Hoos' offense was at least on par with the Terps'. But the Hoos played 4 close games all season and lost them all. ND and Duke lost fewer, but they had similar numbers of close games.

It's not easy going 18-0. Funny that the Terps' worst game came in the national championship where the angry elf in the booth and other haters jumped all over Tillman and the squad, yet they still won comfortably. The offense was the story of '22, but that defense behind the offense is what made the team historic. I can still remember the angry elf screaming "ya gotta attack Rahill!" Great stuff

Did anyone other than the ESPN ACC-stans think that this years UVA offense was anywhere close to last years Terp machine?

I thought it was funny how last year it was like pulling teeth to get Quint to talk about the terps “all-time greatness” during the season. But fast forward to this march and those guys can’t talk enough about the potential for UVA to be an all-time great offense.

Dan Arestia wrote a blog post comparing how good UVA's offense was this year compared to Maryland's from last year.

https://www.sticksinlacrosse.com/post/g ... va-offense

That’s nice
but they’re not in the Finals,
this is what separates the top top teams and players.

yup. gotta win.

[Cno3putts]

Only stat that means anything
W-L

[jrn19]

I think UVA's offense is comparable to Maryland's. Penn State's 2019 offense also was comparable to Maryland's. Don't have an issue with those comparisons. Though I will say that Maryland's numbers were basically all time record setting right until the last two games when they had to deal with the most chaotic Final Four scenario/situation anyone has ever had to deal with.

But the difference with 2022 Maryland and everyone else is that the defense was #1 in the country. And the FOGO was #1 in the country. And the goalie was #1 in the country. That's why they were one of the greatest teams ever. You could compare UVA or PSU to the offense and maybe 2011 Syracuse to the defense and goalie and some Albany or Denver teams with TD and Trevor to the faceoff group. But they're the only team to have all of it.

[NYterp09]

I think UVA's offense is comparable to Maryland's. Penn State's 2019 offense also was comparable to Maryland's. Don't have an issue with those comparisons. Though I will say that Maryland's numbers were basically all time record setting right until the last two games when they had to deal with the most chaotic Final Four scenario/situation anyone has ever had to deal with.

But the difference with 2022 Maryland and everyone else is that the defense was #1 in the country. And the FOGO was #1 in the country. And the goalie was #1 in the country. That's why they were one of the greatest teams ever. You could compare UVA or PSU to the offense and maybe 2011 Syracuse to the defense and goalie and some Albany or Denver teams with TD and Trevor to the faceoff group. But they're the only team to have all of it.

UVAs offensive numbers matched up favorably with 2022 Maryland, but I dunno they just didn’t pass the eye test for me. They were obviously very good, and Dickson and Cormier are lethal finishers, but they didn’t have the 1-6 (really 1-9) lethality that the terps had.

I’d agree with 2019 PSU tho. Ament was unreal. He got robbed not winning the tewy.