2024 Preseason Thread

[wgdsr]

If the transfer and well regarded freshman both turn out to be whiffs, then I would feel about the same way about that as the defense/ssdm spot. If that is what kills us I can live with it on some level. We did what we could to try and turn things around 180 in a year at the faceoff x, between Kohn and highly regarded wing player Jake Stevens (Matt Wright helps there too). We were able to find some upgrades at LSM and I am sure there was no lack of trying for the few quality ssdms in the portal last season.

What would not be acceptable is not seeing that offense take another step forward with the depth of talent and experience. My highest expectations are for the O, and I am hoping with some progress there we see some more victories. Need more points on the board this season, no matter how things play out on defense and at the X.

fair enough on faceoffs, i was speaking to foy's assumptions. the mullen fo seems like a good get they haven't had in awhile.

on offense, it could happen. but they were #3 in the country last year when they actually had the ball, that's damn good. not sure how much a big increase can be an expectation. plus new parts to integrate. the young guys are a year older, sure.

with a new lsm group, including transition oriented olexo, maybe they choose to get up and down more, which could help. would march want that with all the pieces he has at disposal on o? THAT may come down to whether they're on the short end of possessions game to game. one thing cuse may have that even most of the top teams don't is 2 deep and balanced mid lines. if that leads to everybody eating while not all trying to at once, a couple of those late losses may turn into wins.

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[DoctahLexus]

fair enough on faceoffs, i was speaking to foy's assumptions. the mullen fo seems like a good get they haven't had in awhile.

on offense, it could happen. but they were #3 in the country last year when they actually had the ball, that's damn good. not sure how much a big increase can be an expectation. plus new parts to integrate. the young guys are a year older, sure.

with a new lsm group, including transition oriented olexo, maybe they choose to get up and down more, which could help. would march want that with all the pieces he has at disposal on o? THAT may come down to whether they're on the short end of possessions game to game. one thing cuse may have that even most of the top teams don't is 2 deep and balanced mid lines. if that leads to everybody eating while not all trying to at once, a couple of those late losses may turn into wins.

9 against Hop, 12 against ND MD and UVA, 13 against Duke with several missed opportunities late. Defensive and face off improvements or not those goal numbers are not going to get it done against competition like that. I’m sure our efficiency got a boost from some of the cupcake games as well. There is more in the tank with the talent we have and we have to see it from them if we want to compete with the best of the acc/big 10

 

[nyclax]

you can win a game scoring 12 or 13 goals, but you cannot win giving up 19 to UNC (the first time), 20 to ND, 19 to UVA, and 18 to Duke. you have to get those numbers down...you can be the best offense in the country and still lose those games...

16-13 over princeton, 15-14 over UNC (second game), that feels like the blueprint for wins in 2024. you need to feel like that if you can put 14, 15, 16 goals on your opponent, which theyve shown they can do, that youre going to win the game

 

[DoctahLexus]

You cannot beat this current version of Duke ND and (most likely) UVA scoring 12 or 13 unless you have one of the best defenses in the nation. UVA and ND put 19-20 on us last year. Duke put up 18 in the second one, and it took a heck of a lot of pipe shots and miraculous saves from Will Mark (22!) to keep it at 14 in the first one. I truly believe we can get those numbers down with our upgrades at long pole and at the X, but 5-7 goals better? It is a tall order to turn it around on that level, especially with some potential issues still at ssdm and a new DC. I think if we want to beat the very best this season, which is absolutely the goal, it is going to take some god mode offense. Going a little 2019 penn state mode at times. Think we have the talent to do some serious damage on O this season

 

[AD31]

You cannot beat this current version of Duke ND and (most likely) UVA scoring 12 or 13 unless you have one of the best defenses in the nation. UVA and ND put 19-20 on us last year. Duke put up 18 in the second one, and it took a heck of a lot of pipe shots and miraculous saves from Will Mark (22!) to keep it at 14 in the first one. I truly believe we can get those numbers down with our upgrades at long pole and at the X, but 5-7 goals better? It is a tall order to turn it around on that level, especially with some potential issues still at ssdm and a new DC. I think if we want to beat the very best this season, which is absolutely the goal, it is going to take some god mode offense. Going a little 2019 penn state mode at times. Think we have the talent to do some serious damage on O this season

The ND game they did score a lot and broke open a close game in the 4th when SU lost every face off and the D was on the field the whole 4th so a better face off unit could help. Same with Duke and UVA the face offs and giving away so many possessions definitely gave those teams a lot more opportunities to score so if the unit is much improved that can help but I do agree with what ur saying. We gotta hope the D has improved and it seems the face off unit has definitely improved, I think if SU can keep the possessions close to even the offense should be even better this yr and be able to light it up. Whoever gets shortys should be able to feast at midfield. Leo this yr should destroy a shorty with his speed and athleticism. Finn is not gonna dodge one but his smarts and stick skills should open him up, I feel like we played Duke tough then UVA jumped out to a big lead early then the game was kind of close and same with ND they jumped out to a big lead then SU took the lead but when the ref robbed Finn of that goal ND went on a big run again. That had to do with losing every single face off in the 4th.

 

[AD31]

The great thing is that we get to see what this team looks like tomo. I can't wait finally lax season is back.

 

[DoctahLexus]

The ND game they did score a lot and broke open a close game in the 4th when SU lost every face off and the D was on the field the whole 4th so a better face off unit could help. Same with Duke and UVA the face offs and giving away so many possessions definitely gave those teams a lot more opportunities to score so if the unit is much improved that can help but I do agree with what ur saying. We gotta hope the D has improved and it seems the face off unit has definitely improved, I think if SU can keep the possessions close to even the offense should be even better this yr and be able to light it up. Whoever gets shortys should be able to feast at midfield. Leo this yr should destroy a shorty with his speed and athleticism. Finn is not gonna dodge one but his smarts and stick skills should open him up, I feel like we played Duke tough then UVA jumped out to a big lead early then the game was kind of close and same with ND they jumped out to a big lead then SU took the lead but when the ref robbed Finn of that goal ND went on a big run again. That had to do with losing every single face off in the 4th.

As crazy as that Edelmann Thomson situation was, perfect example of a missed opportunity last season. Really just have to bury shots like that with no excuses. Could think of some similar moments against Duke and Hop

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[Laxfanshutt]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[JeremyCuse]

fair enough on faceoffs, i was speaking to foy's assumptions. the mullen fo seems like a good get they haven't had in awhile.

on offense, it could happen. but they were #3 in the country last year when they actually had the ball, that's damn good. not sure how much a big increase can be an expectation. plus new parts to integrate. the young guys are a year older, sure.

with a new lsm group, including transition oriented olexo, maybe they choose to get up and down more, which could help. would march want that with all the pieces he has at disposal on o? THAT may come down to whether they're on the short end of possessions game to game. one thing cuse may have that even most of the top teams don't is 2 deep and balanced mid lines. if that leads to everybody eating while not all trying to at once, a couple of those late losses may turn into wins.

9 against Hop, 12 against ND MD and UVA, 13 against Duke with several missed opportunities late. Defensive and face off improvements or not those goal numbers are not going to get it done against competition like that. I’m sure our efficiency got a boost from some of the cupcake games as well. There is more in the tank with the talent we have and we have to see it from them if we want to compete with the best of the acc/big 10

I actually think your both right. As Wgdsr noted SU was #3 last year offensively so to expect a major increase is unlikely especially with how well Kirst was playing the last half of the schedule and now your integrating 2-3 new guys into that machine.

However Lexus makes a good point in that probably a handful of games SU left easily 3-5 goals out there and not all the fault of the FO unit either. There were multiple games including Hop, UVA, Maryland, Duke, and probably at least one more where the offense would just get into an extended funk for 10+ minutes. Bad shots, sloppy turnovers, off sides or other self inflicted penalties, etc. Every team certainly struggles at times and I don't expect 4 quarter so flawless offense but it was almost clockwork how in these games they would have this 10 or so minute stretch in the mid to late 3rd quarter and then just snap out of it. I know their overall efficiency was really good but I thought the major struggles with defense and FOGO Play overshadowed some of the O issues.

I do think Wgdsr is right in that SU needs to have some plan B options if they have a few games where the new FOGO unit is struggling a bit. Maybe that's pushing more transition, maybe that's getting more aggressive defensively, maybe that's roiling with Stevens and others in a 2 way game to keep opponents O players on the field etc. I think Defensively and at the X SU needs at least moderate if not more improvement but I do think the offense has the ability to raise its level up and go from 11-14 to 16-18.

 

[JeremyCuse]

As crazy as that Edelmann Thomson situation was, perfect example of a missed opportunity last season. Really just have to bury shots like that with no excuses. Could think of some similar moments against Duke and Hop

Thomson was really good last year but beyond dodging against an LSM the one area he struggled with at times was finishing in close which is odd because if you watch his box highlights he finishes some ridiculous looks. I do recall at least a handful of pt blank looks last year he was stoned on or just had bad placement. The law of average should even that out this year.

 

[wgdsr]

I actually think your both right. As Wgdsr noted SU was #3 last year offensively so to expect a major increase is unlikely especially with how well Kirst was playing the last half of the schedule and now your integrating 2-3 new guys into that machine.

However Lexus makes a good point in that probably a handful of games SU left easily 3-5 goals out there and not all the fault of the FO unit either. There were multiple games including Hop, UVA, Maryland, Duke, and probably at least one more where the offense would just get into an extended funk for 10+ minutes. Bad shots, sloppy turnovers, off sides or other self inflicted penalties, etc. Every team certainly struggles at times and I don't expect 4 quarter so flawless offense but it was almost clockwork how in these games they would have this 10 or so minute stretch in the mid to late 3rd quarter and then just snap out of it. I know their overall efficiency was really good but I thought the major struggles with defense and FOGO Play overshadowed some of the O issues.

I do think Wgdsr is right in that SU needs to have some plan B options if they have a few games where the new FOGO unit is struggling a bit. Maybe that's pushing more transition, maybe that's getting more aggressive defensively, maybe that's roiling with Stevens and others in a 2 way game to keep opponents O players on the field etc. I think Defensively and at the X SU needs at least moderate if not more improvement but I do think the offense has the ability to raise its level up and go from 11-14 to 16-18.

i'll say this... scoring 16-18 goals is exceedingly rare. 17 or 18 might've been done 3 or 4 times? it's rarer still without v good fo and a d to get the ball back.

and even the high scoring teams (a tick higher than cuse '23 or even the rare ones) most often don't hit those numbers on average against top defenses. they score... often maybe 12-14 per game. and in the examples of cuse '23 games, they were very often outshot by good margins and giving up 50 or sometimes 60! or more shots. that combo will need to change.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Thomson was really good last year but beyond dodging against an LSM the one area he struggled with at times was finishing in close which is odd because if you watch his box highlights he finishes some ridiculous looks. I do recall at least a handful of pt blank looks last year he was stoned on or just had bad placement. The law of average should even that out this year.

Think he will figure it out in that department. Would just like to see the btb and other fancy finishes be pulled out when actually necessary. He has too much skill to not bury shots inside. A little more experience should go a long way.

 

[JeremyCuse]

i'll say this... scoring 16-18 goals is exceedingly rare. 17 or 18 might've been done 3 or 4 times? it's rarer still without v good fo and a d to get the ball back.

and even the high scoring teams (a tick higher than cuse '23 or even the rare ones) most often don't hit those numbers on average against top defenses. they score... often maybe 12-14 per game. and in the examples of cuse '23 games, they were very often outshot by good margins and giving up 50 or sometimes 60! or more shots. that combo will need to change.

16-18 is definitely overambitious, especially when you look at some of the defenses SU will see. I do think assuming face offs jumpong to at least 50%+ and a moderate improvement defensively, 14-16 is an attainable figure when you look at what SU was able to score last year with the issue at fogo and defensive issues.

 

[AD31]

Think he will figure it out in that department. Would just like to see the btb and other fancy finishes be pulled out when actually necessary. He has too much skill to not bury shots inside. A little more experience should go a long way.

Yeah I hope Gary stressed to him the importance this yr to just bury it when he has the opportunity to finish and forget the behind the back stuff unless necessary. I know Gary loves the fancy stuff but not everyone is Gary and Paul Gait. The kid has great stick skills but he has to just finish especially until he's has a lot more experience.