Has O’Neal’s game evolved or developed new dimensions? If not, he will simply remain what he’s been. Defenses started figuring him out last year. He needs something else besides his bull dodge.
IL's Top 50 Men's Players For 2023
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Idk he was the same bull dodging player this past summer for team USA and also I saw him play in a summer league game on Long Island and same. He did look bigger when I saw him at the summer league game. Maybe he's putting on muscle and thinking that will help. He's pretty athletic for a big dude so idk why he doesn't try to expand his game. I mean it's good for Cuse if he doesn't. Lol
nyclax
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He doubled his assist total from 2021 to 2022. He had 11 assists in his last 4 games last season. In fact he actually led the team in assists. To my eye he was starting to dodge with his head up more. Guys don't develop overnight, it's usually gradual, and I think the second half of the season showed a move toward being a more well-rounded threat. We'll see. Duke could certainly use that given they lose Montgomery, Lulley, and Robertson, and Dyson Williams isn't a passer.
Powellfan
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Full List:
50. Hugh Kelleher, M, Cornell
49. Leo Johnson, A, Yale
48. Jared Paquette, G, Yale
47. Chris Fake, D, Notre Dame
46. Piper Bond, SSDM, Penn
45. Jackson Bonitz, D, Navy
44. Aiden Blake, M, Cornell
43. Connor Maher, SSDM, UNC
42. James Reilly, FO, Georgetown
41. Alex Slusher, A, Princeton
40. Payton Rezonka, M, Loyola
39. Etan Rall, LSM, Rutgers
38. Levi Anderson, A, St. Joe's
37. Beau Pederson, M, Princeton
36. Brendan Lavelle, D, Penn
35. Brian Minicus, A, Georgetown
34. John Geppert, LSM, Maryland
33. Owen Hiltz, A, Syracuse
32. BJ Farrare, LSM, Penn
31. Jake Stevens, M, Princeton
30. Jack Stuzin, LSM, Yale
29. Brian Tevlin, M, Notre Dame
28. Petey LaSalla, FO, Virginia
27. Greg Campisi, LSM, Harvard
26. Kyle Long, M, Maryland
25. Matt Campbell, M, Villanova
24. Roy Meyer, LSM, Boston U
23. Thomas McConvey, M, Virginia
22. Brett Makar, D, Maryland
21. Owen Grant, D, Delaware
20. Logan McNaney, G, Maryland
19. Jack Meyers, A, Ohio State
18. Tucker Dordevic, A/M, Georgetown
17. Sam English, M, Princeton
16. Liam Entenmann, G, Notre Dame
15. Ross Scott, A, Rutgers
14. Mike Sisselberg, FO, Lehigh
13. Brennan O'Neill, A, Duke
12. Ajax, Zappitello, D, Maryland
11. Zach Cole, M, St. Joe's
Did not expect to see English on the list. I am guessing that there will be no Tyler Carpenter or Dylan Gerger who I had on my list. Surprised Dordevic is not higher to be honest. Top 9 seems to be some combination of:
Handley, Shellenberger, Bundy, Kirst, Brandau, Bowen, Adler, Kavanagh, Kastner.
After that I'm not sure who the last player will be - Carpenter? Gerger? Am I missing someone totally obvious? Thought about Marcus Hudgins but I wasn't sure how they would deal with him being out for a year. Max Waldbaum?
Zack80
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Wierman.
nyclax
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English is really good. I'm fine with his placement
I am much lower on Ross Scott than consensus. His 8-goal game against a bad Harvard defense is doing a lot of heavy lifting. He was otherwise pretty quiet down the stretch. Was bottled up against Penn, Cornell, and Maryland. Not really the type of showing you'd expect from a top 15 player. The U-21 games are allowing his hype to spiral out of control. If anyone watched those games, very little stock should be put into them
I am much lower on Ross Scott than consensus. His 8-goal game against a bad Harvard defense is doing a lot of heavy lifting. He was otherwise pretty quiet down the stretch. Was bottled up against Penn, Cornell, and Maryland. Not really the type of showing you'd expect from a top 15 player. The U-21 games are allowing his hype to spiral out of control. If anyone watched those games, very little stock should be put into them
Zack80
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Being bottled up by UMD and Cornell does not seem all that bad - and Penn is a good team too.
In the end, neither English or Scott should be in front on Makar or McNaney.
nyclax
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lol
Zack80
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What are you snickering about?
I wouldn't put Scott or English in my top 20.
DoctahLexus
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Troll alert Zack80! Feed at own risk!
Powellfan
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Full List:
50. Hugh Kelleher, M, Cornell
49. Leo Johnson, A, Yale
48. Jared Paquette, G, Yale
47. Chris Fake, D, Notre Dame
46. Piper Bond, SSDM, Penn
45. Jackson Bonitz, D, Navy
44. Aiden Blake, M, Cornell
43. Connor Maher, SSDM, UNC
42. James Reilly, FO, Georgetown
41. Alex Slusher, A, Princeton
40. Payton Rezonka, M, Loyola
39. Etan Rall, LSM, Rutgers
38. Levi Anderson, A, St. Joe's
37. Beau Pederson, M, Princeton
36. Brendan Lavelle, D, Penn
35. Brian Minicus, A, Georgetown
34. John Geppert, LSM, Maryland
33. Owen Hiltz, A, Syracuse
32. BJ Farrare, LSM, Penn
31. Jake Stevens, M, Princeton
30. Jack Stuzin, LSM, Yale
29. Brian Tevlin, M, Notre Dame
28. Petey LaSalla, FO, Virginia
27. Greg Campisi, LSM, Harvard
26. Kyle Long, M, Maryland
25. Matt Campbell, M, Villanova
24. Roy Meyer, LSM, Boston U
23. Thomas McConvey, M, Virginia
22. Brett Makar, D, Maryland
21. Owen Grant, D, Delaware
20. Logan McNaney, G, Maryland
19. Jack Meyers, A, Ohio State
18. Tucker Dordevic, A/M, Georgetown
17. Sam English, M, Princeton
16. Liam Entenmann, G, Notre Dame
15. Ross Scott, A, Rutgers
14. Mike Sisselberg, FO, Lehigh
13. Brennan O'Neill, A, Duke
12. Ajax, Zappitello, D, Maryland
11. Zach Cole, M, St. Joe's
10. Pat Kavanagh, A, Notre Dame
9. Graham Bundy, M, Georgetown
8. Cole Kastner, D, Virginia
7. Luke Wierman, FO, Maryland
6. Matt Brandau, A, Yale
5. CJ Kirst, A, Cornell
4. Gavin Adler, D, Cornell
3. Will Bowen, D, Georgetown
2. Sam Handley, M, Penn
1. Connor Shellenberger, A, UVA
No crazy surprises to me - I was expecting Handley at number one but Shellenberger has quite the resume already in his young career. I guess the main takeaway is that these rankings are not static from year to year. Wierman, Adler and Kirst were players no one would have had on last years list but are top 10 players now. Wierman was a player hovering around 50% at the face-off dot and jumped to the eight best player in the country in one year. Curious to see how this list changes over the course of the season.
DoctahLexus
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This is more for the last entry of names, but Zach Cole's percentages are waaay higher due to St. Joes schedule. Bonnies, Delaware, providence, monmouth, drexel, Mount St. Mary's, Sacred heart ...these are mediocre to bad fogos he faces all year. Same could be said for some other fogos, but it really stands out with St Joes schedule. Sisselberger, Lasalla, and Reilly are probably as good or better at the dot. Would usually much rather have Entenmann Oneill or Zappitello on my team than Cole (except for this years cuse team of course).
Zack80
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I guess these rankings are not terrible, but they have a number of flaws to them.
One thing is they seem to have a disdain for goalies, having only #16 Entenmann, #20 McNaney, and #48 Paquette. Last year in their mixed top 50 they had no goalies for the men.
Perhaps, they look at the save pcts and see that they are down as compared with the 10 years ago, but you have all these extra year seniors hanging around - so goalie save pcts should be down. They also allow some amount of diving at the goal, which usually ends in a goal or a crease violation, but rarely a save.
I don't know what these bumpkins at IL were watching on Memorial Day weekend, but McNaney certainly showed why having a hot goalie is a big thing.
I think Powellfan's rankings of McNaney at #6 and Entenmann at #11 are much more reasonable, and I think having 2 or 3 more goalies in the top 50 would also be more reasonable.
One thing is they seem to have a disdain for goalies, having only #16 Entenmann, #20 McNaney, and #48 Paquette. Last year in their mixed top 50 they had no goalies for the men.
Perhaps, they look at the save pcts and see that they are down as compared with the 10 years ago, but you have all these extra year seniors hanging around - so goalie save pcts should be down. They also allow some amount of diving at the goal, which usually ends in a goal or a crease violation, but rarely a save.
I don't know what these bumpkins at IL were watching on Memorial Day weekend, but McNaney certainly showed why having a hot goalie is a big thing.
I think Powellfan's rankings of McNaney at #6 and Entenmann at #11 are much more reasonable, and I think having 2 or 3 more goalies in the top 50 would also be more reasonable.
nyclax
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you're still going on about mcnaney? your team just won the title, you'd think you wouldn't care so much about this. i promise you mcnaney does not give a hoot that he was ranked 20th instead of whatever number a few spots above that that you want him to be
Zack80
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Marcus Hudgins might be the top miss for the list, although there is some question as to whether he will play for OSU this Spring.
Shane Knobloch would be my next big miss.
Gergar, Carpenter, Cormier, ...
Then there is the out-of-the-box thinking. That is, that this is the Top 50 players for 2023 and not the Top 50 players from 2022 (who are returning). There are a number of top freshmen from last year like: Griffin Schutz, McAdory, Bobby Van Buren, Chris Kavanagh,... who had decent seasons but didn't really break out. You also have players like Owen Murphy who really came on at the end of the season. These are players that I think are fairly likely to be top 50 players at the end of the next season.
Shane Knobloch would be my next big miss.
Gergar, Carpenter, Cormier, ...
Then there is the out-of-the-box thinking. That is, that this is the Top 50 players for 2023 and not the Top 50 players from 2022 (who are returning). There are a number of top freshmen from last year like: Griffin Schutz, McAdory, Bobby Van Buren, Chris Kavanagh,... who had decent seasons but didn't really break out. You also have players like Owen Murphy who really came on at the end of the season. These are players that I think are fairly likely to be top 50 players at the end of the next season.
Zach Cole is very good but I do agree with you. I think we will find out this yr being St Joes is in the A 10 and there out of conference schedule is stronger. They added Duke and Hopkins while still playing Penn and Delaware. He was around 55% vs Zusi from Penn. While he's definitely good there is no way he would be at 68% vs an ACC schedule. I can see high 50's which is still solid but not top 15 worth. Although he did go 50% against Withers when they scrimmage team Canada which is pretty good.
Cuse All-In
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This is the problem in trying to rank players not in the ACC, BIG10, Ivie and to a lesser extent Patriot. No one can really say how they would do against the best if they don't play the best consistently. For them, the trade-off is they get better numbers but less publicity and question marks on how they rank nationally. I'm sure the fact that St Joe's did well in the playoffs last year helped his ranking in the list.
Yeah definitely due to St Joes making the tournament and playing well against Yale because in 2021 he had the same percentage and didn't get the recognition. I think it's good for him and the program but to rate him 11th due to competition level is way to high. Levi Anderson his teammate is a skilled Canadian who deserves recognition which he was rated 36 so no one says anything but 11 is to high for Cole.
