LAX Action for May 29-31

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[ivorytower]

Glad Duke lost but poor form by UM SI showing little kids crying

 

[Zack80]

Glad Duke lost but poor form by UM SI showing little kids crying

Perhaps. Although there is some bad blood between UMd and Duke.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[Powellfan]

I agree with Chris, but I think it has more to do with the way Duke utilized Sowers more than the fact they brought him in. I think they just tried to feed too many mouths on offense and never really had an identity. Only having two losses was probably not a good thing for Duke, I think it gave them a false sense of security. They never really looked comfortable on offense, tried so many different combinations and they won, but you could tell something was off. It feels like you have to work extra hard to develop team chemistry if your going to bring in so many guys. Wonder if they hit the portal as hard as they did last year (clearly failure didn’t stop Notre Dame from hitting the Portal hard).

 

[Powellfan]

 

[ForCuseSake]

I know they focused on 2021 transfers but Maryland’s defender who shut down Sowers transferred from Marquette (Grill).

Terps had quite a few transfers playing today. Tillman pounds the portal pretty well.

 

[Powellfan]

I know they focused on 2021 transfers but Maryland’s defender who shut down Sowers transferred from Marquette (Grill).

Terps had quite a few transfers playing today. Tillman pounds the portal pretty well.

Well, and of course, there’s Wisnauskis. They brought in the Burlace kid from Yale as well this year and I think one of the DeMaio brothers transferred as well. And finally the backup goalie Brandau from Georgetown.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Virginia Stands Tall: Cavaliers Fight Off North Carolina in a Thriller, 12-11

(Inside Lacrosse Photo: Myles Tintle)Face-offs figured to be an advantage for Virginia in Saturday’s first semifinal vs. No. 1 seed North

www.insidelacrosse.com

Virginia Rides Stellar Goalie Play to Make Second Straight NCAA Final

Alex Rode came alive and Virginia held on to defeat North Carolina 12-11.

usalaxmagazine.com

Terrapin Domination: Maryland Plays 'Best 60 Minutes We Played All Year' in 14-5 Win Vs. Duke

(Photo Courtesy of NCAA)Each day, the Maryland lacrosse program strives to

www.insidelacrosse.com

One Step Closer: Maryland, Bernhardt Dominate Duke En Route to NCAA Title Game

Maryland started slow but completed a dominant performance in a blowout of Duke.

usalaxmagazine.com

 

[Zack80]

Well, and of course, there’s Wisnauskis. They brought in the Burlace kid from Yale as well this year and I think one of the DeMaio brothers transferred as well. And finally the backup goalie Brandau from Georgetown.

I don't think either of the DeMaio's transferred into Md.
2 of Marylands ssdms: Higgins (who is currently injured) transferred from Cleveland State and Alex Smith from Hartford.

 

[Faegan]

It's amazing what great goalie play can do for a defense. When you've got a brick wall between the pipes, it's so much easier for the D in front of him to be confidant, aggressive and feel like they can do no wrong. Both Virginia and Maryland were able to knock the opposition out of their comfort zone to the point that Carolina and Duke looked like different teams than just a week ago. Obviously way more pronounced with Duke, but Carolina also was forced into situations where they made poor shot selections and unable to really crack the inside of the Cavs D enough to pull even. (I will say that Carolina's ride at the end of the game was impressive.)

 

[relaxer]

I agree with Chris, but I think it has more to do with the way Duke utilized Sowers more than the fact they brought him in. I think they just tried to feed too many mouths on offense and never really had an identity. Only having two losses was probably not a good thing for Duke, I think it gave them a false sense of security. They never really looked comfortable on offense, tried so many different combinations and they won, but you could tell something was off. It feels like you have to work extra hard to develop team chemistry if your going to bring in so many guys. Wonder if they hit the portal as hard as they did last year (clearly failure didn’t stop Notre Dame from hitting the Portal hard).

Agreed. I don't agree with any of the shade or criticism that Sowers has gotten this year (he's not Mikey Powell, but no one is -- IMO he's the closest thing we've seen since tho). He's still gaining separation just as effortlessly as he ever did. The difference is Princeton's other offensive players were always cutting off-ball like madmen. That offense was tailored to capitalize on the fact that they had an x-attackman who could gain 3 yards of separation instantaneously pretty much whenever he wanted. This year, Sowers was more or less still getting a step on his guy almost every time, but it didn't generate those high-percentage crease dunks that it did at Princeton because the Duke offense was out of sync and could never seem to take advantage of the slides he was drawing. The Loyola game was the perfect microcosm of this; I can't recall a single time that Sowers failed to beat his man, and yet the Duke offense was stuck in single digits during regulation.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[ivorytower]

Sowers is a top tier player but tbh found him to be rather one dimensional. A speed dodger who could get a step on good defenders and pass if help came but his impact was not as great as expected and he was invisible at times. Wide gulf between him and Bernhardt and thought Gray and several others possessed wider vision with greater offensive dimensions and were more difficult to plan for.

 

[sholokov2]

Agreed. I don't agree with any of the shade or criticism that Sowers has gotten this year (he's not Mikey Powell, but no one is -- IMO he's the closest thing we've seen since tho). He's still gaining separation just as effortlessly as he ever did. The difference is Princeton's other offensive players were always cutting off-ball like madmen. That offense was tailored to capitalize on the fact that they had an x-attackman who could gain 3 yards of separation instantaneously pretty much whenever he wanted. This year, Sowers was more or less still getting a step on his guy almost every time, but it didn't generate those high-percentage crease dunks that it did at Princeton because the Duke offense was out of sync and could never seem to take advantage of the slides he was drawing. The Loyola game was the perfect microcosm of this; I can't recall a single time that Sowers failed to beat his man, and yet the Duke offense was stuck in single digits during regulation.

astute analysis. At Princeton, Sowers had the ball first almost every time. The team played off him o on almost every play. He could take his time and set up his defender. Duke had several excellent offensive players who could start with the ball, go behind, dodge from outside. Sowers was not always the first option, did not have the latitude or time he did at Princeton. Integrating him at Duke was not easy, although he had a pretty good year. I think almost paradoxically, Duke had too many options. Should have given him command of the ship at the beginning of the season. And this year Duke played excellent teams almost every week. Princeton played some dogs. Still, it was the ivies. If Sowers decides to spend his remaining years at SU, I'll be happy to welcome him.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Powellfan]

It kind of amazes me that Duke hasn’t taken more gruff for losing, not to mention getting blown out. This was the super team of super teams and they don’t even make the final game? But that’s followed by crickets? I’m probably just bitter but it really feels like lax media and influential personalities have their “pet” or favorite teams that almost never have a bad word spoken and endless hype. Yet I’ve seen lots of these same guys take endless pot shots at Syracuse through the year. I know this all sounds like sour grapes/sore loser talk, but the lax media can just be super inconsistent and frustrating about who they crown the exalted ones of the sport.

 

[Sasquatch]

When I think about the "generational talents" like Sowers, Gray, and TD Ierlan who seemed to have gone to a lot of trouble to leave their school, prolong their playing career, and pick another school that they thought would maximize their final chance to win that elusive title before they graduate. . .

I lmao that they all got denied.

 

[ivorytower]

Find Inside Lacrosse to be professional and objective despite being Maryland based but some other media sites consistently make petty and snide remarks towards Cuse whenever given the chance and there were plenty.. Our overhype heightened resentment by some that have a clear bias toward Mid Atlantic teams. It is what it is.

Our issues were apparent but Duke's winning record masked much, the other 3 acc opponents were better teams imo Maryland game was a sheet show waiting to happen as Duke was not getting better as season progressed . Danowski did a poor job of integrating talents and sidelining some was very questionable.

 

[ivorytower]

I know they focused on 2021 transfers but Maryland’s defender who shut down Sowers transferred from Marquette (Grill).

Terps had quite a few transfers playing today. Tillman pounds the portal pretty well.

Maryland has several transfers on the team, Take in a few every year . Think they took in five last offseason but some didnt contribute much for one reason or another.

Thought ND did well with their imports. Remember they were considered the 5th team in acc and offensively limited. Fogo Gallagher impacted as expected but York made a huge diff to their offense and Thornton complemented their other two defenders. Lipka and Leahey provided quality depth.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

When I think about the "generational talents" like Sowers, Gray, and TD Ierlan who seemed to have gone to a lot of trouble to leave their school, prolong their playing career, and pick another school that they thought would maximize their final chance to win that elusive title before they graduate. . .

I lmao that they all got denied.

To be fair to Sowers & TD Irelan the Ivy League Presidents and the decision making process kind of called them to act. Although Irelan could have stayed at Albany from the start.

We have benefited so much from transfers and have been criticized by Quint and others in the lacrosse media for it. Maryland, Duke and other seems to get a free pass.

College sports have changed so much. The days of teams being completely built from within are over. Stability is a thing of the past. Heck we were independent for so long than big East and ultimately ACC. We “transferred“ too

 

[CuseAlum87]

astute analysis. At Princeton, Sowers had the ball first almost every time. The team played off him o on almost every play. He could take his time and set up his defender. Duke had several excellent offensive players who could start with the ball, go behind, dodge from outside. Sowers was not always the first option, did not have the latitude or time he did at Princeton. Integrating him at Duke was not easy, although he had a pretty good year. I think almost paradoxically, Duke had too many options. Should have given him command of the ship at the beginning of the season. And this year Duke played excellent teams almost every week. Princeton played some dogs. Still, it was the ivies. If Sowers decides to spend his remaining years at SU, I'll be happy to welcome him.

Agree with this, I commented early in the season that Duke was still initiating from the midfield and not from X with Sowers. Duke's coaching staff limited Sowers impact, especially early in the season, by not running the offense through him. Statistically he was Duke's best offensive player with 81 points (37 G, 44 A). Next closest was O'Neil with 55 points. For all the accolades that the Duke coaching staff receives, the fact that it took them half a season to figure out that Sowers should initiate the offense and not the midfield is mind boggling.

 

[ivorytower]

Gonna respectfully disagree. imo the offensive flow issues that Duke had was because games of other referred to options receded because their talents weren't incorporated or even utilized . Duke had need for a x attackman but they may have been better off with a lesser one that fit the entirety. . Not buying that Duke stock of 4-5 talents dont include several good mids Just compare the ball movement to UNC and number of players involved to Duke. Sorry, not tailoring to a one year grad. This is Duke not Princeton. Ill place blame on Danowski moreso than anyone for not getting it working .The play of his team for the first time I can remember was declining rather than improving near season end.

 

[OrangeXtreme]