Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="Shrmdougluvr, post: 5351627, member: 396"] My overarching thoughts: February lacrosse - everything should be taken with a grain off salt. Honestly, just playing an outdoor sport like this in the winter is kinda ridculous in and of itself. Weather is a factor. Our offense pings it around and thats tough to do in the cold and rain. Maryland's offense wasnt great either. They got what, two goals on put backs, two emo, and a pole goal? Offense really struggles when things get tight. I put this on March and too heavy a reliance on the "box style." Bad shots and risky passes dont really hurt you in box. In field, when games tighten up (every game against Army, Maryland, and ND will be like this), you have to value your chances more. There looked to be almost no off ball movement in the second half. The first and second line mids had an absolute clunker. 2 pts between them and Rhoa's goal was pretty soft. Leo was (uncharacteristically) really poor. Would have liked to see some of the third line. Wings were poor. Thought defense looked good in settled situations. They still dont know how to play a pick though. I understand there are different schools of thought on this but the one that will be most effective, particularly behind goal is a combination of "taking out" the screener and moving aggressively upfield at the ball carrier (the second part more is more important that the first). Agree with [USER=8248]DMVCuseLax[/USER] that Figueiras locking up Erksa is a nice sign in his and the defense's progression. Glad to see McCool make some big saves, but he was clearly guessing/shading low a lot and got beat stick side high at least twice (Spanos on a step down and someone coming up field of a dodge from x). He had a good, not great game and the rebound control really hurt us. Thought Mullen had a good game. Refs stunk (and i am not usually a "refs stunk" guy). They were not fat guy at Cornell bad, but pretty poor. A couple of questions: What happened to the glove rule? Remember Tillman catching OSU on that a few years back. UMD kids were wearing both white and black gloves out there. The rule used to be the colors needed to be coordinated and those were not. Would the game benefit from a fourth ref? Is there even room for one, mechanically? It's a lot of field to cover and players are bigger and faster, and the ball moves quicker, than ever before. On a personal note: Not a great use of $13. Maryland broadcasting these games from the moon is ridiculous given the athletic budget they have and the money the Big Ten network generates. However, if I was paying by the word, it was great return on investment because those kids calling the game made Anish and Carc seem like selective mutes. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?