NCAA Attackmen and our own issues?

[Whitey23]

Mike Powell used a Brine Edge his freshman season in 2001. It's offset but not pinched. His sophomore and junior seasons he used a Warrior head that is offset and quite pinched. His senior season he used a different offset and pinched head. This was when companies could make heads that were so pinched at the bottom that the ball could almost

stuck in the plastic. That is not allowed any more.

I'm pretty sure this is from 2003.

Warrior Razer in the pic.

 

[ohmilax34]

Warrior Razer in the pic.

Thank you!!!! I couldn't remember the name. Plenty pinched and offset.

 

[ohmilax34]

I also wanted to mention that Powell played against some very good defensemen during his SU career, including Brett Hughes, Damian Davis, Brodie Merrill, Tom Garvey, Ryan McClay.

 

[Whitey23]

Thank you!!!! I couldn't remember the name. Plenty pinched and offset.

Another angle of what might be the same drive made the face off cover for 2004.

 

[JeremyCuse]

As others have pointed out there is no comparing anyone on the current roster to Mike Powell. He was a 4 time AA, a 4 time Attackmen of the year, a 2 time NC (Should have been 3) and a once a generation type of talent. SU has had some good players come after him but no on is in the same stratosphere at Mike save for the Gaits.

 

[Hoo's That]

Mike Powell used a Brine Edge his freshman season in 2001. It's offset but not pinched. His sophomore and junior seasons he used a Warrior head that is offset and quite pinched. His senior season he used a different offset and pinched head. This was when companies could make heads that were so pinched at the bottom that the ball could almost

stuck in the plastic. That is not allowed any more.

I'm pretty sure this is from 2003.

It should be. That's Brett Hughes defending against Powell. He was a 2nd Team AA that year and 1st Team in 2004. This was another classic UVa-SU "defensive struggle", 16-15.

 

[WoodyUK]

All the Powell brothers used Edges Mikey switched to Warrior when Casey had signed with them, Ryan used a Warrior Evo in his Sr year as did Mikey! The above (pictured) is a Warrior razor and had a wider channel at the bottom!

Mikey used to put tape on his head at the bottom to hide the ball, later when he brought out his MP line for Brine his head had detachable plastic sides.

 

[WoodyUK]

Do you remember him playing vs UMass and being guarded by Jack Reid, nasty red haired defender that played in the early MLL years! He resorted to just whacking #22 because he couldn’t stop him! Then Mike decided to do the flip against them the years after!

Mike apparently never hit the weight room a freak athlete for sure!

 

[outoftownie]

Not sure why you quoted my post as I agree that Powell’s athleticism was superior to Solomon and that Solomon hasn’t shown the same ability to dominate.

Stick skills are harder to compare with equipment changes over 14 years. I don’t know how much better Powell would be using the pinched and offset heads in today’s game.

Mike Powell is probably the most dynamic offensive player to play at SU.

Comparing a current player to that standard is what happens after first round losses.

My apologies, I just saw two post in a row comparing parts of Solomon to Mike Powell and was dumbfounded. I quoted your post because it was the second one and said that the two players named above had similar stick skills and I disagree.

 

[ForCuseSake]

My apologies, I just saw two post in a row comparing parts of Solomon to Mike Powell and was dumbfounded. I quoted your post because it was the second one and said that the two players named above had similar stick skills and I disagree.

Yeah, I agree that Solomon isn’t on Mike’s level and I tried to err on the side of caution rather than trashing Nate as I’ve made multiple critical posts on his play in the past. Your response questioning the validity of the comparison was a better way to accomplish that.

I should’ve been clearer about that stick skill comparison. I’m jaded by the sticks used today when I see middle or high school players swim a defender or try a toe drag and the ball stays in (sometimes even after a defender’s check).

Those types of moves were only attempted by elite players back in the 90s (Powells, Gaits, John Grant, etc.). That was the basis for my equating their stick skills.

I look forward to the day we have another generational talent at SU who will warrant a comparison to a Powell, Gait, Marechek, McCabe, Galloway, etc.

 

[WoodyUK]

We will get another talent like that! It will happen!

Talking about skills and players sticks look at Brad Kotz guy played with a tennis racket pocket!

 

[ohmilax34]

Yeah, I agree that Solomon isn’t on Mike’s level and I tried to err on the side of caution rather than trashing Nate as I’ve made multiple critical posts on his play in the past. Your response questioning the validity of the comparison was a better way to accomplish that.

I should’ve been clearer about that stick skill comparison. I’m jaded by the sticks used today when I see middle or high school players swim a defender or try a toe drag and the ball stays in (sometimes even after a defender’s check).

Those types of moves were only attempted by elite players back in the 90s (Powells, Gaits, John Grant, etc.). That was the basis for my equating their stick skills.

I look forward to the day we have another generational talent at SU who will warrant a comparison to a Powell, Gait, Marechek, McCabe, Galloway, etc.

One of the trends in stick string is to make the ball stay in to do the toe drags and a variety of fakes. A lot of skills are being taught which don't require switching hands, which this stick stringing technique makes more difficult.

This is an example of the stringing technique, which is popular among kids, but we don't see much of in college. You can see why the ball has a hard time coming out. I'm always amazed when someone can make a decent pass or shot on the run with this.

 

[Whitey23]

All the Powell brothers used Edges Mikey switched to Warrior when Casey had signed with them, Ryan used a Warrior Evo in his Sr year as did Mikey! The above (pictured) is a Warrior razor and had a wider channel at the bottom!

Mikey used to put tape on his head at the bottom to hide the ball, later when he brought out his MP line for Brine his head had detachable plastic sides.

View attachment 128431
View attachment 128430

That's a Warrior Finalizer Mikey has in the picture. I think that came out in late 2003 for the 2004 season.

 

[ohmilax34]

That's a Warrior Finalizer Mikey has in the picture. I think that came out in late 2003 for the 2004 season.

You are correct! Mike didn't use an evolution.

 

[ForCuseSake]

One of the trends in stick string is to make the ball stay in to do the toe drags and a variety of fakes. A lot of skills are being taught which don't require switching hands, which this stick stringing technique makes more difficult.

This is an example of the stringing technique, which is popular among kids, but we don't see much of in college. You can see why the ball has a hard time coming out. I'm always amazed when someone can make a decent pass or shot on the run with this.

That pocket looks like a fishing net to me.

I don’t ever remember greasy balls being a problem when I played in the 90s. I also strung traditional and never used mesh until about 3 years ago. I

know the new mesh leaves residue on balls that some of my youth players have cried about “greasers” when they spray a shot or pass.

The lack of switching hands drives me nuts. I’m not a box fan so I blame a lot of the stick tech and one-handed habits on the box influence.

To me the box influence has minimized the importance of stick skill in the field game and is turning it into a bigger, faster, athletic contest.

It’s made stick skills less of a differentiating factor than they used to be. Or maybe kids are just that better today than they used to be.

Either way I wish stick tech made it more difficult for average players of today to look like great players from years past.

 

[RoysRunts]

IMO Solomon was/is a loose cannon who gets penalties at the worse times. Unless Solomon grows up
he will continue on the same undisciplined path and be more of a detriment than a benefit.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Zack80]

This is a two part question and not a loaded one? This has certainly been the year of the attackman! Most successful teams have been led by these point scorers and leaders! Although not all teams with these players have been successful, does this point to the fact that a team such as Syracuse who have always been known for great players at the position are simply not recruiting the best any longer!

Elite Top Tier Attackmen
Kraus - UVA
Fields - Albany
Sowers - Princeton
Spencer - Loyola
Heningburg - Rutgers
Justin Guterding - Duke
Kelly - UMD
Reeves - Yale
Carraway - Georgetown
Teat - Cornell
O’Keefe - PSU
Walker - DU
Stanwick - JHU
Garnsey - ND

Points Per Game | DI Men's Lacrosse Statistics - NCAA.com

Is this highlighting an issue at Syracuse with recruitment? And is this what we need to be nationally prominent again? Or are we getting the players and they are not being developed correctly!! After all Bomber was a transfer who would have played in this spot this year?

Connor Kelly is actually a midfielder for the Terps. He plays as a midfield in the Terps' offense. If you want to say he is an attackman because he stays on all the time, that is your opinion, but you still have to deal with the fact that C. Kelly was a midfield recruit and played midfield his first 3 years as a Terp.

I thought Dordevic looked pretty good as a freshman midfielder for Syracuse, maybe he will be your guy down the road. In the end, having n excellent group of midfielders, who can beat ssdms is just as deadly if not more so than having a top notch attackman. Syracuse had Dordevic and Curry doing it pretty well as freshmen.

Wisnauskas has done real well for the Terps, but he is for the most part a lefty finisher, and not a do it all type of attackman like most of the attackmen on the list above. Bernhardt is more the do it all type attackman. The Terps have Bernhardt from the year before last and Fairman this Spring as top-five attack recruits, but they don't have any such highly ranked attackmen coming in the next two years. The Terps have Kyle Long and George Wichelns in this years UA AA game, and then Danny Maltz and Jack Brennan in 2019. Of course, one sort of wonders looking at all four of these recruits, what is Tillman's ranking of them as opposed to Inside lacrosse? Leading to the question: "Is my coach missing out on guys or is Inside Lacrosse missing on its rankings?".