Scott Firman possesses even-keeled approach while flying under radar as long-stick midfielder (DO)

[OrangeXtreme]

Scott Firman has an even-keeled approach that's helped cultivate the mind of the sophomore who largely flies under the radar, partly because his scrappy, rough-housing style of play takes precedence over a flashy skill set...

http://dailyorange.com/2015/04/scot...-radar-as-long-stick-midfielder-for-syracuse/

 

[MaxFischer]

Scott Firman has an even-keeled approach that's helped cultivate the mind of the sophomore who largely flies under the radar, partly because his scrappy, rough-housing style of play takes precedence over a flashy skill set...

http://dailyorange.com/2015/04/scot...-radar-as-long-stick-midfielder-for-syracuse/

Firman repeatedly failed to pick up Miles Jones in the 4th quarter and left a shortie to pick him up. Every time he came off the field (especially after Jones literally knocked over his man (ward?) and scored) coaches were in his ear about it. Hopefully that was a learning experience. Match ups are critical. Almost every time Jones had a pole on him he gave up the ball. Just a part of an overall bad day of communication by the defensive unit.

 

[reedny]

Yah I realize that Defenses aren't going to be able to shut out talented offensive players forever. Every team's defense gets beat and I didn't expect to hold Duke to 6 or 7 goals.

That said, I had trouble figuring out what our "plan" was defensively against Miles Jones. I realize the kid is a beast, probably one of, if not the, best midfielders in college LAX. So what was our strategy? We obviously had to worry about Guterding and Bruckner. I wonder if we could have doubled him in the last 3 minutes--they were obviously looking for him to score on a shorty matchup (and we gave him the opportunity). After the game, the Coach said his right hand "surprised us" ... but how can he be a surprise at this stage? The kid was open repeatedly down the stretch, bowling people over. Clearly he wasn't going to be contained with a short stick or smaller defender. We did win the game -- which is the most important thing -- but we took a big risk letting Jones do all that damage.

But the next time (if) we play them, if it's close at the end I'd like to see us devote more attention to him.

On the other hand, I thought we played well defensively against UNC in Philly. They have a potent offense and BW really stood on his head in that game after a tough outing in chapel hill.

 

[longtimefan]

Yah I realize that Defenses aren't going to be able to shut out talented offensive players forever. Every team's defense gets beat and I didn't expect to hold Duke to 6 or 7 goals.

That said, I had trouble figuring out what our "plan" was defensively against Miles Jones. I realize the kid is a beast, probably one of, if not the, best midfielders in college LAX. So what was our strategy? We obviously had to worry about Guterding and Bruckner. I wonder if we could have doubled him in the last 3 minutes--they were obviously looking for him to score on a shorty matchup (and we gave him the opportunity). After the game, the Coach said his right hand "surprised us" ... but how can he be a surprise at this stage? The kid was open repeatedly down the stretch, bowling people over. Clearly he wasn't going to be contained with a short stick or smaller defender. We did win the game -- which is the most important thing -- but we took a big risk letting Jones do all that damage.

But the next time (if) we play them, if it's close at the end I'd like to see us devote more attention to him.

On the other hand, I thought we played well defensively against UNC in Philly. They have a potent offense and BW really stood on his head in that game after a tough outing in chapel hill.

The surprise about the right hand is understandable if you watched Duke vs ND in the semifinal. Because of his hand injury, Jones was hardly using his right at all. Obviously, in less than 48 hours, the condition of his hand had improved.

 

[reedny]

The surprise about the right hand is understandable if you watched Duke vs ND in the semifinal. Because of his hand injury, Jones was hardly using his right at all. Obviously, in less than 48 hours, the condition of his hand had improved.

True .. I heard about the injury/stitches, etc. But come on ... it's Miles Jones. You know the kid's going to try to dominate at crunch time ... as he did. I just think we needed to devote more attention to him with a poll and/or a double down the stretch.

 

[longtimefan]

True .. I heard about the injury/stitches, etc. But come on ... it's Miles Jones. You know the kid's going to try to dominate at crunch time ... as he did. I just think we needed to devote more attention to him with a poll and/or a double down the stretch.

Did you watch the semis? His right hand looked pretty useless.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Yah I realize that Defenses aren't going to be able to shut out talented offensive players forever. Every team's defense gets beat and I didn't expect to hold Duke to 6 or 7 goals.

That said, I had trouble figuring out what our "plan" was defensively against Miles Jones. I realize the kid is a beast, probably one of, if not the, best midfielders in college LAX. So what was our strategy? We obviously had to worry about Guterding and Bruckner. I wonder if we could have doubled him in the last 3 minutes--they were obviously looking for him to score on a shorty matchup (and we gave him the opportunity). After the game, the Coach said his right hand "surprised us" ... but how can he be a surprise at this stage? The kid was open repeatedly down the stretch, bowling people over. Clearly he wasn't going to be contained with a short stick or smaller defender. We did win the game -- which is the most important thing -- but we took a big risk letting Jones do all that damage.

But the next time (if) we play them, if it's close at the end I'd like to see us devote more attention to him.

On the other hand, I thought we played well defensively against UNC in Philly. They have a potent offense and BW really stood on his head in that game after a tough outing in chapel hill.

The problem was that McCartney and Firman kept switching to the player with the the ball when that player would initiate or Jones screened/picked to him. This left our SSDM to switch over to Jones which resulted in the total mismatch. McCartney and Firman have to learn not to slide or switch when covering Jones, it may cost you a goal or two on a dodge but it will keep Jones in check (for the most part at least).

 

[reedny]

Did you watch the semis? His right hand looked pretty useless.

He still shot with the R hand in the semis ..(obviously not as effectively with the stitches). But really that's beside the point. Yes he did score on us with the R, but the problem was ... we didn't keep a pole on him. And he went off on us. He's a dangerous player, we all know that. Pretending to be "surprised" by Miles Jones is pretty silly. R, L? ... whatever. He's the biggest and best middie in college lacrosse and he made us look foolish in the last 3 minutes (I believe Quinn's assessment was "man among boys"). We can let that happen again, and maybe loose the next time .. or we could keep a poll on him down the stretch.