How Divison A is panning out

[TheLoo]

I thought I could start a discussion on how Division A is panning out and I hope lots of people will discuss.

1. Lindenwood -- undefeated, clearly doing well against ranked opponants. Depth is top notch, especially at goalie. multiple scoring threats, physical defence, and strongest GRLC schedule.

2. Illinois -- suprisingly strong game against Lindenwood. late start hurts the Illinni. Only three games so far. I think they will take second in the conference with strong goalie and midfield play.

3. Wash U -- Jeckel and Hyde team. Young team that is inconsistant but has several ballers and good stick skills. Depth hurts them. Also a weak schedule.

4. Missouri -- I'll bump Missouri up from 5 to 4 after a very suprising win over Oregon State. I'm not sure if they had a good game or if OSU had a bad game or both. Strong schedule, but losing many of the games will still hurt them. It also hurts them to have only the attack scoring.

5. Illinois State -- I'll place ISU 5th but they can take 4th by knocking off Missouri or upsetting either Wash U or Illinois. Again, the late start and poor schedule will hurt them. Strong goale.

6. Kansas -- Inconsistant. Sends Missouri to overtime and loses to St. Olaf of Minnesota?

7. Missouri State -- had a bad start but must be pulling together after beating KSU. I looked at their roster. 1/3 of the team is seniors so it is now or never.

8. Iowa -- got bullied by Missouri but has depth and coaching and should be able to rebound

9. Kansas State -- no depth, no schedule, no chance.

10. Nebraska -- umm.... maybe they can upset KSU?

[eto'o]

4. Missouri -- I'll bump Missouri up from 5 to 4 after a very suprising win over Oregon State. I'm not sure if they had a good game or if OSU had a bad game or both. Strong schedule, but losing many of the games will still hurt them. It also hurts them to have only the attack scoring.

Couldn't you say that Lindenwood gets all their scoring from the attack?

[eto'o]

Is WashU capable of an upset over Illinois or Lindenwood?

Is the East really that much stronger than the West? Has Kansas been too quickly dismissed?

[gatewaylax]

Wash U is capable of an upset against LU. I'm sure some will say because they played them tight last year 7-5 which is erroneous. I think there are three question marks concerning this game: Has Wash U played anyone that will prepare them for a "Top 10" team (Arkansas and St. Somebody from Minnesota...)? The game is at Lindenwood and I'm sure Jack Cribbin will be more than happy to let us know, AGAIN, how many straight home games that Lindenwood has won...can Wash U snap that against their old coach? Lastly, can assistant coach Schuh put together a game plan for the Bears to stop the Lions? Out.

[DavidDouglas]

Troy's luck has to run out sometime.......

[yourmom]

Out.

Out? Thats it? I know you can do better than that.

[DavidDouglas]

Hmmm....perhaps his luck will run in the crease.,,,,

I can already hear him calling me a knucklehead.

[lionslaxfan]

Couldn't you say that Lindenwood gets all their scoring from the attack?

Mike Coursalt, Jimmy Lange, and Adam Pfleegor are all Middies.

I think that 3/4 of the middies on Lindenwood are capable of scoring against any team at any time.

On the topic of LU vs Wash U, the only team on LU's schedule that can stop them is Michigan.

Out

[pstirling]

I think Lindenwood's attack is scoring a higher percentage of their teams goals than Mizzou's, but I think I would want my team to have most of it's scoring coming from the attack. Attackmen are supposed to do most of the scoring. You should at least run most of your offense through the attack which is what I think all teams do. I don't see how it hurts a team to have their attack being their main scorers. If they're not going to score, they better be incredible at riding.

[Matt_Gardiner]

I disagree about most of a team's scoring coming through the attack. I believe a team should be able to produce most of their scoring from up top at the midfield. The game is won and lost at the midfield positions in my mind. A team that depends on their attack heavily runs the risk of facing a team that can counter with quality close D and subsequently losing the game. While you want to put players that can score goals in bunches at attack, you will typically find more favorable mismatches at the midfield position.

If you can offensively and defensively dominate (or at least control) the opposing midfield, you will win 95% of the time.

That said, while Lindenwood does most of their scoring from attack, they have the depth and talent to do most of their scoring from the midfield. It would be incorrect to assume that Lindenwood depends on their attack to put the ball in the back of the net, they just choose to let their attack score most of the goals.

I have not seen Mizzou play this year.

[pstirling]

I agree with a lot of what you said, Matt, and I think the most important position in lacrosse is short stick d-middies, because of the match up problems, but I also think that if your attack is hardly ever scoring, then you're not going to win many games. Back to the topic, I think Mizzou's scoring is very balanced at midfield and attack, and I think they could fall anywhere between 2nd and 6th in the final standings in the GRLC.
I think the MU - Illinois game will be a good one, and I've seen Wash U play very well (against Mo St) and fairly poorly (against Indiana), so I don't have any idea how they'll do against Lindenwood, or where they will finish. I haven't seen any of the other teams play yet.

[eto'o]

If you look at Mizzou's scoring, or Lindenwood or any other team for that matter, you will see that most of the goals come from the attack. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean that Mizzou is completely dependent on the attack. It means that the attack are part of EVERY offensive possession and will naturally have more opportunities to score than the middies.

[A.J. Stevens]

The numbers tell a lot about a team.

Lindenwood (6 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 51G, 35A --- Per Game Avg – 8.5G, 5.8A
Top 3 Middie Total 15G, 9A --- Per Game Avg – 2.5G, 1.5A

Missouri (11 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 74G, 63A --- Per Game Avg – 6.2G, 5.7A
Top 3 Middie Total 39G, 11A --- Per Game Avg – 3.5G, 1A

Washington (6 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 45G, 10A --- Per Game Avg – 7.5G, 1.6A
Top 3 Middie Total 27G, 15A --- Per Game Avg – 4.5G, 2.5A

Illinois (3 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 13G, 10A --- Per Game Avg - 4.3G, 3.3A
Top 3 Middie Total 15G, 5A --- Per Game Avg – 5G, 1.6A

[TheLoo]

The numbers tell a lot about a team.

Lindenwood (6 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 51G, 35A --- Per Game Avg – 8.5G, 5.8A
Top 3 Middie Total 15G, 9A --- Per Game Avg – 2.5G, 1.5A

Missouri (11 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 74G, 63A --- Per Game Avg – 6.2G, 5.7A
Top 3 Middie Total 39G, 11A --- Per Game Avg – 3.5G, 1A

Washington (6 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 45G, 10A --- Per Game Avg – 7.5G, 1.6A
Top 3 Middie Total 27G, 15A --- Per Game Avg – 4.5G, 2.5A

Illinois (3 games)
Top 3 Attack Total 13G, 10A --- Per Game Avg - 4.3G, 3.3A
Top 3 Middie Total 15G, 5A --- Per Game Avg – 5G, 1.6A

No offense intended, but you can't determine anything after three games. Also, if you are going to use Missouris numbers, leave out their blowouts. Theyve only played against a couple good teams. Their numbers are going to be much lower. Same with Wash U. But LU is scoring 11 goals per game just off the top six scorers. Thats hard to stop.

And you cant pay attention the GRLC site because it does totals and not per game. So when you look at the first page it looks like the Three missouri players are the best in the league, but its only because they have played 11 games.

[gatewaylax]

It goes a little something like this...based on the stats that Coach Stevens was kind enough to provide (could they start putting stuff like that on the uslmdia.org site?), there seems to be some teams in the GRLC that have a number of assisted goals and some teams that don't. My take on that is, if you have a lot of goals with a lot of assists then you have a legit team, if you have a lot of goals without too many assists then you might have legit players. I'm out like Oklahoma in basketball...