best of the best

[muchachojones]

Well, since we are almost at the end of the regular season, I don't think it is too early to ask the question: Who is the best lacrosse player you have seen this year?

[Lax_Stats]

You want it narrowed down to just one?!?!?!? LOL

[muchachojones]

I guess if you really really want to you can name two. But absolutely no more than that! If you name more than two, your post will be automatically deleted. No exceptions.

[Kyle Berggren]

This may not be the norm, but realistically, if I could choose 1 player to start a team (from the B's), that wasn't a goalie, I'd choose T. Hall or Kris Olsen. There are a lot of intangibles on the field, riding for instance, and seeing that second pass (creating, or a hockey assist), and I don't know of many better than Olsen. Of course, Hall does have the ability to turn and bounce a 12 yard shot top corner.

An arguement could be made for different middies, but I'm not exactly impressed by only great stickwork. Many people can get the job done with heart, hustle, and 4 years of playing the game.

[CrazyIke]

I don't think any 1 A division player has helped his team succeed this year quite like Shawn Carmen, the freshman goalie from BSU.

[grizmid]

playing for montana i may be biased but ryan frey i believe is by for the best defensemen in the league and in my opinion one of the best players hands down

[lincoln02]

playing for montana i may be biased but ryan frey i believe is by for the best defensemen in the league and in my opinion one of the best players hands down

while frey is good, no defenseman has ever made my job more frustrating than joe english. i guess that speaks to the depth of the griz d more than anything else. hopefully i'll get a chance to personally reasses this in three weeks time.

best player i've seen this year (personal biases not withstanding)? would have to go with townsend in terms of size, stick, and overall output. freihofer's ability to elevate in the passing lane comes to mind as well. might take my vote for this one in years to come.

[muchachojones]

Townsend is a great all around player. Many have mentioned him as one of the leagues best. However, the player that I was most impressed with on the Montana team is Zander Ault. He is a killer from X and his release is amazing. The release is quick from the outside and he adds a little twist to the end of his shot on the inside.

[Blynk22]

my opinion is also obviously a bit biased, but having the chance to play with him in practice everyday, Kris Olsen is hands down the best attackman in the league. Like Kyle said, alot of the things he does dont show up in the box score. He is the smartest player i have ever had the chance to play with or against. His field vision is spectacular and makes everyone on the field with him better because of his patience. If "hockey assists" were counted in lacrosse, he would have well over 100 points this year. His rides are unbelievable, i have never seen an attackman have so many takeaways and desticks. The guy is also a tremebdous leader and role model. Cody Hart was also extremely impressive to watch. He is very patient, and also has that knack for creating for others when he is double and triple teamed. He keeps his head up and eyes open when he is driving, and had quite a few unbelievable disappearing acts when he was swarmed. Defensively, Frey was very impressive this year, has amazing footwork and handles the ball extremely well. Jeff "Homer" Roark is another guy ive had the pleasure of playing with. The days of practice working against him are extremely frustrating, as he never lets you out of his sights, has a lightning quick stick, and is one helluva intimidating force. Dan Snell from SOU is another Dpole who stands out. Plays great team defense, has perfectly timed slides, and creates scoring opportunities for his offense with his speed and stick skills.

[Basquelax]

Kris Olsen, amazing player! Wish I was on the wing with you this year to throw down some more triple threat! I haven´t had the opportunity to play with Nick T. but seemed like a great kid and his numbers speak for himself! PLU´s program no matter how many changes in the off season it goes through always has a solid group of guys, definatley prooves that without a solid coaching staff a program teams are uncapable of progessing and succeeding! Good luck with the rest of the season guys! Josu Zubizarreta

[kladis]

Here's the thing, yeah there are certain individual standouts, but i think the key to success is the duos and sometimes trios. For a player to really live up to their potential, they need a complimentary player(s)- offensively speeking this would be someone to feed or someone to finish. defensively speeking, someone to make the o take shots that are easy so save or who locks off an adjacent to allow a d-pole to throw take-away checks. The complimentary players are the ones that really make those certain individuals stand out and get their names on this forum.

With that said, I think the Grizz Attack and especially, Hall and Ault, come in a pair and together, they create something a team can build on. Townsend is much more of a threat this year to good defenses not because he is better than he was last year, but because Ault takes away some (and a big some) degree of the focus from Hall.

Those 2 TOGETHER are far and away the biggest threats there are in the PNCLL from what I've seen this year. Alone, I'm not so sure.

Cody Hart for example is a stud, everyone whos seen him knows that. He and I go way back to something like 8th grade when we went to Baltimore together. (His pops is a stand up guy!) However, in my opinion, people still haven't even seen Cody's best yet because he doesn't quite have that solid "partner in crime." Burke seems to be doing a pretty good job (I haven't seen them play together) but I'd be hard pressed to imagine they are as equally potent as Hall and Ault. The focus when defending Albertsons is Hart. Defending Montana deals with at least Ault and Hall equally. A defense needs 2 great defenders to shut down a duo, often just one for just one stud. This also means props need to go to Burke for helping Hart get his.....

I think an important aspect to this thread is pointing out the best duos. Also, in my opinion the most valuable duos are when goalies and Dmiddies work well together- makes clears real easy!

[Movin' a Couch]

Have any of you tried to stop Whitehead this season? He's not as pretty as Hall, Hart, Ault, etc., but come on; are we judging aesthetics or effectiveness?

However, it's hard to judge him or Hart against anyone on Montana or PLU because the respective supporting casts are so vastly different. What would Hall's stats look like without the rest of his ridiculously talented teammates. Duos, triads, tribunals, tetrads, and slam-pigs aside, I think Whitehead is individually the most dangerous player in this league.

[Tim Whitehead]

Have any of you tried to stop Whitehead this season? He's not as pretty as Hall, Hart, Ault, etc., but come on; are we judging aesthetics or effectiveness?

However, it's hard to judge him or Hart against anyone on Montana or PLU because the respective supporting casts are so vastly different. What would Hall's stats look like without the rest of his ridiculously talented teammates. Duos, triads, tribunals, tetrads, and slam-pigs aside, I think Whitehead is individually the most dangerous player in this league.

Thanks.

[rocky13]

I'm guessing your talking about Jamison Whitehead from Southern Oregon. I agree that he probally has the best stick skills in the league but he hurts himself and his team with lots of penalties (he plays on the field like he's playing box). He's a very aggressive player that constantly is double and triple teamed, if were talking about individual talent he should be mentioned.

[Peter Lewicki]

Thanks.

haha...the Simon Fraser guys from our era were pretty dominant in their own right. Frankly, there have been no attackmen in recent years that match Peter Morgan, Jeff Cathrea (from SFU) or CJ Calvert & Josh Henretig (from Whitman).