wich do you think wins the game, offense or defense?

[Octane]

i actually think that defense wins the game because if they cant score how are they going to win???

[Garor]

Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.
/cliche
I'm partial to defense, but I've always believed its a complete team effort. Yeah at practice we compete, but it's just one well-oil machine come gametime.

Edit: Shouldn't this be in just general lacrosse?

[FredtheCat]

Defense. A great defense will consistently put the ball into the hands of its offense, and prevent the other team from gaining momentum.

[stegmakk]

Ill go with the PC answer that it is a team effort...
however...when you look at a team with great offense and med to bad defense there is a greater chance to lose than a team with a weak offense and a great defense...

[Lax101]

Despite the cliche.....offense dictates the game. An offense that can cantrol the ball for 2/3 of the game leaves the defense rested, and obviously the other team has less chances to score. Look at the mll....the cannons defense was horrible yet they had the best record in the league. My prior coaches have always taught us attackmen to control the ball and do the defense a favor.

[LatinBabe]

Edit: Shouldn't this be in just general lacrosse?
i believe this is aimed at girls rather than guys in general... so no.

i would say defense (which includes goalie :grin:) because as long as the other team doesn't score, you could have the worst offense in the world and the worst that could happen is a tie.. which means you didn't lose technically... and if the defense holds out, eventually the Offense should score and end it all.

yippee for the goalie...

[laxstar003]

such a tough question.

people usually say defense, but my team had ZERO defense but we had an amazing goalie, good midfield and attack, and we did very well.

[BTlaxripper]

Offense. If a defense stops scoring, it doesn't matter if the offense can't score.
But offense can hold the ball and score. So offense wins the game.

[sumSum]

i would say defense (which includes goalie) because as long as the other team doesn't score, you could have the worst offense in the world and the worst that could happen is a tie.. which means you didn't lose technically... and if the defense holds out, eventually the Offense should score and end it all.

Ditto for me.

[SawyerLaxGirl44]

Originally Posted by LatinBabe
i would say defense (which includes goalie) because as long as the other team doesn't score, you could have the worst offense in the world and the worst that could happen is a tie.. which means you didn't lose technically... and if the defense holds out, eventually the Offense should score and end it all.


I agree with that statement as well. If you don't have defense, you could score all you want, but the other team will score just as much. So, def the defense!!

YEA GOALIES!! :agree:

[midman17]

you need both d and o to win no matter what.

"the chain is only as strong as the weakest link."

[FeelTheRain]

in the words of ray lewis"DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS"

[Orange]

the team wins

[liongirlylax]

i would love to say defense, but...

my team played a game last year that we should have won. Our defense played insanely, we cleared like nuts, I posted a 75% save average... but we lost 4-2. There is no way that we should have lost if we only let in 4 goals in just over 50 minutes. The problem, of course, was that our offense couldn't produce.

I don't care how good your defense is, if your offense can't produce, you will lose. The reality is (even if I would prefer otherwise, as a goalie) the other team will score. So you'd better be able to score as well.

[FPlaxer]

we've got a great Defense on our team and decent middies but the attack sux! our goalie during a tortament scored more than half of the attack!

[warrior5745]

its all about the team, u need both d :bye: to stop the goal a/m to make the goals and of course the goalie for those shots that sneek passed the d. so no doubt the team. :thumbsup:

[tokiolax]

i think defense wins games, with out the defense there is no offense, you need the defense to give the offense the ball..but it is, all about the goalies, goalies are sav

[thunder_15]

yeah i would say if theres a good goalie that talks well to the defence then the goalie would be the most important person on the field. but then again middies do the most work and they do both offence and defence so you could say middies win a game

[tokiolax]

actually...ground balls win games, and face off..more time with the ball, more time to score.

[thunder_15]

middies pick up the most ground balls

[LAXatt]

actually...ground balls win games, and face off..more time with the ball, more time to score.

its all about possession wich means offence and mostly defense...because you need defense to turn over the ball and offense to keep possession

[LancerLaxGoalie]

This is probably an argument that will exist as long as lacrosse does. Of course being a goalie my opinion is a little biased, but it's all about what I've experienced. Over the years I've been on many different teams, some successful, some not so successful, but the one thing that I've realized is defense is the most important aspect of the team. Not just the goalie, the whole defensive unit, because last year I was seeing 30-40 shots per game, yeah, and even when i had amazing games the other team was still making the mark on the score board because It was me vs. the other team basically. Offense is important too, but if you have a defense that can take the ball from one end to another, leaving an offensive girl behind you're getting your points still. Look at it like this, when two people are playing keep away from someone, if the person without the ball can't catch they won't ever win.

[Skywalkerslax58]

def a team thing...u cant win w/out o or d....however defenders dont get recognized as much and they do just as much as the offense. i play defense for my club team and last year i played 3rd home (low attack) for my school. personally i would much rather play defense..even though all the glory is at attack..but yea you need both to win..just lets not forget those defenders

[lngislndtde2]

This could go either way, but from experience its the TEAM that wins the game. I have had games where (I am A/M) the defense has done absolutely amazing but then we couldnt score the goals to make it a win and I have also had games where our attack was on fire but our defense couldnt stop anything. Its just a matter of everyone on the field meshing at the same time.

With all of that said... Id like to give MAJOR credit to goalies. They honestly are the ones that can turn a horrible field performance into a game anyways. They have to rise above the rest of the team dogging it and keep their head in it anyways. Ive seen tons of games saved by stellar goalie performances.

MB

[girlslaxdad]

I'm a newbie at lacrosse, but from an Ice Hockey perspective (which I imagine is not so different than lacrosse) the team that controlls the puck (ball) wins the games. Defense is often a big part of getting the play started and controlling the ball. But someone has to put it in the net. My daughter's team is really strong at defense and lousy offense (my girl plays D :))). They have like a 20-3-4 record and of those 4 ties at least 3 of them were 0-0. Most of the wins are like 2-1 or 1-0, they don't score much but when they can shutdown the other teams offense, good things happen. I vote defense. To add to the goalie argument, the goalie on her team has something like a .8 goals against average, she wins games!

But that is Ice Hockey -- I'll shut up now.

[chippie]

My middie players save the team on attack and defence, they score 2x as many as my attack players and always get back to defend!!! I think you need attack and defence bu you need a good person at the back to start/finish things and you need great people in the middle to move the ball through transition!!!

[aLAXc5]

from personal experience defense definatly wins games.... along with championships. Last year my team had some incredibal scoring but when the other team out scored you because your goalie or defense wasn't all that great ur chances of winnning r slim to none, which could be why we had such a bad record. But definatly defense is the key to the game, along with the team effort

[Cailax18]

midfield wins games. period.

[ilaxitup007]

i used to think Defense won the game, until a recent game this year...our defnese was pretty much rock solid but our goalie let in some goals, however, our defnese could not get the ball to our ofense and were just horrible on the clears and everything. therefore, our offense rarely touched the ball, so the defense lsot the game for us.

offense wins games.

[CTLaxer]

Offense wins games, defense wins championships

[HRLAXER]

i think that middies win games. we have a tough d, but when the ball is in our side, the game is more like 3 on 6 becuase they cant play defense. and when we clear it, the middies dont understnad the offensive rotation. so it is a 3 on 6 game there also.

[ljlax]

well on my team the midefielders do the most. and many of them are out top scorers. and they do a LOT in transition because u gotta be about to get it from the defense to the other end of the field to score right? so midfielders are key

and goalies are second in my opinion. last year the reigning champsof san diego lost basically their entire starting line up except their center and goalie. and they're season was looking pretty bad. and then some how they managed to pull off a win against the team ranked first in the semi finals. their goalie was the only reason taht they were even decent last year. she was amazing. she made like a million saves epr game. but in the finals it wasnt enough. my school ended up beating them 7-2.

so obviously they whole team is supposed to play like a unit and no position ir more important than another, because u need everyone in order to be successful. but transitions and goalies seem pretty imporitant to me.

[laxfolife24]

there are two ways to look at it
-if you're center wins all of the draws and ur offense is controlling the game that way than its the offense
-but if your offense keeps getting beat than the defense wins games if they stop them
a thing they both wins games equally just at different times and in different situations

[ques]

Of course the best defense is an offense. If your offense keeps the ball out of their defending end then the other team can't score. Then again if your defence does not stop anything you have to score alot. Maybe it is just a team sport all the way around and you need both. If you give up to many goals then you lose if you don't score enough goals you lose. You need both to go a long way during the season. :thumbsup:

[LaxCrazy17]

Yea Defense keeps em back if the offense can't score.

[WHEELAX2]

How much pressure is put on the offense if the defense has let in 10 goals to your 8? Your offense has to try hard and take chances that they shouldn't or wouldn't take.

I think this is a little more complicated than originally perceived.

I have been on teams where the d was solid, but the attack always did dumb things and threw the ball away. Even though the score might have looked like the defense was terrible, when you keep giving the ball back to the other team, they are bound to score more than not.

I would suggest that if you have a great offense to control the ball, the defense won't be faced with a barrage of offensive onslaught by the other team... Lacrosse is a sport where you can control the game on offense. If you keep on winning face offs and posess the ball for long periods of time, you can win with an average defense.

I would say ball control wins over a great defense.

[ljlax]

there are two ways to look at it
-if you're center wins all of the draws and ur offense is controlling the game that way than its the offense
-but if your offense keeps getting beat than the defense wins games if they stop them
a thing they both wins games equally just at different times and in different situations
i couldnt agree more. in different situations differnt things happen and eitehr attack or defense needs to step it up.

also, the offense denfending wins games.
meaning when there is a missed shot, a saved shot by the goalie, a check by the defense. etc etc the attack doesnt let up and makes the denfense turn it back over before getting pass midfield.

basically what wheelax said. if u win every draw and have possession and be patient with ur goals and not make stupid passes etc then u will win--even if ur defense isnt stellar

[GBaschski]

I think it's more of a team effort to win games, but if I had to choose between having a good defense or a good attack, I would definitely go with the good defense.
But, in my opinion, it's the middies who win games.

[roswelllax85]

Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.
/cliche
I'm partial to defense, but I've always believed its a complete team effort. Yeah at practice we compete, but it's just one well-oil machine come gametime.

Edit: Shouldn't this be in just general lacrosse?


This man is right.

[LaxCrazy17]

I think that its equal a teams got to have defense or they'll get schooled but a teams got to have offense so the team can win. the one time we played our rival we lost because we didn't have a lot of players we were missing half our defense and most of our offense, we just tried to tough it out, i guess it wasn't that bad 7 to 4. I don't know I'm pretty torn.

[LAX_Man021]

defense wins it all

[Kale3193]

you guys are idiots.. its simple. If you have the ball your team can score and the other team cant, possesion wins games boys

[ljlax]

wow ur the smartest person alive!!!

obviously u need possesion to win. but to get possession u need ur defense to come up with the ball and then safely get it to the other end of the field and then the attackers need to be good.

ur an idiot too. cuz u called us all idiots. and we all know that u need everything in order to be successful, its a TEAM sport and a TEAM effort. but if u had to choose either attack or defense, which one wins games. that was the original question. so dont be disrespectful.

[laxgirl0108]

Alright! I totally agree! Goalies rock-and the defense and goalies really have the toughest jobs on the field. In a really tough game, the other team can get the ball, and your attack can sit at the other end of the field and watch, but defense and the goalie have to be turned on at all times, in a blow out for the other team, or not.

[laxgirl0108]

Does your goalie play field too? Just a little confused, b/c a goalie can't score when using a goalie stick (at least not legally).
Thanks

[Afterburner]

I think if you had to single out someone and say they win the game i wouldn't say attack or defense. Yeh they both have extremely vital roles.... And both completely different... But i think Midfield wins games. Its the midfielders that gain centre possession and get the ball into attack so they or the attackers can shoot. Watch any decent game and whichever team has centre possession most the game will dominate and win. Well that’s my opinion anyways. =)

[Trilax03]

i agree with latinbabe...having a solid goalie helps and as long as u prevent them from scoring...all you need is one goal to win...but it is a team effort

[LTlaxfan]

it's not one or the other. I've seen games where the D is awesome but the offense sucks so obviously how can they win, AND games where the offense is awesome but the D sucks so the other team gets a bunch of goals. Honestly? It's a total team thing. Goalie of course also has a lot to do with it (but I really count goalie in the whole D catagory)