A sad tournament

[raykessler]

Seeing how the NCAA D1 tournament turned out got me thinking, what if Duke had not gotten kicked out. It is pretty much assured that it would have been Duke and Virginia in the finals, and with both of those offenses we could have seen one of the most epic lacrosse games in history. I, as a fan, am feeling extremly deprived. :angry:

[atacklax]

As are most lacrosse fans. But this might belong in one of the Duke threads.

[Mr. Big]

Is Greer leaving Duke?

[bloodilax977]

I, in general, did not enjoy this tourny as much as many of the past years.

[Vap0r]

I agree with you guys. I have to say the DII and DIII games were more exciting than DI. I dont feel that it was as exciting as last year or when Syracuse and Princeton went at it. No offense to other teams.

[Mrmccoolsatool]

ya i agree as well, but after last year adn the Uva-Hopkins semi final game being one of the best lacrosse games played this one was quite a letdown. i mean a 8 goal difference in a final is pretty dissapointing.

[mdawg]

Seeing how the NCAA D1 tournament turned out got me thinking, what if Duke had not gotten kicked out. It is pretty much assured that it would have been Duke and Virginia in the finals, and with both of those offenses we could have seen one of the most epic lacrosse games in history. I, as a fan, am feeling extremly deprived. :angry:

we have no idea that it owuld haev been duke. they lost to cornell early in the season, they may have turned out to not be as good as they were projected to be. and they could haev lost in the tourney in the same fashion as teams like hofstra and maryland. we were pretty much "assured" they would beat umass, but they didnt. you shouldnt feel deprived caus ethey werent in it. it may have been the same result.

[Formerlaxdemon]

I am not sure that Duke would have made that much of a difference. I went to all of UVa's home games (yes, I know that everyone knows by now that I am not a fan of theirs, but LAX is LAX) and the best game I have seen was in the Quarter Finals when Notre Dame went against UVa. UVa only won by four points and the Irish played their hearts out, so did UVa.

There was something missing from the final, and that was that it was not a competition of equals.

Am I saying Notre Dame was on the same level as UVa? You know what, based on what I saw that day I sure am. :read: This is not something I am going to argue with the fans of UVa either. UVa won plain and simple because they did not face anyone at their level in the Final.

[stegmakk]

I really don't think Duke would have mattered either...
I am a UMass hater, but watching their dream run WAS exciting...
and the setup for the UVA game was great...you had undefeated versus the giant killers...if anyone could have beaten UVA it could have been UMAss...and they were able to hang 3 out of 4 quarters...

[powellfan1]

This was my 6th NCAA Championship game that I have followed since picking up lax. And I must say that it was the worst game. One random team playing an all star team. The semis were a joke. I have no idea how SU made it to the Final Four and Maryland yet again folded under pressure, especially their biggest star, who I was excited about watching because Saturday was like the only time all year lax was on tv. I think the average sports fan who tuned in on the Final Four would have found it boring and turned it off.

[ColtsLax]

best game of the weekend was Cortland v Salisbury, i wish duke had made it, i think it would have been a different tourney.

[WHEELAX2]

well.. I think the championship game told the story of the slow pace of the game..

with 7 minutes + remaining, the game was pretty much over.. How can there be nearly a quarter left, and the game be over..??

well, when you have a team dominating the face offs, killing the clock, and forcing turnovers, you have a boring finish.

Teams should at least have a chance to make a run towards the end of the game..
especially with that much time remaining..

Something has to be done about the pace of the game..

[RockfordAttack9]

I agree, for me the Semifinals and Championship game where nothing exciting the Maryland game for example, Maryland would move the ball around for 2 min, shoot and miss the net, then get the ball back and repeat the whole process. Not very exciting.

[RockStar]

................

with 7 minutes + remaining, the game was pretty much over.. How can there be nearly a quarter left, and the game be over..??
..............
Something has to be done about the pace of the game..



I dunno, what can you do? Watching end-game ball control is really only captivating for the first two minutes or so......I wish they could do something.

Shot clock debate starts now?
:OMG:

[stegmakk]

I can't stand it...how this is a "sad tourney".
It was a great tourney.
The unranked upstarts from UMass were taking down everyone. Cornell, Hofstra, MD...
They were on a roll and Doc was getting better each game.
Granted the final score tells a different story but does anyone remember the halftime score...UMass was only down by one. Yes it ended up being lopsided at in the second half...
and i dont want to hear another "oh but if duke were in it theyn it would be sooo much better"...
you know what? Duke was 6-2 before the season ended...they almost lost to loyola, and a crappy UNC team...they still had GT, JHU, UVA, and the ACC tourney to go...
They would not have won the ACC...and would need an at large...they would have gotten a low seed and probably been knowcked out in 1st or 2nd round (no way of making it to FF...

[powellfan1]

If I remember correctly, was it UMASS that had their coach refer to one of their Final Four Games as a repeat of a previous game against UNC? I think it was the champ. game. Duke could have been in it. Syracuse was like 1-5 and somehow ended up in the Final Four, though they didn't belong. I find it really sad that so many lax champ./ final four games are decided in 3 quarters or less. Shot clock is needed.

[IRISHLAX30]

i was thinking about that earlier today(in school becasue i never pay attention). I think Duke vs. UVA would of been and awesome champioship. two very athletic and talented teams playing eachother, what more could you ask for. Both teams also have a style of lacrosse that i love to watch. I think it would of been a terrific champioship.

[popasmurf]

I think last year's VA vs. JH game was incredible and would overshadow any of the games from this season. However, there were some interesting games: Georgetown/Navy, Syracuse/JH, UMass/MD. UMass/Cornell and UMass/Hofstra were very exciting and had the "underdog overcoming large deficit" excitement. And I really didn't think the final was that bad until through the third period when it became a blow out.

[MeRattack]

could the duke seniors count their cancelled season as a redshirt(if they havent already) and return next year, or are the done w/ college lax

[SAlax40]

Is Greer leaving Duke? na hes stayin

[BeaverFondu]

could the duke seniors count their cancelled season as a redshirt(if they havent already) and return next year, or are the done w/ college lax

They are done. They played in games so they can't reshirt the year.

[livin4lax09]

I found it funny because I was going through an old IL copy the other day and saw a poll that asked "who will win the NCAA champ in 2006?" and like 50% voted for Duke, while the most any other team had was 20%.