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Post by div1coach222 on Jan 23, 2012 20:35:33 GMT -6
NutMeg- The only teams I have not seen in the top 9 play are St.Thomas and Mt.Carmel. That being said the top 8 on any given night can beat the other. Anyone of these teams is a team who I would not want to play!I see it wide open with the slight edge to Mt. Carmel only because I believe they have a mind set of something to prove. I said 'SLIGHT' not much and just my opinion have not seen them play, just going by who they have played and goal diff.I had the opportunity to see you all play at Mandeville Tourn. and Font. game well coached and sound. Good Luck.
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Post by div1coach222 on Jan 23, 2012 21:21:07 GMT -6
my 2 cents worth...I am more familiar with Mandeville, Fontainebleau and SSA. Mandeville has a strong frontline, but good defenses seems to silence them. If they (Mandeville) offense can be more consistant they could carry them far into the playoffs. Fontainebleau has strong midfield, fast wings and strong defense. Young up top, this team goes through periods of times where they would rather slug it out in the middle of the field than going wide and using their speed. When they do this (slug it out in the middle) they become average at best. My favorite of the three is SSA. Well coached, fundamentally sound, they have a plan and stick to it. The only weakness is maybe a lack of speed, but this team overcomes that with very rarely being caught out of shape or position. Fundamentally the most sound out of the three and fun to watch. Again ALL three are good and could make some waves in the playoffs.I would like to have the opportunity to see all top 8 teams play because for once I believe anything could happen.Good Luck to all and it should be a great playoff with some exciting games. P.S. To the three teams mentioned you have been fun to watch and I respect the way you all play the game.
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Post by thibodauxsoccer on Jan 24, 2012 14:24:20 GMT -6
The need to establish status by ranking as it is done in Louisiana does not benefit the sport. Most of the discussions as they have been presented seem to be about ego and are not for the benefit of the athletes. “Ranking” of teams, as far as I have seen, does three things. First of all the top 10 get to debate and fluff their chests for a numerical status when on any given day they could beat each other. Let difficulty of schedules and results sort that out. I watched and looked at the schedule of all the top 10 last year, and all the top 10 this year and personally found it humorous Dominican was ranked #6 especially with their difficulty of schedule and results. Interesting and somewhat disrespectful that a similar issue is happening again, but I guess that shows the flaw in ranking teams and that this discourse is for entertainment purposes only. Secondly, the middle of the pack become wannabes in terms of respect. Instead of increasing the level of play they try to crush a team to exhibit a false high score to gain attention. While coaching at Thibodaux High School instead of Rockwall in the Dallas area has been a growing experience, I am aware of the quality of play through 10 years of coaching competitive club and high school teams in Dallas. Truly dominate teams when they play lesser ability/experience teams demonstrate scores that reflect getting more novice players game time and working on play with attention to the growth of our the sport, the excuse we couldn’t stop scoring shows a lack of control and creativity and exuberant scores should be limited. Then there are the middle level teams attempting to demonstrate power by never subbing and running up the scores into double digits even if the other team has been outmatched or is lacking key players due to injury. A middle ranked team tries to show they belong and or that their players should be all-state by running up multiple goals. The third argument is that somebody will complain about a 1 playing a 32 and that the field should be narrowed to streamline competition. The more teams involved the more the sport will grow in the state. All regions of the state should have representation in the state tournament. Equity of youth programs and experiences will be an issue and not everybody has access. Do not make soccer just a New Orleans or Lafayette exclusive sport. Look at the playoff system in Texas. Each district gets their playoff bids and they are placed into pre-determined slots that separate same district teams so they don’t run into each other until later. This would change every time districts are restructured so Lafourche Parish wouldn’t always match up with EBR parishes. While Texas has a regional playoff system based on the expansiveness of the state, Louisiana could spread the districts evenly across the bracket. Teams would then prepare their teams’ play for district and playoffs instead of to impress other coaches. Middle of the pack and lesser teams would not be concerned with getting the win early to bolster their appearance, but could advance their play through competition and implementing higher levels of fitness, technical ability, and tactics.
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Post by sokerfan on Jan 24, 2012 17:00:04 GMT -6
Offsides, you are wrong about LHS meeting SSA In a Championship game. In the past 9 years that the current coach has been at Lafayette, the 2 teams HAVEN"T played each other. I agree with you that because of the lack of strength in district some teams have to play tournaments and outside games in order to play quality opponents in order to see how they stack up.
SSA hasn't always been in that district which does have competitive teams so they may not have to play tournaments. But my all caps statement was because if you are not in their district you don't get to see them play.
The tournament that Al Silvas puts on is not during the holidays and there is always good competition, so why not that tourney? Unless Mt. Carmel, Dominican, Vandebilt, & Lafayette aren't competition. Just curious? What's wrong with Byrd, Lafayette, STM & W, Monroe in the same weekend. Could have happened in the Mandy tourney, all you have to do is ask. More than 1 game a day. too much right? Well Mandy, FHS and others have done it.
For those who look at the records of the teams to do their poll keep this in mind. Some of the ties and losses come during the 4th game of a tourney and not just a 1 game night like some teams have done all year.
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Post by mortner on Jan 25, 2012 8:26:35 GMT -6
sokerfan,
We played in Al Silvas's tournament in the past up until our district and division changed. Our district makes us play a game the Friday night of the tournament and moving a district game takes an act of congress. So unfortunately we have been unable to attend in recent years.
We did play in Al's tournament a few weeks earlier to the big one this year and played St. Joseph's, Sacred Heart, and Dominican all within a 24 hour period. In fact the SSA vs Dominican game was the third game of the weekend.
We play STM every year and alternate home team yearly. Unfortunately STM couldn't play on the date we traditionally play and we had to make it a preseason match this year.
I agree teams shouldn't be punished for playing four games in a row on little rest. Coaches shouldn't rank teams based on record, but in order of best to worst, sometimes, not always, record can reflect that. The play-offs are played one game at a time and teams should be ranked that way. I agree the quality of soccer a team plays the fourth day doesn't reflect a teams capabilities on the first day. It's the same reason there is a movement in youth soccer to get away from the quantity of soccer matches our youth play.
You certainly seem to hold some resentment towards SSA and not playing in the Mandy tournament. It has nothing to do with the teams that attend and more to do with the thank yous I receive from my players and their parents for the much needed time off from soccer I give them over Thanksgiving and Christmas Breaks.
I am always looking for quality matches and you seem to be tied into the Lafayette team, I will certainly do my best to get something worked out with Lafayette in the future. They have a quality program and a coach which I respect very much.
If you have any future questions regarding our schedule or how I run my team I will be happy to answer them for you, just shoot me personal message to my inbox.
Best of Luck to you and your team
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Post by sokerfan on Jan 25, 2012 9:01:00 GMT -6
mortner, Thanks for your response, i will. Good luck to you and your team as well.
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Post by sokerfan on Jan 25, 2012 11:39:25 GMT -6
thibodauxsoccer, Your 3rd argument is kind of a catch 22 so to speak. It use to be where there was a predetermined bracket set. There was the situation where the #2 team from the district with MHS, SSA, FHS & Northshore played Mt. Carmel in the second round. These teams if seeded may not meet until the Semi Finals. But on the other hand a #1 loses money playing a #32 seed. The problem is that the lower seed usually don't travel well even if they are their District Champs rated at 28 - 32.
Yes, this forum is about fluffing & some ruffling of feathers because everyone knows the importance of the rankings of the top 10. All teams 1-32 are happy to be in the playoffs, but I can tell you that teams 1-10, in the first round are just hoping nobody gets hurt during this game because the games are usually over 5 minutes in. Therefore you have to make sure you bring up enough subs to finish these games instead of playing your starters and chancing injury.
We have had it both ways & you can debate it either way. Not sure how most coaches feel, but it is the way it is for now.
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Post by offsides on Jan 25, 2012 16:53:58 GMT -6
Sokerfan, my apologies, it was Dominican in 2007, not SSA. Consecutive runs to the Finals 3 years in a row with 3 different opponents, for some reason I thought SSA was in there. Good luck with an injury free run to the finals this year.
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Post by mydove4 on Jan 25, 2012 17:42:48 GMT -6
sokerfan, your disdain for SSA is obvious. Are you that jealous of the coach and their success? With a Div II State Championship in '07, then two Div I State Titles in '09 and '10, a third finals appearance in '11, and now a District Championship, do you think they need to play tournaments to win?
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Post by barbedad20 on Jan 25, 2012 21:41:18 GMT -6
sokerfan, your disdain for SSA is obvious. Are you that jealous of the coach and their success? With a Div II State Championship in '07, then two Div I State Titles in '09 and '10, a third finals appearance in '11, and now a District Championship, do you think they need to play tournaments to win? And let's not forget the 08 team..... Played Barbe in the semi's and I am man enough to say the better team did not win. I think SSA would have given STM a better final than we did in 08. SSA was incredible in 08 also.......
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Post by mydove4 on Jan 26, 2012 3:37:15 GMT -6
thanks for the compliment barbedad20, the '08 team was a great group of girls, but on that day the Lady Bucs played with a lot of heart and won the day.
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