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Post by twinsrus on Jan 11, 2021 14:33:29 GMT -6
I’ve always been fond of Teddy Roosevelt’s quote “Speak softly, but carry a big stick”
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Post by yallcrazy on Jan 11, 2021 14:59:48 GMT -6
My analysis of the top teams that I have seen in person (not necessarily a rank list):
1. Dominican—No weaknesses. Strong at every position, including goalie. Even the subs are solid and would start on most teams. Well coached, very balanced. Their biggest competition is not beating themselves when they lapse into kickball resulting in loss of possession (like every other high school team).
2. MCA—Excellent ball movement and possession. Starting 11 can compete with Dominican straight up, but big drop off when subs come in. Hot and cold offense that basically runs through one player. Excellent defense anchored by a top notch centerback.
3. St. Joe’s—One of the best overall back lines in the state, very hard to score on. No consistent finishers up top, and no organized plan of attack (like most high school teams.)
4. Mandeville—Very strong midfield, especially ACM, but a sieve of a defense. Team speed is lacking. Goalie play has been inconsistent, but is showing signs of improvement. Very physical and rough team that body’s opponents off the ball without drawing too many fouls.
5. SSA—Wildly inconsistent. Offense very one dimensional, runs through one player. Does not keep possession or move the ball particularly well. At this point more of a collection of individuals, and not a team yet. But there is enough potential to make a deep run into the playoffs especially if dovesdad’s excuses of multiple starters out with injury turn out to be true.
6. Dutchtown—Very young and inexperienced. Played MCA and Dominican closer than expected, but didn’t generate any offense. Decent team speed. Center midfield keeps good possession with good distribution, but too many random turnovers from the offense prevents a coherent attack.
Will try to view Northshore, Byrd, and Capt Shreve in the next couple of weeks, but I still think that it will take a very smart coach with a very good plan to stop Dominican from hoisting the trophy at the end of the season.
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Post by stmparent on Jan 11, 2021 17:06:40 GMT -6
My analysis of the top teams that I have seen in person (not necessarily a rank list): 1. Dominican—No weaknesses. Strong at every position, including goalie. Even the subs are solid and would start on most teams. Well coached, very balanced. Their biggest competition is not beating themselves when they lapse into kickball resulting in loss of possession (like every other high school team). 2. MCA—Excellent ball movement and possession. Starting 11 can compete with Dominican straight up, but big drop off when subs come in. Hot and cold offense that basically runs through one player. Excellent defense anchored by a top notch centerback. 3. St. Joe’s—One of the best overall back lines in the state, very hard to score on. No consistent finishers up top, and no organized plan of attack (like most high school teams.) 4. Mandeville—Very strong midfield, especially ACM, but a sieve of a defense. Team speed is lacking. Goalie play has been inconsistent, but is showing signs of improvement. Very physical and rough team that body’s opponents off the ball without drawing too many fouls. 5. SSA—Wildly inconsistent. Offense very one dimensional, runs through one player. Does not keep possession or move the ball particularly well. At this point more of a collection of individuals, and not a team yet. But there is enough potential to make a deep run into the playoffs especially if dovesdad’s excuses of multiple starters out with injury turn out to be true. 6. Dutchtown—Very young and inexperienced. Played MCA and Dominican closer than expected, but didn’t generate any offense. Decent team speed. Center midfield keeps good possession with good distribution, but too many random turnovers from the offense prevents a coherent attack. Will try to view Northshore, Byrd, and Capt Shreve in the next couple of weeks, but I still think that it will take a very smart coach with a very good plan to stop Dominican from hoisting the trophy at the end of the season. We have played Dominican, MCA, St. Joe’s and SSA. I think your assessment is spot on. Don’t know about Mandeville or Dutchtown, but I assume your analysis is just as good. Also agree that Dominican is the clear favorite.
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3balz
Data Expert
It's tough to make predictions... especially about the future
Posts: 1,260
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Post by 3balz on Jan 11, 2021 22:25:28 GMT -6
I haven’t posted in this thread yet because it’s difficult for me to get a gauge on a top ten because of the Covid issues. Top 3-4 are obvious but the rest is a crapshoot. Playoff seeding is going to be way off this year because some teams have had major Covid problems and some have had few to none. This leads me to believe that all schools are not playing by the same Covid quarantine rules although really I’m just guessing. No big deal because 32 make it to the playoffs at least in Div I. But, come playoff time don’t be surprised to see some teams that have looked bad at times in the regular season show up with a full squad and pull some upsets on the road. Could make for some interesting 3rd round game locations given the LHSAA 2nd round upset rule.
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Post by yallcrazy on Jan 12, 2021 6:51:36 GMT -6
I haven’t posted in this thread yet because it’s difficult for me to get a gauge on a top ten because of the Covid issues. Top 3-4 are obvious but the rest is a crapshoot. Playoff seeding is going to be way off this year because some teams have had major Covid problems and some have had few to none. This leads me to believe that all schools are not playing by the same Covid quarantine rules although really I’m just guessing. No big deal because 32 make it to the playoffs at least in Div I. But, come playoff time don’t be surprised to see some teams that have looked bad at times in the regular season show up with a full squad and pull some upsets on the road. Could make for some interesting 3rd round game locations given the LHSAA 2nd round upset rule. What’s the new LHSSA 2nd round upset rule?
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3balz
Data Expert
It's tough to make predictions... especially about the future
Posts: 1,260
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Post by 3balz on Jan 12, 2021 8:52:29 GMT -6
Not a new rule but let’s say the 11 seed upsets the 6 seed in round 2. Assuming the 3 seed wins in round 2, they must travel to play at the 11 seed home field for the 3rd round game. This rule has been around for years but it always seems to be a surprise when it happens to a top 8 team in the playoffs. For example in 2 of the past 4 years a higher seed was forced to travel to Northshore in round 3.
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Post by dme1214 on Jan 12, 2021 9:59:22 GMT -6
Not a new rule but let’s say the 11 seed upsets the 6 seed in round 2. Assuming the 3 seed wins in round 2, they must travel to play at the 11 seed home field for the 3rd round game. This rule has been around for years but it always seems to be a surprise when it happens to a top 8 team in the playoffs. For example in 2 of the past 4 years a higher seed was forced to travel to Northshore in round 3. What’s different with the 32 team playoff is in the second round the lower seeded team would travel to any team that upset a better seed in round 1. For example if 17 beats 16 then the #1 seed travels to 17 seed in round 2. This also allows for a 5-8 to actually host a round 3 game which in a 24 team set up isn’t possible
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3balz
Data Expert
It's tough to make predictions... especially about the future
Posts: 1,260
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Post by 3balz on Jan 12, 2021 10:20:48 GMT -6
Not a new rule but let’s say the 11 seed upsets the 6 seed in round 2. Assuming the 3 seed wins in round 2, they must travel to play at the 11 seed home field for the 3rd round game. This rule has been around for years but it always seems to be a surprise when it happens to a top 8 team in the playoffs. For example in 2 of the past 4 years a higher seed was forced to travel to Northshore in round 3. What’s different with the 32 team playoff is in the second round the lower seeded team would travel to any team that upset a better seed in round 1. For example if 17 beats 16 then the #1 seed travels to 17 seed in round 2. This also allows for a 5-8 to actually host a round 3 game which in a 24 team set up isn’t possible You're right. For Division I it will be a little different this year. Determining the Home Team: The home team for playoff games shall be determined as follows: 1. Bi-District Round of Play A. In the sports of baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball and volleyball in all classes/divisions, the higher seeded team shall be the home team. B. A “bye” shall be counted as a home game. 2. Regional Round of Play (Non-Select Football)/Quarterfinal Round of Play (Select Football) A. In the sports of baseball, basketball,football, soccer and softball in all classes/divisions: 1. Any team that drew a bye in the first round shall be the home team. 2. The team that traveled in the first round shall be the home team. 3. If both teams traveled or were home teams in the first round, the higher seeded team shall be the home team. B. In the sport of volleyball, the higher seeded team shall be the home team. 3. Quarterfinal Round of Play (If played on a home-away basis) A. The team that has traveled more in the first and second rounds shall be the home team. B. If both teams have traveled the same number of times in the first and second rounds, the higher seeded team shall be the home team. C. In the sport of basketball, the higher seeded team shall be the home team. 4. Semifinal Round of Play (If played on a home-away basis) - the higher seeded team shall be the hometeam. 5. At the state championships (in all applicable rounds of play) - the higher seeded team shall be the home team. 6. Opposing schools may, by mutual agreement, reverse a game site. A reversal of the home/away site for any reason shall not affect the criteria cited in the above bylaws.
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Post by futbalfan on Jan 12, 2021 11:48:49 GMT -6
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Post by doughboy on Jan 12, 2021 15:54:56 GMT -6
Having seen all the top teams play except Mt Carmel here’s what I believe 1. Dominican by far the top team. 2 St Joseph’s 3. My Carmel. These 2 teams are in a group by themselves just under Dominican, and have the best shot at taking them down given a absolute flawless game 4. Capt Shreve. Coach Lane has his group playing at their best seemingly every game. Great chemistry goes along way, next hurdle is to learn how to win the big games. 5. Byrd. They started the season with some uneven play, but have starts to gel as of late. 6. Mandeville. All the talent needed to be top 3/4 but not consistent game to game. 7. Dutchtown. This team is also playing well together and could sneak up on a few teams above them in this list, given a favorable bounce it 2. 8. Northshore. Lost a lot of talent to graduation, but still have a bunch. Just need to figure out how to work together with what they have. 9. SSA. There is plenty of talent there, not sure they gel as a group enough to use their talent to its fullest. 10. St Amant. Like Kevin said the Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde of the group. Which team will show up in the playoffs. One of them could be too 5 the other gets bounced in round 1/2 Seen every st Amant game . Sometimes we’re the st Amant soccer gators . Sometimes we’re the st Amant soccer haters. 😂. Crazy but fun season so far. Really looking forward to tomorrow night .
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Post by soccerpop11 on Feb 9, 2021 19:10:51 GMT -6
These are my rankings based on what I think teams can do at their best (i.e. not missing players due to COVID). But that involves a lot of guesswork as I don't always know what the situation was when I see a result listed online. 1. Dominican--clear #1 right now. Perfect season so far. Fast, skilled, and tons of depth. They can be beaten, but only if the opposition brings their "A" game. 2. St. Joe's--played Dominican as tough as anyone (2-0 loss with one of the goals in the 80th minute). 3. Mt. Carmel--solid defense and when the offense gets going, it really gets going. 4. SSA--I saw them earlier in the season and they are a good team. They just need everyone in Covington to mask up and social distance so their players don't end up quarantined. What makes them a tough team is that they can kill you on the counterattack. An opponent win the possession battle 60-40 and still lose by 3 or 4 goals. 5. Captain Shreve--you could debate bumping them up a few spots, but this is my list. If they do run the table and beat Byrd I'd bump them up to #4. 6. Byrd--nice win over Mandeville when they came down south. I'll be interested to see how they play against Dominican and MCA in two weeks. 7. Mandeville--they get this spot thanks to their win over Northshore. 8. St. Amant--possibly the weirdest mix of results of any team. But if I'm going on potential I think they have to be in the top 10. 9. Northshore--they beat St. Thomas More 8-5 at the beginning of the season. Now that must've been a fun game to watch. 10. Dutchtown--I watched them against MCA this week. Played well, but they just got worn down by MCA's depth near the end of the game. Honorable mentions: Acadiana, Hahnville, Thibodaux Keep disrespecting Captain Shreve. Byrd will be a victory and a likely preview of the championship match. Would you really be surprised in a power shift to NWLA after the events you have seen unfold in 2020 and now 2021? Times they are a changing. The good captain is smiling down upon us!
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