TFBO2F's Georgetown-Navy Scouting Report
Dick Long was a member of the Navy team that won the national title in 1967. As coach at DeMatha, he retired in 2005 having won seven consecutive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles. He was inducted into the Potomac Chapter of US Lacrosse's Hall of Fame last month. Several DeMatha players later played for Navy, as did Long's son, Spike, who was a three-year starting attackman in the mid-1990s. Dick Long attends most Navy games and has agreed to give us his thoughts on all things Navy this spring.
The game will hinge on time of possession. Navy needs a tight, low-scoring game. Both goalies are coming off big wins and stellar performances. Difference being one was knocking off the #1 team in country.Gtown is always a meat and potatoes-type team. That is, they are big, strong and physical and will come right at you. Not much fluff, just basic, hard-nosed lacrosse. Their close defense is super and Coach Urick always seems to have a pole who is aggressive and can generate fast break offense. I'm betting they will press out on Navy so as to take them out of their controlled offense. Gtown is so athletic they will create offense.
Navy's strength is in their team defense. They are smart, athletic and hardly ever beat themseleves. Problem will be how much defense they have to play. If Gtown controls the faceoffs and generates offense thru takeaways, then the Mids will be in for a long day.
Navy's offense has no real "creators" but relies on all 6 guys to spin the ball to get an advantage. They are balanced and very good at getting inside goals but weak on getting hard outside shots. Bucknell used a zone defense against Navy and they had a problem hitting the three pointers. Navy won that game, 4-3.
Navy will need to keep the ball as long as possible, even to the point of getting stall warnings so as to wear Gtown down and get an advantage. Gtown EMO has been exceptional and I believe this is because of Brancaccio. He is such a threat to score, given time and space that he needs lots of attention. He has a rocket and is accurate. Goalies won't see his shot and defenses if they string out to over play him, expose their inside which is what happened to Duke. Navy may want to cut him off and play 4 against 5.
Don't ever count the Mids out. Playing in front of the home crowd will make a difference. Having the ball is what will really be the decider.
By Christian Swezey |
March 27, 2008; 3:06 PM ET
| Category:
Georgetown
,
Navy
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Posted by: Incredulous | March 28, 2008 12:22 PM
Dick, As your teammate all those many years ago, I commend you on your impartial evaluation of the game. However, I'm sure we know who you will root for. Should be a great game.
Posted by: Tom Hagan | March 28, 2008 3:03 PM
I don't think that Coach Long is the first to call Brancaccio's shot accurate. He may have struggled to score as a freshman, but anyone who has seen Georgetown this year knows he is the one to watch.
Posted by: underarmor | March 28, 2008 6:56 PM
Tommy you are right on. That said Coach Urick is a special guy which reminds me of a coach during our era.
Incredulous,is that why alot of Gtown parents wear helmets? Please be patient. One learns from early on to shoot as hard as possible and then bring it back to reality thru practice. Having seen Brancaccio from his high school freshman year on he is has a special talent and is starting to find the range. He is still a pup but I wouldn't recommend you getting in front of one of his lasers-ask the keepers.
Posted by: Coach Long | March 28, 2008 7:10 PM
Coach Long, if Navy somehow loses the next 4 games do you still see them making the tourney?
Posted by: Nick Bongiovanni | March 28, 2008 8:04 PM
Incredulous (Anthony?)
I certainly see your point--especially last year--though I think Brancaccio's accuracy has improved.
I certainly remember a few of his shots last year going all over the place, a la Nuke LaLoosh fastballs in "Bull Durham." But he has had a couple very well-placed goals this season, especially on EMO.
And if I may answer the question about Navy's chances if it loses the next four...the Mids can still make the playoffs with an automatic bid for winning the Patriot League tournament, April 27-29. But I can't see Navy lasting too long in the playoffs if it enters the tourney with five losses, since it would get a not very good seed.
Posted by: Christian | March 28, 2008 8:26 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Coach Long, you are the first person to ever call Brancaccio's shot accurate. He regularly puts it through the goalposts -- the football goal posts. Sometimes when he shoots, I'm afraid for people in the stands.
Georgetown's EMO would be 10% more efficient if they ban Brancaccio from shooting outside 10 yards. He's been better this year, but last year it was a regular thing for him to shoot 3-4 times per man-up from just inside the box line.