ALL-STAR BREAK TAKEAWAYS

With the PLL descending upon Louisville, KY for the 2023 All-Star Game this weekend, we are officially halfway through the regular season. Through five games, we have a large enough sample size to draw some interesting conclusions.

Broadcast information for both the All-Star Skills Competition and the game itself can be found at the bottom of this newsletter. Cast your vote in the poll below, then check out our top five PLL takeaways heading into this weekend’s action.

💥 Asher Nolting’s Year 2 Explosion

The Cannons’ overall success has been the surprise of the season so far. They’re now 3-2 after ripping off three straight wins, and they currently boast the No. 1 offense in the league with 71 points scored. This is quite a turnaround for a team that finished 1-9 and missed the playoffs a season ago.

The biggest factor fueling this sudden resurgence is second-year attackman Asher Nolting, who has emerged as a legitimate superstar after spending his rookie season in the shadow of Lyle Thompson.

Nolting is currently tied with Ryder Garnsey for the most points (22) in the PLL through five games, and he’s perfectly balanced with 11 goals and 11 assists. In the Cannons’ most recent victory — a 12-6 win over Chrome — Nolting bullied his way to four goals while being primarily guarded by reigning Defensive Player of the Year JT Giles-Harris.

Not only is Nolting evolving into an elite playmaker when isolated against the other team’s top long pole, but the ball is also flowing through his stick to the rest of the offense as well. Joe Keegan notes on Twitter that the Cannons’ 272 total passes against Chrome were the most in a single game by any team this season.

In addition to leading the league in scoring points, the Cannons also rank first in team assists (43), shooting percentage (31.3%) and power play percentage (100%). First-year head coach Brian Holman is unlocking an incredibly efficient offense, and Nolting appears to be the key.

💯 Archers Figure Out Face-Off

There’s been a lot of discourse this season about the new PLL rule which shortened the shot clock to 32 seconds after a face-off win. Some teams have successfully employed non-traditional tactics to counter the change — such as the Waterdogs, who are 4-1 despite winning a league-low 23.1 percent of their face-offs.

One team that is winning a high percentage of face-offs and games is the Archers, and they have a rookie in Mike Sisselberger to thank for that. Through five games, Sisselberger is the ONLY player who has won at least 70 percent of his face-offs and turned the ball over less than five times.

Sisselberger has quickly become one of the best face-off athletes when it comes to winning possession and immediately getting the ball to his offensive teammates. His efficiency after the draw has helped the Archers adjust to the new rules and thrive with the shortened shot clock.

The other two face-off athletes who have won over 70 percent of their draws are reigning MVP Trevor Baptiste (78.2%) and All-Star Connor Farrell (70.9%). Baptiste (11 turnovers) and Farrell (13 turnovers), however, haven’t gotten the ball to their respective offenses as effectively as Sisselberger has. That’s one reason why the Atlas and Chrome are both sitting at 1-4 right now.

Other teams will likely figure out what Sisselberger is doing well and copy his techniques, but his early success in this evolving — yet still crucial — aspect of the game has helped the Archers jump out to a 4-1 start.

💨 Rookie Gives Chaos New Dimension

Since their inception, the Chaos have been a team saturated with box lacrosse flavor. Historically, they’ve generated most of their offense from above goal-line extended, with Josh Byrne being the most dangerous lefty and Dhane Smith doing most of the right-handed damage.

Now, the Chaos have a dynamic playmaker behind the net in Brian Minicus. The second-round draft pick out of Georgetown has opened up a new dimension on offense with his speed dodge.

In a win over Atlas last weekend, Minicus was running past his long-pole matchups and finished with a season-high five points, including his first career hat trick. He’s becoming a bigger part of the Chaos offense by the week and currently ranks second on the team with 13 points (7G, 6A).

Traditionally, the Chaos heat up as the season goes on. For example, last season they were 1-4 at this point in the season and ended up going on a run to the PLL Championship game. This year, they are 3-2 heading into the All-Star break and looking like a more explosive team on offense with Minicus running the show at X.

🐻 Redwoods Need Midfield Help

The Redwoods are 3-2, but it’s starting to feel like they’re missing something big on offense. They have a -7 score differential on the season and are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Archers, where they scored just three points.

The attack isn’t the problem. They have a legitimate MVP candidate in Ryder Garnsey, who leads the league with 19 goals, and a time-tested veteran in Rob Pannell steering the ship as the quarterback on offense. Wes Berg, the third attackman, has carried his weight with eight points through five games.

Where is the production from the midfield?

The Redwoods don’t have a single midfielder on the roster with more than three goals. Myles Jones has three goals on 20 shots (15% shooting), and Sergio Perkovic has ZERO goals on 14 shots. Even Charlie Bertrand (3 goals) and Jules Heningburg (3 goals) are on pace to fall well below their goal totals from last season.

Hindsight is 20/20, but it’s interesting to see which midfielders the Redwoods could have selected in the draft. In 2022, they passed on Matt Moore to select defenseman Arden Cohen. This year, they selected another long pole in Owen Grant when they could’ve had their pick of Sam Handley, Tucker Dordevic, Thomas McConvey or Matt Campbell at No. 2 overall.

Now, the Redwoods’ only option may be to swing a trade…

🤔 Atlas Need Answers on Defense

The Atlas have a real issue on defense. They’ve given up 77 points through five games, which is 11 more than any other team in the league. Although they have a top-three scoring offense, featuring the likes of Jeff Teat and Chris Gray, it’s not enough firepower to overcome the deficiencies on defense.

We’ve mentioned multiple times in this newsletter that the Atlas spent two first round picks on defensemen Gavin Adler (1st overall) and Brett Makar (3rd overall), but it’s not just the long poles who are struggling. Between Jack Concannon and Drake Porter in net, the Atlas have the worst save percentage in the league (42.9%).

Last week against Chaos, the Atlas activated former first-round LSM Koby Smith for the first time all season, and it didn’t seem to make a difference. Smith had one caused turnover, two ground balls and the team still surrendered 15 points.

Mike Pressler is off to a 1-4 start in his first season as a PLL head coach, after taking over a team that was 4-1 at this point last season.

📺 PLL All-Star Broadcast Info

The PLL is bringing its All-Star weekend to Louisville, KY this year. Here’s when and where you can watch the action (Eastern Time):

Saturday, July 22
6 p.m. — All-Star Skills Competition (ESPN+)
8:30 p.m. — 2023 All-Star Game (ESPN)