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That’s What He Said, Now What Do You Do?

Below are a few select quotes from Michigan head coach John Paul. The quotes were included in a Univ. of Michigan Lacrosse press release recapping the 2010 MCLA Championship Game.

On his general impressions
:

“Obviously a great championship game. This was indicative of how we had to play against good teams this year. We had to scratch and claw a lot this season and nothing has coming easy, or perhaps as easy as did the past two years. The strength of this team is that we’ve been able to survive those kind of games. When we have to come back, or another team is coming back on us, we’ve been able to close things out. We’ve been able to do it all season. The key to the game was not giving up transition. I think it ended up the kind of game we hoped it could be, but I thought with our game plan we could have opened it up a bit more. But to their credit, they didn’t let us.”

On the three-peat:

“After we won it in 2008, I thought nothing was going to stop us in 2009 because of the type of team we had coming back. I thought we were just simply better than everyone else besides maybe Chapman, who I thought was probably even. But this year we had some holes and we had some things that never quite got to the level of the year before. There were some things that contributed to the fact that we had to bite and claw for what we earned this year. That’s why I’m so proud of this team. They faced a lot of adversity this year. Maybe it wasn’t in your face adversity, maybe it was a bit more subtle, but in the end they got it done. I think we’ve built the kind of culture here that the guys go into every game no doubt expecting to win.”

On the program itself:

“There is a lot of excitement about our program right now on campus and in the community. There is a lot of opportunity right now and we want to take full advantage of that. If Michigan decides this should be a Division I program in the near future, I think that’s the logical next step. Some of that still needs to be decided, but regardless of what happens we’re not going to slow down with what we do. We’re breaking ground on our new building this summer and we’re continuing to recruit hard and hopefully bringing in another assistant coach next year. We’ve got some things that we think can take us even further whether we’re varsity or not.”

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A few thoughts after reading them

These words come from a very confident coach. One who deserves to be so confident. Now, the most important question every player and coach in the MCLA needs to ask themselves is: WHO WILL RISE?

Who is going to step up and take down the Empire? Or, as I like to call it… the Google of the MCLA.

Is Chris Malone at ASU for good, or does he want to use ASU as a stepping stone? If he stays, could he be the next JP? What about Smith at CSU? Kerwin at Oregon? Maybe it’ll be the next head coach of the Texas Longhorns.

And then there is Chapman, a team heavily marketed by its passionate players. The epitome of California lacrosse. They make it all look so relaxed, and all Con Bro fans want to do is lax in Babe City.

Can Chapman carry the momentum Connor Martin and his ChaptownLax.com counterpart Andrew Clayton put into motion? Will they continue the effort and maintain their distaste for Michigan?

Who will rise? Only time will tell, but it needs to happen soon.

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Contact the author of this post at jeff@lacrosseallstars.com.