After finishing the first two weeks going 1-1, the Buffalo Bandits have definitely shown their strengths and their weaknesses. They have a tough schedule in front of them, and they’ll have to make some improvements if they want to be known as contenders come playoff time.
The biggest thing the Bandits need to do is work on the powerplay unit. If the Bandits want to succeed, they need to capitalize on the opportunities they are given in game, the most common being the powerplay, or man up. When a team gets a powerplay, they should be the ones in control. They should set the tone for their offensive possession; the other team should be playing a conservative type zone defense because they know the opposing team is going to play an aggressive offense that will want to get close to the net. However it seems when the Bandits are on the PP, they’re not as aggressive, and therefore it makes it look like the other team is in control, and forcing the Bandits to the outside.
I’ve seen this a lot: the Bandits will get the ball, slow it down, set up the offense, and just pass the ball around almost stationary (seen heavily in the New England game), expecting for a hole to open up so they can get a clean shot. Problem is those teams didn’t let too many gaps open up naturally, and the Bandits were forced to take blind shots from the outside.
In these types of situations (man-up), a pick comes even more in handy. The other team is already man down, set a well- placed pick and that leaves another opposing defensemen out of the play for a few seconds. I feel like the Bandits should be setting up their power-play offense fast, and play an aggressive style of offense, which is going to tire the other team out even more because of being man down.
If they set up their players more to the top and spread out, it forces the man-down D to also spread out, creating more holes for cutters, and makes pick and rolls more dangerous. This is opposed to what I’ve seen before where the Bandits offensemen seem to just set up straight near the crease and be as tight to the defense as possible. This doesn’t give you a lot of room to try and pass a ball to a cutter, and even limits the effectiveness of a cutter because you are so close to the opposing defensemen. Right now as it stands, the Bandits average less than a 50% completion rate on powerplay goals, they need to address this and make said changes.
Last season (and I’m fearful for the Bandits sake this year as well) long road trips and road games in general hurt the team so much. They just seemed to be a totally different team playing away games than they were playing at home. This contributed heavily to their eight game losing streak last year, and it is possible they can suffer the same fate this year. Many people know, the First Niagara Center is like no other arena in the NLL: the atmosphere is amazing and I’m very sure players feed off that and it contributes somewhat to their home field success. However, they need to learn how to go in to other arenas around the league and play a consistent game, and not let the away teams’ atmosphere effect you.
Another thing I noticed (and some fans pointed this out to me as well) is their struggle to bury breakaway goals. It’s even a struggle at some points to get them on net, which leads me to the suggestion that the Bandits need a proven (and consistent) goal scorer to be the first one to break out from the bench to help on the odd man rush or break away. No other player would be better than John Tavares.
Now some people say that JT doesn’t have the stamina to play consistent shifts all the time anymore, but this could shift him to being a role player. JT still has the legs to run as fast as anyone for a little while. Couple that with his amazing stick skills that haven’t seemed to shy a bit, you have the perfect player you can use to be the first guy out on a change when there is a fast break situation, and can have the confidence he can bury the ball in these situations. Scoring on a breakaway can be a huge momentum swing for the Bandits, and really get the opposing team down knowing they let a guy walk in all alone on their goalie.
All that being said, I think the Bandits are in a good spot to address the situations that need to be made, and can become a very dominant team. With Rochester struggling early, this gives the Bandits the perfect opportunity to make a jump in the standings before Rochester (if they do) get back on a real good hot streak again.
