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Four-step guide to fixing the Archers offense

By Hayden Lewis | Feb 15, 2024

Everyone who has watched sixes knows to expect fast-paced, in-your-face, offensive possession after offensive possession. 

For the Utah Archers, the style of play contradicts the action that fans expect. 

The team plays slow and methodically - in a sixes lens - which should lead to many assisted goals, but on Wednesday against the Waterdogs, the Archers only had two assisted goals. 

Last year, Archers games averaged 93.8 possessions - six per game slower than the uptempo Atlas. 

After scoring a league-low 18 points against the Philadelphia Waterdogs, a change needs to happen if the Archers want to win the Championship Series. 

Step 1: Spin the Rock

The Archers only had two assisted goals in the opening game against the Waterdogs - and goalie Nick Washuta had one of the two assists. I know this is the second time I’ve brought it up, but it’s important in the grand scheme of things. 

In comparison, Philly had 11, Boston had nine, and California had eight. 

Not only are assisted goals low but so are total offensive touches. Utah only had 178 total touches on offense, once again the lowest of any team. 

The Cannons led all teams with 219 touches, the Waterdogs had 212 and the Redwoods had 191. 

The pill needs to move if the Archers want easy offense. It’s no different than regular field lacrosse, teams that move the ball efficiently win games. More touches equal more chances which leads to more goals. 

The Archers’ MO is ball movement. During the regular season, the team moved the ball uber efficiently and ripped opponents' defenses apart with 67 assisted goals, averaging 280.2 touches per game. 

Players settle into a game quicker when they get an increase in the number of touches they have. Spinning the rock around the offense early in a contest will allow the guys to find their footing and release some of the early game jitters sooner. 

Utah liked to work a two-man game on offense before skipping passes through the defense creating free looks for the team's shooters during the regular season. The same can be done in sixes, but requires the ball to work from stick to stick faster, with the shot clock being shorter. 

The team can also spin the ball around the horn and then initiate its two-man game from one wing or the other to open up skip passes through the defense. 

The sixes format invites ball movement, and ball movement is something Utah needs to capitalize on sooner rather than later like they do in the field game. 

Step 2: Use balance and basketball-esque screens to provoke vulnerability

The Waterdogs have Michael Sowers and Kieran McArdle; the Boston Cannons have Marcus Holman and Asher Nolting; and the California Redwoods have Rob Pannell and reigning Golden Stick Award winner Romar Dennis.

The Archers aren’t built around a superstar in the Championship Series, the roster is built for balance. 

Balance can be an X-factor for Utah because everyone knows what to expect from the other squads, but when you look at the Archers anything can happen. There is no limit as to what the offense can do and create, but it has to play freely and try to create chaos for defenses. 

With sixes drawing so many comparisons to other sports like basketball, the team can pull ideas from basketball film and insert the ideas into offense. 

In basketball, teams with a great shooter will utilize a plethora of off-ball and on-ball screens to free up their shooter for open looks. One of the best ways to do this is with double picks and using your shooter as a screener. 

Utah has multiple guys who can stretch the field and ping corners, but the offense was setting too many single-man screens resulting in contested shots.

Translating a play like this onto the field during a sixes game could free a player like Ryan Aughavin - who has five 2-pointers in sixes over two years - from dangerous spots all over the field. 

It then allows Utah to run units with three righties and two lefties or vice versa, depending on whether the team tries to initiate from the near or far side of the field. 

Step 3: Attack box side from the high wing more often to increase balance

This may seem like a clear red flag in terms of running an offense. 

It’s a cardinal sin to clear box side, but in sixes, you can take advantage of attacking from the box side high wing because attackmen get strung out on the defensive side of the ball. 

Utah initiated its offense from the near side of the field during the majority of the game - broadcast point of view - because of all the changes from the substitution box. This is where balance can continue to be utilized in the future to benefit the team’s offensive sets. 

Attackmen who are trying to change for defensive personnel are always going to work box side on clears if you can draw one onto your hip and string them out on defense you can iso that defender on the attack.

In this clip, Sowers is the last player out of the substitution box, he sees that he has Aughavin guarding him and immediately initiates the dodge. The hot man, Piper Bond, is forced to slide, Sowers then button hooks and immediately finds the next guy being guarded by offensive personnel - it just happens to be the number two threat, McArdle. 

Opportunities like this are available in abundance because of the pace of play in sixes and sets like this are something that every team can look to abuse on offense. 

There will be disarray for defenses if guys are unable to change because the offense is initiated from the box side. Tired players will be stuck out and there will be more mismatches than normal. 

Step 4: Finish in tight

This is oftentimes easier said than done, but when a player gets in tight they need to capitalize.

Matt DeLuca played excellently in this contest, but in this clip, there are a couple of shots from in tight that need to be buried in future games, especially on Sunday if the Archers want to play for a championship. 

If the Archers don’t change their offensive scheme over the next couple of games, the team will struggle to keep up on the scoreboard with the high-powered offenses that have been displayed after Opening Night of the Championship Series.

Translating a play like this onto the field during a sixes game could free a player like Ryan Aughavin - who has five 2-pointers in sixes over two years - from dangerous spots all over the field. 

It then allows Utah to run units with three righties and two lefties or vice versa, depending on whether the team tries to initiate from the near or far side of the field. 

Step 3: Attack box side from the high wing more often to increase balance

This may seem like a clear red flag in terms of running an offense. 

It’s a cardinal sin to clear box side, but in sixes, you can take advantage of attacking from the box side high wing because attackmen get strung out on the defensive side of the ball. 

Utah initiated its offense from the near side of the field during the majority of the game - broadcast point of view - because of all the changes from the substitution box. This is where balance can continue to be utilized in the future to benefit the team’s offensive sets. 

Attackmen who are trying to change for defensive personnel are always going to work box side on clears if you can draw one onto your hip and string them out on defense you can iso that defender on the attack.

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