Players Top 50: #27 Liam Byrnes
The fourth overall pick in the 2021 Entry Draft is the organizer of the Waterdogs defense. Liam Byrnes wears the metaphorical green sticker on his helmet.
Byrnes cleaned up their defensive rebounding (an abysmal sub-50% in June) when he moved to close defense full-time. He directed traffic on the inside for a defense that allowed fewer assisted shots (assist rate dropped from 53.4% to 47.5%) and worse assisted shots (assisted shooting percentage plummeted from 40.7% to 24.7%) when he was starting.
It takes most people two or three viewings of a game with a rewind button to recognize certain patterns. (It’s me. I’m most people.) Byrnes sees them unfold in real time. Lyle Thompson’s favorite target, Shayne Jackson, is curling open on the crease -- until Byrnes disrupts the pass and prevents a shot.
Crease Collapse of the Week (Part I): Liam Byrnes moved down low in Week 4. He has cleaned up the @PLLWaterdogs off-ball D since — sniffing out Shayne Jackson (Lyle’s favorite target) on the inside here. pic.twitter.com/MhGh1xqskm
— Joe Keegan (@joekeegs) July 13, 2021
Stay tuned as the Players Top 50 rolls out throughout December:
- #50 - Joel White, LSM, Chrome LC
- #49 - Scott Ratliff, LSM, Archers LC
- #48 - Jake Withers, FO, Waterdogs LC
- #47 - Tim Troutner, G, Redwoods LC
- #46 - Stephen Rehfuss, M, Cannons LC
- #45 - Colin Heacock, M, Chrome LC
- #44 - Connor Kelly, M, Waterdogs LC
- #43 - Kieran McArdle, A, Waterdogs LC
- #42 - Brodie Merrill, D, Cannons LC
- #41 - Adam Ghitelman, G, Archers LC
- #40 - Ryland Rees, LSM, Waterdogs LC
- #39 - Sergio Perkovic, M, Redwoods LC
- #38 - Jay Carlson, A, Whipsnakes LC
- #37 - Ryan Brown, A, Waterdogs LC
- #36 - Michael Rexrode, D, Atlas LC
- #35 - Will Manny, A, Archers LC
- #34 - Ben Randall, D, Waterdogs LC
- #33 - Mikie Schlosser, M, Waterdogs LC
- #32 - Eric Law, A, Atlas LC
- #31 - Dillon Ward, G, Waterdogs LC
- #30 - Tucker Durkin, D, Atlas LC
- #29 - Marcus Holman, A, Archers LC
- #28 - Matt Kavanagh, A, Redwoods LC
- #27 - Liam Byrnes, D, Waterdogs LC
- #26 - Jules Heningburg, M, Redwoods LC