Fast Takes with Fast Break: New York Titans

Author: Tad Walters

PC: MLQ

Triumphing Titans: Time to put up or shut up

Last Season:

The New York Titans went into last season as favorites to win the East and they outperformed Fastbreak News season prediction (11-1) by going 12-0. The 2023 Titans only had one real scare in the regular season, a back and forth affair in their first game of the season against the Washington Admirals. However, much to the casual viewers dismay, and potentially a detriment to their championship prep, the Titans never played a competitive series after that. They soundly thumped the rest of the East division and the Titans achieved their first perfect season. Their dominant season, however, was cut short in the semi-finals in Des Moines, Iowa with a shocking upset loss to the Chicago Prowl.

Losing in any sport is the catalyst for change. This season will see a new Head Coach in Tate Kay but the same old foe in Washington Admirals to kick off their new season, with another expected championship run.

Returning players:

Zach Armantrading (The Warriors)

Jon Jackson (The Warriors)

Christopher Balasa (Skyline)

Annika Kim (Rutgers)

Mike Li (NY Slice)

Lindsey Marella (The Warriors)

Luis Mendoza (Rutgers)

Frank Minson (NY Slice)

Avery Olivar (NY Slice)

Molly Potter (The Warriors)

Rachel Ayella-Silver (The Warriors)

Christian Barnes (The Warriors)

Vincenzo Cicco (Boston Black Pandas)

Jacob Ehrlich (The Warriors)

Tate Kay (The Warriors)

Tessa Mullins (Boston Black Pandas)

Devin Lee (Unaffiliated)

Mo Haggag (The Warriors)

Eric Pagoada (The Warriors)

New Players:

Josh Johnson (Boom Train)

Michael Parada (The Warriors)

Amiri Rivera Sillah (Emerson)

Shakthi Kodeswaran (Brandeis)

Shreena Shah (Skyline)

Jason Wu (Middlebury)

Ryan Leary (Emerson)

Elizabeth Lawson Keister (NY Slice)

Kellan Cupid (NY Slice)

Janice Lu (Unaffiliated)

Notable Losses:

Leo Fried

Janko Gvozdenovic

Emily Hickmott

Vincent Iannucci

David Hoops

Kerri Donnelly

Kristin Forsstrom

The season ahead: Titans start their season with a series against a young Admirals roster on opening weekend. With the absence of Tyler Trudeau, Julia Baer, Rachel Heald, and Bernie Berges (among others), this should be an easy sweep for a refreshed Titans roster. Only two weeks later, however, they take on divisional rival Boston Forge in Boston. This will be the only test the Titans have in the regular season, with Boston’s experienced beater corps of Leanne Dillman, Lulu Xu, Max Havlin, and Kieran Collier giving the Titans a run for their money, and not a lot of time to adjust after Admirals. If Forge can capitalize on any weaknesses shown in opening weekend, Titans could be in trouble for at least one of these games. Three weeks later, in July, Titans have their second home series against the Ottawa Black Bears which should be a clean sweep and a great opportunity to get some of the younger college players some valuable game reps. Finally, Titans travel down to Charlotte, NC to take on the Charlotte Aviators. While Ryan Davis will be a familiar face to the Warriors players on the Titans’ roster, it's doubtful Aviators will generate enough firepower to take a game off New York, especially considering Team USA Celine Richard’s injury status. Josh Johnson, a new arrival to Titans, predicted an 18-0 sweep for Titans this season, and while MLQ Championships might make it a bit harder to fulfill that prediction, New York should be disappointed with anything less than a 12-0 regular season.

Season Potentials:

Anything but a championship appearance or title win will be considered a failure by the storied New York program. Last year, they came a hair’s breadth away from a finals appearance before Liam Zach III and Nivash Jayaram combined for a wild 45 point swing play in game three of the semifinals to snatch it away in the course of a single offensive possession. Going from potential Benepe Cup title holders to semi final bow outs, Titans have had an entire season to lick their wounds. Now, they've traded one young star for another, with Leo Fried returning to his boyhood club (Detroit Innovators) and Josh Johnson following Michael Parada back east to Titans. While Fried was a dominant defensive presence and valuable off-ball option for New York last season, expect Johnson to marshall the Titans’ offense and lead them to titanic heights. Paired with stars Jon Jackson, Lindsay Marella, and former college teammate Tate Kay, this core of Team USA players (and we didn’t even name them all) on Titans should instill fear into every team in the country. Titans also celebrates the return of Team USA beater Rachel Ayella-Silver (back from injury), seeker/beater Kellan Cupid, and NYU alum Janice Lu to replace Kerri Donnelly (retired) and Emily Hickmott’s move to Boston Forge.

The question this season, outside of championship aspirations, is how the coaching staff of Tate Kay, Tessa Mullins, and Jon Jackson will handle the development of the collegiate talent of the franchise. Many of the old guard Warriors players still hold the majority of the spots on the 30, and there must be new players to take up the Brick Squad mantle if the program doesn’t want to crash after its (likely) historical high this year.

Why they will: The experience and skill at the top of this roster has all the makings of a championship team, as shown by the Warriors winning the club championship at USQ Cup 2023 and a 2 goal loss in finals of USQ Cup 2024. If their stars can dominate and they can get solid contributing minutes from the role players on the team, New York will be unstoppable. With so much variability in talent, they can run an efficient half-court or a speedy fast break with ease. They have the knowledge and experience to throw different defenses out, or adapt on a whim if the field isn’t working at any time. If someone isn't playing hot, they have several elite options at every position to throw in and reshuffle their hand.

Why they won't: Titans have never been able to clinch the ever elusive Benepe Cup. Austin Outlaws and Boston Forge have always presented rival challenges to their path, and recently Chicago Prowl, joined the list of hurdles. Perhaps the path along the regular season is too easy, or the seeming lack of midgame adjustment opens the way to victory for their opponents- Titans starts off strong and peters out before the finish line. While the addition of Josh Johnson may be the answer to their prayers, there’s been some turnover from otherwise consistent Titans returners. Between 2022 and now, we’ve seen young stars like Jahved Cole, Luiz Mendoza, Jason Ng, and Annika Kim of the Rutgers program step up big in the regular season. However their youth and inexperience was exposed at championships against the elite teams, forcing Titans across both years to lean on the experienced Warriors core, making them more one dimensional than a team with that much experience and skill should be. Unless they can activate this young talent more than they ever have, integrating their bevy of new talent, Titans will struggle to hold with deeper teams down the stretch.