One thing that the Swarm coaches like to do with their rookie players is sit them for one game during the season. The reasoning behind this move is to let that rookie take a step back and watch the game, get a different vantage point on what’s happening on the floor, and incorporate the lessons learned into their game when they next dress.
So even though he started his rookie season strong defensively, Adam Wiedemann grew by leaps and bounds the deeper the Swarm got into their season.
“He got better as the season progressed,” Swarm assistant coach Sean Ferris said. “He impressed me with the loose balls, 91 collected as a rookie. There were just a couple of adjustments with his defensive game that we made that helped him to be a better defender at the end of the season.”
A dangerous scorer while at Belmont Abbey College, Wiedemann started scratching the surface as a dangerous transition weapon. He had a big game in his hometown when the Swarm battled the Toronto Rock on Dec. 28, 2018, finishing the night with four points (1G, 3A). After recording an assist in the next game against Vancouver, however, the 23-year-old stayed off the scoring portion of the scoresheet for the next seven games.
The final seven games of the season were where Wiedemann’s transition potential started to bud. He recorded at least a point in six of the final seven Swarm games, finishing with eight points (3G, 5A) across that stretch.
Defense was always Wiedemann’s bread and butter, especially where the 50-50 loose balls were concerned. The lefty demonstrated a knack for getting the ball into his stick, eventually forcing the coaches to place him on the ball team.
And while he served as the in-home for the Swarm at the beginning of the season, Wiedemann’s play necessitated the coaches swapping the in-home to someone else so Wiedemann could continue to deliver solid defense. It helped that he only had one penalty all season long, a minor holding call in Calgary.
“Confidence – he played with confidence,” Ferris noted. “At the beginning, being a rookie, he felt his way through. Soon after, his role increased with his confidence and play.”
Wiedemann – along with fellow 2018 first-round pick Brendan Bomberry – generated plenty of excitement about his game as a rookie. As he continues to grow more confident and develop his game further, don’t expect a sophomore slump from #27.
Good Company
It’s been a while since the Swarm had a rookie collect 91 loose balls. Wiedemann’s total edges out Chad Tutton’s 90 back in 2016, and they’re the only two lefty Swarm rookies to have collected that many and finish within the top four in loose balls on the team.
The only players in Swarm history (since 2011 when the NLL officially kept track of loose balls) to have scooped more loosies as rookies are Jordan MacIntosh (153 in 2012) and Andrew Suitor (108 in 2011).
Not a bad group to be a part of.
2018-19 Player Capsules:
Brendan Bomberry
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