Colgate is a huge game for seeding purposes

[JeremyCuse]

Tough loss today but proud of the team for the comeback and their heart. Will post something about the game tomorrow or Monday.

The one main thing this loss does is make the finale Saturday an Enormous game for seeding purposes. A win will pretty much guarantee a top 3 seed maybe even the 2 seed with an impressive win. A loss would probably give us a 4 or 5 seed which I am telling everyone right now would draw us Albany. The NCAA Lax committee is famous for trying to be extra smart with there tourney match-ups. If Albany wins out and wins their conf tourney (seems inevitable after their dismantling of Bingo) the committee doesn't care about prior meetings in the regular season and would jump at the chances for another SU vs the Thompsons catchup. Syracuse needs to re-group with six days off get the D back on track and take care of business Saturday. The last thing this team needs is a first round match up against Albany.

 

[orange79]

Tough loss today but proud of the team for the comeback and their heart. Will post something about the game tomorrow or Monday.

The one main thing this loss does is make the finale Saturday an Enormous game for seeding purposes. A win will pretty much guarantee a top 3 seed maybe even the 2 seed with an impressive win. A loss would probably give us a 4 or 5 seed which I am telling everyone right now would draw us Albany. The NCAA Lax committee is famous for trying to be extra smart with there tourney match-ups. If Albany wins out and wins their conf tourney (seems inevitable after their dismantling of Bingo) the committee doesn't care about prior meetings in the regular season and would jump at the chances for another SU vs the Thompsons catchup. Syracuse needs to re-group with six days off get the D back on track and take care of business Saturday. The last thing this team needs is a first round match up against Albany.

Agreed on all counts. The D really needs to get its act together - 2 15-goal games in a row is not good (even though they were against most-likely seeded teams in the NCAA's). Catch your breath, work on the small things, and get ready to take Colgate apart. Having said that, I think the Colgate game will be a tight affair. It's just the way this year's team seems to play.

 

[GoSU96]

Tough loss today but proud of the team for the comeback and their heart. Will post something about the game tomorrow or Monday.

The one main thing this loss does is make the finale Saturday an Enormous game for seeding purposes. A win will pretty much guarantee a top 3 seed maybe even the 2 seed with an impressive win. A loss would probably give us a 4 or 5 seed which I am telling everyone right now would draw us Albany. The NCAA Lax committee is famous for trying to be extra smart with there tourney match-ups. If Albany wins out and wins their conf tourney (seems inevitable after their dismantling of Bingo) the committee doesn't care about prior meetings in the regular season and would jump at the chances for another SU vs the Thompsons catchup. Syracuse needs to re-group with six days off get the D back on track and take care of business Saturday. The last thing this team needs is a first round match up against Albany.

What Albany doesn't need is a game with Syracuse in the Dome.

 

[Whitey23]

What Albany doesn't need is a game with Syracuse in the Dome.

 

[JeremyCuse]

What Albany doesn't need is a game with Syracuse in the Dome.

Id rather avoid another game with Albany, its a no win situation for Syracuse. Thompsons will be pumped to beat Syracuse the last time all three will play together and avenge the earlier loss. Rather see someone else play and hopefully take them out.

 

[GoSU96]

Id rather avoid another game with Albany, its a no win situation for Syracuse. Thompsons will be pumped to beat Syracuse the last time all three will play together and avenge the earlier loss. Rather see someone else play and hopefully take them out.

It's a 16 team tourney, almost every team is good. If they lose to Colgate, they have bigger worries than who the opponent is.

 

[SUbear]

It's a 16 team tourney, almost every team is good. If they lose to Colgate, they have bigger worries than who the opponent is.

I hope they beat Colgate, but no matter who they face this SU team will struggle. They make too many errors, do not play with high intensity level consistently and the goaltending is mediocre at best. The offensive production is okay but could be better, too many shots seem to be right to the body of the goalie. Hope they really pick it up in the Tourny.

 

[swish7]

Stupid question, but why are we playing Colgate after our conference tournament?

Tough loss today. Duke and ND just seemed bigger, faster, stronger, than us. ND was more driven than us, which sucks. Time to regroup and move on.

 

[cuseguy]

Stupid question, but why are we playing Colgate after our conference tournament? Tough loss today. Duke and ND just seemed bigger, faster, stronger, than us. ND was more driven than us, which sucks. Time to regroup and move on.

ACC plays its tourney a week earlier than every other conference. Not sure why.

 

[GoSU96]

I hope they beat Colgate, but no matter who they face this SU team will struggle. They make too many errors, do not play with high intensity level consistently and the goaltending is mediocre at best. The offensive production is okay but could be better, too many shots seem to be right to the body of the goalie. Hope they really pick it up in the Tourny.

Ugh. They are 10-4 against the number 1 strength of schedule and are #1 in RPI. Complete crap they are.

They just had a 6-0 run which included wins against 4 teams in the top 10.

"Hope" they beat Colgate. Yep they should be an underdog at home against the might Red Raiders.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Stupid question, but why are we playing Colgate after our conference tournament?

Because the ACC said so.

They have always scheduled one last regular season game after their Faux ACC Tournament. This is nothing new.

Duke is playing BU next weekend. At BU. Last year they played at Marquette.

Other ACC teams take the week off.

I'd rather play Colgate next Saturday instead of trying to squeeze both the Hobart and Colgate games into an earlier week.

 

[CHSLAX]

"Their offensive production is okay but could be better" ; "hope they pick it up in the tourney"

Seriously?

 

[JeremyCuse]

Stupid question, but why are we playing Colgate after our conference tournament?

Tough loss today. Duke and ND just seemed bigger, faster, stronger, than us. ND was more driven than us, which sucks. Time to regroup and move on.

ACC always plays there conf tourney one week ahead, gives the teams a chance for a week of rest or to pad their resume if necessary. Works out great for Syracuse this year as we get a chance to hopefully get the D straightened out and maybe test one or two tweaks prior to the tourney.

 

[JeremyCuse]

It's a 16 team tourney, almost every team is good. If they lose to Colgate, they have bigger worries than who the opponent is.

I certainly dont expect to lose to Colgate and obviously when your talking about a 16 team tournament everyone who makes it is not only good but capable of beating just about anyone. That being said some teams matchup better then others and theres some games teams would prefer to avoid.

I am pretty sure Cornell, Siena, our ACC conf mates would probably like to avoid playing Syracuse as long as possible.

I am also pretty sure Albany isnt looking to match up with Denver or Duke anytime soon.

Syracuse can certainly beat anyone in the field but a rematch with Albany in the first round isnt a matchup I think Desko and the staff is really looking for, for a variety for reasons.

 

[SUbear]

Ugh. They are 10-4 against the number 1 strength of schedule and are #1 in RPI. Complete crap they are.

They just had a 6-0 run which included wins against 4 teams in the top 10.

"Hope" they beat Colgate. Yep they should be an underdog at home against the might Red Raiders.

I was responding to a post about a lower seed if we did not beat Colgate. Context my friend context. They should beat Colgate but there are no guaranties are there. This team has the structural weaknesses I mentioned regardless of strength of schedule, and if you can not see that you do not know what you have been watching. I still HOPE they can put it all together and win the NC but I would not bet the farm on it.

 

[SUbear]

"Their offensive production is okay but could be better" ; "hope they pick it up in the tourney"

Seriously?

I have been watching lacrosse for over forty years, so yea seriously. I did not say their offense was not good just that it needs to be better, along with other phases of their game to win the NC.

 

[longtimefan]

I have been watching lacrosse for over forty years, so yea seriously. I did not say their offense was not good just that it needs to be better, along with other phases of their game to win the NC.

You said their offense was "okay". Which to me does not equal " good ".

I think the offense is very good. And I've been watching the sport for over 50 years.

 

[SUbear]

You said their offense was "okay". Which to me does not equal " good ".

I think the offense is very good. And I've been watching the sport for over 50 years.[/quote

Oh wait I have been watching since 1965 so in that pissing match I guess we are close to tied.
So to you okay is what? "bad" to me okay is good just not good enough. Definition of okay would be acceptable, which is pretty good. Semantics and what you think it means may not be relevant in the least.
We disagree I think they are good but not very good, though they have the potential to be very good. They have way to many turnovers, and their advancing the ball into the attack zone has been mediocre, all part of the offense in the way I look at the game.

They must be better to win an NC. I guess we will see. I do not think my post was answering you anyway.
I do wish them the best and always hope they improve and get the job done, but I try to take off the orange glasses off when evaluating them at any given time.

Hope we both end up happy at the end of this season.

 

[longtimefan]

Just responding to your "more than 40 years" comment.

On the merits, any offense that runs through Kevin Rice is pretty good.

 

[GoSU96]

There are more than 5 teams that play the sport now, more talent spread out. It's not 1990.

 

[SUbear]

Just responding to your "more than 40 years" comment.

On the merits, any offense that runs through Kevin Rice is pretty good.[/quote

There is no doubt about Rice or Donahue, I am concerned about others, specifically Lecky and Loy who have both turned it over to many times, and the total offense from the time they take possession of the rock. I feel they must be better overall on offense to win the NC that is all.

 

[GoSU96]

They have one turnover every other game according to the team stats. Doesn't seem excessive.

 

[SUbear]

They have one turnover every other game according to the team stats. Doesn't seem excessive.

You are right this team is the best ever and will sweep through the rest of the season. They are undefeated and play perfect lacrosse. Their play can not be improved cause it is flawless. Happy now.

 

[GoSU96]

You are right this team is the best ever and will sweep through the rest of the season. They are undefeated and play perfect lacrosse. Their play can not be improved cause it is flawless. Happy now.

Yeah, that's that point.

This team has improved a ton since the Md, UVA, Duke run. This is without a doubt the weakest defensive team since LR has been here. I think a big part of the problem is that you have an excellent athlete that is still learning the game as your best defender. He's done an excellent job for the most part at minimizing some great attacks, but the team defense is lacking. If Mullins had grown up in Section 3 he would be so much further ahead. SSM is the weakness on this team and that is cascading into every other area on defense.

Would you like the first middie line to be more productive, absolutely, but it's the least of this teams problems.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Yeah, that's that point. This team has improved a ton since the Md, UVA, Duke run. This is without a doubt the weakest defensive team since LR has been here. I think a big part of the problem is that you have an excellent athlete that is still learning the game as your best defender. He's done an excellent job for the most part at minimizing some great attacks, but the team defense is lacking. If Mullins had grown up in Section 3 he would be so much further ahead. SSM is the weakness on this team and that is cascading into every other area on defense. Would you like the first middie line to be more productive, absolutely, but it's the least of this teams problems.

This defense communicates very poorly. I wonder how much of it is due to rotating goalies or new wrinkles in their slide package but the defensive results have been woeful for the past three games.

I've seen long sticks sliding needlessly (creating unsettled opportunities for opponents), awful fast break D with no point man or slide rotation and piss poor marking up (mainly O middies caught on D not calling out numbers/communicating).

It's easy to blame the SSDM but Grimm & Jenkins have been very steady during the defensive funk considering their physical mismatches (16 from ND & Jones from Duke). Evans leans a little too much but has been gritty & effective.

I think the long sticks need to do a better job staying at home. ND had an intelligent slide package giving their SSDMs primary slide responsibility while keeping long sticks stuck to the more dangerous offensive threats.

Hopefully Lelan and crew get it sorted this week & hammer out the wrinkles against Gate.