A Crucial Period for Joey and the Program

[RoofBeam]

Joey has been a good to very good player since his freshman year. However, I think the program has needed him to be a great player and great players are difference makers in the most important games, something which Joey has lamentably not been up to date. If he had been playing with an attack line of a somewhat different composition, I believe he would have more fully actualized his potential but he is in the middle of his junior year and it seems pretty close to now or never. If SU is to move to the next level (or even get to the NCAA's this year), I think Joey has to assert a dominance in this upcoming stretch of games that we haven't seen from him against some of the better defenses in the country.

 

[ks orange]

Joey has been a good to very good player since his freshman year. However, I think the program has needed him to be a great player and great players are difference makers in the most important games, something which Joey has lamentably not been up to date. If he had been playing with an attack line of a somewhat different composition, I believe he would have more fully actualized his potential but he is in the middle of his junior year and it seems pretty close to now or never. If SU is to move to the next level (or even get to the NCAA's this year), I think Joey has to assert a dominance in this upcoming stretch of games that we haven't seen from him against some of the better defenses in the country.

Couldn't disagree more. Joey needs to take what the opposing defense gives him and what Orange offense needs. His most important role is facilitator, ringmaster, if you will. Against a top-flight oppoinent, If he ends up with a handful of assists, no goals and the offense hangs 15 or 16 on an opponent, he's had a great day.

 

[RoofBeam]

Couldn't disagree more. Joey needs to take what the opposing defense gives him and what Orange offense needs. His most important role is facilitator, ringmaster, if you will. Against a top-flight oppoinent, If he ends up with a handful of assists, no goals and the offense hangs 15 or 16 on an opponent, he's had a great day.

I agree. If he is drawing lots of attention, creating slides, finding open teammates and getting assists, that can be a dominating performance... How many assists did he have against Denver last year?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

He's got 54 points this season. Hiltz is next with 37.

He's leading the team with 32 assists. Hiltz is next with 15.

 

[RoofBeam]

He's got 54 points this season. Hiltz is next with 37.

He's leading the team with 32 assists. Hiltz is next with 15.

How many points over the past two and a half years in the team's most important games?

 

[DoctahLexus]

Couldn't disagree more. Joey needs to take what the opposing defense gives him and what Orange offense needs. His most important role is facilitator, ringmaster, if you will. Against a top-flight oppoinent, If he ends up with a handful of assists, no goals and the offense hangs 15 or 16 on an opponent, he's had a great day.

Leaning in this direction too, but Joey was a little below what we need from him in the Harvard and Hop games. Forcing it at times, which is not like him, and not hitting enough of his open shots, both offball and after one of his dodges. We need him to at least improve in those categories. But if he is getting Schroter at UVA or Lyght at ND, it is not the end of the world if he is not taking them to the rack and scoring left and right. With those guys, even the very best like Oneill and Shellenberger are usually limited to a couple goals 1v1 at best. Big stat lines against teams like that usually come from making the most of your opportunities offball and in unsettled situations. Hoping his efficient day against Colgate is a sign of good things to come.

Would really like to see Hiltz continuing to create off the dodge like he has on several occasions this season. UVA's longpoles dip in quality after Schroter and Wayer (and even he is questionable in 6v6 defense). Anyone who still thinks Hiltz is slow and does nothing off the dodge is simply not watching the games. He needs to continue demanding the ball and taking advantage of these matchups against a teams secondary cover guy. Different story last year, but Hiltz and Spallina is as good a duo as any in the nation right now.

 

[ColdAnger]

I thought Joey had a great game against Colgate and not because of the 11 points. It was the decision-making, intensity, and momentum killing plays in big moments.

The sequence where he and Hiltz scored their 200th points was perfect decision-making. Hiltz fed Joey on the doorstep but he had low angle and could not get topside against a collapsing D so he retreated to X, eyes up and fed Hiltz for the assisted goal. A forced shot there is likely a turnover.

He seemingly was at the center of every celebration and the energy was contagious.

A goal at the end of a period to restore a lead and one fourth quarter dodge and inside roll stand out as two big time dodging plays that killed Colgate momentum.

I love this version of Joey and hope it continues through the ACC + Cornell gauntlet.

 

[FloridaCuse]

Couldn't disagree more. Joey needs to take what the opposing defense gives him and what Orange offense needs. His most important role is facilitator, ringmaster, if you will. Against a top-flight oppoinent, If he ends up with a handful of assists, no goals and the offense hangs 15 or 16 on an opponent, he's had a great day.

or even a handful of "hockey" assists.

 

[ks orange]

or even a handful of "hockey" assists.

What he said.

 

[Cuse All-In]

Leaning in this direction too, but Joey was a little below what we need from him in the Harvard and Hop games. Forcing it at times, which is not like him, and not hitting enough of his open shots, both offball and after one of his dodges. We need him to at least improve in those categories. But if he is getting Schroter at UVA or Lyght at ND, it is not the end of the world if he is not taking them to the rack and scoring left and right. With those guys, even the very best like Oneill and Shellenberger are usually limited to a couple goals 1v1 at best. Big stat lines against teams like that usually come from making the most of your opportunities offball and in unsettled situations. Hoping his efficient day against Colgate is a sign of good things to come.

Would really like to see Hiltz continuing to create off the dodge like he has on several occasions this season. UVA's longpoles dip in quality after Schroter and Wayer (and even he is questionable in 6v6 defense). Anyone who still thinks Hiltz is slow and does nothing off the dodge is simply not watching the games. He needs to continue demanding the ball and taking advantage of these matchups against a teams secondary cover guy. Different story last year, but Hiltz and Spallina is as good a duo as any in the nation right now.

I think Spallina has improved this year and is among the best players in D1. He is still not a dominant player or game changer in my opinion. Roofbeam makes a valid point - let's see what he does in the next few weeks against elite teams. Cuse has a strong cast on offense and Spallina playing the role of distributor may be enough to get us to the final four. It is probably not fair to expect him to be a dominant game changer given his lack of elite speed and physical size. I don't think anyone is ready at this point to put him up there with the Pat Spencer, Pat Kavanagh, Shellenberger, Sowers, O'Neill and now CJ Kirst caliber of player.

 

[DoctahLexus]

I think Spallina has improved this year and is among the best players in D1. He is still not a dominant player or game changer in my opinion. Roofbeam makes a valid point - let's see what he does in the next few weeks against elite teams. Cuse has a strong cast on offense and Spallina playing the role of distributor may be enough to get us to the final four. It is probably not fair to expect him to be a dominant game changer given his lack of elite speed and physical size. I don't think anyone is ready at this point to put him up there with the Pat Spencer, Pat Kavanagh, Shellenberger, Sowers, O'Neill and now CJ Kirst caliber of player.

How about this, lets see how the TEAM does against elite teams! He is getting compared as an individual to guys who are elite in an extremely different way. He is unique! Nobody in the nation can create offense with passing like he can. He maximizes the value of our offense with his abilities.

He is not any less of a player because he does not sprint by the best long poles in the nation! We do not need him to be a Tucker Dordevic or Brennan Oneill throwing himself at a teams top longpole and taking 15 shots because nothing else works better. More and more that is not how games against elite opponents are won. You win by getting a rotation through the defense by victimizing weaker matchups and exploiting the rotations that follow. We have guys to do that and nobody in the nation is better at exploiting those rotations than Spallina. And on top of that he absolutely will get something for you off the dodge against anyone but the very best cover guys. He is a game changer, and I can't stand when people try to knock him down a peg because he is not breaking ankles like other stars.

Like I said, if he keeps shooting the ball efficiently and not forcing things the TEAM will be fine. Our success does not hinge on him being the first attack this season to repeatedly cook Shawn Lyght or Schroeder. The goal is to win games, not to get Spallina a Tewaaraton.

 

[BillSU]

Joey has been a good to very good player since his freshman year. However, I think the program has needed him to be a great player and great players are difference makers in the most important games, something which Joey has lamentably not been up to date. If he had been playing with an attack line of a somewhat different composition, I believe he would have more fully actualized his potential but he is in the middle of his junior year and it seems pretty close to now or never. If SU is to move to the next level (or even get to the NCAA's this year), I think Joey has to assert a dominance in this upcoming stretch of games that we haven't seen from him against some of the better defenses in the country.

In a recent post- game interview Joey mentioned that he wants more wins and a NC more than anything. Said he could care less about reaching 200 pts which he did in the last game. Maybe his stated goal includes him stepping up even higher than he has been for SU LAX. Maybe we'll see an even more excellent lacrosse player to help us try and win out over the rest of our opponents. Can you imagine? And can you see us with Joey not on this team?! I hope we win all the rest of our games and Joey will do everything he can to see that we try and get there.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

After Chase Scanlon tarnished the legacy of #22. His despicable behavior off the field and let's be honest not elite play on the field created tremendous pressure on the next player to wear the jersey.

It has been a while since we really had an elite top player in the nation type in that role. Might be Mike Powell if I am being realistic. Jordan Evans was not it due to injuries. JoJo Morasco, Dan Hardy, Cody Jameison were all good players but not like any Powell, Gait, Lockwood in my opinion. Those guys were unstoppable. My memory is biased but I remember them single handily taking it to teams. They were innovators and among the best of all time. Man it was fun!

In my unrealistic head, I wanted Joey to be like the early 22s. I believe ... recruiting gurus correct me ...Joey was the #1 recruit in that class (?) or at least top 5. He is a nice player and like others have said his game as a facilitator is very good. He is among the top players in the nation. Joey seems like a great kid, teammate and I like rooting for him. I want him to take SU lax to the final four. He is a huge Syracuse fan from when he was very young. He seems to respect and love our program, too.

Like all of us I love Syracuse lacrosse and our prior dominance of the sport. I miss when we had the undisputed best player or players in the game on the field wearing blue and orange. I know there were some recruiting issues with Lyle Thompson but he is the kind of guy I would have loved wearing #22 for SU. I wish we could go back and have him here but that is water under the bridge.

I liked the days when #22 got the ball with a minute left and likely scored the game winner and had multiple highlight level plays in a game. Maybe it was because the other defensive players on other teams were not as good. The defensive sets and tactics might also be better now. There were more two way players in the old days if my hazy memory suggests. Maybe even those players from the 1980s, 90s, 2000s wouldn't be as dominant now. I don't know?

Sorry for the long post. I just think we need to calibrate our expectations for Joey Spallina and enjoy him for what he is as a player and a person.

GO ORANGE!

 

[Powellfan]

 

[wgdsr]

looks like mr. spallina might be getting worn down some by the seawolves' season. seems like he's really excited to get into a twitter war with college aged guys, tho.

 

[DoctahLexus]

looks like mr. spallina might be getting worn down some by the seawolves' season. seems like he's really excited to get into a twitter war with college aged guys, tho.

Nothing wrong with defending your kid. I enjoyed the interview actually.

 

[Cuse All-In]

1 assist for #22 not so great. We'll see how next few games go.
Great win for Cuse given Mullen didn't dominate. McCool looked cool.

 

[JeremyCuse]

1 assist for #22 not so great. We'll see how next few games go.
Great win for Cuse given Mullen didn't dominate. McCool looked cool.

Joey had a few looks he's gonna wanna get back especially that man up goal. Not surprised he struggled though we know hoe well Schroder matches up with him. Gets no easier with Lyght next week

 

[Powellfan]

Joey had a few looks he's gonna wanna get back especially that man up goal. Not surprised he struggled though we know hoe well Schroder matches up with him. Gets no easier with Lyght next week

Sounds like Lyght was out this week. Not that things would be “easy” with him out, but something to monitor.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Sounds like Lyght was out this week. Not that things would be “easy” with him out, but something to monitor.

Was dressed but didn't play

 

[Elkeed44]

Let's try this angle. Joey forces the other team to match their best defender on himself. Effectively taking their best dude out of the game. As a result, Leo, Hiltz, Rhoa et al get to roam free against the leftovers. Yeah, good luck with that!