Army Game Thread...

[tbonezone]

god bless the ladies but if you ain't getting hit til your forearms go numb it ain't lacrosse. you're basically shuffle bar bowling .now try sliding that saw dust disc while somebody beats on you with a bat. there's a certain level of contact that makes it an entirely different sport.
the same in name only and oh so different. et tu field hockey ?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Cal: 3-13
Danny V: 10-17

 

[JeremyCuse]

Cal: 3-13
Danny V: 10-17

Mind-boggling he stuck with cal for so long

 

[outoftownie]

Head Heart Hustle. It's been the motto and the lifeblood of Syracuse Lacrosse for decades. I haven't seen any of it from this team, and very little from this program over the past couple years. Yes, I am the old man telling everyone how it was much better in my day, but guess what it was for sure. This team has zero toughness outside of Williams. I am not sure if it's the chartered flights, Xbox in the new lockerroom, multiple uniforms or what. these kids just aren't tough. Ground balls aren't about practice, they are about heart. Army had it, our guys stood around.
I used to blindly support this staff. I still like them as people, but I am swaying to Retro's side of things. Might be time to bring in young blood.

 

[Orangtiz]

Head Heart Hustle. It's been the motto and the lifeblood of Syracuse Lacrosse for decades. I haven't seen any of it from this team, and very little from this program over the past couple years. Yes, I am the old man telling everyone how it was much better in my day, but guess what it was for sure. This team has zero toughness outside of Williams. I am not sure if it's the chartered flights, Xbox in the new lockerroom, multiple uniforms or what. these kids just aren't tough. Ground balls aren't about practice, they are about heart. Army had it, our guys stood around.
I used to blindly support this staff. I still like them as people, but I am swaying to Retro's side of things. Might be time to bring in young blood.

Haven't seen head heart or hustle over the past 2 or 3 seasons to be honest. The big thing that killed us was TO's and GB's they couldn't pick up a GB to save their lives today.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Haven't seen head heart or hustle over the past 2 or 3 seasons to be honest. The big thing that killed us was TO's and GB's they couldn't pick up a GB to save their lives today.

The lack of gbs was mystifying after SU was vacuuming them up the first two games. Absolutely bizarre game

 

[OrangeXtreme]

The lack of gbs was mystifying after SU was vacuuming them up the first two games. Absolutely bizarre game

How many times did Army drop the ball on the carpet, and we overran the play.

 

[JeremyCuse]

How many times did Army drop the ball on the carpet, and we overran the play.

Honest to god at least a half dozen times amd thats being conservative, ive never seen SU be as bas on gbs as they were today

 

[SkyTopBus44]

How many times did Army drop the ball on the carpet, and we overran the play.

Some of the face offs we won initially ended up losing because of a ground ball recovery. Do those count as ground balls in the stats or face off losses or both?

 

[orange79]

Some of the face offs we won initially ended up losing because of a ground ball recovery. Do those count as ground balls in the stats or face off losses or both?

I believe it counts as a GB loss, and if no one had possession on the FO, a FO loss also.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

I believe it counts as a GB loss, and if no one had possession on the FO, a FO loss also.

Thanks!

 

[orangehomer]

I was watching some of the game today without the sound on. maybe it is an indictment of the sport moreso than just today's game, but there is no rhyme or reason to the way the game is officiated. it also reminded me why I don't watch lacrosse. army got every single 50/50 call whether it be penalties or even balls going out of bounds. the rule about the closest guy to the ball gets possession is so dumb, I think it may be the dumbest thing in sports when a guy airballs a shot and 4 dudes run to the endline with their stick out, and then some ref decides from like 50 yards away who was closest to the ball. in a game where possession is everything. this has to be the most broken game I have ever tried to watch.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

I was watching some of the game today without the sound on. maybe it is an indictment of the sport moreso than just today's game, but there is no rhyme or reason to the way the game is officiated. it also reminded me why I don't watch lacrosse. army got every single 50/50 call whether it be penalties or even balls going out of bounds. the rule about the closest guy to the ball gets possession is so dumb, I think it may be the dumbest thing in sports when a guy airballs a shot and 4 dudes run to the endline with their stick out, and then some ref decides from like 50 yards away who was closest to the ball. in a game where possession is everything. this has to be the most broken game I have ever tried to watch.

Respectfully, I think that's one of the nuances that makes this game great. I also don't recall the refs getting a single "closest to the ball" possession call wrong today, & I've watched the game twice in full. I also think they got every out-of-bounds call correct. They did miss a crease violation on one of Army's goals but also twice allowed SU defenders to plow through/run over a pick which is illegal, just as it is in basketball. Some pushes, both loose ball & with possession, were questionable but that's a normal, every game occurrence.

One thing I'm worried about going forward is Mariano's antics. He a very passionate, emotional player who derives motivation from beating his defender but I wish he'd concentrate on celebrating with teammates instead of taunting & "chirping" with the opponent. He could've & probably should've been flagged for pointing at the GK in the penalty box following a goal vs Siena & was getting a staredown by the ref while gesturing at the Army defender following his game tying goal. Hopefully it doesn't bite him/us at the wrong time.

 

[CreaseRat]

Mind-boggling he stuck with cal for so long

I'm probably in the minority on this but the offensive changes Desko made wasn't the reason why the offense started to score. It was the fact that they started to win the battle at the faceoff x. You can make all the changes in the world but if your offense doesn't have the ball you're not going to score. Staying with Paduda as long as he did cost them the game. Don't give me the BS post game response about changing your wing play. No John, it was the guy on the ground being quicker than your starter. And it took you too long to make an adjustment. +10 offensive opportunities for Army in 1.5 quarters, of course you're not going to score goals.

I'm all for the way some of these kids go to goal but having some awareness of the flow of the game would be nice. No need to try and get yours after the D just played 2-3 mins of defense. How about giving them a break and running the offense. Move the ball, work the back side picks and cutters. Stop shooting the first shot you see with no one behind the cage that can chase your missed shot. It's like there's no discussion about valuing the ball

 

[CreaseRat]

Faceoffs in 1st Q 5-3, then Paduda loses the next 5 (10-3) and Army goes up 8-4 on the score board. Throw in a couple failed cleared and lack of ability to pick up ground balls and you find yourself in a hole.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I'm probably in the minority on this but the offensive changes Desko made wasn't the reason why the offense started to score. It was the fact that they started to win the battle at the faceoff x. You can make all the changes in the world but if your offense doesn't have the ball you're not going to score. Staying with Paduda as long as he did cost them the game. Don't give me the BS post game response about changing your wing play. No John, it was the guy on the ground being quicker than your starter. And it took you too long to make an adjustment. +10 offensive opportunities for Army in 1.5 quarters, of course you're not going to score goals.

I'm all for the way some of these kids go to goal but having some awareness of the flow of the game would be nice. No need to try and get yours after the D just played 2-3 mins of defense. How about giving them a break and running the offense. Move the ball, work the back side picks and cutters. Stop shooting the first shot you see with no one behind the cage that can chase your missed shot. It's like there's no discussion about valuing the ball

I agree with most of your thoughts. I thought the offense did fairly well to up 6 goals after not having the ball for pretty much a quarters worth of time as Army was holding the ball for long periods of time and running a bunch of clock. Had they not blown a few late opportunities they could have easily had 7 or even 8 goals in the first half. I think it's clear that Desko waited to long to go to Varello who clearly battled Grabhner better even when he lost the draws.

As for the offensive changes I think Desko was trying to spark the first midfield as outside of Bomberry it has been underwhelming through the first three games. Salcido looks like the player from two years ago versus the player we saw last year. Salcido was killing teams with alley dodges form the right and left side and shooting on the run, this year most of his shots have been from standstill positions or him moving a few feet right or left to try and get free. He hasn't been able to dodge much at all. I think after the pre-season games Desko thought Lane was primed for a breakout year but it hasn't materialized as of yet. Lane appears to be trying to play more of a feeder role when he dodges instead of looking to score despite having a short stick on him exclusively. Lane played really well in both scrimmages but he has one goal on the year and Salcido has 2 believe, simply not gonna cut it. Those guys have to play better especially with the attack being so mediocre by SU standards.

That being said, I am not sure moving Mariano back to the 1st midfield is a long term answer. For one hes a huge liability if he gets caught on defense and second Mariano was bumped down because the attack unit was not strong enough to begin with, moving him back out to midfield is the definition of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I thought Rehfuss made a real case for more PT yesterday and was surprised he wasn't in much if at all the last half of the 4th quarter (at least I don't recall seeing him).