Few Last Second Thoughts on Hop

[JeremyCuse]

Sorry I wasn't able to get a full review in again this week but a few general thoughts.

I fully expect Petro to go against his instincts and throw the kitchen sink at us. I expect Giacalone to start in goal and some of the younger guys like Angelus and Murphy to see more run. I also wouldn't be surprised if Petro tried a 10 man ride or double polling even though its completely against his entire D philosophy, he is in desperation mode. I dont think Hop has the SSDM talent to do it, so we need to punish them.

My concerns from an SU standpoint as sometimes the staff is caught by surprise in these situations when teams play a different way then normal or were slow to react. I am hoping Desko and company already prepared for this but its definitely a concern.

Secondly turnovers are my other main concern
We haven't been terrible there this year but first time outside, wind, potential for no Dearth are all major concerns. Really hoping we keep the number down but we had some issues last year on the road like bar ND and I worry this could be an issue.

Offensively as I noted earlier in the week I think we need the attack unit to step up. Keep waiting for that breakout game (save for Gate) and it just hasn't happened yet. Would really like to see some dodging from Cook and Rehfuss especially if Petro goes against himself and double poles. Also would be good to see solid play from the 2nd mids, Quinn really needs a bounce back performance or you have to look at bumping Magnan or Fiorini.

I believe if SU SU simply plays its normal game it will win but this is a tricky spot. Multiple injuries, first time outdoors, a desperate team and a HC who is looking at his final game against Syracuse with his contract up. I suspect Hop will come out with its hair on fire, SU needs to be ready and to respond. Lastly we have to keep penalties in check, absolutely critical.

 

[ivorytower]

JC, Your pregame analysis was spot on. Petro changed scheme and doubled pole and put a shortie on Refhuss , started Giacone , played Murphy alot and Alexus some. We had too many turnovers-17 and penalties-6 Hop came out strong as you expected but Cuse was ready and responded quickly. Their ssdm were average as you said.

Positives: Cuse clearly better on all ends and in all facets. Large diff in athleticism. Cuse has athletes across the board at every position. Refhuss moved and eyes found ,Scanlan dodged in tight spaces ,first line mids again accurate and potent, Phaup and Varello both won and exited well , Dami and Aviles played well again which was critical with Dearth out, Kennedy locked down Williams ,communication on D was loud and movement coordinated . ,Drake saw ball well in the outside and had another strong game. Very few uncontested shots by JHU, d unit overshadowed by brilliance of 1st line mids but it has been good. Clearing game 22-24. Saw some upfield transition .Man up and man down both did well though we wasted a extended man up with some turnovers

Notes : I felt for Epstein whose terrific but whose mobility is clearly limited. Too late now but problably should have redshirted. Beautiful day, low JHU turnout. Transition d still needs some improvement. Other than Lipka, didn't see much of second line, likely wanted to fully utilize speed advantage. Seebold scored a clear goal, it hit back of cage. He shows signs of being a breakout candidate

 

[wgdsr]

epstein can still redshirt if his injury is deemed season ending. espec if he has surgery done.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Thought this was going to be a Mike Hopkins thread.

 

[Mareiniss]

... Seebold scored a clear goal, it hit back of cage. He shows signs of being a breakout candidate

I thought it was a goal, too - the replay showed the net moving. Was Seebold subbing for Quinn on the second midfield line when that happened, or was he playing attack?

 

[JeremyCuse]

epstein can still redshirt if his injury is deemed season ending. espec if he has surgery done.

Hes played in 5 games now, I think a med redshirt is no longer possible.

 

[MD Cuse Fan]

I thought it was a goal, too - the replay showed the net moving. Was Seebold subbing for Quinn on the second midfield line when that happened, or was he playing attack?

To me it looked like he was running with the midfield the times he was on the field. Don't hate it either, he's big and athletic and would be a good match-up against shorties.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Thought this was going to be a Mike Hopkins thread.

Hey who told you about the lax board, I didnt think you ventured outside of the fball and bball boards.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I thought it was a goal, too - the replay showed the net moving. Was Seebold subbing for Quinn on the second midfield line when that happened, or was he playing attack?

He was playing middie, SU was running him as a 4th attack out of the box like Albany likes to do.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Hes played in 5 games now, I think a med redshirt is no longer possible.

Only 4 games. Epstein missed the opener vs Towson..

However, he's at the point where he can't play anymore and still be eligible.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Only 4 games. Epstein missed the opener vs Towson..

However, he's at the point where he can't play anymore and still be eligible.

Ah that's right forgot about the Towson game. Seems unlikely he will sit out the rest of the year at this point. Still he was zero factor Sat, looks like a shell of himself

 

[MD Cuse Fan]

Ah that's right forgot about the Towson game. Seems unlikely he will sit out the rest of the year at this point. Still he was zero factor Sat, looks like a shell of himself

Which makes me think maybe he's been cleared because the injury can't get any worse? Otherwise I assume he's not going to be close to 100% the rest of the season. Would think he should have rested the first month and then come back but i guess it's easy to say that now?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Hey who told you about the lax board, I didnt think you ventured outside of the fball and bball boards.

I dabble in the OT forums, but yeah, usually when I end up on the lacrosse forum it's by accident.

 

[Powellfan]

JC, Your pregame analysis was spot on. Petro changed scheme and doubled pole and put a shortie on Refhuss , started Giacone , played Murphy alot and Alexus some. We had too many turnovers-17 and penalties-6 Hop came out strong as you expected but Cuse was ready and responded quickly. Their ssdm were average as you said.

Positives: Cuse clearly better on all ends and in all facets. Large diff in athleticism. Cuse has athletes across the board at every position. Refhuss moved and eyes found ,Scanlan dodged in tight spaces ,first line mids again accurate and potent, Phaup and Varello both won and exited well , Dami and Aviles played well again which was critical with Dearth out, Kennedy locked down Williams ,communication on D was loud and movement coordinated . ,Drake saw ball well in the outside and had another strong game. Very few uncontested shots by JHU, d unit overshadowed by brilliance of 1st line mids but it has been good. Clearing game 22-24. Saw some upfield transition .Man up and man down both did well though we wasted a extended man up with some turnovers

Notes : I felt for Epstein whose terrific but whose mobility is clearly limited. Too late now but problably should have redshirted. Beautiful day, low JHU turnout. Transition d still needs some improvement. Other than Lipka, didn't see much of second line, likely wanted to fully utilize speed advantage. Seebold scored a clear goal, it hit back of cage. He shows signs of being a breakout candidate

Its a strange feeling to be frustrated with the offense after a 15 goal output, but it felt like they left a lot of scoring out on the field. Still, I think with the cheap shot suffered by Phaup and Dordevic looking like he almost reinjured his foot, I think the team was comfortable packing it in and not overdoing it, especially since Hopkins had little fight in them. Not overly worried and its good to know the offense can hum like that. The Jays seemed to give up early when Porter made a number of good saves and their goalie(s) didn't stop any.

I am still mystified that Petro decided to short stick Rhefuss - I know he's not a top echelon attackman, but he can certainly carve up a defense if he's guarded that way. I am struck so far in this season with how well the offense can adapt - they've faced multiple looks from defenses but each week they seem to figure it out. They will certainly see better and more athletic defenses as the season progresses, but it's still good to see that they can score different ways. Curious to see what would happen if they saw a zone for an extended period of time, but they saw one briefly against Hopkins and it took them almost no time score. I just think the shooters right now are too good.

Scanlan and Trimboli were terrific against Hopkins, Scanlan was as aggressive as I've seen him in Orange, and he initiated contact with his defender a lot more. Hopefully this means his comfort in the Orange system is growing. As for Trimboli, he's playing his best lacrosse right now, his shot is almost unstoppable, and he's incredibly smart with the ball in his stick. Just does not make mistakes and seems to know the right time to dodge, when to pass and when to shoot. He's elevated his game big time this year.

Porter was great, but too many times the defense left an open man on the crease for easy looks. They did this against Army as well though Porter bailed them out a number of times. It seems to be the second slide just isn't there a lot of time. They are missing Mellen but they did it multiple times on Saturday. I know they like playing aggressive, it just seems like sometimes they are overdoing it, especially when the ball is behind the cage. Whats frustrating is that all of the players "look" good out there, I don't see many mistakes being made - ground ball play is good and they are doing very well at clearing the ball. I think the only "warning signs" to me is, sometimes DiPietro's feet don't move as fast as I'd like and the reserve SSDM's get beat more than I'd like - but that is really nitpicky. Certainly better offenses to come, but considering they were down two of their top three defensive players, not bad at all.

Lastly since I gave him a hard time in the first game I have to credit Fernandez again, that guy is ALL OVER the field, he seems to be able to teleport. He just seemed to be in every groundball play and did not give up. I'd have a hard time taking him off the field if they were thinking of moving Kennedy back to LSM (meaning I think they need to stick with Kennedy at close).

 

[DoctahLexus]

Have to appreciate Scanlan and how much of a success his transfer here has been. Even though he blew up the stat sheet at Loyola I still had some doubts. Would the transition to attack be difficult? How much of his production was due to playing with Spencer? Will he struggle with a new set of teammates and new offense? All those doubts just seem silly now. He has been a huge asset for us and on top of that is a fun player to watch. He does a lot of amazing little moves in games and is also an insane passer, which I didn't realize before this season. How about that last goal he had yesterday?

 

[Bigtime]

By the time scanlan a senior number 22 will have another legend to it great history

 

[ivorytower]

Its a strange feeling to be frustrated with the offense after a 15 goal output, but it felt like they left a lot of scoring out on the field. Still, I think with the cheap shot suffered by Phaup and Dordevic looking like he almost reinjured his foot, I think the team was comfortable packing it in and not overdoing it, especially since Hopkins had little fight in them. Not overly worried and its good to know the offense can hum like that. The Jays seemed to give up early when Porter made a number of good saves and their goalie(s) didn't stop any.

I am still mystified that Petro decided to short stick Rhefuss - I know he's not a top echelon attackman, but he can certainly carve up a defense if he's guarded that way. I am struck so far in this season with how well the offense can adapt - they've faced multiple looks from defenses but each week they seem to figure it out. They will certainly see better and more athletic defenses as the season progresses, but it's still good to see that they can score different ways. Curious to see what would happen if they saw a zone for an extended period of time, but they saw one briefly against Hopkins and it took them almost no time score. I just think the shooters right now are too good.

Scanlan and Trimboli were terrific against Hopkins, Scanlan was as aggressive as I've seen him in Orange, and he initiated contact with his defender a lot more. Hopefully this means his comfort in the Orange system is growing. As for Trimboli, he's playing his best lacrosse right now, his shot is almost unstoppable, and he's incredibly smart with the ball in his stick. Just does not make mistakes and seems to know the right time to dodge, when to pass and when to shoot. He's elevated his game big time this year.

Porter was great, but too many times the defense left an open man on the crease for easy looks. They did this against Army as well though Porter bailed them out a number of times. It seems to be the second slide just isn't there a lot of time. They are missing Mellen but they did it multiple times on Saturday. I know they like playing aggressive, it just seems like sometimes they are overdoing it, especially when the ball is behind the cage. Whats frustrating is that all of the players "look" good out there, I don't see many mistakes being made - ground ball play is good and they are doing very well at clearing the ball. I think the only "warning signs" to me is, sometimes DiPietro's feet don't move as fast as I'd like and the reserve SSDM's get beat more than I'd like - but that is really nitpicky. Certainly better offenses to come, but considering they were down two of their top three defensive players, not bad at all.

Lastly since I gave him a hard time in the first game I have to credit Fernandez again, that guy is ALL OVER the field, he seems to be able to teleport. He just seemed to be in every groundball play and did not give up. I'd have a hard time taking him off the field if they were thinking of moving Kennedy back to LSM (meaning I think they need to stick with Kennedy at close).

JHU goalie actually had good 2nd half and prevented more scores . Have to be happy with accuracy of mids. Not the right excuse but first line played alot and might have been playing to scoreboard by 4q. Good point about Phaup and Dordevic, game was over and tendency to get out of there without injury. Cook rides dont show in box but wish he'd be involved more offensively. Good to see Seebold get additional run wherever he can, , big crease target who scored in traffic though not counted. Maybe Kims get some run in their state this weekend. Mellen strength is on ball and he rarely leaves cover, he's not as strong off ball as either Murphy or DiPietro and wouldn't have helped on close in shots or slide any better. Highlights shows how those crease scores happened, two on ss and one on lsm all leaving man on crease. Close was nearby hedging down but occupied by their marks . Dearth out , reserve dm's didn't have strongest games, did notice that Clary got a late run with ss and possibly could work his way into mix for fourth. Two scores came off transition into unsettled and noticed that why fogo Prouty also came down middle twice on face-off wins. Perhaps wings have to play down line more and come in. Fernandez is a vacuum but view Helmer as stronger defensively in 6x6. Mellen should be back and hopefully Dearth as well. Once this team is fully healthy, it will have alot of versatility to match opponents though I prefer not to jockey too many around.

 

[ivorytower]

Have to appreciate Scanlan and how much of a success his transfer here has been. Even though he blew up the stat sheet at Loyola I still had some doubts. Would the transition to attack be difficult? How much of his production was due to playing with Spencer? Will he struggle with a new set of teammates and new offense? All those doubts just seem silly now. He has been a huge asset for us and on top of that is a fun player to watch. He does a lot of amazing little moves in games and is also an insane passer, which I didn't realize before this season. How about that last goal he had yesterday?

Yep. Just get him the ball and he'll convert at a high rate . Army game plan put him outside play to open field for mids to invert and some complaints surfaced. He's fit in nicely, doesn't force, crisp passes and rides well with full effort. He's still adjusting to our mids initiating up top rather than a Spencer doing so , not a quick dodger but showed the ability to shed in JHU game. Expect to see more of that

 

[Orangelax]

JHU goalie actually had good 2nd half and prevented more scores . Have to be happy with accuracy of mids. Not the right excuse but first line played alot and might have been playing to scoreboard by 4q. Good point about Phaup and Dordevic, game was over and tendency to get out of there without injury. Cook rides dont show in box but wish he'd be involved more offensively. Good to see Seebold get additional run wherever he can, , big crease target who scored in traffic though not counted. Maybe Kims get some run in their state this weekend. Mellen strength is on ball and he rarely leaves cover, he's not as strong off ball as either Murphy or DiPietro and wouldn't have helped on close in shots or slide any better. Highlights shows how those crease scores happened, two on ss and one on lsm all leaving man on crease. Close was nearby hedging down but occupied by their marks . Dearth out , reserve dm's didn't have strongest games, did notice that Clary got a late run with ss and possibly could work his way into mix for fourth. Two scores came off transition into unsettled and noticed that why fogo Prouty also came down middle twice on face-off wins. Perhaps wings have to play down line more and come in. Fernandez is a vacuum but view Helmer as stronger defensively in 6x6. Mellen should be back and hopefully Dearth as well. Once this team is fully healthy, it will have alot of versatility to match opponents though I prefer not to jockey too many around.

Would like to see Seebold get a few more runs. Personally I think swapping him with Cook some would throw defenses off as Seebold is a much bigger body that also moves well. However, Cook's riding ability is outstanding. Hopefully Dearth & Mellen will be back this week but wouldn't be surprised if they don't hold both out until the Duke game. Seems like Rogers is still trying to figure out how he wants to use Clary. He got 4-5 runs as an LSM & the 1 as a SSDM. In previous games he has played some close too. We need to have another strong performance this week & keep our momentum. ACC play is just around the corner!

 

[Powellfan]

Would like to see Seebold get a few more runs. Personally I think swapping him with Cook some would throw defenses off as Seebold is a much bigger body that also moves well. However, Cook's riding ability is outstanding. Hopefully Dearth & Mellen will be back this week but wouldn't be surprised if they don't hold both out until the Duke game. Seems like Rogers is still trying to figure out how he wants to use Clary. He got 4-5 runs as an LSM & the 1 as a SSDM. In previous games he has played some close too. We need to have another strong performance this week & keep our momentum. ACC play is just around the corner!

Seebold looked good coming out of box, lots of energy and little wasted movement. It seems to me the second unit does a lot of "trotting", and Seebold brought something different to the group. Also could play Scanlan as more of midfielder in those sets as well.
More worried about the second line right now than I am of Cook. At least Cook is bringing something to the table right now (his riding ability, which I think motivates Scanlan and Rhefuss to be more tenacious), and he isn't turning the ball over. The second unit still just looks lost - Buttermore isn't seeing much of the ball and Quinn just does not make smart decisions. Lipka has looked the best but even he isn't contributing that much. Maybe expectations were just too high entering the season but I'm hoping they can turn things around shortly. Would be a huge plus if they could start contributing more.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Hey who told you about the lax board, I didnt think you ventured outside of the fball and bball boards.

We gotta find winning teams to root for.

 

[ivorytower]

Seebold looked good coming out of box, lots of energy and little wasted movement. It seems to me the second unit does a lot of "trotting", and Seebold brought something different to the group. Also could play Scanlan as more of midfielder in those sets as well.
More worried about the second line right now than I am of Cook. At least Cook is bringing something to the table right now (his riding ability, which I think motivates Scanlan and Rhefuss to be more tenacious), and he isn't turning the ball over. The second unit still just looks lost - Buttermore isn't seeing much of the ball and Quinn just does not make smart decisions. Lipka has looked the best but even he isn't contributing that much. Maybe expectations were just too high entering the season but I'm hoping they can turn things around shortly. Would be a huge plus if they could start contributing more.

Powell, Sorry to keep replying to your fine posts but more enjoyable than checking stock prices. Agree on both Cook and Seebold. Latter would inject some size wherever played. Staff been riding whatever mid/line has been performing and right now the first line mids are living up to hype and being heavily played. If that cools then one can expect Lipka and Buttermore to see additional time with increased production as both possess the goods. Quinn shot a weapon in flow but forcing is to his detriment. Winning helps morale but limited opportunities must be frustrating for the 6 thru 10 mids.

 

[Orangelax]

Some interesting stats on the NCAA portal:

1. TO's Per Game: Cuse Ranks 4th - 13.6/game (Tied w/ Cornell)
2. Man Up Offense: Cuse Ranks 23rd - Score 41.7%
3. Man Down Defense: Cuse Ranks 39th-Opp Score 40%
4. Top 10 Categories: CTO's (9th), Faceoffs (5th), Clearing (5th), & GBs (3rd)

 

[tbonezone]

bullets #1 and #2 . the turnovers were glaring against the blue jays. just awful. and the fact we couldn't add a couple goals during the 2 minute unreleasable down right inexusable. need to clean this up quick.

 

[GoSU96]

bullets #1 and #2 . the turnovers were glaring against the blue jays. just awful. and the fact we couldn't add a couple goals during the 2 minute unreleasable down right inexusable. need to clean this up quick.

Category #4 are the winning stats

BTW, #1, is 4th LOWEST. Hahahahaha.