Harvard Gameday...

[OrangeXtreme]

All good suggestions. But, the first priority is to get them to play like their hair is on fire.

Quint even said we have no "marbles".

When everyone agrees with Quint...

 

[FloridaCuse]

Quint even said we have no "marbles".

When everyone agrees with Quint...

what does "marbles" mean? brain? thinking? Lax sense?

 

[JeremyCuse]

what does "marbles" mean? brain? thinking? Lax sense?

Nuts

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Powellfan]

I feel better about the offense than I do the defense. I don't think we need wholesale changes personnel wise and I think listing a bunch of players who should be playing kind of misses the point. Syracuse has been getting good looks all season, they got them against Harvard, but they were incredibly sloppy at inopportune times. Looks are there, it's not like they are getting stifled every time they catch the ball. They need to do work but the pieces are there.

It's not perfect, I am not living under a rock. Spallina and Hiltz both getting bottled up by shorties late in the game was a huge red flag, but I think they can work out their issues. I don't think the "magic bullet" is sitting on the sidelines. The players who have performed well these last two to three years need to play better going forward.

Defense I have much less confidence in. Neither goalie looked good against Harvard, but that wasn't the biggest issue. Ball watching was bad, at one point three defenders had their backs to an offensive player wide open on the crease. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. SU has had three defensive coordinators in the last couple of years and none of them have really been able to solve our issues.

The one constant has been really poor short stick defensive midfield play. Carter Rice and Peter Dearth have been the only above average players here, the rest have been mostly overmatched. It's clearly been a position that has been overlooked, and I can't understand it. They should have made it a top priority in the transfer portal last year, instead they only brought in one player from St. Johns, who just had a bad game. I have no idea the inner workings of the transfer portal, but it boggles my mind why it wasn't a higher priority this offseason. I can't fathom how this team was able to pull seven high quality players from the portal a year ago, but only landed one (Grace) this offseason, other than it being a misguided directive from on high. It's a darn shame because it's clear if this team had some fine tuning, they'd be a lot better off then they are now.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I feel better about the offense than I do the defense. I don't think we need wholesale changes personnel wise and I think listing a bunch of players who should be playing kind of misses the point. Syracuse has been getting good looks all season, they got them against Harvard, but they were incredibly sloppy at inopportune times. Looks are there, it's not like they are getting stifled every time they catch the ball. They need to do work but the pieces are there.

It's not perfect, I am not living under a rock. Spallina and Hiltz both getting bottled up by shorties late in the game was a huge red flag, but I think they can work out their issues. I don't think the "magic bullet" is sitting on the sidelines. The players who have performed well these last two to three years need to play better going forward.

Defense I have much less confidence in. Neither goalie looked good against Harvard, but that wasn't the biggest issue. Ball watching was bad, at one point three defenders had their backs to an offensive player wide open on the crease. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. SU has had three defensive coordinators in the last couple of years and none of them have really been able to solve our issues.

The one constant has been really poor short stick defensive midfield play. Carter Rice and Peter Dearth have been the only above average players here, the rest have been mostly overmatched. It's clearly been a position that has been overlooked, and I can't understand it. They should have made it a top priority in the transfer portal last year, instead they only brought in one player from St. Johns, who just had a bad game. I have no idea the inner workings of the transfer portal, but it boggles my mind why it wasn't a higher priority this offseason. I can't fathom how this team was able to pull seven high quality players from the portal a year ago, but only landed one (Grace) this offseason, other than it being a misguided directive from on high. It's a darn shame because it's clear if this team had some fine tuning, they'd be a lot better off then they are now.

Good stuff, I would push back slightly on the offensive points though. You correctly noted that they got looks but as you said "were incredibly sloppy at inopportune times". To me that's not a one off its happened way to often the last two years. 2nd half of last years UNC, Cornell, Maryland and others and this year the Maryland game, 2nd half of Harvard and even the 2nd half of Vermont. If it was a one off or ya know a rare occurrence I'd be more inclined to believe but a bad pattern of this happening has developed. Were not gonna replace the starting 6 but don't think y8ou can just chalk it up to a bad 2nd half when it keeps happening. 14 goals looks good on paper until you realize how many possession we had and that it was like 5-0 6 mins into the game. I think the O getting a pass here will come back to haunt us.

I agree on the defense, I thought they showed some real promise the first few games even against Maryland for the most part but Saturday was a repeat of the last few years. I don't get the lack of SSDMs either, was a position I thought they really needed to address. Not good.

 

[DoctahLexus]

It's not perfect, I am not living under a rock. Spallina and Hiltz both getting bottled up by shorties late in the game was a huge red flag, but I think they can work out their issues. I don't think the "magic bullet" is sitting on the sidelines. The players who have performed well these last two to three years need to play better going forward.

Agree with a lot, but this thing about Spallina and Hiltz getting bottled by shorty match ups late in the game is misleading. Hiltz it literally never happened. Spallina it was one single play where he did not even force the issue all the way, and instead started a two man game look with English, who instantly scored. Quint is right about a lot, but blowing up that Spallina play like it was a sure sign of his lack of initiating ability is inaccurate. He was not completely forcing the issue, he was not on an island and Harvard was threatening to slide with multiple guys, he starts a two man game look with English, who also had a short stick on him. and we score right away.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Agree with a lot, but this thing about Spallina and Hiltz getting bottled by shorty match ups late in the game is misleading. Hiltz it literally never happened. Spallina it was one single play where he did not even force the issue all the way, and instead started a two man game look with English, who instantly scored. Quint is right about a lot, but blowing up that Spallina play like it was a sure sign of his lack of initiating ability is inaccurate. He was not completely forcing the issue, he was not on an island and Harvard was threatening to slide with multiple guys, he starts a two man game look with English, who also had a short stick on him. and we score right away.

There were a couple of other possessions where SU got attackmen on short sticks. Thomson took hsi guy to the rack and scored. THere was also another possession that I believe Quint is talking about where Joey got the SSDM and he did try to initiate but it didn't really go anywhere and he passed off. I can't recall on Hiltz I would have to go back and watch. He had a real nice first half but struggled with turnovers and missed looks in the 2nd half.

 

[Powellfan]

Agree with a lot, but this thing about Spallina and Hiltz getting bottled by shorty match ups late in the game is misleading. Hiltz it literally never happened. Spallina it was one single play where he did not even force the issue all the way, and instead started a two man game look with English, who instantly scored. Quint is right about a lot, but blowing up that Spallina play like it was a sure sign of his lack of initiating ability is inaccurate. He was not completely forcing the issue, he was not on an island and Harvard was threatening to slide with multiple guys, he starts a two man game look with English, who also had a short stick on him. and we score right away.

You are probably right about Spallina, though I'm almost positive Hiltz was fended off by a shortie a couple of times. I remember thinking that Harvard might be shorting him on purpose. He's done well for the most part against short stick this season, but I don't think he did so against Harvard. Agree to disagree!

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Does anyone happen to personally know any of the videographers that are on the sideline during the games in the dome?

 

[FloridaCuse]

Nuts

What we don't have, and what's missing, is smart and effective coaching. We were clearly outcoached in the Maryland game. That was clear. And apparently we were outcoached in the Harvard game too. Even the TV broadcasters said Jerry Byrne knew they'd lose faceoffs but they had to win the rest of the game. They never quit after losing 28 faceoffs. We thought it was over up 5-0. And I'd venture to say there might have been better coaching staffs with the other teams vs. Towson and Vermont too. (I'd include J'ville for John Galloway but they were totally overmatched). Tillman had a plan, a strategy, and he got his players to play it against us. And as Kyle Fetterly said to Brian Higgins on Friday, Md's goalie got in their heads and they weren't shooting well. It reminds me of when Ryan Powell used to be the analyst on the local TV telecasts and he'd say almost every game - they have to learn to shoot better; they have to change levels. As others have said, laid back laissez fair attitude from the coaching staff won't cut it today. And it has to start with Fall practice. Focus, intensity, determination, and never stop. View each position as though the game depends on it. Even if this coaching staff had the wherewithall to instill this now, it might already be too late. And is there anyone who can teach our players how to shoot? As even the writer for the Daily Orange said, it looks grim for making the NCAA Tournament, let alone the FF or the Natty. Other teams are coached sooo much better. I wonder if we'll even have a winning record. Cornell, Colgate and probably Hopkins look like loses. ND and even NC likely also. The only reason we'd even win an ACC game is Va doesn't look great, and Dook is Dook. If this isn't turned around quickly I'd expect too many may transfer out after the season and I even wonder if they'll all even finish the season playing. And recruits?? And why is this team looking like the SU basketball team?

Addendum: We all knew on here that there was a problem of focus in the 2nd half against Vermont. Our SECOND game. Gary even said it in the post-game presser. And nothing's been done to fix it????

 

[Bayside44]

What we don't have, and what's missing, is smart and effective coaching. We were clearly outcoached in the Maryland game. That was clear. And apparently we were outcoached in the Harvard game too. Even the TV broadcasters said Jerry Byrne knew they'd lose faceoffs but they had to win the rest of the game. They never quit after losing 28 faceoffs. We thought it was over up 5-0. And I'd venture to say there might have been better coaching staffs with the other teams vs. Towson and Vermont too. (I'd include J'ville for John Galloway but they were totally overmatched). Tillman had a plan, a strategy, and he got his players to play it against us. And as Kyle Fetterly said to Brian Higgins on Friday, Md's goalie got in their heads and they weren't shooting well. It reminds me of when Ryan Powell used to be the analyst on the local TV telecasts and he'd say almost every game - they have to learn to shoot better; they have to change levels. As others have said, laid back laissez fair attitude from the coaching staff won't cut it today. And it has to start with Fall practice. Focus, intensity, determination, and never stop. View each position as though the game depends on it. Even if this coaching staff had the wherewithall to instill this now, it might already be too late. And is there anyone who can teach our players how to shoot? As even the writer for the Daily Orange said, it looks grim for making the NCAA Tournament, let alone the FF or the Natty. Other teams are coached sooo much better. I wonder if we'll even have a winning record. Cornell, Colgate and probably Hopkins look like loses. ND and even NC likely also. The only reason we'd even win an ACC game is Va doesn't look great, and Dook is Dook. If this isn't turned around quickly I'd expect too many may transfer out after the season and I even wonder if they'll all even finish the season playing. And recruits?? And why is this team looking like the SU basketball team?

Assuming we beat Utah the team is in the same spot it was last year. Tad different because they have to play Colgate and already beat them by this point last year.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Birt prob out n rhoa who knows. But with or without rhoa anderson needs to get time and see what kid csn do. Even if he doesn’t have pure speed he is a big bodie who can bull his way in. He doesn’t have to be scorer right away just bull way to send slide n dish. Leo needs get his confidence back n shoot with power n assurance . He also hasn’t taken many of his famous sweeps across top shots.

Teams are giving us the mid range shots. Sadly we don’t take them often or when do it’s poor placement or right at goalie no level change no bounces even. Also not total reason why struggling but getting absolutely no goals off long poles or Fo right now. Really missing kohn as handful of times when needed boost he win go down n score. Barely any transition last two games which mccool tends to get ball out slow. Always ippt lunch it right away once or twice.

When things get tight we seem to look for that ultimate perfect shot instead of taking what is given or just a good shot. We hesitate at times on shots also n d collapses on us by time finally ready to shoot. We don’t get goalie moving side to side or have to move. Defense does same when scores tight over think n over slide. Like they feel wheels coming off bus. (which like at times for gait to call dam timeout to settle guys down). Don’t recall when harvard tied it or even took lead him calling timeout but can’t remember.

 

[cuselaxss26]

Birt prob out n rhoa who knows. But with or without rhoa anderson needs to get time and see what kid csn do. Even if he doesn’t have pure speed he is a big bodie who can bull his way in. He doesn’t have to be scorer right away just bull way to send slide n dish. Leo needs get his confidence back n shoot with power n assurance . He also hasn’t taken many of his famous sweeps across top shots.

Teams are giving us the mid range shots. Sadly we don’t take them often or when do it’s poor placement or right at goalie no level change no bounces even. Also not total reason why struggling but getting absolutely no goals off long poles or Fo right now. Really missing kohn as handful of times when needed boost he win go down n score. Barely any transition last two games which mccool tends to get ball out slow. Always ippt lunch it right away once or twice.

When things get tight we seem to look for that ultimate perfect shot instead of taking what is given or just a good shot. We hesitate at times on shots also n d collapses on us by time finally ready to shoot. We don’t get goalie moving side to side or have to move. Defense does same when scores tight over think n over slide. Like they feel wheels coming off bus. (which like at times for gait to call dam timeout to settle guys down). Don’t recall when harvard tied it or even took lead him calling timeout but can’t remember.

Ment to say “atleast ippt would lunch it right away few times”

 

[cuselaxss26]

I think no much choice hear but thomson had to go back to midfield n play the two man game with english. Either deere or anderson have to go to attack. Need to balance out our mid lines with whatever speed have a finisher n a shooter.

Last thing spallina or hiltz or captains whoever seniors. Need to also get in guys faces when don’t hustle on play or make mistake or just to even calm them down. I here english is great leader n all but don’t remember seeing him go to guys “hey relax plenty of game things may be going wrong but let’s get composed n play like we know we can”. Coaches have to do this also. March do you have any set plays or anything? Is there anything you come up with that is a set play that can def get a good look? Feel we just do same old thing non stop.

Right now can’t take anyone for granted not utah not colgate not manhattan no one. Also gonna have to win some really tough games as right now do not have a good win. Colgate hopkins utah manhattan have to be dubs no matter. After that then is really gonna get tough as prob gonna need to beat uva, cornell, duke for chance. Unc n ND possibly need win depending how others go. But really putting pressure on themselves with this harvard lost. Either way can be done just have to work extra hard.

I truely think gait needs to run them a lot beginning of pratice every week then have them play whatever at pratice so their tired when doing so. When ur tired get lazy make mistakes sloppy play. So if practice game situations or shooting when tired get use to it. So come clutch time least be some what ready. May not explained that perfectly but sure yous know what i ment .

 

[cuselaxss26]

Also there is other ways to be a dodger then just pure speed. Don’t always have to run pass guys tho makes it little easier or course. But something we don’t do with our dodging is change of speeds, Hitches , rocker steps or fakes. Go full speed at defender go body back off light jog right back into full speed n so on. We normally push for topside by speed. We don’t dodge topside for a roll underneath. Out of our dodges are same n telegraphed. Just mention in another thread with joey n his signature up left into that Btb shot. If he would push for that throw a btb fake or rocker into full speed topside i bet he can get step n hands free(needs to push higher on those as he stops to soon with zero angle on btb shot anyway.)

Leo has size n low center to spin off defender into a step n rip. We def have to get shots off faster or right out of dodges. Also mention it before got to be able to shoot with pressure also. Think was teddy malone least twice had rice all over him yet once falling low (went low even which thought could been save) for goal. Another one think rice all over him again plays body to quickly bounce off with an even softer low to low shot (again thought was weak goal). All things we need to do.

Also i felt with all the sliding giving most not needing that we kept running in front of goalies screening them. We can screen goalies too, or try clear out in front of our goalie. Anyone just posting on our crease should pay the consequences (legally of course not dumb behind or high hits). Also defense needs to stop swinging at sticks. Kids to good with their stick skills have to play body n push forcing them whatever way they want. Going for stick always is sure way to get burned. I do agree with who said it that we shouldn’t slide unless dude is clearly cooked n by that mean beat completely n shooter has good angle shot. Not beat n player going behind net with nothing to shoot at.

Another where is leo with his alley dodges n the sweeps or even inverting? I always found when struggling to score myself to build confidence , is to feed others. Leo hasn’t even made many great passes or assist like he was last year. He isn’t only one as rhoa needs be feeder also. But just so much work can be done even dodging point that doesn’t call for pure speed dodge. That be best but hey gotta work with what given.

 

[JYCUSE12]

Birt prob out n rhoa who knows. But with or without rhoa anderson needs to get time and see what kid csn do. Even if he doesn’t have pure speed he is a big bodie who can bull his way in. He doesn’t have to be scorer right away just bull way to send slide n dish. Leo needs get his confidence back n shoot with power n assurance . He also hasn’t taken many of his famous sweeps across top shots.

Teams are giving us the mid range shots. Sadly we don’t take them often or when do it’s poor placement or right at goalie no level change no bounces even. Also not total reason why struggling but getting absolutely no goals off long poles or Fo right now. Really missing kohn as handful of times when needed boost he win go down n score. Barely any transition last two games which mccool tends to get ball out slow. Always ippt lunch it right away once or twice.

When things get tight we seem to look for that ultimate perfect shot instead of taking what is given or just a good shot. We hesitate at times on shots also n d collapses on us by time finally ready to shoot. We don’t get goalie moving side to side or have to move. Defense does same when scores tight over think n over slide. Like they feel wheels coming off bus. (which like at times for gait to call dam timeout to settle guys down). Don’t recall when harvard tied it or even took lead him calling timeout but can’t remember.

Wish we could put Anderson on attack and move Finn to midfield, Finn is good around the cage and proved it Saturday. Would just be nice with a physical presence like Anderson down there. Reminds me of Austin Staats

 

[CL12kr]

I feel better about the offense than I do the defense. I don't think we need wholesale changes personnel wise and I think listing a bunch of players who should be playing kind of misses the point. Syracuse has been getting good looks all season, they got them against Harvard, but they were incredibly sloppy at inopportune times. Looks are there, it's not like they are getting stifled every time they catch the ball. They need to do work but the pieces are there.

It's not perfect, I am not living under a rock. Spallina and Hiltz both getting bottled up by shorties late in the game was a huge red flag, but I think they can work out their issues. I don't think the "magic bullet" is sitting on the sidelines. The players who have performed well these last two to three years need to play better going forward.

Defense I have much less confidence in. Neither goalie looked good against Harvard, but that wasn't the biggest issue. Ball watching was bad, at one point three defenders had their backs to an offensive player wide open on the crease. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. SU has had three defensive coordinators in the last couple of years and none of them have really been able to solve our issues.

The one constant has been really poor short stick defensive midfield play. Carter Rice and Peter Dearth have been the only above average players here, the rest have been mostly overmatched. It's clearly been a position that has been overlooked, and I can't understand it. They should have made it a top priority in the transfer portal last year, instead they only brought in one player from St. Johns, who just had a bad game. I have no idea the inner workings of the transfer portal, but it boggles my mind why it wasn't a higher priority this offseason. I can't fathom how this team was able to pull seven high quality players from the portal a year ago, but only landed one (Grace) this offseason, other than it being a misguided directive from on high. It's a darn shame because it's clear if this team had some fine tuning, they'd be a lot better off then they are now.

Had a chance to go after someone like Jack Henderson out of Victor. Pure dodger at attack and can feed and score with best of them. Don’t think Cuse came hard after him. He’s close at Cornell. Got get him

 

[NineOneSeven]

As someone who tore his acl,mcl twice all in same knee. Each time i knew it wasn’t good n did n expressed exactly as birt did. If it wasn’t season ending injury i would totally be shocked. But if watch that play carefully either his knee or achilles went tho looked for like knee. Both no good.

Not just the recovery time n rehab. But mentally is very hard to get back to where you were. I used to be able to plant n spin n no lie do tucker dordavic stuff. After any time i tried tho was fully recover mentally i couldn’t. Would always slow down to much before plant or spin never at speed used to. Plus strangely hardest thing to lean after ur leg is in mobilizer for months. Walking down the dam steps kid you not. Forgot how to bend it going down steps n fell many times. Had to take each step at time n tell myself bend before.

Wish best for birt n hope he had a healthy recovery either way good or bad injury.

I was just saying to my friends at the game Sat how surprised I am we don’t see more knee injuries given how much stop and go and cutting there is in lacrosse. So much lateral agility and pivoting directions.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I appreciate all of the insights here, from many handles I haven’t seen before. Typically we have the same names on the football and basketball side but there are many new lax folks here and I like that. I’m substantially more knowledgeable about those other sports (+ baseball) so it’s interesting seeing the expert takes.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Are there box scores in lacrosse? I want to see how many players see the field.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Are there box scores in lacrosse? I want to see how many players see the field.

Yes go to cuse.com mens lax and schedule. Each game will have a box score stats etc

 

[orange79]

Are there box scores in lacrosse? I want to see how many players see the field.

Yes go to cuse.com mens lax and schedule. Each game will have a box score stats etc

For example:

 

[PhatOrange]

Hard to be disappointed with an offense that scores 14 goals but they leave A LOT of meat on the bone as they say and some of the free wheeling play leads to carelessness which drives me crazy.

2 plays occurred late that for me epitomizes my frustration with a Gait team. When we absolutely needed goals we got a between the legs shot that missed (Thomson?) and then MaCarthy picking up a contested GB in front of the cage and taking a dumb behind the back shot that missed. Just can't do those things in tight games.

There seems to be a lack of urgency in certain situations that bug me.

Harvard has a good offense but the Defense needs to be better. That was a poor performance.

Offensively overall that's two games in a row they've been shut down in the second half. I like the concept not the execution.

Colgate beat that team scoring 19 ? Yikes

 

[upperdeck]

Had a chance to go after someone like Jack Henderson out of Victor. Pure dodger at attack and can feed and score with best of them. Don’t think Cuse came hard after him. He’s close at Cornell. Got get him

You mean Jack Herendeen?