Hopkins Gameday...

[CrazyPeople]

As I said before, nothing will change until Gait gets better players. A lot of them.

Assuming that’s true, what good is Gait? Anyone can coach a whole bunch of better players. They have a lot of talent right now, it’s being organized and utilized poorly right now.

 

[SDCuse114]

Holy crap. Didn’t watch the game but just saw the final score. Saw the game stats and muttered “what the fck” under my breath. My niece heard me and yelled out “ooooh, uncle said the f word…”

Frustrated we all are. Very frustrated.

 

[Powellfan]

Just a dreadful performance from the offense today. Pipes obviously played a big part but man there were so so many other bad decisions, bad shots bad passes and bad turnovers. I don’t like signaling out individual players but that was the worst I’ve seen Dordevic play. He has to be frustrated by the way he’s being utilized. I get tired just watching he and Curry run around trying to do everything themselves. There just has to be something else the coaches can try. I’m shocked they’ve been trying the same strategy all season long, which is essentially run their top two players into the ground every game. How are they going to even be standing by the end of the season? This is not a long term strategy. Hopefully today was a wake up call but I fear they will just double down. In his pregame press conference Gait did seem to imply that the players on this years team weren’t up to snuff and that next years will be better. He clearly must think it’s a talent issue but man it seems like they could be doing more with the talent they do have. Those last five minutes today were unwatchable.

Last year when the team struggled I thought, “well at least this might push them to make a change”. Now there’s no upside in seeing them struggle and definitely no draft pick that gives this team a silver lining. Hopefully something will change but this feels like a lost season.

 

[OttosDad]

This was the saddest I've ever been as a Syracuse Lacrosse fan today. Really disappointing result. I guess my biggest issue with the team right now is they just can't seem to find a way to win games.

They have been involved in competitive, close games all season (UVA being the real outlier). They compete but just are lacking severely in fundimentals and the ability to complete the high IQ play. The amount of players stuffed on the doorstep, or hit the pipe today was simply unacceptable, many players had time to throw a fake and none of them did. I know its not typical to shoot low in close but we saw virtually none of that. Offensively, it will become more and more glaring they need another guy like Hiltz. I thought Seebold would take the next step, he's been okay but not a true second attacking threat. Statistically speaking, it was almost impossible to lose the game today, and they found a way. To me, that points to coaching, and lack of execution.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

.

Last year when the team struggled I thought, “well at least this might push them to make a change”. Now there’s no upside in seeing them struggle and definitely no draft pick that gives this team a silver lining. Hopefully something will change but this feels like a lost season.

Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Need lots of better players.

 

[SWC75]

This was the saddest I've ever been as a Syracuse Lacrosse fan today. Really disappointing result. I guess my biggest issue with the team right now is they just can't seem to find a way to win games.

They have been involved in competitive, close games all season (UVA being the real outlier). They compete but just are lacking severely in fundimentals and the ability to complete the high IQ play. The amount of players stuffed on the doorstep, or hit the pipe today was simply unacceptable, many players had time to throw a fake and none of them did. I know its not typical to shoot low in close but we saw virtually none of that. Offensively, it will become more and more glaring they need another guy like Hiltz. I thought Seebold would take the next step, he's been okay but not a true second attacking threat. Statistically speaking, it was almost impossible to lose the game today, and they found a way. To me, that points to coaching, and lack of execution.

I blame Boeheim.

 

[SWC75]

Which has been more fun?

- The SU football season

- The SU basketball season

- The SU lacrosse season

Or are they all the same season?

 

[Cuse All-In]

Assuming that’s true, what good is Gait? Anyone can coach a whole bunch of better players. They have a lot of talent right now, it’s being organized and utilized poorly right now.

One thing I noticed today was the sluggishness and lack of sharpness, particularly by the offense. I saw it last year as the season wore on and I'm concerned that the players may be overworked and not fresh for game day. This could also tie in with some earlier comments that the starters were on the field too much and looked tired and frustrated. As always, Cook was on the field way too much!

I agree with Gait's comments that the D played relatively well with only 10 goals against. I also thought Thompson played ok as most of the goals were not his fault. Kirson played well but...we continue to make opposing goalie's stats look better with our inconsistent shooting.

 

[sulax]

Thank you, I think, to the Newhouse school. We’re SO lucky to be able to watch every lax game, but what we’re watching is pretty bad.

I’m sorry to be the one again harping on Cook, but it’s just so frustrating. Put him in a summer box lax league. He literally cannot shoot (18% shooting percentage is horrible; granted it is better then his 6% last year), and he’s such a liability when he gets stuck on D. Put Cordes on the 1st line middies. Curry (who has all of the tools, but just isn’t an accurate enough shooter) needs some help. The coaches obviously see Cordes’ talent and Cook’s inability to shoot, because Codes is playing Man Up, not Cook.

‘What if’s’ will drive you crazy, but if Hiltz doesn’t go down, then I think we at least win this game, and maybe the Army game, too (although good for Army, and that was kind of karma, because we stole their playoff spot last year). We need a finisher, like Hiltz, because our shooting is just horrible, with the exception of Dordevic.

We have the greatest lax tradition, the greatest home field stadium, and the all-time greatest collection of ex-players as coaches (Gait, Pietramala, and Ierlan), but none of that counts for anything right now. We definitely dug ourselves a hole, but Duke and Notre Dame are beatable this year, so let’s win our next 4 (Stony Brook, Duke, Notre Dame, and Albany) and then who knows if Hiltz will come back…

 

[ivorytower]

Painful loss. Syracuse to this eye had the better talent and was the better team. Hitting pipes all day certainly factored but not trusting the supporting cast enuff is making jobs of opposing defenses easier. Too many turnovers and not capitalizing on the many Cuse caused at midfield factored. With Hiltz we are 4-2 not 2-4 and a top ten team . Appeared to tire some again in 4q. though Cook's pipe would have tied it up with 3 mins left. Dont get call on Hop pushing Caccamo right after .Our D played well and staying out of box helped. Missed Rosa. Going have a hard time sleeping , should have been a win imo Very damaging to tourney chances. , going to have to pull off some significant upsets now.
To top it off , disappointed in weekly reporting errors of Daily Orange.

 

[ivorytower]

One thing I noticed today was the sluggishness and lack of sharpness, particularly by the offense. I saw it last year as the season wore on and I'm concerned that the players may be overworked and not fresh for game day. This could also tie in with some earlier comments that the starters were on the field too much and looked tired and frustrated. As always, Cook was on the field way too much!

I agree with Gait's comments that the D played relatively well with only 10 goals against. I also thought Thompson played ok as most of the goals were not his fault. Kirson played well but...we continue to make opposing goalie's stats look better with our inconsistent shooting.

Thought same. Our lead players are expending alot of energy , drawing doubles on every touch and working hard to get away from them way too often . Said it before but a sprinkling of p/t in 2q and 3q for a few others would help legs of leads for 4q. D was fine, Kennedy locked down DeSimone and Caccamo shows a very active stick. Some of their secondary players had good days .Good to see Clary out there, add more speed to midfield. Expected us to push transition under Gait but that hasn't happened . Have speed at dm and wish they were more involved offensively ,Cuse caused alot of clearing urnovers near midfield which one would think would lead to some easy goals. Thompson got better as game went along. Kirson has been playing well and made some good stops but the pipes were his good friend today. Crushing loss.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

 

[gmoney44]

Which has been more fun?

- The SU football season

- The SU basketball season

- The SU lacrosse season

Or are they all the same season?

Syracuse big three sports teams have been bad for a while now. It’s pretty depressing.

 

[nyclax]

In his pregame press conference Gait did seem to imply that the players on this years team weren’t up to snuff and that next years will be better.

I'm surprised that this is now the second or third time Gait has said/implied this because while, yes, things will probably be better next year, those new players will still be freshmen. You get Hiltz back but you're also losing Kennedy, Curry, Phaup, and others. I do think next year's team will be better but Gait should be careful not to overpromise. It's going to take multiple years, PLURAL, for things to get back on track. Can't remember the last time a team was carried by its freshmen.

 

[Powellfan]

I'm surprised that this is now the second or third time Gait has said/implied this because while, yes, things will probably be better next year, those new players will still be freshmen. You get Hiltz back but you're also losing Kennedy, Curry, Phaup, and others. I do think next year's team will be better but Gait should be careful not to overpromise. It's going to take multiple years, PLURAL, for things to get back on track. Can't remember the last time a team was carried by its freshmen.

Yup. For those saying this is a rebuild year, it is next year that will in-fact be a true rebuild year as the team will lose a lot of multi-year starters. Potentially two of three starting attackmen, two of the starting midfielders, the only FOGO who has taken meaningful draws this year, and two of three starting defensemen. That is a lot. Especially when you consider that Dordevic and Curry are accounting for an absurd (not in a good way) 54% of the point production right now.

UNC brought in something like seven five star recruits, a lot of people thought they would get a ton of playing time. I think maybe two have seen significant minutes this year. I think the freshmen will see a lot of playing time next year for 'Cuse, and I'm really excited to see them play, but I also think there will be a lot of struggles, and if the schedule stays the same, another disapoining season when it comes to wins and losses.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

It’s a rebuild.

This. Gait himself has said the talent is not there to play the way he wants to play. He considered it to be a 2 or 3 year build.

 

[Orangello]

When was the last time all three major men's sports had losing seasons ? Maybe 70's ?

 

[ivorytower]

That narrative is tiresome. Not enuff talent to be a FF team but top layer good enuff to be a tourney team if supporting cast properly employed to augment . Team should be 4-2 not 2-4. Hopkins is not better than Cuse and Q has them at 12 .

Hiltz goes down and there has been no address to who takes over role as distributor. . Offense has no point guard, not even a point forward. If no individual capable then had to be a team effort to distribute ball . Latter is there if stressed . Instead just run our two best offensive mids into doubles and keep our fingers crossed .Works agaisnt weaker defense but we seldom play weak defenses . Coris a talent who can create but being wasted . Curry can pass some off dodges , maybe move him to attack and let him draw and kick out to shooters such as Quinn and Cordes who receive few passes in space . Butter doesn't even get rep Deficiencies in transition on both sides partly due to poor on and off subbing . Could go on and on. Miss Donahue

 

[SWC75]

Syracuse big three sports teams have been bad for a while now. It’s pretty depressing.

I decided to find out if we've ever had all three of SU's primary teams: football, basketball and lacrosse have ever had a losing season in the same school year.

Thanks to Roy Danforth and Jim Boeheim. the basketball team had last had a loser in 1968-69. The football team was 6-4 that year and, thanks to Ben Schwartzwalder, had not had a losing season since 1949. Roy Simmons Sr. became the lacrosse coach in 1931. He had one losing season prior to 1959 that was in 1942 and both the football teams (Ossie Solem) and basketball team (Lou Andreas) were winners that year. That takes us back to Laurie Cox, who established the SU lacrosse program in 1916. he had losers in 1916, 1918 and 1930. Again, both the football, (Bill Hollenback, Buck O'Neill and Vic Hanson) and basketball teams, (Edmund Dollard and Andreas), had winning records.

So, now we've never had three strikes and yer out in our three major programs.

(Source: all three Media Guides are available on Cuse.com in the drop-down menus for each sport.)

 

[Orangello]

I decided to find out if we've ever had all three of SU's primary teams: football, basketball and lacrosse have ever had a losing season in the same school year.

Thanks to Roy Danforth and Jim Boeheim. the basketball team had last had a loser in 1968-69. The football team was 6-4 that year and, thanks to Ben Schwartzwalder, had not had a losing season since 1949. Roy Simmons Sr. became the lacrosse coach in 1931. He had one losing season prior to 1959 that was in 1942 and both the football teams (Ossie Solem) and basketball team (Lou Andreas) were winners that year. That takes us back to Laurie Cox, who established the SU lacrosse program in 1916. he had losers in 1916, 1918 and 1930. Again, both the football, (Bill Hollenback, Buck O'Neill and Vic Hanson) and basketball teams, (Edmund Dollard and Andreas), had winning records.

So, now we've never had three strikes and yer out in our three major programs.

(Source: all three Media Guides are available on Cuse.com in the drop-down menus for each sport.)

Incredible. 2021-22 the true nadir of ST sports.

 

[DoctahLexus]

It will be easier to make definitive judgements about Gait's coaching when he has been in the driver seat for a while. Some choices early have been ugly, or at least the results are ugly, and there is no denying that. A few of you seem to be taking it a step further and act like it will ALWAYS be this bad if we roll with Gait as head coach. Understandable that there is frustration after that display yesterday, but it is still the beginning, and it is still with the same players who have been failing to get it done at the highest level the past 2-3 years. As said after the Army game, losing our three best distributors in one season has been a nightmare. Yes there is talent, but is what we saw yesterday really that out of character for this group?

I said from the very beginning that this hire felt like a gamble. Yes he is the GOAT as a player, but he has never coached D1 men's lax. The film he has been carefully studying for the past 14 years is women's D1 lax. That's been the majority of what he has studied since 1995 (when he first started as MD women's assistant coach). I'm sure even those who were instantly thrilled with the new hire must have expected some sort of learning curve.

What I really want to see from Gait this season is a willingness to change. Will we see him move away from this strategy of running our offensive starters into the ground? They aren't good enough where it is worth it to run them into the ground. In every game so far this year, some of the more promising moments on offense have come from the young guns or guys who play relatively few mins. I'm still giving him time. I still think it is silly to judge him without giving him more time. Nothing I have seen so far is extreme enough for me to think that this is a bad hire that will only continue to churn out bad results. That is too much doom and gloom. It is too early in his D1 men's lax coaching career for him to be set in his ways.

 

[ivorytower]

Maybe none but all those teams could have won more games nm

 

[CrazyPeople]

I still think it is silly to judge him without giving him more time. Nothing I have seen so far is extreme enough for me to think that this is a bad hire that will only continue to churn out bad results. That is too much doom and gloom. It is too early in his D1 men's lax coaching career for him to be set in his ways.

Question: is this experiment worth the price tag we are paying for Gait? (Assuming it’s the same or more than he was paid to be womens coach) or could we equally have benefitted taking a chance on a guy like Galloway who would have come at a much cheaper price tag and likely coached these guys harder. Hard to argue he isn’t doing more with less right now..

 

[ivorytower]

Question: is this experiment worth the price tag we are paying for Gait? (Assuming it’s the same or more than he was paid to be womens coach) or could we equally have benefitted taking a chance on a guy like Galloway who would have come at a much cheaper price tag and likely coached these guys harder. Hard to argue he isn’t doing more with less right now..

Supposedly Cuse initially went after Shay who supposedly declined. Gallowa really hadn't accomplished much with Jacksonville before this season but he was frequently mentioned as a potential candidate given his ties but who knows if he was ever contacted. Cant close any books and extent of Wildwhack 's search process is not known.

 

[fieldystick]

So, now we've never had three strikes and yer out in our three major programs.

Incredible. 2021-22 the true nadir of ST sports.

How on earth does Wildhack still have a job? (I can ask the same about GT sports/Stansbury right now.)