I am so over Desko

[RoofBeam]

This program is a checking a lot of boxes these days:

Lack of toughness- check

Lack of lacrosse IQ- check

Lack of talent as a result of poor recruiting decisions- check

Lack of in season improvement- check

Lack of sustained intensity and commitment to excellence- check

SU lacrosse needs a new leader with new vision and a willingness to reestablish this program as one which imposes its will on opponents through creativity, energy and sacrifice.

 

[Cuse'91]

Would Gary Gait ever switch to men's team?

 

[dave h]

The season is over now

and this will not be popular...

But

Coach Desko and staff along with the whole squad have over achieved in 2017

They were 9-2 in 11 one goal games, they have stuck together through thick and thin or thru thin and thinner this year.

apart from today's game they have fought to the death and never quit.

This doesn't happen without great coaching and leadership

Coach Desko has been apart of 500 career wins at SU (Player, Assistant & Head Coach)

Think about that for a second...

I guess he was just lucky?

I wish I could be so lucky

This is the first class in forever to not go to a Final Four

22 straight years ain't happening again anytime soon
enjoy your summer

Popcorn and soda

 

[gilardino]

Unlike the men's hoops teams, at least Desko gets recruits.

 

[Alsacs]

Desko has 5 NCs he has a long earned rope.
Recruiting was on a down tick but Jeremy has confirmed it's back upward.

I said in this in the other thread
I wouldn't fire Desko if the administration pushed him to retire who are you hiring as the next coach?

The coach has to be someone connected to the program IMO.
Gary Gait? Give me a break he can't even win a ladies NC yet. He shouldn't be the guy just because of his name.

Biggest problem with Desko IMO is not many of his assistants have been getting head jobs themselves. Which means our assistants could be better.

The UNC OC is the leader for the Delaware job.
Our assistants haven't changed in a while.

 

[CousCuse]

Desko has 5 NCs he has a long earned rope.
Recruiting was on a down tick but Jeremy has confirmed it's back upward.

I said in this in the other thread
I wouldn't fire Desko if the administration pushed him to retire who are you hiring as the next coach?

The coach has to be someone connected to the program IMO.
Gary Gait? Give me a break he can't even win a ladies NC yet. He shouldn't be the guy just because of his name.

Biggest problem with Desko IMO is not many of his assistants have been getting head jobs themselves. Which means our assistants could be better.

The UNC OC is the leader for the Delaware job.
Our assistants haven't changed in a while.

Falling behind 6-0 after failing to win in the quarters the previous 3 years? Hard to fathom the lack of mental preparedness.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Desko has 5 NCs he has a long earned rope.
Recruiting was on a down tick but Jeremy has confirmed it's back upward.

I said in this in the other thread
I wouldn't fire Desko if the administration pushed him to retire who are you hiring as the next coach?

The coach has to be someone connected to the program IMO.
Gary Gait? Give me a break he can't even win a ladies NC yet. He shouldn't be the guy just because of his name.

Biggest problem with Desko IMO is not many of his assistants have been getting head jobs themselves. Which means our assistants could be better.

The UNC OC is the leader for the Delaware job.
Our assistants haven't changed in a while.

Rogers and Donahue are very good coaches. IMO, they stay because they like the gigs they have, not because they're not asked about other opportunities.

Lelan was a hot up n comer 10 years ago who decided it was better to stay at SU than move on after rebuilding the SU D.

 

[redhead091]

Falling behind 6-0 after failing to win in the quarters the previous 3 years? Hard to fathom the lack of mental preparedness.

100% spot on!!

You can give Desko a pass if this was an outlier but all season long this season has come out not mentally prepared. I don't think this team played a 60 minute game all season.

Again no one can dispute Desko's success but at what point do you hold a coach responsible for the teams mental readiness?

This isn't the first time, the last 4 seasons this has been an issue, not coming out prepared to play. For me the biggest example was a few years back and the quarter final loss to Hopkins with staats, rice, Donahue, galasso etc., that team should've been national champions. If they would've played the entire game like they did the 4th qtr they win that game against Hopkins and possibly another national championship.

IMO the last few years the team has not been
Mentally prepared to play a full 60 minutes.

Not sure if that falls on Desko and staff or players I'm just glad I'm not the one having to figure that out .

Onto 2018 and another run at a championship #12!

 

[Alsacs]

Rogers and Donahue are very good coaches. IMO, they stay because they like the gigs they have, not because they're not asked about other opportunities.

Lelan was a hot up n comer 10 years ago who decided it was better to stay at SU than move on after rebuilding the SU D.

JeremyCuse what say you about this?

 

[dasher]

The season is over now

and this will not be popular...

But

Coach Desko and staff along with the whole squad have over achieved in 2017

They were 9-2 in 11 one goal games, they have stuck together through thick and thin or thru thin and thinner this year.

apart from today's game they have fought to the death and never quit.

This doesn't happen without great coaching and leadership

Coach Desko has been apart of 500 career wins at SU (Player, Assistant & Head Coach)

Think about that for a second...

I guess he was just lucky?

I wish I could be so lucky

This is the first class in forever to not go to a Final Four

22 straight years ain't happening again anytime soon
enjoy your summer

Popcorn and soda

Thank you. It is popular with me. Did Desko suddenly get dumb? We finished with the #2 seed in the country. We had a very good year.

 

[CuseIsInTheHouse]

Lets fire the ACC coach of the year... brilliant!

Cuse fans think they have a right to be in the final four every year. The sport has changed. If making it to the quarterfinals gets you fired, there would be a lot of quality openings every year.

I'm often frustrated by some of the decisions that this staff has made, but take a step back. It's not easy to win a title anymore. If you held Boeheim to the same standard that you're holding Desko, Jimmy B would be long gone.

 

[outoftownie]

JeremyCuse what say you about this?

I'll jump in on this one. I can tell you for fact that Lelan has been finalist for a few head jobs. I am also pretty sure he turned down a high d1 head job a few years back. And Donahue was a part time assistant for years while he taught middle school science. That's a good gig with benefits and pension. I don't think he was looking for take a pay cut to uproot his family for a head job at Bellermine or some other middle of the road d1 job.

The fact that our assistants haven't left for head gigs tells nothing of their quality as coaches. There a plenty of problems right now with Syracuse Lacrosse, assistants not getting head jobs isn't one of them.

 

[HSPORANGE]

Fire Desko and bring in who? They had a good season and just lost to a good team. Towson was the better team today. Tons of talent coming in the next few classes so I suspect they'll still be playing In May over the coming years. Sorry Desko haters. Saw this thread coming.

 

[newmexicuse]

Desko did a great job imho. Team lacked a bona fide superstar. Today, Malloy didn't play well until too late. That can happen with goalies. Team was just too out of control with all of the penalties. Guess the pressure and Towson style got to them. All season long they played above their heads, but clearly they were not a dominating team. Kudos to Solomon today.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

There certainly is a problem with the program. I am not saying it is Desko, but the first step in improving is admitting there is a problem. Only then can results change. So what is the issue? Are CNY HS players just not good anymore? Is it the assistants? Is it our style?

The 2010s have yielded:

Champions: Duke 3, UNC, Denver, Loyola, UVA, TBD

Final Fours: MD 6, Duke 5, Denver 5, ND 4, Loyola 2, UVA 2, Cornell 2, UNC, Cuse, Brown, Hopkins, tOSU, Towson

SU losses: Army NR (who lost next game in QF), MD NR (who lost NCG), Duke 3 (who lost FF), Duke 7 (NC), Bryant NR (who lost next game in QF), Hopkins NR (who lost next game in FF), MD 1 (who lost NCG), Towson NR (TBD)

Over an 8 year period SU should not be the 9th best team when it comes to NCAAT success (assuming tOSU or Towson don't win it all this year). Nor should we be the worst ACC team. You can't use parity as an excuse as 4 schools have made it to at least 50% of the FFs and account for 20/32 available spots. Going further 7 schools account for 26/32 spots. There hasn't been variety in the FF, it just doesn't include SU. SU has lost 5x to teams that were not seeded. FIVE TIMES in 8 years! Towson is TBD but for the other four, three of them lost their next game. I can excuse MD as they were a hot team that ended up in the NCG.

 

[RoofBeam]

What should get you fired- but won't because this is SU- is one final four since 2010, repeated failures to improve over the course of seasons, significant losses to inferior teams in the NCAA tournament, a predictable lack of intensity over long stretches in important games, and the dissipation of prestige and confidence that has turned the center of the lacrosse world into just another school with just another lax program which may not even be the best program in the state at this point...and as the basketball team's recent records and recruiting failures and yet another set of NCAA sanctions reveal, Boeheim should have been gone a half decade ago but have no fear, the SU administration will be the last to know and the AD obviously thinks it isn't a problem to sell a program run by an ill tempered corpse who prides himself on terrorizing local media and who has napped his way through the last several recruiting cycles.

Here is Desko in summary (from an article in Syracuse.com)

"But when asked if Sunday's failure made the season a disappointment, Desko was adamant in his response.

"No, not at all,'' he said. "I think that lacrosse has changed so much over the years. All the teams are good. If you make it this far...these teams we've played in the (recent) past is a final four game. I think everybody this weekend that played is a very good lacrosse team. These guys, I don't think (had) a lot of high expectations."

This is what Desko has turned the program into, a program with not a lot of high expectations that is just happy to be in the tournament and accepts losing because all the teams are good. Such a warm embrace of mediocrity. Disgusting.

Lets fire the ACC coach of the year... brilliant!

Cuse fans think they have a right to be in the final four every year. The sport has changed. If making it to the quarterfinals gets you fired, there would be a lot of quality openings every year.

I'm often frustrated by some of the decisions that this staff has made, but take a step back. It's not easy to win a title anymore. If you held Boeheim to the same standard that you're holding Desko, Jimmy B would be long gone.

 

[CreaseRat]

I'm not sure it's Desko that needs to go or the assistants. There is a lack of innovation and in game adjustments being made. I believe there is a major problem in player developement and actually placing players in a position to be effective. I would like to see them bring a younger coach on staff that can relate to players and act as a go between. The game and recruiting world is changing and it's about time this program makes adjustments to catch up and keep up with the changing landscape. The Syracuse name doesn't sell to kids like it did 20 years ago, especially when you miss playing on Memorial Day weekend

Everyone talks about how great Danowski is at teaching fundamentals and giving his players the opportunity to grow and develope during the season. I believe a large portion of their fall ball is solely individual skill development. Wouldn't mind hearing the program do something similar

 

[CuSeLaX]

Today sucked but I think we have to not react solely to this one game. We lost too early to a team we probably should beat. But Desko did a heck of a job adjusting the defense in the second half. Locking off Drenner on man up and face guarding 26 with a shorty in 6 on 6 shut them down in the second half. There is nothing Desko could do our offense just wasn't as talented as their defense.

We are quick to forget all the injuries that hurt this years team as well. We lost a starting defender(who probably would have been and all american). A guy whom could have be a man up star and occasional contributer at attack(Thorpe). Westin would have been our best second line midfielder. And JT could have pushed for minutes as well.

But think about the future! Next year our defense is going to be very good. Mellen will replace Firman and Mellen looked last year to be a stud. Everyone else is back. Got a young goalie who showed promise in mop up duty. And in 2019 they will all be back again. D mids will be interesting but 24 looked solid and he's a freshmen.

The offense that comes back next year will be a very young group that will only add pieces in the following years and add depth.

This team overachieved all year. The talent, from a dodging standpoint on attack, hasn't been there since Rice left. But we have some horses coming and Rehfuss and Solomon are only going to get better.

Recruiting is hard we have missed but no one could have predicted some of these guys wouldn't pan out. We got highly rated players that everyone wanted. They just didn't pan out.

I'm frustrated I'm mad about how today went. But I'm ready to be hopeful for the future. 2018 could be our year! More likely 2019 but I'll never underestimate Desko or his staff.

 

[orange79]

I'm not sure it's Desko that needs to go or the assistants. There is a lack of innovation and in game adjustments being made. I believe there is a major problem in player developement and actually placing players in a position to be effective. I would like to see them bring a younger coach on staff that can relate to players and act as a go between. The game and recruiting world is changing and it's about time this program makes adjustments to catch up and keep up with the changing landscape. The Syracuse name doesn't sell to kids like it did 20 years ago, especially when you miss playing on Memorial Day weekend

Everyone talks about how great Danowski is at teaching fundamentals and giving his players the opportunity to grow and develope during the season. I believe a large portion of their fall ball is solely individual skill development. Wouldn't mind hearing the program do something similar

Personally, I really don't buy the 'younger coach to relate to the players' argument. Never have. Duke hoops seems to work with an older coach. Plenty of other examples. There are many reasons why a coach is successful or not. I just don't think age is really one of the important ones. :noidea:

 

[wallacecuse]

Personally, I really don't buy the 'younger coach to relate to the players' argument. Never have. Duke hoops seems to work with an older coach. Plenty of other examples. There are many reasons why a coach is successful or not. I just don't think age is really one of the important ones. :noidea:

Tierney has done well...

 

[outoftownie]

Tierney has done well...

Tierney also has three assistants under the age of 40 on his staff, included arguably the best offensive mind in the game right now. There is zero diversity in our staff. We basically have four of the same guys, middle aged family guys. Now that's not an awful thing, but don't you think it's a good idea to have something a little different? Young guy? Guy who didn't play at SU? Guy that can recruit all summer with worrying about home life? Guy that embraces social media?

I think each of the guys on the staff brings something to the table with their knowledge bases, but there would be a major benefit to adding a younger face to the staff.

 

[PhatOrange]

There certainly is a problem with the program. I am not saying it is Desko, but the first step in improving is admitting there is a problem. Only then can results change. So what is the issue? Are CNY HS players just not good anymore? Is it the assistants? Is it our style?

The 2010s have yielded:

Champions: Duke 3, UNC, Denver, Loyola, UVA, TBD

Final Fours: MD 6, Duke 5, Denver 5, ND 4, Loyola 2, UVA 2, Cornell 2, UNC, Cuse, Brown, Hopkins, tOSU, Towson

SU losses: Army NR (who lost next game in QF), MD NR (who lost NCG), Duke 3 (who lost FF), Duke 7 (NC), Bryant NR (who lost next game in QF), Hopkins NR (who lost next game in FF), MD 1 (who lost NCG), Towson NR (TBD)

Over an 8 year period SU should not be the 9th best team when it comes to NCAAT success (assuming tOSU or Towson don't win it all this year). Nor should we be the worst ACC team. You can't use parity as an excuse as 4 schools have made it to at least 50% of the FFs and account for 20/32 available spots. Going further 7 schools account for 26/32 spots. There hasn't been variety in the FF, it just doesn't include SU. SU has lost 5x to teams that were not seeded. FIVE TIMES in 8 years! Towson is TBD but for the other four, three of them lost their next game. I can excuse MD as they were a hot team that ended up in the NCG.

There might not be variety in the FF but when Denver, ND, Loyola, Cornell, Brown, Ohio State and Towson have 16 final fours between them in your time frame I would say that's parity. The talent gap has closed and been surpassed by these newbies and the old guard. That's a fact. At least Loyola, Cornell, and Towson have history, but it took them 100 years to break through. No matter. There is no more talent gap, so if you don't get the very very best players you better be able to coach.

 

[cuseguy]

What should get you fired- but won't because this is SU- is one final four since 2010, repeated failures to improve over the course of seasons, significant losses to inferior teams in the NCAA tournament, a predictable lack of intensity over long stretches in important games, and the dissipation of prestige and confidence that has turned the center of the lacrosse world into just another school with just another lax program which may not even be the best program in the state at this point...and as the basketball team's recent records and recruiting failures and yet another set of NCAA sanctions reveal, Boeheim should have been gone a half decade ago but have no fear, the SU administration will be the last to know and the AD obviously thinks it isn't a problem to sell a program run by an ill tempered corpse who prides himself on terrorizing local media and who has napped his way through the last several recruiting cycles.

Here is Desko in summary (from an article in Syracuse.com)

"But when asked if Sunday's failure made the season a disappointment, Desko was adamant in his response.

"No, not at all,'' he said. "I think that lacrosse has changed so much over the years. All the teams are good. If you make it this far...these teams we've played in the (recent) past is a final four game. I think everybody this weekend that played is a very good lacrosse team. These guys, I don't think (had) a lot of high expectations."

This is what Desko has turned the program into, a program with not a lot of high expectations that is just happy to be in the tournament and accepts losing because all the teams are good. Such a warm embrace of mediocrity. Disgusting.

While I'm not ready to hold Desko to the fire just yet, that was the same take I had yesterday. No sense of anger or regret after failing to reach Final 4 as a 2 seed.

I think it also might have showed that he felt this team was probably living, to some degree, on borrowed time. He saw all of those close victories just as we did.

The loss didn't surprise many of us -- and I imagine it didn't surprise him. But I did sense a bit of apathy after his remarks.

 

[laxsummit]

I would give Desko and his staff contract extensions. Solid, professional and well respected group that guided a team in transition to overachieve. Will be a young team next year that should be stronger any year end . I force some FF in the near future and stability is key

 

[PhatOrange]

It’s easy to pile on Desko right now and I’m not a huge fan, but we hit Towson playing their best ball and we had a bad game.

We had the uncharacteristic 7 penalties. We spent 6 ½ minutes man-down. Nearly half a quarter.

2nd leading man-up in the nation, we went 0-4 / Towson converted 3-7

11 turnovers most of them bad turnovers. Some crazy passes, the offsides etc. just bad.

4 or 5 piped shots and an opposing goalie that made 3 or 4 doorstep saves. In fact their goalie played out of his mind.

What makes this loss so disappointing for me is not Desko, but rather how bad we played. I give Towson some credit, their individual defense was outstanding their goalie had a career type day. But we really served the game up to them and not in a way that was Desko's fault.

Whats next? My worry is what is in the cupboard. I love the Rehfuss potential and Solomon is a solid player, Mellen an AA but that’s about it. Bomberry is a Crease guy, Tyson Bomberry is an adequate defender but not spectacular. I don’t think Voight or Trimbo really showed they might be a star in the making, but maybe. Offensively, there is nobody else. In-close defense? Is there a dominant LSM?

It’s another year of way too many question marks and hoping unproven kids step up.