Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="JeremyCuse, post: 4197437, member: 43"] Not a ton more to add to this, as you noted two pretty evenly matched teams, both with some talented players but major flaws as well. I have watched a couple of Hops games, not a bad team by any stretch but don't have near the depth or elite talent level they had in Petro's heyday. With both teams struggling not sure the Petro angle will be as big as the media played it up in the pre-season. Perhaps SU gets a slight edge out of it with Petro knowing most of JHU's offense well but even that seems like a reach. This feels like one of those game where each team will try and keep giving it way to the other unless one can come out and put the hammer down for a quarter which based on the current results of both teams seems unlikely. Hopkins D isn't terrible but as Powell noted they have struggled against star players (sound familiar) and they have struggled late in games with letdowns including X play despite Dunn doing a pretty good job overall in place of Narewski. If Narewski is out again, Hop doesn't have a ton of depth. Prouty has struggled to adjust tot the new rules and has only taken 10 draws, I think Callahan the True Frosh from Victor is the backup at this point but he's only taken 16 draws and lost 10 of them. Penalties will be key as well, sure as hell can't have six again as JHU will pick us apart, wish I had an answer as to how to be better there, I don't. Epstein is clearly not the same player he was as a frosh before hurting his knee, the burst is gone though he is still a very dangerous shooter. With Grimes out and Mahar hurt and out for the year Hop doesn't really have a solid replacement so Degnon got the nod versus and while he had 2 goals wasn't really a factor. He does have a cannon for a shot though and I assume Murphy will draw the assignment and need to stay with him and on his hands. Epstein and Desimone are a good combo and will likely give us problems. Desimone is the main initiator from the attack position so hard to see Kennedy not drawing this matchup. Coccamo will have his hands full with Epstein and he struggled at times on Sunday against Bart, he better be ready as Epstein is lights out from the wing if open. For my money Keogh is probably the best middie with Angelus not far behind. I think SU will pole Keogh as Angelus is a smaller jitter bug type middie who our SSDMS should have a size and weight advantage on. Hops short on quality depth this year as guys like McDermott and Peshko who came on strong late for the Jays last season have struggled to do much of anything this year. Essentially if you can limit Epstein and Desimone your likely to win similar to Curry and Dordevic for us. Hop is a smaller team then SU has seen 2 of the last 3 weeks in Army and UVA. Most of the O players are under 6 feet and the only real upper level dodger is Desimone and to a lesser extent Epstein who as I noted just doens't have the same burst after his injury but is still a dangerous scorer. From an SU offensive standpoint I am hopeful this team will spend a majority of the week practicing against a zone as I am sure we will see a ton of it on Sat. Again with Hiltz out this team seems unsure of what it wants to do and as Fetterly noted post-game SU actually passed up several good looks against Hobart's zone as they seem to be looking for a great look versus a good one. The turnovers and sloppy play have to stop, its not like the offense is mostly young guys either when the starters are out, there. They become unwatchable at times and literally turned it over the first 4 or 5 possessions against the zone on Sunday, it was absurd. From a personnel standpoint it was good to see Tenaglia get some run at attack on Sunday, baby steps in getting some other guys some run. Berkman was much more active on Sunday but its asking a lot for him to play all the minutes at the third attack spot. I have to assume Birtwistle is hurt again which is really to bad I had high hopes for him once he got his feet underneath him. He hasn't played since the 1st quarter of the UVA game so I assume something is up. Cook hasn't been bad per se but he's just not an offensive threat on the 1st midifeld. He has 2 pts the last two games combined and looks lost against the zone. Cordes was finally put out there late against Bart and immediately put a rocket off the cross bar. I know Cook must be balling out in practice but he has nearly as many turnovers (5) as pts this year (7). The talent is there which is the most frustrating aspect but I just don't see him as a starting midfield at this point, it really should be Cordes. Fiorini got some run again on Sunday as well. You wonder what a couple of additional lesser games where he and Corsi and Cordes could get extend run like Holy Cross could do for their confidence and PT against the upper level opponents. With Hiltz essentially out for the year the offense is what it is, when Curry and Dordevic are both on we have a shot, when one of them isn't were in trouble if both struggle well you get the UVA score. Would like to see Seebold take better care of the ball. He's tied for the team lead with 9 turnovers, which is way way to many. Berkman also has six for a guy whose not exactly handling the ball a ton, not good. Overall the passing needs to be better, fundamentals was a big buzz word the last two games + in the game thread. So many turnovers on simple passes where someone just drops a pass or takes their eye of the pass for a split second or a simple pass to an open teammate is either at his ankles or a foot over his head. Go back and watch the Hobart game and see how many times SU simply threw it away with little pressure, Gait has to crack the whip here. On Sunday expect McManus on Dordevic and Lyne on Curry. Hop's D has good size and experience especially at close. They have depth at LSM with Jennings and another guy who escapes me I think Smith. Hop for once actually has good depth at SSDM and guys with size (Martin, Lilly etc). They aren't the fastest bunch though so it will be an interesting matchup to say the least. Curious to see if SU bumps Dordevic back to middie for a time again, seemed to give Hobart some issues when we did it but it also really depletes an attack unit that's already light on stars. Getting something out of Tenaglia or Birtwistle if he can get back on the field and get some run at attack could really help open things up and force teams to make tough decisions when Curry and Dordevic and Quinn are on the 1st line. Keys are going to be how we play against the zone, turnovers and can we score when actually going man up. Get 2 out of those three right SU has a good shot to win. SU has slowly started getting some of the younger guys more involved, Corsi and Cordes and others should see some additional run. All and all the two teams are pretty evenly matched. Goalies are about the same (Hop board not a huge fan of Kirson though), will be interesting to see who starts for SU. As I noted in the beginning this game screams winner to whoever can minimize sloppy play and turnovers. SU getting a week off after the quick turnaround for Army and Bart should hopefully help here. If this were a normal SU team I'd like our chances especially if Narewski is still out, but I find it hard to trust this team right now with turnovers and transition defense. Maybe something will click this week, maybe. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?