Maryland Gameday...

[orange79]

Those first two years weren't going to be good. He really didn't have his thing going until last season.

Right. Just reporting the record.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Burn all navy blue jerseys for every team other than football.

Orange on the road, white at home. Orange, White or some chrome orange derivative helmet.

Throwback royal blue shorts if you’re mixing it up.

Eph Nike and their garbage illegible numerals.

That’s my astute takeaway from this game.

 

[Bayside44]

Right. Just reporting the record.

Understood.

 

[orange79]

Understood.

 

[PhatOrange]

Tillman imo is the best coach in the college game. 7-2 second half shows adjustments were made.

 

[UrbanaOrange]

Tillman imo is the best coach in the college game. 7-2 second half shows adjustments were made.

Agree, he is the best coach in the game. I listened to Till's press conference. I am probably in the minority here - I actually enjoy listening to his insights. There was some coach speak in there, but most of it was thoughtful & spot on.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Agree, he is the best coach in the game. I listened to Till's press conference. I am probably in the minority here - I actually enjoy listening to his insights. There was some coach speak in there, but most of it was thoughtful & spot on.

It was within the rules at the time and likely a smart play, but I hated that stall ball junk that Tillman pulled on us. He can't lose enough for me based on that emotional response of frustration watching that farce of a game. Tillman is a good coach but that performance was bunk! I immaturely will always hold a grudge for it.

For the record, coaching makes a bigger difference in lacrosse than most realize. I always thought it was unfair how Slugger and Desko were not as highly regarded by the Baltimore elitist crowd for what great coaches they were for SU.

Sure we had many great super talented players and provided the flexibility for a lot of going off the script on offense and defense. However, it was more than just throwing the ball out there and having the players running around. It was more than just give it to a Powell brother or rely on Joel White to shut down a player or Galloway to make a save. They were better tacticians than appreciated at the time.

Desko and Donahue made adjustments during the games and were a definite factor in many wins over the years. They were given some but in my opinion not enough credit for their impact.

I love Gary Gait as a player. He might still bring us back to the position that we belong in lacrosse. We might go to the final four this year. Yet losses like this in similar fashion to the previous few years do not give me a lot of optimism.

It is why at the time, I wish that Wildhack had conducted a true coaching search and at least listened to some different voices. Maybe we could have attracted a coach with a track record of building a program and by having access to the dome and our tradition ---could have put Syracuse at the next level. No doubt, Gait is a great recruiter. He still holds name recognition to the current players who were not even alive when he was leaping over the goal against Penn. The jury is out on whether he/Pat March can mold this talent into a consistent and elite offense. They need to be able to score more against the blue blood elite programs. Until then jury is out for me.

GO ORANGE!

 

[Cuse All-In]

Agree, he is the best coach in the game. I listened to Till's press conference. I am probably in the minority here - I actually enjoy listening to his insights. There was some coach speak in there, but most of it was thoughtful & spot on.

I think yesterday is an example of how good Tillman is. He doesn't have some of the stars he's had over the past few years but the discipline and poise of MD yesterday was impressive.
Hearing from former players, Desko had a calming influence in the dressing room as did Donohue.

 

[ColdAnger]

McCool was fine, missed a few he probably should have had but 1ST road start against a quality opponent he wasn't the problem.

Deere is a great lax player but he's not a midfielder and he's also now struggling to finish crease looks he should be burying. I know March/Gait want to get him on the field but I just don't think it's gonna work as a 2nd midfielder. He will slot into Hiltzs spot next year.

Birtwistles struggles are confounding though he's never been fully comfortable playing middie his best success came playing attack. SU has guys in Hottle Anderson Kellogg and a few freshman who should be seeing some time if this 2nd midline continues to struggle

Great analysis. I will add my $0.02 and suggest that the offense did generate some quality opportunities. Leo and English in particular had 'hands free' looks from quality shooting spots and missed the cage. On the flip side, Rhoa took some very bad shots ... most of the time, early in the shot clock, with no ball movement and from distance.

At the critical second-half moment, with the game up for grabs, Maryland's Eric Spanos took over. Who is that player for the Orange?

 

[Cuse All-In]

Great analysis. I will add my $0.02 and suggest that the offense did generate some quality opportunities. Leo and English in particular had 'hands free' looks from quality shooting spots and missed the cage. On the flip side, Rhoa took some very bad shots ... most of the time, early in the shot clock, with no ball movement and from distance.

At the critical second-half moment, with the game up for grabs, Maryland's Eric Spanos took over. Who is that player for the Orange?

You nailed it. We're still waiting for "that player"

 

[cuselaxss26]

I to will blame coaches for lost. I also wonder where is the high Iq of joey n hiltz n leo with insights of their own or suggestions. Maby they do n they go ignored. Maby that second half play just has me massively furious on top of losing to maryland again who sadly i hate only team hate more is duke. Tillman is great coach but he still scumbag for few reasons so never gonna like him.

Yesterday made me miss the days of rice, staats and donahue at attack. Where seemed like they always knew how to form a comeback or make plays that needed to be done(mostly). I also would say they weren’t an elite dodging attack either. Rice been best dodger wasn’t super fast but very talented. Not sure what this team is missing in crunch time but it’s becoming problem to see whatever they lack.

I also think guys need to work more on get shots off with pressure. Nick mariano style. Won’t always have hands free so gotta be able to shoot through sticks or pressure. Need a true sniper someone who can just rip shots and bury them. We have the ball movement need rangy shooter. I’d really like to see birt at attack even just for few sets with hopes maby he gets his mojo back. If he doesn’t then maby time to try someone diff.

Anderson def needs to get more touches and runs. Kid has ton of talent n great potential. Not to mention he can dodge hard n big body to creat problems. Coaches really need to buckle down n work on ton of things to get this team back to final four n bring chip home. Also feel this team needs little more heart put in them. Play every game like its last game ever.


Totally off topic but was talks of desko n he was great coach n awesome at adjustments. But one thing i always blamed him for or for not doing. I always thought not putting tyson bomberry on spencer in qtr vs loyola n keeping mellon on him was huge mistake. Mellon def was best defender but the size diff was truely a huge disadvantage. Where bomberry was bigger n more physical. Really only knack on desko i have.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

My overarching thoughts:

February lacrosse - everything should be taken with a grain off salt. Honestly, just playing an outdoor sport like this in the winter is kinda ridculous in and of itself.

Weather is a factor. Our offense pings it around and thats tough to do in the cold and rain. Maryland's offense wasnt great either. They got what, two goals on put backs, two emo, and a pole goal?

Offense really struggles when things get tight. I put this on March and too heavy a reliance on the "box style." Bad shots and risky passes dont really hurt you in box. In field, when games tighten up (every game against Army, Maryland, and ND will be like this), you have to value your chances more. There looked to be almost no off ball movement in the second half.

The first and second line mids had an absolute clunker. 2 pts between them and Rhoa's goal was pretty soft. Leo was (uncharacteristically) really poor. Would have liked to see some of the third line.

Wings were poor.

Thought defense looked good in settled situations. They still dont know how to play a pick though. I understand there are different schools of thought on this but the one that will be most effective, particularly behind goal is a combination of "taking out" the screener and moving aggressively upfield at the ball carrier (the second part more is more important that the first). Agree with DMVCuseLax that Figueiras locking up Erksa is a nice sign in his and the defense's progression.

Glad to see McCool make some big saves, but he was clearly guessing/shading low a lot and got beat stick side high at least twice (Spanos on a step down and someone coming up field of a dodge from x). He had a good, not great game and the rebound control really hurt us.

Thought Mullen had a good game.

Refs stunk (and i am not usually a "refs stunk" guy). They were not fat guy at Cornell bad, but pretty poor.

A couple of questions:

What happened to the glove rule? Remember Tillman catching OSU on that a few years back. UMD kids were wearing both white and black gloves out there. The rule used to be the colors needed to be coordinated and those were not.

Would the game benefit from a fourth ref? Is there even room for one, mechanically? It's a lot of field to cover and players are bigger and faster, and the ball moves quicker, than ever before.

On a personal note:

Not a great use of $13. Maryland broadcasting these games from the moon is ridiculous given the athletic budget they have and the money the Big Ten network generates. However, if I was paying by the word, it was great return on investment because those kids calling the game made Anish and Carc seem like selective mutes.

 

[outoftownie]

Was traveling all day yesterday and just had a chance to catch up on both games from yesterday and read the gameday post. A few thoughts. Not a great game for SU and a similar game that we have seen before, they struggle against defensively disciplined teams. I think pat march is a really good recruiter but I’m not sold on him as the offensive coordinator. On the flip side, I this John O is a very good d coordinator and 100% head coaching material. As mentioned earlier, it is super early. Back in the golden age of Syracuse lacrosse, this weekend would have been the first scrimmage or the week before the first scrimmage, not the 3rd or 4th game. I hope that we will see some changes on offense with personal mix, if we don’t I would have to question what’s going on in practice.
Random thoughts from the reactions:
- Desko was a great coach but there is no way he pulls mark, Stevens, kohn and English out of the portal, so there is no way he would have had last years team in final four without them.
- Wildhack did reach out to other top coaches regarding the position when the change was made. He didn’t just walk down the hall and tell Gary to switch offices.
- Big 10 network is a scam.
- John Tillman is the best all around college lacrosse coach in the game. He is a great tactician, tireless recruiter and champions his current and former players. He is 100% all Maryland lacrosse, all the time. It seems like there is no work life balance, no kids, no outside interests, just terps lacrosse.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Watching the replay, it is depressing how much meat we left on the bone on offense. Multiple possessions with missed quality looks in the first half. Deere missing some easy ones, Birtwistle some easy ones, Thomson and English messing up some finishes. English somehow fumbled that btb pass from Spallina on the crease that would have been an easy goal.

Then in the third quarter the first line middies had several missed opportunities. Along with missed opportunities we had some rushed shots early in the clock, definitely at least one from Leo. English missed two from short range on the same possession. McNany was unfortunately a massive factor like last season. Late in the 4th quarter with MD milking the clock, and a disappointing lack of discipline from some of our guys in the middle of the field, we did not have many real shots at closing the gap.

People can disagree, but I really do not think we need to reinvent the wheel with the offense and I still support what we are trying to do on that end. I don’t think we need to immediately tweak every lineup we have, because we know that these guys are capable of more than this. This was not a game where the clock was running low and we were getting nothing off every possession. Believe it or not I was even ok with what we saw from Spallina and Hiltz, and thought we could have gone to them more down the stretch. They both had good plays against their matchup 1v1.

Hoping we will look back on this one as a real outlier on the season for the offense. I still support our starters and know they can do better. The staff has made good tweaks to lineups as the seasons go on and I am confident they will again.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Offense had a ton of looks. Bad shooting day. Looked to me that McCarthy had a few good looks that he passed on early and Rhoa wasn’t the same after Stamos hit.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Random thoughts from the reactions:
- Desko was a great coach but there is no way he pulls mark, Stevens, kohn and English out of the portal, so there is no way he would have had last years team in final four without them.
- Wildhack did reach out to other top coaches regarding the position when the change was made. He didn’t just walk down the hall and tell Gary to switch offices.
- Big 10 network is a scam.
- John Tillman is the best all around college lacrosse coach in the game. He is a great tactician, tireless recruiter and champions his current and former players. He is 100% all Maryland lacrosse, all the time. It seems like there is no work life balance, no kids, no outside interests, just terps lacrosse.

Agree with you, on Desko not pulling those players out of the portal. It was time for him to retire. My point was that coaching and recruiting makes a difference.

Is it belief without evidence on the Gait hiring process? I don’t recall a search at the time with anyone else being interviewed. It is Wildhack’s call and if the outreach he did behind the scenes was enough than so be it. It did not feel like a true search to this uniformed outsider. I don’t remember anyone coming to campus to discuss the position.

Big ten network sucks. The ACC network is not much better.

Tillman is a good coach and I have an irrational hate for him from one game against us.

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

I have an irrational hate for Tillman for 7 games with most of it stemming from the 2011 quarter finals

 

[FloridaCuse]

If anyone wants to see the game and has access to the Big Ten Network they are showing a replay on Tuesday at 9am.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[JeremyCuse]

Not exactly reassuring that the staff got the message.

 

[JeremyCuse]

You are right (as usual) - the offense does not perform in the clutch in big games. Is that a mental issue - lack of mental toughness, a coaching issue or both? I do believe the talent is there but Spallina and crew have yet to show that they can elevate and dominate against great defenses.

At this point it's a combo of both. I am not anti-Gait but the lack of adjustments at times drives you nuts. At times it feels like they are determined to make the game plan work even when it's clear it's like trying to jam a square peg in a round hole. Maryland as the MO under Tillman slowed everything down to a crawl and gave SU zero transition game on Saturday. They also packed things in at times and really made it hard for SU to try and go inside and when SU did they either didn't finish (Deere) or dropped the pass (English). Gait in his PC kinda chalked it up to it being early in the season and the team needing to learn how to win these types of games. If this was 2023 he might have a point but this is now a heavy upper class Offense, those excuses aren't gonna fly.

In the 2nd half SU took a lot of bad shots that McNaney easily saved and much like the denver game last year Maryland scored a few goals in the third and the game was essentially over by the start of the 4th. SU was unable to force a lot of Maryland slides even with English drawing a short stick. He and Leo along with Deere missed a lot of great looks in the 1st half and some in the 3rd that they usually bury. SU really needed someone at attack to force a slide to spine the ball, Joey was able to do this in the 1st half but not so much in the 2nd. In these type of game SU needs to move Thomson to middie and get a dodger in at attack, he was a non factor pretty much the entire game as he had 1 shot on 4 goals with 2 turnovers against Maryland's 4h best pole.
Some of these issues can be traced back to the weather, missing great looks early etc but it doesn't explain it all away. This offense gets into bad funks for long stretches at times and when it starts pressing it takes bad shots from further and further out. Rewatch the 2nd half of the Cornell and UNC games from last year, they look eerily similar to Saturday's second half. The only real difference was that unlike Cornell and UNC SU wasn't turning the ball over a million times which was a silver lining. This is still a very potential offense and clearly one of the best in D1 but it's hard to trust this team against any upper echelon defense especially when it comes tournament time. Again I believe SU has to get a dodging threat at attack and continue to work on that 2nd mid line. Deere should be rotating at attack, he isn't a midfielder and while I like McCarthy and Birtwistle at some point we gotta see some actual production. To many high end guys on the bench to not at least rotate a few of them in or at least let me see that third line.

 

[JeremyCuse]

One other thing that hasn't come up yet is the clearing game/turnovers. SU was very good on Saturday clearing and only 13 turnovers in those conditions and first time outside Is pretty good. That said SU also hasn't faced a team that actually rides hard to runs a 10 man. Towson pressed out a few times but not much and Maryland doesn't really ride at all and doesn't run a 10 man thankfully. Harvard as far as I know doesn't either (10 man) but that Colgate game sticks out like a sore thumb. It's a good sign SU has been really good with turnovers 4 games in but that game spells major trouble if SU isn't prepared especially with going with so many 1 man clears to start the year with English and Rice.

 

[cuselaxss26]

said it before ball movement is great n all and we are very good at it but once the D packs it in tight you have to snipe mis range to long range shots. Gotta get the D to have to press out. We just kept trying to feed it in forcing it. If not gonna use anderson a dodger then you need to snipe shots. Also gotta work to middle of field and stop shooting these low angle shots. On a high end goalie they’re not gonna go often.

Just overall need better team play and more guys gotta step up. Also please please put english on the top right side (know leo there) but english has no left hand so having him drive down left alley limits him as even passing from there is difficult. Everyone Defender knows he’s gonna go close to go either spin back to right top side or go underneath. They literally give him a good lefty alley shot look but he has no left. So flip him n leo (better two hands then english) or drop english to second line n bump birt or mcCarthy up. Or just do anything.

Make in game adjustments please.

 

[cuselaxss26]

I rather see english just play dmid n won’t honestly and let anderson or someone else get runs on O as could use the game experience. English isn’t producing much on O n has no left. To much talent on this team to only score 2 goals in entire half good defense or not weather or not.

 

[cuselaxss26]

dmid and wing ment