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North Carolina Game...

Hopefully they beat UVA and ND and this entire post goes down as a post loss over reaction but this team hasn’t responded well to pressure

I questioned it earlier but what is the mindset of this team? Because to me they look like a group that just doesn't have it. I really think they are least talented ACC team this year and you need to do the little things to win games um (HHH) and we're just not seeing enough of that.
 
Do you remember who? I know they lost a lot of kids during his tenure but don’t remember them losing kids when he left. Apologies if I am wrong!

I know they lost a player to PSU *2 I think, a Fogo and I think a couple more including one to I think Loyola.
 
SU would still be a winning program in the days of the old Big East with the likes of Providence, Rutgers, Georgetown and St. John’s and a schedule dotted with Binghamton, Hobart and Colgate. But this Covid schedule, heavy on talented ACC teams, has exposed SU’s weaknesses.
 
I questioned it earlier but what is the mondset of this team? Because to me they look like a group that just doesn't have it. I really think they are least talented ACC team this year and you need to do the little things to win games um (HHH) and we're just not seeing enough of that.
Was gonna say the same thing. Apart from Desko and co.-- where is the leadership of the guys that decided to come back? Or should I say, lack thereof. Like what was the point of coming back if they aren't going to do what it takes to win.

Now, I don't think we are the least talented ACC team this year. This team has the pieces to beat the brakes off of anyone in the country. They are just playing like the worst team in the ACC. Plain and simple.
 
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Was gonna say the same thing. Apart from Desko and co.-- where is the leadership of the guys that decided to come back? Or should I say, lack thereof. Like what was the point of coming back if they aren't going to do what it takes to win.

Now, I don't think we are the least talented ACC team this year. This team has the pieces to beat the brakes off of anyone in the country. They are just playing like the worst team in the country. Plain and simple.

Yeah I hate to question the dedication of the players because obviously I'm not around the team and I have no inside information but yeah for those seniors that came back now is the time. Where is the leadership?

Just out of curiosity who do you think we are more talented than in the league? I don't think being the least talented to in the ACC this season is the worst thing, we obviously have talent but from top to bottom I'm not sure we don't have the weakest roster.
 
Was gonna say the same thing. Apart from Desko and co.-- where is the leadership of the guys that decided to come back? Or should I say, lack thereof. Like what was the point of coming back if they aren't going to do what it takes to win.

Parties?

How many of this team's "leaders" were almost suspended for Covid violations before the season even began?

This whole season just started off on the wrong foot.
 
I was at Umass the day the final four streak ended and people were screaming for Desko’s head after that game Shy of Panarelli tossing all his equipment on the field after the Colgate game in 2007 this has to be a low point
 
Parties?

How many of this team's "leaders" were almost suspended for Covid violations before the season even began?

This whole season just started off on the wrong foot.

Do you know who was involved in that? Just curious, I never heard any specific names mentioned. If it was in fact any Captains/seniors that would be disappointing.
 
If they had been suspended, we would have suffered through a disappointing season.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

We wouldn't have suffered though. We would have known back in February that we were gonna suck. Kind of like the football team.

At least we made it to March before the suck snuck up on us.
 
We wouldn't have suffered though. We would have known back in February that we were gonna suck. Kind of like the football team.

At least we made it to March before the suck snuck up on us.
The Army game was a strong indicator. Since then it’s just been a slow ride of inconsistency and ineptness. Outside of the 2007 team, the worst in school history since 1975.
 
Do you remember who? I know they lost a lot of kids during his tenure but don’t remember them losing kids when he left. Apologies if I am wrong!

They lost #16 Cohen to Yale, #23 Demopolous to Brown, #56 Peden and #58 Long both to Penn State, and #86 Constantinides to Towson. (#s are IL rankings)

Unfortunately for Cuse fans, the one key '21 they did keep was #21 Todaro.

And, of course, they lost the likely opportunity to recruit Dom Petro in the '22 class, along with guys like Truitt Sunderland and a few others, who were potentially bound for Hopkins prior to the Petro ouster.

Milliman made a couple good '21 and '22 pickups but not sure if it replaced the talent lost in the coaching change.

But if you have to make a change, you make it. You don't worry about the short-term recruiting impact. Got to think about the bigger picture.

At the very least, Desko needs a new defensive coordinator.
 
Hopefully they beat UVA and ND and this entire post goes down as a post loss over reaction but this team hasn’t responded well to pressure

Sorry chief but a 21-9 home loss isn’t an over reaction.

they’re 5-4, 1-3 on the season with losses of 18-11, 18-11 and 21-9 all at home.

from a team with a bunch of preseason all-american candidates and a favorite to be playing in the final four.
 
Desko has to be gone, right? Sorry to pile on him after a loss, because I usually wait for a win before I offer any criticism, but there probably won’t be another win this season.
What an embarrassing season, other than that really good win against Virginia (who is a great example for SU to look at as a heralded program that fired a HOF coach, and then turned their program around) and a hard fought loss against Duke (although when is that last SU lax season where our 2nd best game of the year was a Loss?!). Not sure what coach to hire, but there should be a Lot of great candidates. You guys have any good ideas?
What a pathetic defense. Do we really miss Mellen that much? Too bad he didn’t come back, but he gave us a lot, and probably even with him we’d still be struggling on D.
We’re just not a disciplined team, which really comes down to coaching. Turnovers, clears, off ball defense, help defense, and especially penalties are signs of a disciplined team, which come from coaching, not talent. Notre Dame coach, Kevin Corrigan, is really impressive in how he prepares his team. We’re talented enough on offense and at goalie to be competitive, although not on Defense. Desko’s coaching style excels when we can just beat teams due our overwhelming talent, but those days are long gone, unfortunately.
Damn, what a disappointing defensive effort, game plan, game, and actually season.
 
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Rough year.

If you think about it though isn't this almost where we thought the team would at this point. No one predicted blowouts but kinda figured with Sowers and Gray that the Duke and Carolina games would be losses. The Virginia and Notre Dame games were coin tosses. Most probably figured we would be 6-3 at this point and finish 8-4, maybe 9-3. There's still a shot they can pull out two more wins albeit a long one. Hopefully someone is trying to make that last game happen. Post season starts next week for them, maybe they can catch fire like Carolina a few years ago.

Lots of wishful thinking.
 
I believe it means coaches get stuck in their ways and not keeping up with the changing times, whether it's a new playbook, new training techniques, new approach to recruiting, fishing for recruits in the same old depleted ponds, or whatever.

Or does it simply mean that you're tired of him?
 
Or does it simply mean that you're tired of him?
I personally can say I hold both Desko and Rogers at the highest of levels. I met them both in the 80s and have followed their careers ever since. I want nothing more then for this team to go forward and have success with both Desko and Rogers in charge. I still think Desko is the greatest in game coach ever, He is the ultimate tactician. With that said he seems to be running out of options. This program is bigger then anyone bigger then any player bigger then any coach. It’s why I respect Simmons for stepping down after 98. His teams were still incredibly competitive but weren’t bringing home championships. Giving up 57 goals in 3 games inside the Dome being blown out by big name rivals tells me there is massive internal problems. To quote Jocko Willink and Leif Babin “There are no bad teams only bad leader’s “ Desko must take extreme ownership of this situation right away
 
You don’t fire a coach like Desko in a year like this (no fall, new transfers, COVID protocol) off the back of game where you lost two players to injury! The over reaction on this board is unbelievable. Desko & staff have always coached us out of trouble and deserves some faith.

The players on the field have not found their feet at all and don’t look comfortable either in the package or in transition!

We have no Def depth & injury has hit hard, has Col redshirted? Faceoffs not producing, poor clearing and not enough possessions.
 
You don’t fire a coach like Desko in a year like this (no fall, new transfers, COVID protocol) off the back of game where you lost two players to injury! The over reaction on this board is unbelievable. Desko & staff have always coached us out of trouble and deserves some faith.

The players on the field have not found their feet at all and don’t look comfortable either in the package or in transition!

We have no Def depth & injury has hit hard, has Col redshirted? Faceoffs not producing, poor clearing and not enough possessions.
He’ll get another year. But what makes you think that will be better?
 
Or does it simply mean that you're tired of him?
I think when people say "the game has passed them by," it can really mean something, and not just that someone is tired of the coach.

Just something as simple as not taking advantage of social media to keep up with and attract recruits would be an example of an older coach not adapting to change. Or not recognizing and taking advantage of the new transfer portal.

It's often older coaches who get stuck in their ways, but I can think of for example, Jim Harbaugh in football, who isn't that old but he seems stuck in his ways. He doesn't want his players to eat chicken because it's a nervous bird! I doubt he would make use of the latest innovations in sports nutrition. Petro at JHU might have been like that too.
 
They lost #16 Cohen to Yale, #23 Demopolous to Brown, #56 Peden and #58 Long both to Penn State, and #86 Constantinides to Towson. (#s are IL rankings)

Unfortunately for Cuse fans, the one key '21 they did keep was #21 Todaro.

And, of course, they lost the likely opportunity to recruit Dom Petro in the '22 class, along with guys like Truitt Sunderland and a few others, who were potentially bound for Hopkins prior to the Petro ouster.

Milliman made a couple good '21 and '22 pickups but not sure if it replaced the talent lost in the coaching change.

But if you have to make a change, you make it. You don't worry about the short-term recruiting impact. Got to think about the bigger picture.

At the very least, Desko needs a new defensive coordinator.

The recruiting thing is two sided I think. There is risk to not making a change as well. As we are all familiar with, Desko doesn’t have the best track record keeping guys committed. I have to imagine that a lot of kids who committed were impressed with the 5-0 record last year, and other coaches will now be out for blood with new talking points, especially now that recruiting rules go back to normal soon.

The cynic in me says give this staff one more year, get the ‘22 class to sign their NLIs and then reassess after the year. But again, there is a lot of risk in that as well. It’s a tough call. I really don’t know who would be interested in coaching SU and making a change hardly fixes everything (see Hopkins who seems to have ramped up the drama since last year).

Sorry, I am rambling but I know a change needs to happen, but there are drawbacks to all the changes I can think of. To say nothing of the fact that it would absolutely pain me to see Desko go out in this fashion. The man is a legend and has given almost his entire life to Syracuse lacrosse.
 
I think when people say "the game has passed them by," it can really mean something, and not just that someone is tired of the coach.

Just something as simple as not taking advantage of social media to keep up with and attract recruits would be an example of an older coach not adapting to change. Or not recognizing and taking advantage of the new transfer portal.

It's often older coaches who get stuck in their ways, but I can think of for example, Jim Harbaugh in football, who isn't that old but he seems stuck in his ways. He doesn't want his players to eat chicken because it's a nervous bird! I doubt he would make use of the latest innovations in sports nutrition. Petro at JHU might have been like that too.
Petro was at Hopkins so long I was surprised he’s only 54. I think he coaches again.
 
The recruiting thing is two sided I think. There is risk to not making a change as well. As we are all familiar with, Desko doesn’t have the best track record keeping guys committed. I have to imagine that a lot of kids who committed were impressed with the 5-0 record last year, and other coaches will now be out for blood with new talking points, especially now that recruiting rules go back to normal soon.

The cynic in me says give this staff one more year, get the ‘22 class to sign their NLIs and then reassess after the year. But again, there is a lot of risk in that as well. It’s a tough call. I really don’t know who would be interested in coaching SU and making a change hardly fixes everything (see Hopkins who seems to have ramped up the drama since last year).

Sorry, I am rambling but I know a change needs to happen, but there are drawbacks to all the changes I can think of. To say nothing of the fact that it would absolutely pain me to see Desko go out in this fashion. The man is a legend and has given almost his entire life to Syracuse lacrosse.
Great post. I agree that this puts a renewed pressure on Desko on the recruiting trail with other teams having more ammunition to sell changing your commitmen.

I do not follow the recruiting as much as others here. Is there a great FOGO, close defenseman or speed wing player in the upcoming class? We seem to always be able to find good scorers (yesterday was not the best day for our offense but usually we score efficiently). Our problem seems to lie with recruiting everywhere else. All of our championship teams had great defensive long stick midfielders and shutdown defensemen. Mellen was a great player but he was always too small to believe he would escape his career without injury. We had chris cerci who was never really appreciated at the time. The other was the speedy wing player sam Bartlett(?) The Face-Off is so important. Desko was able to do it briefly with Ben Williams but then drove him into the ground.
 

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