North Carolina Game...
- Thread starter OrangeXtreme
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)One factor to consider among the wreckage: All the ACC teams but SU are significantly improved from a year ago. Each has added several top talent players including at least one attack. Particularly relevant are FOGOs, goalies and top attacks. SU added one good defenseman. I think these changes dropped SU figuratively out of the ACC league. I believe Denver, Georgetown and Lehigh would beat SU convincingly. Each has added through transfer significant top talent contributors.
Think carefully about coaching changes. For example, John Galloway for defensive coordinator. I have watched several Jacksonville games over the past two years. They are mistake prone, especially in unsettled situations. They do not adjust well to tactics like 10-man rides. They do not ride well or dominate the middle of the field on Fogos. The level of overall defensive talent is way below that of relatively new programs like Utah, Richmond, Robert Morris, etc. I love the guy, but I would not hire him to coach.
Another observation: The absence of Ivy league lacrosse has had a significant effect on SU in this sense. The league regularly attracts a large proportion of transfers which this year would have diluted the ACC's talent pool. In the seasons to come, SU will have to catch up with the rest of the ACC if they want to regain competitiveness. Hopkins faces the same problems SU does. It's a very expensive school losing its advantages due to the expansion of the sport and the rise of transfers.
Powellfan
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Thanks. No recruiting expert myself but Syracuse has a four star fogo coming in next year in Jack Fine. No idea how good he is but he plays in the New England prep league, which is very competitive this year. Fogo should be interesting. Phaup has eligibility but as we’ve seen, he’s struggled. Savage has shown promise but he only got one or two draws in the last game. I feel for Desko when it comes to this position. Phaup and Varello looked great last year, and he probably never imagined he would need to add here. But rule changes seem to have messed both players up, Phaup mentally and Varello just isn’t built for the new style.
As for wing players, the Orange bring in four defensive recruits next year, and only the transfer form Yale is ranked very highly. They did bring in what I thought was a good group of freshmen in Caden Kol and Tommy Drago but neither have played. Kennedy is a good disrupter in the middle of the field but he has never impressed when it comes to actually picking up the ball. I really thought Wykoff would be big here but he seems to struggle most of all when it comes to gbs.
For the defense in general, I think they were really hurt by JJ Todaro flipping to Hopkins, that guy looks super talented. Defense next year should be a real worry spot. Lots of defenders on the roster but no one who seems to understand what schemes are run. I think that says more about the coaching than anything, but there are guys just flat getting beat and you can’t blame the coaches for all of that.
JeremyCuse
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Keep an eye on Levine in the coming class. True SSDM who could play right away with Dearth gone and definitely could see time on the wing.
SULAXAHOLIC
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SU is getting beat off ball this has been a problem for a long long time ball watching and lack of communication. Mullins was great on ball as was Firman and Mellen but we have not had a great team defense since 2011
Bigmancuse
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Worst performance in years. Still think the team has the talent to get going in the next few weeks. If I’m Desko, I’m making a few changes.
1. Try zone d
2. Get the ball out of the goalies stick sooner, there is no transition on this team.
3. Start Varello
4. Play buttermore
5. Give Ferris a chance
6. Put Trimboli on the second like and give him more touches. Maybe it will get him going
7. Too much iso ball on offense, move the rock around
1. Try zone d
2. Get the ball out of the goalies stick sooner, there is no transition on this team.
3. Start Varello
4. Play buttermore
5. Give Ferris a chance
6. Put Trimboli on the second like and give him more touches. Maybe it will get him going
7. Too much iso ball on offense, move the rock around
ForCuseSake
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I agree they need to give zone a try more frequently.
I’m not a big zone fan but if I coached a team that was losing possession battles (whether FOs, GBs or bad offense) I’d run it.
Give the D a break, clog the crease, frustrate the offense into a potential shot clock violation and give your goalie good looks at shots from distance.
They tried zone out of a UNC time-out in the second quarter and it worked (until Quinn took an ill advised shot into UNC’a goalie’s stick).
Bigmancuse
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Forcusesake, I was able to get ticket online. Came to watch an actual crap show. One thing really stuck out to me. Cuse has some very good speed and size they they are underutilizing in the middle of the field. This team should be running and gunning. We have dearth, a physical specimen who when at full speed is hard to stop and Kennedy who might be the fastest lsm in the country. You also have Dami who can get the wheels going pretty quick. Throw in curry who is a second team all American, who is our fastest playerTHE PROBLEM is that the goalie takes 5 seconds after a save to run around the cage and look for a photo shoot every time. Needs to get the ball out of his stick and into the middle of the field ASAP. We couldn’t clear the ball to save a life yesterday. Not only would this help our transition game. But if one of our guys in the middle of the field runs the length of the field, misses a shot, we get the ball behind the cage and into Steve’s hands right away, our best offensive player. No other acc goalie keeps the ball in his stick that long.
And then on top of that, you’re down big in the fourth quarter, and you’re playing like you’re down 1. Somebody gonna wake up from their nap??
defense needs to wake up, you’re letting guys walk right onto the crease but porter needs to be better too.
And then on top of that, you’re down big in the fourth quarter, and you’re playing like you’re down 1. Somebody gonna wake up from their nap??
defense needs to wake up, you’re letting guys walk right onto the crease but porter needs to be better too.
SULAXAHOLIC
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If you played Zone against anyone in the ACC especially the likes of Duke with Sowers UNC with Grey and ND with Kavanaugh SU would probably lose by double what they lost by! Porter was taking extra time this week because UNC was putting on a very effective 10 man ride
Zone is much too passive a defense to be played all the time. It is useful to surprise the other team once in a while. Watch good teams play against Boeheim's zone like Villanova which moves people through the holes in the zone so fast that SU cannot follow the ball and the players well enough to stop easy scores. UNC will eat the zone alive. Not a solution to SU's problems.
Bigmancuse
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So what’s the solution? To me, our close d really doesn’t get burnt one on one to me. It’s guys cutting down the middle to the crease that led to a lot of goals.
laxobserver
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I don't think there is a solution on the defensive end this year. John Lade isn't walking through that door. The best thing to do is win more faceoffs and be more efficient on offense. Those seem more fixable in-season without needing personnel changes. I know, easier said than done, but do those things and you can mask some of the defensive issues. It's not fun to watch but they might have to take their time on offense as well. A slower pace will help rest the defense. The entire team has to be a part of "fixing the defense." Not just the defense itself.
OrangeXtreme
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I'd be happy if DiPietro and Aviles can walk through that door by next Saturday.
ForCuseSake
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Yeah, I don’t think my post advocated for full time zone.
Zone stopped UNC and created a turnover in the last 2 minutes of the first half (but the ensuing possession was wasted by Quinn’s shot). I stopped watching at halftime so I don’t know if they tried it again.
The defense doesn’t slide well and track cuttters. Hard to tell how much of it is talent, tired legs, or scheme.
I lean toward scheme because we’ve seen more talented defenses look equally lost when sliding and communicating.
Defensive talent differential (and new FO rules) have turned what used to be close wins/losses into runaway defeats.
Several years of high caliber transfers and recruits are one answer. To me, over the last twelve or so years our recruiting has fallen way behind the ACC's consistently very talented groups. Some intermittent classes have been solid, but on average SU is way behind the other ACC schools. Communication on defense, inferior wing play, inconsistent gb stats are not just tactical failings. They are signs of lack of talent, lack of athleticism, lack of eye hand coordination, lack of speed. If anything, I believe the coaches have done more with less over the last decade than other ACC schools who have been stacked consistently. When the defense falls apart it does so because some individuals cannot keep up with their assignments. The opposition players are faster, etc. If one of seven players on the defense cannot stay with his man the whole defense suffers.
CuseNHouse
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Unless Desko can pull the phoenix out of the fire this year,,,I'm afraid you may be correct...
The painful reality is that our next best shot is probably 2024/2025...assuming the 2022 class comes through...
Anything is possible, but it's not unreasonable to think that we are 2-3 years away unless there is a radical shift...
ThundrTroll
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Therein lies the problem. It would easier to pinpoint our defensive liabilities if our guys, including ssdm, were constantly getting beat one-on-one, but they aren’t. I can’t make sense of our defensive scheme. It’s like man-to-man with zone principles and it’s an absolute mess. Our base defense seems slouched in covering areas to start with, with liberty to press out once their “man” gets the ball. It’s very reactive and leads to a lot of ball watching.
We then exacerbate the ball watching by sliding (often adjacent... see any attempted alley dodge) at any slight of danger, often to ssdm even when they aren’t being beat. Then it is the job of that ssdm, doesn’t matter which one, to recover and scramble to find the open man. But a pass and ball always move faster than feet so if we are not causing a turnover on the slide, we are in big trouble as these good offenses we are facing move the ball so quickly before we can recover and get set.
In short, our slides are creating offense for the opponent where they don’t even have to beat us one-on-one. It is so frustrating because we are doing it ourselves. Our defensive scheme really needs to be questioned.
WoodyUK
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Having a new coach will only make it worse! This year without the returnees would have been a rebuilding year and now it will be next year but not having a stable coach will only make the situation worse! Hold on don’t panic
I haven’t seen anyone suggested that would be able to coach at SU in the modern age.
sutomcat
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It was my first time in the Dome post renovation as well.
Quick thoughts:
The lights are nice but they have the main ones hung low on the north and south sides of the roof, near the top of the walls. They are really bright and it hurt my eyes when I looked anywhere near them. I wish they put them up higher, closer to over the playing field, where they would cause less issues for fans trying to watch events.
The paint job on the parts of the walls exposed above where the seats end in the end zones looks really nice. They have sections of orange, blue and grey. The orange and blue are the right colors. Not a fan of grey but it matches the color of the hard shell part of the new roof and looks great.
They also added color to the concrete ring that marks the top of the north and south walls. Again orange and blue. I don't think they painted them; I think they bolted on a fake wall in front.
I think this is where they moved recognition of all the SU football bowl teams. The font is pretty small and not really easy to read.
They have the NC banners for the sports played in the dome hanging from the roof on the north and south sides. They look nice but are dark blue. Would have preferred orange. Maybe they would be harder to read if they were orange?
There are retired jerseys for basketball played up top on the west wall. Again, I think they were blue, which is weird because we almost never wear blue. Worse still, they chose to use orange for the jersey numbers and player names. It is okay for the player numbers but the player names are very hard to read in orange with a dark blue backing. Big snafu. There is a reason our dark blue normal home football jerseys use white for the player names.
That said, they look nice. They look expensive and high quality. It is good that they tried. Hopefully someday they can do them again, and make them look more like the jerseys the basketball team wears. The coolest thing would be to have different ones for different eras and truly make them look like the jerseys worn during the era the player played. Do that and when we retire jerseys in the future, coordinate with marketing so fans can buy a copy of the retired jersey with the same authentic look of the jersey the player wore while playing.
Other stuff:
The sound system is awesome. You can hear what the announcer says. They had little videos from the parents of the seniors when they were introduced (it was senior day) and you could actually understand what everyone was saying. They had the sound a little too loud for me but at least they didn't blare lots of angry rap and heavy metal songs like one has to endure trying to attend a Crunch game.
The end zone scoreboards are bigger and better than the ones we have before. Good resolution. Video looks very nice on them. I think one of the old ones in an endzone was moved to the northwest corner and is mostly used to show the score, time remaining, etc. Resolution on that one is not great.
The center hung scoreboard is terrific. The quality of the images is fantastic. True HD. Crystal clear. Awesome. My only quibble is that it was hung really high. Way up almost against the roof.
That might be required for football, so punts don't hit it, but there are no such issues for lacrosse. The reason I bring it up is because I, like everyone else in the place, was sitting on the first level. To look at that scoreboard required craning my neck pretty severely. I loved looking at it and because I kept doing it, I quickly became uncomfortable.
It was very much the same feeling one gets when you sit in the first row at a movie theatre and have to look up at the screen at a tough angle the whole movie. I hope we can bring the scoreboard down a bit more for future lacrosse games. From the pictures I have seen, I am sure they had it a lot lower for basketball games.
Glad I sit at the top of the 3rd level for football. That is going to make looking at the center hung scoreboard a lot easier on my neck.
Didn't have a chance to check out the new, touchless bathrooms in the end zones.
Did take a look at the newly expanded and enhanced concession stands in the corners of the lower level. You can see a lot of new ductwork, a lot of new equipment to support cooking and deep frying in those areas and for the first time, I had the feeling that the dome was a big time player in concessions (it has looked awful compared to other athletic facilities I have been to for a long time). Maybe someday soon they will open and dazzle us with new and exciting food options.
Walking in the concourses, you can see there has been a ton of pipes added overhead. Presume all of that is for AC. On that topic, it looked like a couple of suites have been enclosed in plexiglass, presumably to support AC. The arena is definitely not being air conditioned yet.
When we left, they had a bunch of doors propped open so fans could leave easily. No whoosh when we left. The whooshes are gone forever. I already feel nostalgia for them.
It was hard to get to the dome from the Raynor Lot (used to be Stadium) because they did away with a set of stairs that used to be almost directly across from the VA garage that led up to the dome. Had to walk down Irving maybe 100 yards and take another set of steps and then walk south along Falk to finally get to the dome. We wondered why.
On the way out, I think we found out. There is major construction going on west of the dome. There are a couple of trenches and some big pipes being worked on. Pretty sure this is the main feed to and from the main cooling stations for the campus down by Almond. I think this is where the feed for AC is coming from and until it is done, the dome cannot be air conditioned. Great to see it is underway. I thought Peter said he expected it done by March.
At this point, I don't think there is much hurry. It surely isn't going to be ready for the last couple of women's lacrosse home games. Hoping though that the game on Saturday was the last one I will ever attend where I do not feel AC keeping me nice and cool no matter what is happening down on the field.
PhatOrange
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My first 2 calls would be to Andy Shay and Lars Tiffany in that order. Both Section III guys coming home to coach would listen and Shay might be more open than before. Yale didn't even have a season, so ridiculous.
MD Cuse Fan
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Shay would def be at the top of the list but do you think Lars would really leave UVA at this point?
Why would either guy want to coach at SU. Yale has recruits begging to get in and lots of money. Tiffany coaches in relatively warm weather, in a state very near Maryland for easy recruiting, with exceptional lacrosse facilities and lots of money. Assume for the sake of argument, SU's main problem is recruiting. Virginia and Hopkins brought in young coaches for good reasons, one of them being that kids hope for a bright future and, to some, old coaches with teams that seem to deteriorate over time do not engender such hope. Remember how March amped up our enthusiasm? Petro and Desko can flat out coach. The previous Virginia coach was a great recruiter for years until he wasn't. There are many factors in SU's inability to recruit the top guys. They still get some but not with much depth. I do not advocate for a coaching change. I am only suggesting that youth is an advantage in a coach. Oh, and don't forget Brodie Merrill.
went thru this on another thread. firstly and ironically, unc was first adopter on "zone/switching/recover" defense years ago. with breschi.
imo, what cuse needs to do is identify what they do fairly well (on ball d, goalie can make saves if he can track and not be hung out).
then identify what they don't do well... slide identification and backup slides.
so cuse could in theory stay with the base of what they're doing and slough in off ball, come out to on ball (it's what i coach as a base)... be taking up space unless adjacent is cleared thru. but they need to absolutely cut down on actually sliding (poorly) and put responsibility at 90% own guy/10% off ball. instead of every defender worrying about sliding and the ball. let drake track shots, get balls stuck in sticks, and make players win 1 v 1 battles against you.
