Quint argues we no longer possess elite offense...

[jr4750]

in his latest top 20

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/03/19/quint-kessenichs-top-20-and-analysis-march-19

 

[OrangeinBoston]

in his latest top 20

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/03/19/quint-kessenichs-top-20-and-analysis-march-19

Really can't disagree. Marasco looks like he's maxed out. Palasek likewise - maybe that's why Pietramala didn't have a cow when he left Hopkins. Had high hopes for Lecky, but so far, nada. Desko tried Ward who had a couple of good runs. The only potential offensive superstar is Maltz. Oh, and can't forget T. Desko. He is frankly great. Maybe time to try some freshmen and sophs who haven't seen much playing time?

And FOs?? Looks like SU will have to recruit more FOGO guys - this ain't working.

 

[orange03]

Marasco has been a disappointment all things considered. Still has time to warrant the 22, but up to this point I expected more from him.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Hard to possess an offense when we can't possess the ball.

 

[JeremyCuse]

The offense hasnt been the patented SU offense in several years so Quint is a couple years late with that assessement. Unfortunately for us and Coach Desko SU has been hit hard with upper level recruits some of that top 100 who have not panned out at all. Coleman and Ianzito have been complete busts up to this point and unfortunately you would have to lump Barber in there as well. Powderly so far has been MIA and I have no idea where Grimm even is.

SU has also lost several players to transfer and Cathers no showing was a huge blow. Whats also hurt SU is that we havent been landing those stud offensive players we used to get in handfuls in the 90's early 200's in quite sometime. Desko and company have done a tremendous job of turning 3 and 4 star players into 5 star studs the past few years but not getting the Ranagans, Pannells, Stanwicks, etc etc have caught up a bit with this offense. Dont get me wrong Derek Maltz, Schoonmaker, and a few others have looked promising but with a young D and a goalie situation in trouble we need more from this offense.

The good news is that we have some big time players coming in over the next few years including Maltz's brother Dylan and a few other highly touted local prospects. In the meantime we may need to mine OCC more, we have gotten away from taking multiple kids from there each year and should be hitting that harder. I would also like to see Desko run the young guys more,we have seen enough of Barber, Ianzito, Coleman, and even Eilers who are just to inconsistent this far into there careers. Coach seems a bit reluctant to run the freshman the past few years at this point getting Rice , Dejohn and others some time is probably a good idea. Not sure where the O firepower is gonna come from this year if Marrasco, Lecky, and a few Freshmen dont break out soon.

 

[WoodyUK]

First off what does Quint know! he was saying the same thing in 2008 & 2009 when we won the championship, que Jovan saying in his interview "Hey Quint, Quint Kessinich we #1 again"!

http://tv.insidelacrosse.com/media/d3bb8a24207b475fa52cc33d5039000b/syracuse-middie-jovan-miller

Lets have some faith people!


The coaching staff always do a great job and bounce back and to be honest we should have won the championship in 2010 and 2011!

We have all the tools we need as we did in 2008 if we dont win it this year we will in it next year!

Cast your minds back to last year when UVA had lost 5 games and no one thought they would win the NC, strange things happen in May!

 

[jr4750]

The offense hasnt been the patented SU offense in several years so Quint is a couple years late with that assessement. Unfortunately for us and Coach Desko SU has been hit hard with upper level recruits some of that top 100 who have not panned out at all. Coleman and Ianzito have been complete busts up to this point and unfortunately you would have to lump Barber in there as well. Powderly so far has been MIA and I have no idea where Grimm even is.

SU has also lost several players to transfer and Cathers no showing was a huge blow. Whats also hurt SU is that we havent been landing those stud offensive players we used to get in handfuls in the 90's early 200's in quite sometime. Desko and company have done a tremendous job of turning 3 and 4 star players into 5 star studs the past few years but not getting the Ranagans, Pannells, Stanwicks, etc etc have caught up a bit with this offense. Dont get me wrong Derek Maltz, Schoonmaker, and a few others have looked promising but with a young D and a goalie situation in trouble we need more from this offense.

The good news is that we have some big time players coming in over the next few years including Maltz's brother Dylan and a few other highly touted local prospects. In the meantime we may need to mine OCC more, we have gotten away from taking multiple kids from there each year and should be hitting that harder. I would also like to see Desko run the young guys more,we have seen enough of Barber, Ianzito, Coleman, and even Eilers who are just to inconsistent this far into there careers. Coach seems a bit reluctant to run the freshman the past few years at this point getting Rice , Dejohn and others some time is probably a good idea. Not sure where the O firepower is gonna come from this year if Marrasco, Lecky, and a few Freshmen dont break out soon.

I agree with a lot of that. Ianzito in particular probably accounted for JHU's first three goals, slipping twice and opening up shots and committing a bad foul on the other. I was begging Desko to take him out. TD this year is our go to, and he is capable, but he'snot quite the player that a Nims or Leville were in ship years. I also agree the goalie situation is not strong right now. Lerman is giving up way to many outside shots and he's not someone good enough to create fast breaks with his outlets. The /O situation is just strange too, both Buhr and Daddio were great HS FO guys. They just can't roll that into college yet. Maltz looks really good, and I like what I saw out of Ward as well. Not having a middie like Greeley or Ranagan has been tough. Eilers is inconsistent, and we seemed to get burned a bunch on defense but their speed. I was honestly stunned we kept playing some of their speedsters out so far as they would turn the corner on us and beat the slide to have a wide open shot from ten in. This particularly happened in the 2nd quarter twice, right after we closed the gap to 2. I wasnt able to watch the second half, but from what I read it wasn't any better. We need to win the winnable games this year and maybe a share of the Duke, Cornell, ND, leftovers.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I agree with a lot of that. Ianzito in particular probably accounted for JHU's first three goals, slipping twice and opening up shots and committing a bad foul on the other. I was begging Desko to take him out. TD this year is our go to, and he is capable, but he'snot quite the player that a Nims or Leville were in ship years. I also agree the goalie situation is not strong right now. Lerman is giving up way to many outside shots and he's not someone good enough to create fast breaks with his outlets. The /O situation is just strange too, both Buhr and Daddio were great HS FO guys. They just can't roll that into college yet. Maltz looks really good, and I like what I saw out of Ward as well. Not having a middie like Greeley or Ranagan has been tough. Eilers is inconsistent, and we seemed to get burned a bunch on defense but their speed. I was honestly stunned we kept playing some of their speedsters out so far as they would turn the corner on us and beat the slide to have a wide open shot from ten in. This particularly happened in the 2nd quarter twice, right after we closed the gap to 2. I wasnt able to watch the second half, but from what I read it wasn't any better. We need to win the winnable games this year and maybe a share of the Duke, Cornell, ND, leftovers.

Hopkins has a pretty good team this year and theres a lot of speed and experience on that Offense so I wasnt totally surprised with the score but I agree with your regarding our plan to guard some of there faster players, left you scratching your head a little bit.

One thing with Ianzito is that Desko is developing a pattern of playing Seniors more in there last year then he did in previous years despite the fact that seem to be a step to slow or theres a younger guy in the wings. He did it two years ago with a Senior who had barely played and the same last year with Gilbert who I wasnt impressed with at all. We need to get some of the younger firepower out there as Desko and Maltz cant do it alone. It would also help if we could get Matt Pratt going as well, he has shown some flashes but his playign time seems up and down and he needs to have a 2 goal game here sooner rather then later.

Faceoffs have been an issue going on 4 years now and I am not sure what the answer is short of a Danny Brennan clone. Your 100% right on Daddio and Buhr being big time faceoff recruits and so far they have struggled big time though Daddio seems to be doing a bit better. I think wing play is killing this team, Drew is still rusty and the long sticks have been putrid. A couple of those long stick guys like Mcartney and the Texas kid are still real young so that should be an area we improve over the course of the season and more likely next year. I expect Desko to try some new O lineups this week maybe even look at burnign some redshirts if he has to because something has to change. At this point I see no reason to redshirt Wardell, its obvious Lamo isnt the answer and I dont think Lerman is the long term answer either.

 

[JeremyCuse]

First off what does Quint know! he was saying the same thing in 2008 & 2009 when we won the championship, que Jovan saying in his interview "Hey Quint, Quint Kessinich we #1 again"!

http://tv.insidelacrosse.com/media/d3bb8a24207b475fa52cc33d5039000b/syracuse-middie-jovan-miller

Lets have some faith people!


The coaching staff always do a great job and bounce back and to be honest we should have won the championship in 2010 and 2011!

We have all the tools we need as we did in 2008 if we dont win it this year we will in it next year!

Cast your minds back to last year when UVA had lost 5 games and no one thought they would win the NC, strange things happen in May!

Woody I love your passion and enthusiasm for the Cuse but I think your looking at it through Orange tinted glasses. SU's lack of O firepower over the past three seasons has cost them at least 1 National Championiship most likely 2010. There was no way we should have lost to Army or even Maryland last yer but we simply b0gged down on O to many times in those games. We havent been that patented Syracuse offensive team since probably 09 maybe even 08. The lack of consistent outside shooters and a dynamic scoring threat are hurting this team big time. We need some Dan Hardy Steven Brooks type players to go with a Nims/Leville, so far we dont have that as JoJo, Palasek, and Eilers are really struggling.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Unintended consequence of our face-off woes ...

Megill took 2 draws with a long pole. He got called for a violation on one of them and had to run off the field, leaving us without our best defender for a posession.

 

[jr4750]

Hopkins has a pretty good team this year and theres a lot of speed and experience on that Offense so I wasnt totally surprised with the score but I agree with your regarding our plan to guard some of there faster players, left you scratching your head a little bit.

One thing with Ianzito is that Desko is developing a pattern of playing Seniors more in there last year then he did in previous years despite the fact that seem to be a step to slow or theres a younger guy in the wings. He did it two years ago with a Senior who had barely played and the same last year with Gilbert who I wasnt impressed with at all. We need to get some of the younger firepower out there as Desko and Maltz cant do it alone. It would also help if we could get Matt Pratt going as well, he has shown some flashes but his playign time seems up and down and he needs to have a 2 goal game here sooner rather then later.

Faceoffs have been an issue going on 4 years now and I am not sure what the answer is short of a Danny Brennan clone. Your 100% right on Daddio and Buhr being big time faceoff recruits and so far they have struggled big time though Daddio seems to be doing a bit better. I think wing play is killing this team, Drew is still rusty and the long sticks have been putrid. A couple of those long stick guys like Mcartney and the Texas kid are still real young so that should be an area we improve over the course of the season and more likely next year. I expect Desko to try some new O lineups this week maybe even look at burnign some redshirts if he has to because something has to change. At this point I see no reason to redshirt Wardell, its obvious Lamo isnt the answer and I dont think Lerman is the long term answer either.

I think before you do that though, you have to look at whether a frosh Wardwell will be better this year than Lerman, which I honestly don't know. Especially after missing time with an injury.

As for the wing play, I hear you. Guys like Fazio are great athletes but not great with their sticks. Drew is still rusty and did pick up a few scrambles in the first half. I think he definitely needs to be on one side.

I think the defense is playing well outside of goalie. Hamlin plays very hard, and Megill has been solid. Harris, I haven't watched close enough, but we certainly have the size and strength to shut down opposing offenses. We are getting killed in the midfield, where guys like Ianzito are athletically overmatched.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I think before you do that though, you have to look at whether a frosh Wardwell will be better this year than Lerman, which I honestly don't know. Especially after missing time with an injury.

As for the wing play, I hear you. Guys like Fazio are great athletes but not great with their sticks. Drew is still rusty and did pick up a few scrambles in the first half. I think he definitely needs to be on one side.

I think the defense is playing well outside of goalie. Hamlin plays very hard, and Megill has been solid. Harris, I haven't watched close enough, but we certainly have the size and strength to shut down opposing offenses. We are getting killed in the midfield, where guys like Ianzito are athletically overmatched.

Agree on the long stick D guys, they have done a pretty good job and are very physical. They will be a big time team strength by the end of the season.

 

[WoodyUK]

Not at all its not like we are missing a whole team our starters would start at any other college, its about us getting it together for May, who actually believed we would beat Hop and UVA? they are the people with Rose tinted glasses.

I agree with us playing too many sr's this is a trend that has really become apparent over the last few years, if there is talent is there they should play if they arent then its hurting us......Maltz is a perfect example could he have played more last year?

Wardwell are we redshirting him for the right reason?

Im just trying to say we are a percentage away from being in the top 4 in the country, is that really so bad? when the Bluejays where in the same situation two years ago they almost blew making the tournament and lost a lot of games, this isnt us the lads are still playing hard and getting the wins (except for losses against #1 & #2 in the nation) and we are improving! keep your heads until we dont make the Tournament or lose the other games then fine!

 

[JeremyCuse]

Not at all its not like we are missing a whole team our starters would start at any other college, its about us getting it together for May, who actually believed we would beat Hop and UVA? they are the people with Rose tinted glasses.

I agree with us playing too many sr's this is a trend that has really become apparent over the last few years, if there is talent is there they should play if they arent then its hurting us......Maltz is a perfect example could he have played more last year?

Wardwell are we redshirting him for the right reason?

Im just trying to say we are a percentage away from being in the top 4 in the country, is that really so bad? when the Bluejays where in the same situation two years ago they almost blew making the tournament and lost a lot of games, this isnt us the lads are still playing hard and getting the wins (except for losses against #1 & #2 in the nation) and we are improving! keep your heads until we dont make the Tournament or lose the other games then fine!

Woody I dont think anyone is panicking or insinuiating this team wont make the tourney I just think theres some overall concern that the offense has been on a downward trend over the past several years. Syracuse just doesnt have the O playmakers that it once did, doesnt mean there not on this team or cant be next year but we are obviously struggling big time on the offensive front in some games even against lesser competition (St. Johns). The recruiting over the past couple years has been to much hit or miss and when you review the top 100 freshmen and the top 50 rising guns Syracuse's name isnt mentioned nearly enough. The good news is that the class two years from now looks loaded allready and hopefully some of these young guys will step up and Coach Desko will play the Rice's Dejohn's and Powderlys on this team to see what we have. No reason for anyone to have there heads down but its OK to have some concerns.

 

[WoodyUK]

I totally agree with the downward spiral on offense, we still let kids play but it is a lot more regimented than it has been in the past. I think this is something that has gone out of the game and is extinct at other schools already I hate the you stand here, set a screen A to B to C offense! I believe that if you have the talent let the kids use their ability and go to moves to create their own offense it worked for Mikey! you can have as many plays as you want but if you have an offense that know how each other play and their own strengths then they are pretty much un-stoppable! I think we are barking up the same tree!

 

[PhatOrange]

In general terms, we graduated most of our offense last year. The new kids are 4 games in. There wasn't all that much wrong with the offense against Virginia when we scored 10 goals other than the fact that we don't bounce shots.

Hopkins is a different animal because they play stall ball. Our offensive scheme/personnel is not designed to be Princeton basketball. It's the Larry Johnson UNLV Runnin Rebs.

IMHO, 4 games in the youth on offense is being exposed, we don't have a good 'half court' offense and our man up is terrible. Cripes Hopkins was 2 men down and we couldn't score and to me the man up problem is scheme not talent.

I do see elite athleticism on the field I just think they need a bit more time to develop than we're used to and the settled offensive scheme needs to be tweaked if not overhauled. Frankly, if these guys would go back to the fundamentals of the game and bounce more shots they would score more.

 

[JeremyCuse]

In general terms, we graduated most of our offense last year. The new kids are 4 games in. There wasn't all that much wrong with the offense against Virginia when we scored 10 goals other than the fact that we don't bounce shots.

Hopkins is a different animal because they play stall ball. Our offensive scheme/personnel is not designed to be Princeton basketball. It's the Larry Johnson UNLV Runnin Rebs.

IMHO, 4 games in the youth on offense is being exposed, we don't have a good 'half court' offense and our man up is terrible. Cripes Hopkins was 2 men down and we couldn't score and to me the man up problem is scheme not talent.

I do see elite athleticism on the field I just think they need a bit more time to develop than we're used to and the settled offensive scheme needs to be tweaked if not overhauled. Frankly, if these guys would go back to the fundamentals of the game and bounce more shots they would score more.

I agree there is a lot of youth on this team but I dont think losing the 4 seniors is as large an issue as some have made it out to be. Outside of Keogh we really didnt lose Offensive stars or cant miss players. Amidon and Jovan were hard working good kids but vastly overrated by the Lax world, Amidon dissappeared for weeks on end and Miller never lived up to half his hype and really struggled to score goals outside a few games. Thompson was a bigger loss because of his leadership and stabilizing force on Offense, but he wasnt a huge goal scorer and tended to dissappear to much in bigger games. The real loss has been Joel White and Lade you cant replace those two guys White was a groundball machine and excellent on the wings, also for all of my dislike for Miller he did a good job on the wings and he is definitely missed there.

I know a lot of people are looking for the SU run and gun of old but honestly I am not sure those players are on the roster. As I noted earlier our recruiting has been a bit down the past few years on big time 5 star Offensive prospects and its starting to rear its head. Jo Jo and Tommy P have been big dissapoints so far, I woud like to see some of the younger guys given some burn and hope that Pratt, Cometti and others can break out.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Case in point: Grimm. This guy has been all-world since 9th grade. Why hasn't he been given a shot? I believe he had a knee issue senior year, but that should be behind him now. All too often, coaches get nervous and err on the side of experience just because it's experience.

SU has a game against Providence at home tomorrow. This is a team they should squash like a bug. I would hope we see A LOT of new faces out there on offense.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Case in point: Grimm. This guy has been all-world since 9th grade. Why hasn't he been given a shot? I believe he had a knee issue senior year, but that should be behind him now. All too often, coaches get nervous and err on the side of experience just because it's experience.

SU has a game against Providence at home tomorrow. This is a team they should squash like a bug. I would hope we see A LOT of new faces out there on offense.

Torn ACL his junior year resulting in a little less productive Senior year i beieve then he had put up his Fresh and Sophmore years. Kid has a ton of talent but Desko must want to redshirt him. Next years class is again not big on Offensive stars so he maybe using him and Messina to bridge the gap to Dylan Maltz Class in 2013-2014.

 

[jr4750]

In general terms, we graduated most of our offense last year. The new kids are 4 games in. There wasn't all that much wrong with the offense against Virginia when we scored 10 goals other than the fact that we don't bounce shots.

Hopkins is a different animal because they play stall ball. Our offensive scheme/personnel is not designed to be Princeton basketball. It's the Larry Johnson UNLV Runnin Rebs.

IMHO, 4 games in the youth on offense is being exposed, we don't have a good 'half court' offense and our man up is terrible. Cripes Hopkins was 2 men down and we couldn't score and to me the man up problem is scheme not talent.

I do see elite athleticism on the field I just think they need a bit more time to develop than we're used to and the settled offensive scheme needs to be tweaked if not overhauled. Frankly, if these guys would go back to the fundamentals of the game and bounce more shots they would score more.

The young guys have been doing this ad nauseum. There were a few shots that were fired high to high against JHU that would have been sure goals had we changed the plane. On that 2 man up, JoJo passed up a wide open shot for a pass that resulted in a TO. When the opposing team has a tall goal tender, we have to throw him off by starting high and going low.

 

[jr4750]

I agree there is a lot of youth on this team but I dont think losing the 4 seniors is as large an issue as some have made it out to be. Outside of Keogh we really didnt lose Offensive stars or cant miss players. Amidon and Jovan were hard working good kids but vastly overrated by the Lax world, Amidon dissappeared for weeks on end and Miller never lived up to half his hype and really struggled to score goals outside a few games. Thompson was a bigger loss because of his leadership and stabilizing force on Offense, but he wasnt a huge goal scorer and tended to dissappear to much in bigger games. The real loss has been Joel White and Lade you cant replace those two guys White was a groundball machine and excellent on the wings, also for all of my dislike for Miller he did a good job on the wings and he is definitely missed there.

I know a lot of people are looking for the SU run and gun of old but honestly I am not sure those players are on the roster. As I noted earlier our recruiting has been a bit down the past few years on big time 5 star Offensive prospects and its starting to rear its head. Jo Jo and Tommy P have been big dissapoints so far, I woud like to see some of the younger guys given some burn and hope that Pratt, Cometti and others can break out.

I have considered the possibility as well that while there are no Mike Powell's on the roster, most of our opponents, and the growth of the game have made teams more evenly matched in athleticism. That will naturally bring down scoring. JHU and VA are elite defensive teams. We played poorly against SJU and Army was early in the year. With better goal tenders and more skilled defenses, not to mention the penchant to slow SU down, I'm not sure we will ever see the true run and gun on a consistent basis again. God willing we will see a shot clock implemented in the next few years.

 

[WoodyUK]

Coaches dont like bounce shots they say it gives the goalie another opportunity make a save and the playing surfices arent great for taking these type of shots!

 

[tbonezone]

i guess i expected to see some growing pains on the D side but the offense has truly been most disappointing to me. no real creators and sloppy turnovers. and frankly i like the bounce shot.

 

[JeremyCuse]

i guess i expected to see some growing pains on the D side but the offense has truly been most disappointing to me. no real creators and sloppy turnovers. and frankly i like the bounce shot.

Bingo, as bad as the D has been I think the O has been worse, really need to get some guys breaking out today or Saturday.