Quint: Examining the Conference Races

[OrangeXtreme]

Atlantic Coast (ACC)
The ACC is a five-member conference that does not have an AQ. The top four teams will play in the ACC Tournament on April 28 and 30 in Durham, N.C., on ESPNU. Virginia, the fifth-place team, will play Penn on April 29 as a consolation.

Syracuse (9-1) is the top-ranked team in the nation. The Orange are 6-1 in one-goal games, while operating at a slug's pace. Sergio Salcido and Nick Mariano have starred.

Duke (9-3) is a young team gaining momentum, as evidenced by victories in seven of their last eight games.

Notre Dame (6-3) has lost consecutive ACC games to Syracuse and Duke. The Irish are talented — with Sergio Perkovic, Ryder Garnsey and Garrett Epple — but too often all of the parts don't show up simultaneously.

North Carolina (6-5) salvaged its season with a win Sunday at Virginia (8-5). The Heels host Syracuse on Saturday (on ESPNU at 4 p.m.). Carolina needs to finish the year at .500 or above to be considered for the NCAA Tournament.

The Cavaliers continue to struggle in the ACC and are locked into the fifth-place spot. They will not make the ACC or NCAA Tournaments.

Quint: Examining the Conference Races

 

[PhatOrange]

while operating at a slug's pace

LOL

Is there a statistic or list I can look at to get a handle on how this 'pace of play' is actually measured?

 

[CreaseRat]

while operating at a slug's pace

LOL

Is there an statistic or list I can look at to get a handle on how this 'pace of play' is actually measured?

there has to be some kind of statistic for it and I'm interested in what it is. I wonder if its time of possession vs shots taken or something along those lines. Quint has to realize that all teams have slowed their pace of play. Denver at times looks like a soccer team on offense, passing till the get a shot with in 5 yards of the goal.

 

[creatorsgam]

while operating at a slug's pace

LOL

Is there an statistic or list I can look at to get a handle on how this 'pace of play' is actually measured?

Can't find a pace of play, that would be hard to measure anyway. Scoring offense isn't quite the same and there are more variables apart from pace within that statistic, but Syracuse is currently 10th out of 69 in games played through 4/12. 12.8 per game, opposed to category leader Albany with 15.91.

He can spin it however he wants. If the pace isn't there(and relative to traditional Syracuse teams it isn't the 'run and gun,' I get that), he could just as easily say it is an incredibly efficient offense. But he can't resist the opportunity to take the cynical approach to anything Orange.

 

[CHSLAX]

some reference # of possessions.

 

[outoftownie]

In the words of Sgt. Hulka, "lighten up Francis." Sometimes I wonder if the people on this board hope Quint says something they perceive as negative to complain about him. Personally, I don't think he is wrong is saying Syracuse has played slow this year. Don't get so bent out of shape by his comments. He normally balances out the positives with a negative here and there. See his comments in column on ND, Albany, Hopkins, etc, they all include what would be seen as jabs by this crowd.

 

[HtownOrange]

In comparison to past Syracuse lacrosse teams, the pace is slow, conveniently, though, the pace has been sufficient to win 9 games. Not exactly sure how anyone can be overly concerned. To be winning at any pace, the defense must hold its own accordingly, thus, if Syracuse' offense "is operating at a slug's pace" the defense is that much better to ensure victory.

 

[Orangtiz]

Can we stop talking about Pace. Yes its slow, but they still get out in transition quite a bit. If Malloy makes a save, he is always looking for the quick outlet. Our D-Mids have scored a couple of goals because of getting out and running. One of them came against Quint's Jays. They are not the teams of the Gaits but they get out and run plenty.

 

[HtownOrange]

Can we stop talking about Pace. Yes its slow, but they still get out in transition quite a bit. If Malloy makes a save, he is always looking for the quick outlet. Our D-Mids have scored a couple of goals because of getting out and running. One of them came against Quint's Jays. They are not the teams of the Gaits but they get out and run plenty.

Your point in bold is exactly what Quint misses. Fesko has coached the transition so long and so well that when it wasn't up to standards at the beginning of the season many people thought the offense was slow. As pointed out, the offense is operating as a very good pace, just slower than normal for a Syracuse team. Let the experts complain while the Orange win.

 

[bjred]

Long time stalker here but figured I'd join because I have an answer. Quint is probably using the rankings from Patrick McEwen's stat site, Analytics Lacrosse

He bases pace on "the adjusted tempo for each team (equivalent to KenPom.com's AdjT) measured in possessions per game and is based upon the assumption that the actual pace of a game should be the average of the two teams' adjusted tempos." His pace ranking has SU as 64 out of 71 teams.