Syracuse has missed five of the past eight final fours

[PhatOrange]

Like it or not high standards have been set at Syracuse. That's what happens when you make 22 straight final fours and win 10 or so championships. We are and should consider ourselves the Alabama of College Lacrosse and getting bounced so many times over the last 8 years isn't acceptable. If Desko doesn't reach the final four next year he should be on notice.

 

[GoSU96]

Like it or not high standards have been set at Syracuse. That's what happens when you make 22 straight final fours and win 10 or so championships. We are and should consider ourselves the Alabama of College Lacrosse and getting bounced so many times over the last 8 years isn't acceptable. If Desko doesn't reach the final four next year he should be on notice.

Same record as Hopkins then, 3-5 and they haven't made it the last four years.

Princeton once since 2003.

Times change, the sport is more competitive and talent is spread more.

 

[jr4750]

Same record as Hopkins then, 3-5 and they haven't made it the last four years.

Princeton once since 2003.

Times change, the sport is more competitive and talent is spread more.

Agree, and of those blueboods - in terms of results over the last ten years, you would rank them...

1.UVA
2. Cuse
3. Hop
4. Princeton

And 1-2 are closer than they appear. I'll go on record and say UVA stole the title last year, similar to what UCONN did in hoops. We should have been there! Cuse has won 5 ships in the last 12 years... There is parity, and that has allowed teams like Loyola, ND, etc. to be competitive, but the balance of power has not shifted from the power three yet. Princeton is done...

Now in recruiting, that's another story... UVA is on fire.. so is UNC though and they haven't won squat!

 

[PhatOrange]

Down years are fine but we're trending down overall. Trend down for to long and pretty soon Syracuse won't be seen as a destination lacrosse school. Desko is getting stale and I wouldn't say the game is starting to pass him but times do change, and sometimes it doesn't seem we're changing with the current game.

So there's more parity but that doesn't mean you lose your elite status. Syracuse is the premier lacrosse playing school in the nation and should conduct itself as such. You dont' say awww shucks and lay down about it.

We've also beaten the recruiting thing to death so I'll leave that alone.

I'd like to see Jeff Tambroni given the reigns and my longshot would be Mike Pressler. Pressler is a great coach and had turned Duke into the team they are now. He's also a strong recruiter on Long Island.

 

[jr4750]

Down years are fine but we're trending down overall. Trend down for to long and pretty soon Syracuse won't be seen as a destination lacrosse school. Desko is getting stale and I wouldn't say the game is starting to pass him but times do change, and sometimes it doesn't seem we're changing with the current game.

So there's more parity but that doesn't mean you lose your elite status. Syracuse is the premier lacrosse playing school in the nation and should conduct itself as such. You dont' say awww shucks and lay down about it.

We've also beaten the recruiting thing to death so I'll leave that alone.

I'd like to see Jeff Tambroni given the reigns and my longshot would be Mike Pressler. Pressler is a great coach and had turned Duke into the team they are now. He's also a strong recruiter on Long Island.

I do agree that we seem to be trending down. Its difficult to argue that Desko needs to go when the numbers are in his favor. Prior to these last few years he's been automatic in the postseason. In fact, he has the best winning percentage all-time in May. While it has been talked about to death, recruiting is at the crux of this debate. We haven't been pulling in those elite offensive players lately, or at least what we have been getting, haven't been developed as such. If we under perform again next year, I do think there will be more heat on JD, and that is not the typical occurrence at elite schools.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I do agree that we seem to be trending down. Its difficult to argue that Desko needs to go when the numbers are in his favor. Prior to these last few years he's been automatic in the postseason. In fact, he has the best winning percentage all-time in May. While it has been talked about to death, recruiting is at the crux of this debate. We haven't been pulling in those elite offensive players lately, or at least what we have been getting, haven't been developed as such. If we under perform again next year, I do think there will be more heat on JD, and that is not the typical occurrence at elite schools.

I think this is pretty much spot on. Look as much as I have been dissapointed the last three years I think everyone knew SU was going to take step back after back to back championships in 08 and 09 and years like this one (2012) are going to happen from time to time no matter what sport you play if your a D1 school. The problem isnt this year as Phat pointed out but other factors that are all occurring at once making the overall situation an issue.

The upset losses to Army and Maryland are killing Desko right now, a win in either of those games and at worst SU is probably in the championship game both years, not saying they would have won but that 2010 team had most of the pieces to win a title. 2011 I am not so sure, they had issues on offense that the D was able to cover up and Maryland finally exposed. The problem is when your a top program like syracuse and you combine two post season failures in a row with the current year where the team barely made the tourney and got bounced in the first round the rumblings begin that the program maybe on a downturn. Right or wrong Desko and the program are now a victim of there own success, SU fans have come rely on the Lax program to be that one Mens sport where SU dominates year in and year out (basketball is more recent to the party) and when that appears to be fading or in jeopardy people get nervous and demand action.

Desko also has to deal with other issues some of which are his own doing and some that are not. Right or wrong Darryl Gross brought in Gait several years ago to be the mens coach here when the program seemed to be in a downslide in the mid 2000's. You dont pay a girls Lax coach that kind of salary if you dont have other plans. Desko got the message and threw a wrench in the plans by winning back to back titles in Gait's first two years here. Problem is Gait is still here and if the program slips far enough Gross wont hesitate to pull the trigger because he cant afford for the Lax program to get into a rebuild mode like the fball team. The good news for Coach Desko and the fanbase like myself who are Desko fans is that he has a track record of big time success in the regular season and NCAA tourney as well as respondign when his back against the wall. At minimum it would take another two years of play like this before Gross could even contemplate making a change.

The second bigger problem is recruiting. I think most fans here would admit the program hasn't given its all in recruiting the Island and downstate for quite sometime. We certainly havent abandoned that area by any means but we have been bleedign top guys out of there for close to a decade now and its really become apparent over the past 5-6 years. I think the staff and Desko really need to take a look at doubling there efforts on the Island along with other areas of downstate and northern Jersey. Syracuse has always taken the approach that they can take 3-4 star guys and make them 5 star players and for the most part we have under Desko's tenure. However like everything else that way of recruiting will eventually catch up and when guys dont pan out as stars (Coleman, Ianzito, Barber, Eilers(save for this year), Amidon, Miller, etc your offense can struggle which ours has the past 2-3 seasons. 1 or 2 big time Attackmen or Midfield guys would have made a world of difference the past 2-3 years and SU would likely have had at least one more title. The 2014 class allready has a couple of 5* guys but next year could be another struggle on offense.

 

[jr4750]

I think this is pretty much spot on. Look as much as I have been dissapointed the last three years I think everyone knew SU was going to take step back after back to back championships in 08 and 09 and years like this one (2012) are going to happen from time to time no matter what sport you play if your a D1 school. The problem isnt this year as Phat pointed out but other factors that are all occurring at once making the overall situation an issue.

The upset losses to Army and Maryland are killing Desko right now, a win in either of those games and at worst SU is probably in the championship game both years, not saying they would have won but that 2010 team had most of the pieces to win a title. 2011 I am not so sure, they had issues on offense that the D was able to cover up and Maryland finally exposed. The problem is when your a top program like syracuse and you combine two post season failures in a row with the current year where the team barely made the tourney and got bounced in the first round the rumblings begin that the program maybe on a downturn. Right or wrong Desko and the program are now a victim of there own success, SU fans have come rely on the Lax program to be that one Mens sport where SU dominates year in and year out (basketball is more recent to the party) and when that appears to be fading or in jeopardy people get nervous and demand action.

Desko also has to deal with other issues some of which are his own doing and some that are not. Right or wrong Darryl Gross brought in Gait several years ago to be the mens coach here when the program seemed to be in a downslide in the mid 2000's. You dont pay a girls Lax coach that kind of salary if you dont have other plans. Desko got the message and threw a wrench in the plans by winning back to back titles in Gait's first two years here. Problem is Gait is still here and if the program slips far enough Gross wont hesitate to pull the trigger because he cant afford for the Lax program to get into a rebuild mode like the fball team. The good news for Coach Desko and the fanbase like myself who are Desko fans is that he has a track record of big time success in the regular season and NCAA tourney as well as respondign when his back against the wall. At minimum it would take another two years of play like this before Gross could even contemplate making a change.

The second bigger problem is recruiting. I think most fans here would admit the program hasn't given its all in recruiting the Island and downstate for quite sometime. We certainly havent abandoned that area by any means but we have been bleedign top guys out of there for close to a decade now and its really become apparent over the past 5-6 years. I think the staff and Desko really need to take a look at doubling there efforts on the Island along with other areas of downstate and northern Jersey. Syracuse has always taken the approach that they can take 3-4 star guys and make them 5 star players and for the most part we have under Desko's tenure. However like everything else that way of recruiting will eventually catch up and when guys dont pan out as stars (Coleman, Ianzito, Barber, Eilers(save for this year), Amidon, Miller, etc your offense can struggle which ours has the past 2-3 seasons. 1 or 2 big time Attackmen or Midfield guys would have made a world of difference the past 2-3 years and SU would likely have had at least one more title. The 2014 class allready has a couple of 5* guys but next year could be another struggle on offense.

You see these dynamic offensive players at Denver (Matthews) Colgate (Baun) UMASS (Manny) etc., and you wonder why don't we have someone like that. Obviously, we can't grab everybody, and scholarship money is tight, but somethings not right at the inn if the Cuse can't score at will. To add to your 3-4 star targeting JC, I think Desko will always go after the bigger athletes at the expense of the lax skills. The kids that play 3-4 varsity sports. I have always liked that philosphy and continue to today, however, it is imperative, dare I say absolute, that in order to be successful against the UVA's, Hops, UNC's, we must played disciplined lax. Bully ball has not been successful due to the influx of talent across the board.

Here are the D-1 scoring leaders this year... Some interesting schools, which obviously speaks to the competition.

RANK​

NAME​

TEAM​

PER GAME​

1 Peter Baum Colgate 5.65
2 Steele Stanwick Virginia 4.87
3 Will Manny Massachusetts 4.81
4 Bryan Neufeld Siena 4.75
5 Marcus Holman North Carolina 4.35
6 Kiel Matisz Robert Morris 4.27
7 Billy Eisenreich Bucknell 4.13

 

[UrbanaOrange]

Down years are fine but we're trending down overall. Trend down for to long and pretty soon Syracuse won't be seen as a destination lacrosse school. Desko is getting stale and I wouldn't say the game is starting to pass him but times do change, and sometimes it doesn't seem we're changing with the current game.

So there's more parity but that doesn't mean you lose your elite status. Syracuse is the premier lacrosse playing school in the nation and should conduct itself as such. You dont' say awww shucks and lay down about it.

We've also beaten the recruiting thing to death so I'll leave that alone.

I'd like to see Jeff Tambroni given the reigns and my longshot would be Mike Pressler. Pressler is a great coach and had turned Duke into the team they are now. He's also a strong recruiter on Long Island.[/quote

I don't think we can discount the move to the ACC on the lax front. Additional revenue will likely be allocated for the mens and women's programs from the tv deals etc. - As someone mentioned last week, this will likely help us with the Baltimore private schools. That said, Philly should be another area of focus for us. It is close and there are some real strong programs there.

 

[wvlax]

I hope Desko was taking notes during the final 4.
In terms of sheer athletic ability, speed and size those teams were definitely ahead of Syracuse. One area where SU might be weak next year (with the graduation of Kevin Drew) is short stick defensive mid-field. If Ianzito is our ace short-stick defender we could be in trouble there.Watching the final 4 all of those teams had strong short stick middies.