JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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- Aug 15, 2011
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First off what a putrid performance by Syracuse all around, dissapointed in not only the players but the staff as well, some of the decisions by Desko were dumbfounding. Second props to Maryland that team is loaded. I thought they were pretty good based on what I knew coming into the game but there better then I thought. Experienced D with Seniors at the X and in Goal and a very talented young O with some experienced guys Chanenchuk/Carlson. To bad we missed out on Cannizaro kid looks like a player but you cant get everybody. I know we have a couple of Maryland guys who occassionaly post here so maybe they can tell me where I am going wrong but if that team doesnt reach Memorial day weekend they should demand an investigation because that team has all the makings of a championship team. Only issue I can see for them is if they get hit by the injury bug (especially on D) or they run into someone who can neutralize them at the X.
The issues at the X have been well documented here by myself and most of the posters who frequent here so I am not going to get into a huge monologue about it. I will say this, the Daddio era should be over from this point forward. Nothing against the kid as its clear he cares and has worked his tail off but he just doesnt have it against top end faceoff guys. Raffa abused him in the second quarter to the point that it seemed like he was just picking up the ball when the whistle blew and running toward the cage. The more concerning aspect for me is that Desko kept running him out there like they were playing a summer scrimmage against a local team for fun. The fact he violated 5 times including what must have been 3 in a row and Desko kept putting him out there is mindboggling. I am a big John Desko fan but I thought he was downright awful on Saturday, completely outcoached. When he finally takes him out he has Iacono take about 3 draws where he actually wins one (then takes a terrible shot) but then promptly goes back to Daddio (what?). Someone thought Iacono may have been hurt, I certainly hope that was the case because I have no idea why he wouldnt have been taking at least every other draw especially in the second half.
To keep on the X I thought Wentworth looked OK. Certainly didnt match Raffa but at least held his own and won some draws. Not sure how hard Raffa was really working at that point though with the game pretty much in hand despite the amount of time left. Was beyond pissed we didnt see Demarco, he isn't redshirting so why the hell wasnt he given a shot? Wish Desko had a show like JB and Schafer where you can call in with questions because I would love to get an answer on that. I am concerned Paduda maybe hurt worse then was originally reported. Was supposed to be out a few weeks and now were on a month plus, I wonder if he is headed toward a redshirt. Extremely dissapointing as it seemed like he had made a huge leap over the summer and really put in work to learn the craft of facing off. I really hope we see Demarco this weekend. I think Buhr left the team again so I dont anticipate seeing him.
As bad as the X was the D was just as bad if not worse. Raffa scored twice on quick faceoff wins when no one slided over to stop him including one where I dont think he was touched. Mullins, Harris and McCartney couldn't scoop a groundball if there lives depended on it, I cant tell you how many times they overran ground balls or failed to scoop up a ball all alone, it was amateur hour out there. The short stick D guys looked like they had never played D before. Grimm and Messina were dominated by the Maryland mid field including Cannizarro. It's clear that this team desperately missed Pratt and Ianzito and probably misses Megill even more if thats possible. Harris needs to step up and assert some leadership. I think Taits days are probably numbered as well, seems overmatched out there. I suspect Palasek, Firman and others will play Saturday. Not sure what changes can be made at short stick D as the two backups Jenkins and Rockett are so overmatched size wise I dont think they can be anything more then a spot player. With all of the offensive talent thats stuck way down the depth chart might be time to see who wants to get on the field playing close D.
Was good to see Galasso get out there, would have liked to see him play more then just man up but its understandable why they have to ease him back in. Thought the offense was mediorcore Saturday, hard to blame them when they dont have the ball but I thought they panicked after the second quarter debacle and stopped being patient and started shooting from outside instead of working for a great shot like they had in the 1st quarter. That played right into Amato's hand and those outside shots were easy saves for him. I thought we looked for better shots in the 4th but he was in a groove by then and stopping pretty much everything. I thought Lecky had Staats tried to provide a spart but besides them there wasnt much to be happy about. Schoonmaker had a hat trick but he continues to take some ill advised shots and his doorstep miss in the 2nd quarter that should have put SU up 3 in the second quarter opened the flood gates. Marylands D did a nice job on Rice and Donahue as they were completely MIA. Evans is still struggling to adjust but was at least active out there, thought Billy Ward and Loy really really struggled.
Saturday is going to tell me a lot about this team. Will be interesting to see what Desko does and what changes he makes. I thought he was completely outcoached on Saturday, he looked shell shocked and had no answers for Maryland. Unfortunately for him things dont get easier the next few weeks as ridiculousness of this schedule is becoming more and more evident. Not sure whether we can expect wholesale Changes Saturday but I know this. This team better come out pissed and put it on UVA because if they dont this thing could snowball and we could be in big trouble real quick especially with games to go against Duke, UNC, ND etc. Not going to get into the coaching issues but with it being 6 years since Brennan and the grumblings growing louder somethings got to give, a staffing change maybe needed or demanded by Gross at the end of the year.
The issues at the X have been well documented here by myself and most of the posters who frequent here so I am not going to get into a huge monologue about it. I will say this, the Daddio era should be over from this point forward. Nothing against the kid as its clear he cares and has worked his tail off but he just doesnt have it against top end faceoff guys. Raffa abused him in the second quarter to the point that it seemed like he was just picking up the ball when the whistle blew and running toward the cage. The more concerning aspect for me is that Desko kept running him out there like they were playing a summer scrimmage against a local team for fun. The fact he violated 5 times including what must have been 3 in a row and Desko kept putting him out there is mindboggling. I am a big John Desko fan but I thought he was downright awful on Saturday, completely outcoached. When he finally takes him out he has Iacono take about 3 draws where he actually wins one (then takes a terrible shot) but then promptly goes back to Daddio (what?). Someone thought Iacono may have been hurt, I certainly hope that was the case because I have no idea why he wouldnt have been taking at least every other draw especially in the second half.
To keep on the X I thought Wentworth looked OK. Certainly didnt match Raffa but at least held his own and won some draws. Not sure how hard Raffa was really working at that point though with the game pretty much in hand despite the amount of time left. Was beyond pissed we didnt see Demarco, he isn't redshirting so why the hell wasnt he given a shot? Wish Desko had a show like JB and Schafer where you can call in with questions because I would love to get an answer on that. I am concerned Paduda maybe hurt worse then was originally reported. Was supposed to be out a few weeks and now were on a month plus, I wonder if he is headed toward a redshirt. Extremely dissapointing as it seemed like he had made a huge leap over the summer and really put in work to learn the craft of facing off. I really hope we see Demarco this weekend. I think Buhr left the team again so I dont anticipate seeing him.
As bad as the X was the D was just as bad if not worse. Raffa scored twice on quick faceoff wins when no one slided over to stop him including one where I dont think he was touched. Mullins, Harris and McCartney couldn't scoop a groundball if there lives depended on it, I cant tell you how many times they overran ground balls or failed to scoop up a ball all alone, it was amateur hour out there. The short stick D guys looked like they had never played D before. Grimm and Messina were dominated by the Maryland mid field including Cannizarro. It's clear that this team desperately missed Pratt and Ianzito and probably misses Megill even more if thats possible. Harris needs to step up and assert some leadership. I think Taits days are probably numbered as well, seems overmatched out there. I suspect Palasek, Firman and others will play Saturday. Not sure what changes can be made at short stick D as the two backups Jenkins and Rockett are so overmatched size wise I dont think they can be anything more then a spot player. With all of the offensive talent thats stuck way down the depth chart might be time to see who wants to get on the field playing close D.
Was good to see Galasso get out there, would have liked to see him play more then just man up but its understandable why they have to ease him back in. Thought the offense was mediorcore Saturday, hard to blame them when they dont have the ball but I thought they panicked after the second quarter debacle and stopped being patient and started shooting from outside instead of working for a great shot like they had in the 1st quarter. That played right into Amato's hand and those outside shots were easy saves for him. I thought we looked for better shots in the 4th but he was in a groove by then and stopping pretty much everything. I thought Lecky had Staats tried to provide a spart but besides them there wasnt much to be happy about. Schoonmaker had a hat trick but he continues to take some ill advised shots and his doorstep miss in the 2nd quarter that should have put SU up 3 in the second quarter opened the flood gates. Marylands D did a nice job on Rice and Donahue as they were completely MIA. Evans is still struggling to adjust but was at least active out there, thought Billy Ward and Loy really really struggled.
Saturday is going to tell me a lot about this team. Will be interesting to see what Desko does and what changes he makes. I thought he was completely outcoached on Saturday, he looked shell shocked and had no answers for Maryland. Unfortunately for him things dont get easier the next few weeks as ridiculousness of this schedule is becoming more and more evident. Not sure whether we can expect wholesale Changes Saturday but I know this. This team better come out pissed and put it on UVA because if they dont this thing could snowball and we could be in big trouble real quick especially with games to go against Duke, UNC, ND etc. Not going to get into the coaching issues but with it being 6 years since Brennan and the grumblings growing louder somethings got to give, a staffing change maybe needed or demanded by Gross at the end of the year.
