Time to face facts the Desko era is at an end

[JeremyCuse]

Ive been a Desko guy and supported him the last handful of years when our post season success was less then optimal but were at the breaking point. This team/program is a shell of itself we just got run by a rebuilding Colgate team and I fully expect John to tip his cap in the post game. I have never seen a Syracuse offense look so lost and Ryan Powell on commentary just made it worse guy was a great player but hes death on TV.

The current attack unit is no hyperbole the worst I have ever seen at Syracuse and its not even close. I don't know if teams just ignored Voigt in the pre-season but he had as much impact on the game as I did. Solomon was a non factor in the 6 on 6 and Rehfuss looks like he should be playing for Siena, just no ability to dodge at all against Colgate, smh. Dordevic being out is a killer but but Trimboli was non existent, who in the world thought he was a pre-season AA, again another non factor. Cook was a nice change of pace but after running him at attack early in the third with some success we bumped him to middie and he struggled mightily. Quinn cost us at least 3 if not 4 possession when he shot early in the shot clock with no angle right into the goalies cross. Why wasn't he pulled? There's 30 midfielders on the roster get someone else on the field, where was Buttermore? It was embarrasing to watch that offense outside of Curry. Spacing was abysmal and everything save for a 5 minute stretch in the third was one on one, it looked like the team had just showed up for the first spring practice, what the hell have we been doing for the last month+. 14 or 15 turnovers yet again continuing the trend from last year.

Give Mellen and Fusco credit both did Yeomans work but once again the same issues form the last 4-5 years were again present, bad slides, abysmal inability to scoop a gb (I wanted to punch my tv), dumb passes, 2 or 3 offsides, SSDM getting dusted, etc etc etc. So frustrating to make the same mistakes as last year, we seemed to pick right where we left off against Cornell in the tourney. Faceoffs were again an adventure as the wing play was atrocious both Kennedy and Dearth couldn't scoop a GB for thier lives. How many times did they over run or push the ball forward or push it up in the air. Did they get 1 gb between them the entire game from a faceoff? Horrible. We also kept running Voigt out there despite Phaup clearly playing better and getting zero help on the wings. Where was Fernandez?

Honestly I don't have the answers but this program has officially bottomed out. We didn't lose a tough game to Army or Virginia we just got dusted by Colgate. Colgate looked better then us in nearly every fashion including offense that is unfathomable and totally unacceptable. TO make matters worse this schedule is way over this team head, How are we going to score on army or slow down Rutgers whose offense is 20X better then Colgates. I was and still am a huge Desko fan but were reaching Post Tierney Princeton territory here, the school is going to have to make a move before this somehow gets worse. Just sick over this.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Brutal. Turnovers, offense is stagnant. That was horrible. Got beat to ground balls too, low energy.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Ive been a Desko guy and supported him the last handful of years when our post season success was less then optimal but were at the breaking point. This team/program is a shell of itself we just got run by a rebuilding Colgate team and I fully expect John to tip his cap in the post game. I have never seen a Syracuse offense look so lost and Ryan Powell on commentary just made it worse guy was a great player but hes death on TV.

The current attack unit is no hyperbole the worst I have ever seen at Syracuse and its not even close. I don't know if teams just ignored Voigt in the pre-season but he had as much impact on the game as I did. Solomon was a non factor in the 6 on 6 and Rehfuss looks like he should be playing for Siena, just no ability to dodge at all against Colgate, smh. Dordevic being out is a killer but but Trimboli was non existent, who in the world thought he was a pre-season AA, again another non factor. Cook was a nice change of pace but after running him at attack early in the third with some success we bumped him to middie and he struggled mightily. Quinn cost us at least 3 if not 4 possession when he shot early in the shot clock with no angle right into the goalies cross. Why wasn't he pulled? There's 30 midfielders on the roster get someone else on the field, where was Buttermore? It was embarrasing to watch that offense outside of Curry. Spacing was abysmal and everything save for a 5 minute stretch in the third was one on one, it looked like the team had just showed up for the first spring practice, what the hell have we been doing for the last month+. 14 or 15 turnovers yet again continuing the trend from last year.

Give Mellen and Fusco credit both did Yeomans work but once again the same issues form the last 4-5 years were again present, bad slides, abysmal inability to scoop a gb (I wanted to punch my tv), dumb passes, 2 or 3 offsides, SSDM getting dusted, etc etc etc. So frustrating to make the same mistakes as last year, we seemed to pick right where we left off against Cornell in the tourney. Faceoffs were again an adventure as the wing play was atrocious both Kennedy and Dearth couldn't scoop a GB for thier lives. How many times did they over run or push the ball forward or push it up in the air. Did they get 1 gb between them the entire game from a faceoff? Horrible. We also kept running Voigt out there despite Phaup clearly playing better and getting zero help on the wings. Where was Fernandez?

Honestly I don't have the answers but this program has officially bottomed out. We didn't lose a tough game to Army or Virginia we just got dusted by Colgate. Colgate looked better then us in nearly every fashion including offense that is unfathomable and totally unacceptable. TO make matters worse this schedule is way over this team head, How are we going to score on army or slow down Rutgers whose offense is 20X better then Colgates. I was and still am a huge Desko fan but were reaching Post Tierney Princeton territory here, the school is going to have to make a move before this somehow gets worse. Just sick over this.

I would add that Colgate's talent was every bit as good as SU's.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I would add that Colgate's talent was every bit as good as SU's.

Sad to say in many positions it was.

 

[Dinkyspond]

More fuel for fire for Beardsley. He was on Brent Axe today and said tonight's result was entirely possible.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

“Is” and “should be” are two different things. We may want it to happen. Doesn’t mean it will.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Did you mention that Colgate has a rookie coach?

 

[cuseguy]

Hats off to Wildhack as soon as he replaces Desko and this staff. There’s no excuses anymore.

 

[ThundrTroll]

Fernandez is coming off an ACL. I don't know when he was cleared to practice, but he looked rusty as expected. Has a compression brace on left knee and wasn't moving as fluidly. I hear so often that it can take a season to return to form from an ACL; not surprised psychologically.

On positive notes, I liked the 1-on-1 ssdm d I saw from Dearth, Helmer and Schwasnick. Porter had a good game. I won't hit the panic button yet, but if Voight, Rehfuss and Trimboli combine for donuts against Albany we'll be winless.

 

[Dome Eddie]

Desko must go.

 

[hungrychuck]

This is tough to digest.

John was a classmate and I remember him as a tough and talented defenseman.

His best moments as a coach have brought honor to him and to SU.

But this is not working. And if we're serious about lacrosse going forward, JW needs to step in and launch a new approach.

 

[CuSeLaX]

Sometimes there comes a time where a great coach has to go. He couldn’t adapt to recruiting and it bit him in the butt look at our best player IMO (Curry) why do we have him because he’s a legacy. The only good players we have been getting are players that loved Cuse from the jump. Desko did a lot for Syracuse but this is the end

 

[WoodyUK]

 

[ctlax]

I've always been a supporter of Desko but last night was a debacle. And I know they had a losing season before winning 2 NC's in '08&'09 but it seems he is losing touch along with many recruits. I was talking to a ex-player from the glory days & he said he didn't know alot about Desko, for example like anything about his family. He didn't talk to the players at except about lacrosse. Maybe he should get to know them more ala Tom Coughlin. At this point anything would help.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Ive been a Desko guy and supported him the last handful of years when our post season success was less then optimal but were at the breaking point. This team/program is a shell of itself we just got run by a rebuilding Colgate team and I fully expect John to tip his cap in the post game. I have never seen a Syracuse offense look so lost and Ryan Powell on commentary just made it worse guy was a great player but hes death on TV.

The current attack unit is no hyperbole the worst I have ever seen at Syracuse and its not even close. I don't know if teams just ignored Voigt in the pre-season but he had as much impact on the game as I did. Solomon was a non factor in the 6 on 6 and Rehfuss looks like he should be playing for Siena, just no ability to dodge at all against Colgate, smh. Dordevic being out is a killer but but Trimboli was non existent, who in the world thought he was a pre-season AA, again another non factor. Cook was a nice change of pace but after running him at attack early in the third with some success we bumped him to middie and he struggled mightily. Quinn cost us at least 3 if not 4 possession when he shot early in the shot clock with no angle right into the goalies cross. Why wasn't he pulled? There's 30 midfielders on the roster get someone else on the field, where was Buttermore? It was embarrasing to watch that offense outside of Curry. Spacing was abysmal and everything save for a 5 minute stretch in the third was one on one, it looked like the team had just showed up for the first spring practice, what the hell have we been doing for the last month+. 14 or 15 turnovers yet again continuing the trend from last year.

Give Mellen and Fusco credit both did Yeomans work but once again the same issues form the last 4-5 years were again present, bad slides, abysmal inability to scoop a gb (I wanted to punch my tv), dumb passes, 2 or 3 offsides, SSDM getting dusted, etc etc etc. So frustrating to make the same mistakes as last year, we seemed to pick right where we left off against Cornell in the tourney. Faceoffs were again an adventure as the wing play was atrocious both Kennedy and Dearth couldn't scoop a GB for thier lives. How many times did they over run or push the ball forward or push it up in the air. Did they get 1 gb between them the entire game from a faceoff? Horrible. We also kept running Voigt out there despite Phaup clearly playing better and getting zero help on the wings. Where was Fernandez?

Honestly I don't have the answers but this program has officially bottomed out. We didn't lose a tough game to Army or Virginia we just got dusted by Colgate. Colgate looked better then us in nearly every fashion including offense that is unfathomable and totally unacceptable. TO make matters worse this schedule is way over this team head, How are we going to score on army or slow down Rutgers whose offense is 20X better then Colgates. I was and still am a huge Desko fan but were reaching Post Tierney Princeton territory here, the school is going to have to make a move before this somehow gets worse. Just sick over this.

You were so right. In the presser, he said "Hats off to Colgate." He always uses this line and falls back on it. A lot of hat tipping in recent years. It's not always just the other team playing well, it's that you stunk. Boeheim, another dinosaur, does this a lot too. Giving too much credit to the other team when SYR stunk.

 

[PhatOrange]

You were so right. In the presser, he said "Hats off to Colgate." He always uses this line and falls back on it. A lot of hat tipping in recent years. It's not always just the other team playing well, it's that you stunk. Boeheim, another dinosaur, does this a lot too. Giving too much credit to the other team when SYR stunk.

There are threads upon threads calling JB mean for his pressers. He doesn’t exactly just tip his cap to the other team and after giving them standard respect it’s tongue in cheek - “we made them look great” etc. “because our players sucked”. I haven’t heard Desko throw players under the bus, i guess a segment love that he’s not a mean oger but it also glosses over accountability.

Accountability is what I see a lack of. Players make the same bad mistakes or decisions over and over. It’s mental, it’s an attitude, it comes from the top.

The players have a low lacrosse IQ. I blame that on a large segment of kids growing up in club lacrosse with poor coaching. They don’t teach fundamentals in club. When a kid gets to college he should know how to ground ball and be smart enough to bounce a shot. They don’t. Desko can’t spend time teaching that but he did recruit them, though I’m sure they work on it. This is where accountability should come into play. Make everyone accountable top to bottom.

 

[Powellfan]

Trying not to read too much into post game press conferences, but thought Desko seemed especially exasperated. Doesn't seem to take any of the blame for the game and doesn't really offer a way forward either. Not sure there is any "correct" way to react after a loss, but it seems like he isn't reaching the kids on the team at this point.

 

[Alsacs]

My goodness Syracuse offense used to be a machine every single year.
I saw the game condensed and wow I don’t get the talent we are throwing out there.
Syracuse LAX used to be a top 2 brand in the sport. I have laided off Desko as it’s a nonrevenue sport and the guy has 5 NCs but he should retire and send some energy into the program.
We used to score 12-15 goals against these type teams in our sleep.

 

[CousCuse]

A real red flag here is that with the implementation of the shot clock, the NCAA is telling the sport they want fast action, scoring in transition etc. Did the staff see the memo? SU has and can easily recruit these types of athletes and yet the set approach is the same. What's really most confounding about this is that not too long ago, that fast strike attacking offense was the Orange Lax trademark.