Syracuse 2021

[tech37]

I like Desko's chances of staying on and managing what looks to be a very promising 2022 class of recruits. The only question of course is the defense. The close D transfer from Yale, if that holds up, may help.

[a fan]

This season was a unique one. Milliman and crew did a fantastic job improving the team weekly. The final product in the B1G tournament was pretty impressive ... one of the best teams in Division I lacrosse.

Speculation, and then some.

Peshko developed into a real dodging threat. Grimes had a solid freshman season after two years away from lacrosse.

Two players Petro didn't have. So....you get it now? You understand why Petro had DeSimone at Middie?

Wouldn’t underestimate how much talent the Blue Jays have.

I'm not. I'm giving you a post mortem. And the post mortem says they had 4 wins and missed the playoffs. Sorry mate, that's not a talented team relative to the 9 teams that beat them. And sorry, every other team had to play in this "unique year" of yours.

[a fan]

I like Desko's chances of staying on and managing what looks to be a very promising 2022 class of recruits.

I haven't seen any mention of how much longer he's under contract. Can't imagine them not honoring it after all he's done.

[a fan]

If Milliman can get better players? He'll win more than Petro did. If he doesn't? Guess what?

isnt this a bit circuitous? is it really getting better players so they win or is it winning so we consider them better players?

I'd wager you could name dozens of players that never made the Final Four that were elite players.

[tech37]

There is an individual and team development element that comes from coaching. Recruiting the best talent in the door isn’t the same as sending the best talent out the door.

That's true. But did both Desko and Petro prove that they could do both over the years? I sure think so. These men have track records you can point to.....so I find it highly unlikely that both these coaches "forgot" how to develop players, and find it far more likely that they were simply
out-recruited over the last few years. Occam's Razor, and all that....

This also explains Danowski. Did he suck at coaching and developing players at Hofstra? I don't think so. Yet how's he doing at Duke?

Danowski’s last 10 years at Hofstra he made 7 NCAA Tournaments, 3 Quarterfinals, and had 9 winning seasons. His last season they were 17-2 and were a blown 4Q lead from the F4. It was the best run of success in Hofstra history.

He was pretty good at developing and coaching players at Hofstra; and he had the results to prove it

Hofstra has had plenty of very good individual players but could never put it all together. As a SU fan, Kevin Dougherty being my all-time favorite Hofstra transfer.

[jrn19]

Danowski’s last 10 years at Hofstra he made 7 NCAA Tournaments, 3 Quarterfinals, and had 9 winning seasons. His last season they were 17-2 and were a blown 4Q lead from the F4. It was the best run of success in Hofstra history.

He was pretty good at developing and coaching players at Hofstra; and he had the results to prove it

Yes! But Petro and Desko have those results to point to as well, remember?

How many Final Fours and Championship Rings does Desko have, again?

Have those results come in the last 10 years? Petro’s last 10 years he made 1 F4. In his last 5 he had 1 NCAA Tournament win and was looking at a losing season in 2020.

Desko’s last 10 years he has 1 Final Four. Last 5 years he has 1 NCAA Tournament win and in this year one of the more disappointing years in team history.

[Typical Lax Dad]

There is an individual and team development element that comes from coaching. Recruiting the best talent in the door isn’t the same as sending the best talent out the door.

That's true. But did both Desko and Petro prove that they could do both over the years? I sure think so. These men have track records you can point to.....so I find it highly unlikely that both these coaches "forgot" how to develop players, and find it far more likely that they were simply
out-recruited over the last few years. Occam's Razor, and all that....

This also explains Danowski. Did he suck at coaching and developing players at Hofstra? I don't think so. Yet how's he doing at Duke?

Landscape has changed. I was pointing out that development matters...not that they don’t develop players. I am more certain of Desko in that area and less certain of Petro. Hopkins was attracting top talent until they went earlier and earlier and I would say there wasn’t much difference in the player that arrived as a freshman and left as a senior. Just the sense I had. Things are more competitive. As great a job as Tillman has done, he only has 1 title. I don’t think anyone has been as consistent as Tillman at Maryland over the last 10 years.

[tech37]

Danowski’s last 10 years at Hofstra he made 7 NCAA Tournaments, 3 Quarterfinals, and had 9 winning seasons. His last season they were 17-2 and were a blown 4Q lead from the F4. It was the best run of success in Hofstra history.

He was pretty good at developing and coaching players at Hofstra; and he had the results to prove it

Yes! But Petro and Desko have those results to point to as well, remember?

How many Final Fours and Championship Rings does Desko have, again?

Have those results come in the last 10 years? Petro’s last 10 years he made 1 F4. In his last 5 he had 1 NCAA Tournament win and was looking at a losing season in 2020.

Desko’s last 10 years he has 1 Final Four. Last 5 years he has 1 NCAA Tournament win and in this year one of the more disappointing years in team history.

Not to rationalize, but do we want to hold anyone accountable for this season's results...all things (Covid) considered?

[wgdsr]

There is an individual and team development element that comes from coaching. Recruiting the best talent in the door isn’t the same as sending the best talent out the door.

That's true. But did both Desko and Petro prove that they could do both over the years? I sure think so. These men have track records you can point to.....so I find it highly unlikely that both these coaches "forgot" how to develop players, and find it far more likely that they were simply
out-recruited over the last few years. Occam's Razor, and all that....

This also explains Danowski. Did he suck at coaching and developing players at Hofstra? I don't think so. Yet how's he doing at Duke?

Landscape has changed. I was pointing out that development matters...not that they don’t develop players. I am more certain of Desko in that area and less certain of Petro. Hopkins was attracting top talent until they went earlier and earlier and I would say there wasn’t much difference in the player that arrived as a freshman and left as a senior. Just the sense I had. Things are more competitive. As great a job as Tillman has done, he only has 1 title. I don’t think anyone has been as consistent as Tillman at Maryland over the last 10 years.

it's not easy to win. some years back when, if you were given 2 choices about who's gonna win it all, you might stand a very good chance of winning that bet. and bet big.

who's betting big if you had 2 teams this year? wasn't duke supposed to run away from everyone?

[Typical Lax Dad]

There is an individual and team development element that comes from coaching. Recruiting the best talent in the door isn’t the same as sending the best talent out the door.

That's true. But did both Desko and Petro prove that they could do both over the years? I sure think so. These men have track records you can point to.....so I find it highly unlikely that both these coaches "forgot" how to develop players, and find it far more likely that they were simply
out-recruited over the last few years. Occam's Razor, and all that....

This also explains Danowski. Did he suck at coaching and developing players at Hofstra? I don't think so. Yet how's he doing at Duke?

Landscape has changed. I was pointing out that development matters...not that they don’t develop players. I am more certain of Desko in that area and less certain of Petro. Hopkins was attracting top talent until they went earlier and earlier and I would say there wasn’t much difference in the player that arrived as a freshman and left as a senior. Just the sense I had. Things are more competitive. As great a job as Tillman has done, he only has 1 title. I don’t think anyone has been as consistent as Tillman at Maryland over the last 10 years.

it's not easy to win. some years back when, if you were given 2 choices about who's gonna win it all, you might stand a very good chance of winning that bet. and bet big.

who's betting big if you had 2 teams this year? wasn't duke supposed to run away from everyone?

Yep.

[jrn19]

Danowski’s last 10 years at Hofstra he made 7 NCAA Tournaments, 3 Quarterfinals, and had 9 winning seasons. His last season they were 17-2 and were a blown 4Q lead from the F4. It was the best run of success in Hofstra history.

He was pretty good at developing and coaching players at Hofstra; and he had the results to prove it

Yes! But Petro and Desko have those results to point to as well, remember?

How many Final Fours and Championship Rings does Desko have, again?

Have those results come in the last 10 years? Petro’s last 10 years he made 1 F4. In his last 5 he had 1 NCAA Tournament win and was looking at a losing season in 2020.

Desko’s last 10 years he has 1 Final Four. Last 5 years he has 1 NCAA Tournament win and in this year one of the more disappointing years in team history.

Not to rationalize, but do want want to hold anyone accountable for this season's results...all things (Covid) considered?

Obviously the Covid element is hard to gauge. But other teams with Cuse’s expectations coming in - Duke, Carolina, Maryland - they all lived up to their expectations this year. Cuse is the one who didnt.

[DocBarrister]

This season was a unique one. Milliman and crew did a fantastic job improving the team weekly. The final product in the B1G tournament was pretty impressive ... one of the best teams in Division I lacrosse.

Speculation, and then some.

Peshko developed into a real dodging threat. Grimes had a solid freshman season after two years away from lacrosse.

Two players Petro didn't have. So....you get it now? You understand why Petro had DeSimone at Middie?

Wouldn’t underestimate how much talent the Blue Jays have.

I'm not. I'm giving you a post mortem. And the post mortem says they had 4 wins and missed the playoffs. Sorry mate, that's not a talented team relative to the 9 teams that beat them. And sorry, every other team had to play in this "unique year" of yours.

Blue Jays beat Rutgers and lost their last two games to Maryland by just three total goals.

As the NCAA tournament proceeds, I think you’ll better appreciate just how much of an accomplishment that was.

DocBarrister

[wgdsr]

This season was a unique one. Milliman and crew did a fantastic job improving the team weekly. The final product in the B1G tournament was pretty impressive ... one of the best teams in Division I lacrosse.

Speculation, and then some.

Peshko developed into a real dodging threat. Grimes had a solid freshman season after two years away from lacrosse.

Two players Petro didn't have. So....you get it now? You understand why Petro had DeSimone at Middie?

Wouldn’t underestimate how much talent the Blue Jays have.

I'm not. I'm giving you a post mortem. And the post mortem says they had 4 wins and missed the playoffs. Sorry mate, that's not a talented team relative to the 9 teams that beat them. And sorry, every other team had to play in this "unique year" of yours.

Blue Jays beat Rutgers and lost their last two games to Maryland by just three total goals.

As the NCAA tournament proceeds, I think you’ll better appreciate just how much of an accomplishment that was.

DocBarrister

they were awesome late season in 2019, too. handled mich and rutgers to start out conference play. heartbreaker with tosu.
then of course the juggernaut that was psu, who didn't that happen to?
immediate turnaround to not only beat maryland in a must win game, but to do it again the next weekend? like a movie.
the real test of late season improvement was the b1g final. the lions got all they were asking for. and then some. that '19 team could've taken on anyone in the nc$$. how many teams would really want to play them? aaannnddd... they won twice as many games as the now well documented improving 21s. think about that for a second.

shame they couldn't finish off 2020 in a similar fashion. but there were bigger problems in the world.

[a fan]

Blue Jays beat Rutgers and lost their last two games to Maryland by just three total goals.

As the NCAA tournament proceeds, I think you’ll better appreciate just how much of an accomplishment that was.

Hey, if you're happy with a 4-9 season, and happy with that accomplishment, that's great.

But let's not forget that Petro's last full season in 2019 season had a nearly identical showing in the Big Ten Tournament.

[a fan]

Desko’s last 10 years he has 1 Final Four. Last 5 years he has 1 NCAA Tournament win and in this year one of the more disappointing years in team history.

Yes, i know.

My question to you is, which of the two are more likely:

1. That two HOF coaches in Desko and Petro, who have a combined Seven Championship rings suddenly "forgot" how to coach and develop players over the last ten years or,

2. That both coaches did a poor job recruiting with all the changes in the lacrosse and cultural landscape, and the top players landed elsewhere?

I know where my money is. This isn't a complicated sport.

[jhu06]

espn should have brought petro in as an analyst for the ncaa tournament

[44WeWantMore]

Coach Cottle would have been my choice.

[HopFan16]

Desko’s last 10 years he has 1 Final Four. Last 5 years he has 1 NCAA Tournament win and in this year one of the more disappointing years in team history.

Yes, i know.

My question to you is, which of the two are more likely:

1. That two HOF coaches in Desko and Petro, who have a combined Seven Championship rings suddenly "forgot" how to coach and develop players over the last ten years or,

2. That both coaches did a poor job recruiting with all the changes in the lacrosse and cultural landscape, and the top players landed elsewhere?

I know where my money is. This isn't a complicated sport.

You keep setting up a flawed premise. It's not so black and white. It can be a mix of both. Among other factors.

It's possible to underachieve even if you don't have championship caliber talent. Did you watch the Mount St. Mary's game last year? Do you think that 2020 MSM team had the same amount of talent as Hopkins just because the game went to overtime?

No one is arguing Petro squandered championship talent. (Well, maybe Doc is, but I'm certainly not.) There's such a thing as nuance. BTW, I don't know how much Hopkins you watch, but I watched every game in both 2020 and 2021, some more than once, and the defense in 2021 was unambiguously improved and the stats support that. Similar core personnel. I don't think it's wild to suggest Coach K might be a more effective teacher/molder/developer of defensive talent than Petro was toward the end of his tenure. Heck I bet if you asked Petro that he'd probably be honest and tell you the same thing. Koesterer was one of his pupils after all, he might be happy to take credit for him.

[HopFan16]

espn should have brought petro in as an analyst for the ncaa tournament

They did. Do you ever pay attention to anything?

https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-rele ... -on-espnu/

[jrn19]

Desko’s last 10 years he has 1 Final Four. Last 5 years he has 1 NCAA Tournament win and in this year one of the more disappointing years in team history.

Yes, i know.

My question to you is, which of the two are more likely:

1. That two HOF coaches in Desko and Petro, who have a combined Seven Championship rings suddenly "forgot" how to coach and develop players over the last ten years or,

2. That both coaches did a poor job recruiting with all the changes in the lacrosse and cultural landscape, and the top players landed elsewhere?

I know where my money is. This isn't a complicated sport.

If they did a poor job recruiting then they shouldn’t be the coach anymore. Recruiting is the coaches job!!