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Devious Video Recap: Syracuse vs. Georgetown

The only good thing to ever come out of Minnesota.

I’m seething because I know that ESPNU is going to burn me/all of us with a bogus Rick Reilly special that they will show in it’s entirety and run into the G-Town/Cuse game.  Reilly hasn’t been relevant since he gave up the last page of Sports Illustrated to go work for the mouse.  I am literally shaking with rage as I type this.  Or I’m shaking because of the caffeine.

Nope, it’s rage.  I’m watching this trash right now.  Whomever edited this needs to swallow the barrel of a revol – damn it.  It’s Alonzo Mourning.  Kiss the baby Alonzo! People will forget that you were a thug for the entire last half of your career!  The Obama name-drop from Reilly forces me out.  See you guys in a bit.  I need to wash the stink of the Towson/Maryland game off of my eyeballs.

I COULD be watching the great New Hampshire D2 battle that is Saint A’s (my former place of employment) and SNHU, but instead I just added women’s basketball to my DVR to cover the inevitable overrun.  I have reached a new level of hellish anger.

Women’s basketball: the secret tenth level of hell.

Well, turns out I was angry about nothing.  That’s not a new thing, I guess.  Last night a guy ran into the back of my car on his bike, flipped over the handlebars landed on a light post and I got mad that it made me late to my Friday night pick up lacrosse game.  I mean, he was ok and it was totally his fault, so whatever.

Georgetown opens up with insane pressure defense, but pressuring the Orange when they have space is just a bad idea.  Especially with short sticks that can’t take away the alley and no one is sliding.

It’s alley dodge central here early as G-Town equalizes with ease.  Looking forward to seeing how the Georgetown midfield plays in this game tons of hype surrounding their potential, but we all know potential is a just a different way of saying “they MIGHT be good SOMEDAY, IF…” The ultimate backhanded compliment.

Hey is that a Tewaaraton Candidate leaving his man wide open on the crease for the easiest goal in the world?  I think it is…Ball watcher.

Down set whistle was changed like two years ago, guys.  Not “back when Quint played”.  Back when Quint played cassette tapes were still super rad and Prince was killing it in Purple Rain.  Purple Raaaiiin Purple rainnnn –

Oh look another D1 team running the mambo behind the cage.  Jesus, get an offense that operates in front of the cage, that doesn’t involve a 1 on 1 dodge to set EVERYTHING up. Please.  2-2-2, draw the man, look back, pass to near side, attack from behind.  I mean, how hard is it to design a defense that could stop that?  How about a quick sliding zone?  Or anything with a quick double that leaves the farthest man open?

This supposedly top tier Syracuse defense does not impress me.  The last time Syracuse had a great defense a guy named Glatzel was on the field.  The Hoyas are making them look good by forcing skip passes and taking outside shots.

On the flipside, the Georgetown defense cannot deal with their crease.  More than one ball watcher on the field today, and most of them are wearing Navy and Grey.  On cue another Orange goal – it’s 5-2 and there is still more than two minutes to go in the first quarter.

This new Warrior “In the future lax will be big, yo!” campaign is much better when they use actual people instead of ceramic pig heads.  Although having a hot tub scene with no ladies and dudes spitting liquid into the air is a bit of a misstep for me.  I’m not sayin, I’m just sayin.

I caught you pulling your head out on that last second goal, you dirty cheater!  Nice illegal goal there, Orange-man.  Refs should toss the stick EVERY TIME a player pulls his head or pocket into position.  Or they should carry hammers and just smash the stick when it’s illegal.  Then no one will cheat.  Can you imagine the head ref just smashing away at a stick like friggin Thor spouting epithets as they wail on the plastic?

Whosoever Holds This Hammer, If He Be Worthy, Shall Possess The Power Of THOR…or ruin lacrosse games with poor officiating.

Maybe not.

Syracuse man up.  Let’s see how they set up. Ah, the 3-3.  I love the 3-3.  You just have to draw the D out with outside passing, maybe run a guy behind for a few second to roll the ball back and you will have an open shot.  Wow, what a goal.  Spin on the ball behind GLE.  That was incredible.  Like I take that shot warming up my goalie just to mess with him and it takes 3-4 tries to even hit it.  I can’t imagine taking that in a game.  Wow.  Now I’m impressed.

STOP SAYING HOTBED.  JUST STOP IT.  A HOTBED IS WHAT QUINT LIES IN TO GET HIS EARTHY GLOW, NOT WHERE LACROSSE PLAYERS ARE BRED. EVERY TIME YOU SAY HOTBED A KID WHO GOT CUT FROM THE JV SOCCER TEAM PICKS UP A STICK.

Hotbed

I take back my remarks on the earlier Warrior commercial.  The second one makes up for it with a great blend of smut and Nick Polanco.

Georgetown switching sets now – bunched up 1-4-1 and it’s a fast break for the Orangemen.  When you run the 1-4-1 you had better have a guy that can handle the rock behind the cage and in the top spot. It’s insane how many people think the 1-4-1 is a beginner offense – Unless you have guys that can catch and finish on the crease it NEVER works. Sure you can possess the ball, but what happens when you need to score?

Too much standing around + not enough attacking From G-Town = stall warning. And a goal results.  Like I said a few weeks ago, the stall warning actually helps teams because the defense relaxes.  You could literally build a whole offense around getting stall warnings and attacking with motion and dodging as the trigger. You have to call it the Devitte offense, though.  I just trademarked it.

The game is getting more and more physical – Georgetown is clearing like Towson right now.  Why doesn’t anyone come back to get the ball when the goalie is pressured?  This is why goalies need to stay home and not run out with the ball.  Speaking of goalies, has this joker in the Hoya net made a save all afternoon? Stick side high? Really?

Wait there’s an ESPNU podcast? I freaking LOVE podcasts.  When you live in the shire everything is an hour away and satellite radio doesn’t work anywhere with trees apparently, so you have to load the iPod with content. (I recommend the /filmcast, The BS report and Filmspotting.) Seriously, though – I want to be on that podcast, Quint. Hit the cell, it’s the 603 area code with no caller ID.

I think Cuse’s goalie (just to note, I do know who all these guys are I’m just trying to stick with my earlier declaration that I don’t want to make the column about players…I think next week we’re going to start name dropping this is just getting absurd) just broke his hand on a shot.  He’s not moving his hand.  Rub some turf on it and get back in there. Or come out because you should have saved a shot from 40 feet away.  Gross.

Why do people run with Syracuse?  You know what they’re all about, just stuff the break (may I suggest a reverse fast break slide?) and make them shoot the bombs.  They don’t have nearly as many outside shooters as they have had in the past.  The outsider shooter is a dying breed.  Everyone is about that short range on the run jumper crap.  I want to see nets rip from far out.

And Georgetown tries the worst hidden ball trick I have ever seen.  On man up.  Behind the net.  I’m sorry, but that’s just dumb – no one is coming to play you behind the cage guys – the hidden ball does NOTHING to help you.

Georgetown can’t buy a stop right now.  Syracuse is just twisting the knife at the end of each quarter of this game so far with last second goals.  Every time you score at the end of the period you bring that momentum into the next quarter.

11-7 seems a lot more like 12-4, but only because most of the G-Town goals have come from broken plays and mistakes, just like Duke’s did last week.

Hey look, it’s the media poll!  I vote in that! Where’s my press pass? I can already taste the M and T Bank stadium press box Salisbury steaks.  Mmmm, heartburny.

Is it too early to pick my final four?  Of course it is, but here you go anyway: UNC, UVA, Cuse and UMD.  Safe? Yeah.  Logical? Absolutely.  Ballsy?  No.  I’m all about accuracy, not…balls.

(This is awkward).

Galloway’s cup has to be broken form that shot.  And so my streak of player name anonymity is broken.  I mean, when a goalie gets hit in the happies you have to at least put his name in print right?

Ow

Oh my god. That was…a legal hit?  I mean the Georgetown defender had the ball and the hit was from the side.  There was no elbow.  I just watched it five times.  I am torn on the whole issue of violence in lacrosse.  People keep making the claim that lacrosse is safer than football or hockey and I just can’t get behind those sentiments.  I mean sure I want those caliber of athletes to play this great sport, but not because they’re avoiding injury in other sports.  That’s not the way to sell lacrosse.  Add to that the fact that every piece of lacrosse equipment that you buy has a warning that says, “you can die or be seriously injured playing lacrosse” stitched or stickered onto it.  It’s there for a reason.

These refs are terrible.  Phantom offsides, missed calls all over the place, not getting their possession or 10-second counts right – it’s just slowing everything down.  I can’t believe I suggested giving them hammers.

Georgetown is now exclusively set up in their 2-2-2.

Is every team’s substitution call “yellow”?  Is that code for something other than cowardice?

This game is slowing down considerably.  Neither team has gotten any quality shots in the third quarter so far.  A lot of over-carrying going on for both sides.  Takeaway checks all over the place.  I know last week I killed the 2010 heads, but the one thing they do accomplish is augmenting the importance of takeaway defensemen.  If you look at the top ten teams each one of them has at least one guy who throws junk and keys transition.  Like it or not, transition is the lifeblood of good lacrosse.

A ward call?  A blown offsides call that was clearly caught on camera?  Do we need video technology in lacrosse now?  I really hope that whoever evaluates these refs takes a long hard look at this tape because this has been a very poorly controlled contest.

Cheaters like Thierry Henry necessitate video technology…why not refs?

A bent stick has me giddy with anticipation of the “That’s titanium they make airplanes out of that!” call from you-know-who.  But it never comes.  I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed. (On second viewing: Disappointed).

Two goals in the third quarter does not an exciting game make.  Did they spike this game with tryptophan?  I feel like I just ate Thanksgiving dinner and woke up on the couch with my cousins putting olives in my nose.  Each team suddenly got super conservative in that period.  The refs have clearly gotten in the head of the Syracuse players; who went from offensive dynamos in the first half to frustrated teenagers stuck at second base in the third quarter.

Great.  More goalie talk from the booth.  Meanwhile back on the field, G-Town is trying the 1-4-1 again. And they turn the ball over again.  Maybe they SHOULD stay in their deuces set.  At least they’re holding on to the ball.

I can see the Hoya’s defense ball watching on every Syracuse possession now.  They’re exhausted.  By the way, we’re 6 minutes into the fourth quarter and not a word has been said about the game by the announcers.  It’s just Quint and Palumb telling stories about the Gaits.  It’s not like anyone is missing anything, but it’s a two-goal game – you might want to focus on the action a tad more. (I rewound and listened to the creation of the air Gait tale a few times.  I can’t get enough of that story.)

He wore football pants in net and hung out with the Gait brothers.

One goal game with over 7 minutes left, it’s time to call the action guys.  I love Pat McCabe too, but let’s get back to the tilt, eh?

Syracuse man up kills the game and the Matty Palumb appearance.  Near side pipe another shocker to go with the fact that I’m now watching girls basketball according to my DVR.  They really need to give more time to these ESPNU broadcasts – lacrosse games don’t last two hours anymore, it’s 2 and a half – especially with all of these commercials.

Another reffing miscue makes me wonder why Palumb had to leave the booth. Maybe he had to suit up and bring some order to this game? Honestly these refs need to be sanctioned after this game.  It’s not that they have influenced the game for either team, but they have definitely made some terrible mistakes in the officiating of this game.

The Orange have successfully pulled away despite the refereeing.  Big hits are part of lacrosse.  Deal with it or get off the field.  Honestly, the more you pacify the sport, the less aggressive athletes are going to want to play it.

Sloppier and sloppier play in the waning minutes of this game are directly related to each team being tired and wronged by the refs.  It’s anarchy out there to the final whistle and that is going to do it.

Player of the game for Georgetown:

Senior defenseman Chris Nixon

Chris Nixon

Player of the game for Syracuse:

Junior keeper John Galloway

John Galloway

I’m still holding out on the stat thing, but the name holdout is over.  Time to make some stars.

Someone has to save them from the refs.

Today’s Devious Video Recap is brought to you (again) by the fine folks at Proathletics.com. Proathletics.com –Because anything else looks like crap.



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About the author: Kyle Devitte has written for The Boston Cannons, LaxUnited, The MLL, Inside Lacrosse, LaxNation and the New England Lacrosse Journal. He is currently head coach of the Daniel Webster College men’s lacrosse team.

Read all his Devious Video Recaps and relive the best NCAA lacrosse action from 2010.

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