Between the Lines
1/27/2012 10:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Men's Lacrosse
This Week: Victories aren't moral, they are quite real. Sunday the women's basketball team withstood a 17-0 run on the road at Seton Hall and rallied to win in the final minute. Wednesday the third ranked(that's it?, they were #1 the last five times) UConn Huskies rolled into town. Game on. The Orange led by as many as seven early, then in a sublime final minute of the half conjured five points to cut the Husky lead to seven at the break.
Cue the second half, when the Huskies did what they've done countless times before and no doubt will do to much of their remaining schedule. An early half 12-0 run took merely 75 seconds and put the Orange in the unenviable position of having to play catch up. Afterwards Q was asked to consider the compelling and competitive first 20 minutes and enumerate the positives of the night.
“Zero, we lost by 40,” Quentin Hillsman quickly replied. “You can't take anything positive when you lose by 40 points. We had a great opportunity in this basketball game, and I'm not going to take anything positive away from this game. We don't take moral victories here. We lost the game. We lost the game big. And we have to get better. We are a talented basketball team, going to be a great basketball team real soon. We're going to keep working hard, we're going to keep doing the things that we do well, and we're going to keep preparing to win basketball games. We don't take away anything positive from this game.”
Clear enough. Though if I may take away one positive not of the game but of the yearly conference matchup with the undisputed gold standard of the sport. Q and company get a clear annual picture of what needs to be done to get where they strive to be.
Elevator Sighting of the Week: When I last told tales of the Short Hills, NJ Hilton elevator Skylar Diggins and her fellow Irish were changing floors shortly after the Pacers headed out to face the Nets. This past Sunday a ride down for breakfast was shared with rather tired looking Charlotte Bobcats coach Paul Silas. His squad had played the night before in Chicago and was set to face the Nets that day. Needless to say the crammed 66 game NBA lockout schedule is not one conducive of a good night's sleep(nor was his young squad's 3-13 record to that point).
The ladies had a different sighting in mind involving the reigning in hindsight probably should have been Big East Player of the Year. But Kemba Walker was nowhere to be seen. Neither was owner Michael Jordan, though a buzz was caused by simply suggesting His Airness might be on the premises.
Preseason Lax Rankings: As has been previously stated in this space, I'm a voter in the weekly Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The preseason top 20 will be released on Monday and as a sneak peak here's my first crack at it in 2012.
Needless to say much will change over the course of the season and this collection of 20 will probably look completely different after the first week of the season. Without question it will be a shuffled mess come mid March.
Before you go jumping down my throat for placing the Orange sixth, the preseason poll is mostly a combo of lingering 2011 thoughts and total returning contributors. Considering we haven't yet seen a decent chunk of this year's squad in game action, sixth seems a good place to start. That leads us to…
Higgo's (Potential) Heroes: Freshman(true or redshirt). Here and elsewhere the departed seniors have been well documented, but who shall replace them? Here's four to watch.
Let's start on the midfield where John Desko needs to replace his entire first line of Josh Amidon, Jovan Miller and Jeremy Thompson. Let's feature a pair of redshirt freshmen.
Henry Schoonmaker's from Portland, Oregon which lends the question, how the heck did he start playing lacrosse in the first place? “My mom forced me to play lacrosse out there,” Henry said. “My dad played in high school over in Colorado. And my mom introduced it do me, got tired of baseball, so they kind of forced me to go over and play lacrosse. Then I ended up playing with Ryan Powell coaching me.”
I feel it's safe to say we need not wonder what Henry's connection to Syracuse is. Last year Schoonmaker was already planning to redshirt when an injury knocked him out for the spring regardless. This year we'll find Henry heavily integrated in the top two midfield lines come the scrimmages.
Also in the midfield mix this year is fellow redshirt freshman Hakeem Lecky. Unlike Henry, Hakeem was integral in last year's plans before a wrist injury sidelined him for the season. “It was tough,” Lecky recalled. “It was heartbreaking because I came in real excited to play with the seniors last year. Even in practice I would be excited to practice with those guys. After that injury it was tough because it was, whoa, didn't see this one coming.”
This year it might be opponents who don't see Lecky coming...or going. Though that's just because he's absurdly fast. Look for both redshirt frosh to be heavy in the midfield mix early this season.
On defense a trio of longpole starters have also departed: John Lade, Joel White and Thomas Guadagnolo. That leaves openings at both close defense and long stick midfield. Let's meet two true freshman who can play both.
Ralph D'Agostino comes Syracuse's way from New Jersey. Now it's on the coaches to decide whether he'll play close or LSM, “Wherever I can help the team. In high school I played everywhere as well, even played some short stick in high school, so it doesn't really matter to me.”
As for where Ralph will be playing this summer, he'll be pulling on the jersey of the USA U-19 squad. “It's so exciting. We had a fall weekend already, and just putting on those colors it was huge for me. And it's also cool to follow in the footsteps of guys like John Lade and Joel White(who were on the same team in 2008).”
For a farther flung alternative, how about Brandon Mullins? The Texan was the Class 5A(largest schools) state defensive player of the year as a senior…in football. A Texan shunning football? Do tell, “A lot of it had to do with the fact that I committed to lacrosse first, so I think my heart just stayed there. When I started there was one youth team and now that I've graduated there's tons of kids playing, so it's definitely growing. It was definitely eye opening the first two weeks we were here, but just a little adjustment and everything's good.”
Four talented freshmen, and wonderfully seemingly no entitlement amongst the group, only competitiveness for playing time.
“The competition's been intense like it should be,” Lecky said. “It's good because it forces everyone to work really hard. Everyone's definitely motivated seeing all these spots open, so it's a good thing.”
“I noticed a lot of hard workers,” said redshirt freshman Schoonmaker of the true newbies. “I noticed a lot of kids who have a lot of drive. Obviously last year we had an amazing class graduate so there's a lot opportunity to play, so they're just trying hard to get out there and show what they got.”
Though let's not for a second think that youth has robbed the squad of its trademark bravado. “I think everyone that goes to Syracuse's expectations are to win a national championship,” D'Agostino proclaimed. “That's our goal every year and I'm not going to be happy unless we win one.” I can hear Larry Munson now. My God, some freshmen!
Next Broadcast: We have a full day at the Dome Saturday with a men's and women's hoops doubleheader. Men's coverage starts at 11:30 for a 1:00 tip with West Virginia. That will roll seamlessly into the women's game vs. Cincinnati at 4:00. All of the action comes your way on ESPN 97.7 and Orange All Access.
Until then, always glad to hear your musings @BrianHigginsSU.
Cue the second half, when the Huskies did what they've done countless times before and no doubt will do to much of their remaining schedule. An early half 12-0 run took merely 75 seconds and put the Orange in the unenviable position of having to play catch up. Afterwards Q was asked to consider the compelling and competitive first 20 minutes and enumerate the positives of the night.
“Zero, we lost by 40,” Quentin Hillsman quickly replied. “You can't take anything positive when you lose by 40 points. We had a great opportunity in this basketball game, and I'm not going to take anything positive away from this game. We don't take moral victories here. We lost the game. We lost the game big. And we have to get better. We are a talented basketball team, going to be a great basketball team real soon. We're going to keep working hard, we're going to keep doing the things that we do well, and we're going to keep preparing to win basketball games. We don't take away anything positive from this game.”
Clear enough. Though if I may take away one positive not of the game but of the yearly conference matchup with the undisputed gold standard of the sport. Q and company get a clear annual picture of what needs to be done to get where they strive to be.
Elevator Sighting of the Week: When I last told tales of the Short Hills, NJ Hilton elevator Skylar Diggins and her fellow Irish were changing floors shortly after the Pacers headed out to face the Nets. This past Sunday a ride down for breakfast was shared with rather tired looking Charlotte Bobcats coach Paul Silas. His squad had played the night before in Chicago and was set to face the Nets that day. Needless to say the crammed 66 game NBA lockout schedule is not one conducive of a good night's sleep(nor was his young squad's 3-13 record to that point).
The ladies had a different sighting in mind involving the reigning in hindsight probably should have been Big East Player of the Year. But Kemba Walker was nowhere to be seen. Neither was owner Michael Jordan, though a buzz was caused by simply suggesting His Airness might be on the premises.
Preseason Lax Rankings: As has been previously stated in this space, I'm a voter in the weekly Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The preseason top 20 will be released on Monday and as a sneak peak here's my first crack at it in 2012.
| 1. | Virginia |
| 2. | Duke |
| 3. | Johns Hopkins |
| 4. | Cornell |
| 5. | Denver |
| 6. | Syracuse |
| 7. | Maryland |
| 8. | Notre Dame |
| 9. | Villanova |
| 10. | North Carolina |
| 11. | Colgate |
| 12. | Bucknell |
| 13. | Hofstra |
| 14. | Penn State |
| 15. | Princeton |
| 16. | UMass |
| 17. | Yale |
| 18. | Harvard |
| 19. | Delaware |
| 20. | Siena |
Needless to say much will change over the course of the season and this collection of 20 will probably look completely different after the first week of the season. Without question it will be a shuffled mess come mid March.
Before you go jumping down my throat for placing the Orange sixth, the preseason poll is mostly a combo of lingering 2011 thoughts and total returning contributors. Considering we haven't yet seen a decent chunk of this year's squad in game action, sixth seems a good place to start. That leads us to…
Higgo's (Potential) Heroes: Freshman(true or redshirt). Here and elsewhere the departed seniors have been well documented, but who shall replace them? Here's four to watch.
Let's start on the midfield where John Desko needs to replace his entire first line of Josh Amidon, Jovan Miller and Jeremy Thompson. Let's feature a pair of redshirt freshmen.
Henry Schoonmaker's from Portland, Oregon which lends the question, how the heck did he start playing lacrosse in the first place? “My mom forced me to play lacrosse out there,” Henry said. “My dad played in high school over in Colorado. And my mom introduced it do me, got tired of baseball, so they kind of forced me to go over and play lacrosse. Then I ended up playing with Ryan Powell coaching me.”
I feel it's safe to say we need not wonder what Henry's connection to Syracuse is. Last year Schoonmaker was already planning to redshirt when an injury knocked him out for the spring regardless. This year we'll find Henry heavily integrated in the top two midfield lines come the scrimmages.
Also in the midfield mix this year is fellow redshirt freshman Hakeem Lecky. Unlike Henry, Hakeem was integral in last year's plans before a wrist injury sidelined him for the season. “It was tough,” Lecky recalled. “It was heartbreaking because I came in real excited to play with the seniors last year. Even in practice I would be excited to practice with those guys. After that injury it was tough because it was, whoa, didn't see this one coming.”
This year it might be opponents who don't see Lecky coming...or going. Though that's just because he's absurdly fast. Look for both redshirt frosh to be heavy in the midfield mix early this season.
On defense a trio of longpole starters have also departed: John Lade, Joel White and Thomas Guadagnolo. That leaves openings at both close defense and long stick midfield. Let's meet two true freshman who can play both.
Ralph D'Agostino comes Syracuse's way from New Jersey. Now it's on the coaches to decide whether he'll play close or LSM, “Wherever I can help the team. In high school I played everywhere as well, even played some short stick in high school, so it doesn't really matter to me.”
As for where Ralph will be playing this summer, he'll be pulling on the jersey of the USA U-19 squad. “It's so exciting. We had a fall weekend already, and just putting on those colors it was huge for me. And it's also cool to follow in the footsteps of guys like John Lade and Joel White(who were on the same team in 2008).”
For a farther flung alternative, how about Brandon Mullins? The Texan was the Class 5A(largest schools) state defensive player of the year as a senior…in football. A Texan shunning football? Do tell, “A lot of it had to do with the fact that I committed to lacrosse first, so I think my heart just stayed there. When I started there was one youth team and now that I've graduated there's tons of kids playing, so it's definitely growing. It was definitely eye opening the first two weeks we were here, but just a little adjustment and everything's good.”
Four talented freshmen, and wonderfully seemingly no entitlement amongst the group, only competitiveness for playing time.
“The competition's been intense like it should be,” Lecky said. “It's good because it forces everyone to work really hard. Everyone's definitely motivated seeing all these spots open, so it's a good thing.”
“I noticed a lot of hard workers,” said redshirt freshman Schoonmaker of the true newbies. “I noticed a lot of kids who have a lot of drive. Obviously last year we had an amazing class graduate so there's a lot opportunity to play, so they're just trying hard to get out there and show what they got.”
Though let's not for a second think that youth has robbed the squad of its trademark bravado. “I think everyone that goes to Syracuse's expectations are to win a national championship,” D'Agostino proclaimed. “That's our goal every year and I'm not going to be happy unless we win one.” I can hear Larry Munson now. My God, some freshmen!
Next Broadcast: We have a full day at the Dome Saturday with a men's and women's hoops doubleheader. Men's coverage starts at 11:30 for a 1:00 tip with West Virginia. That will roll seamlessly into the women's game vs. Cincinnati at 4:00. All of the action comes your way on ESPN 97.7 and Orange All Access.
Until then, always glad to hear your musings @BrianHigginsSU.
Syracuse Women's Basketball 2016 Final Four Celebration
Tuesday, March 03
2016 Women's Basketball Final Four Recap
Monday, March 02
Postgame Press Conference | Syracuse vs. Boston College
Sunday, March 01
Syracuse Women's Basketball Postgame Show
Sunday, March 01
