The Syracuse Way

Pretty sure you could just call it "Winning." 

But then John Desko would be left with a lot of awkward silence for the rest of the time.  So he should probably stretch it out when he gives a speech on how Syracuse Lacrosse does what it does so well.

"[IMLCA President and Navy head coach] Richie [Meade] cornered me at a fall tournament and asked if we could do something… Nothing in particular in mind, but when we got the first draft of the schedule, they had put ‘The Syracuse Way’ as the title of our speech, so we decided that we had to make it fit the description."

"The first part is going to be a rough overview of what we do as a program - starting with our fall practice program, then what we try to keep for the players’ schedules through the winter period, then what we get into when we get back in mid-January," Desko says. "The second half is more about what people consider the Syracuse ’style’ - that unsettled, fast-break thing that we’re known for. We’re going to go over some of the unsettled drills we use, working on 3-on-2, 4-on-3 and so on situations. We’ll probably use most of the hour with that stuff, but hopefully at the end, we’ll be able to answer whatever questions the coaches ask."

Meanwhile, courtesy of Dave Rahme, we find out the good folks over Inside Lacrosse have done some preseason rankings. According to them, Syracuse has the third toughest schedule in the nation, which seems...crazy. Hopkins apparently has the toughest and, I don't know...I don't see it.  I mean, they've seen how we play every top team on the road, right?

They do however see the nation's top defense wearing orange this year.

Undisputedly the country’s top defensive midfield, shortsticks Kevin Drew, Jovan Miller and longstick Joel White are all back. Drew’s got uncanny speed, Miller is physical and tough and White runs the show and is a dynamic playmaker.

The Orange also have the third-best attack unit in the nation, though any squad that features Cody Jamieson is obviously the best.  It's as if Inside Lacrosse is openly taunting him.