SB Nation Arizona: All Posts by Jared Smith

Syracuse Lacrosse: Orange Women Lose, 11-10, To Maryland In Semifinals

2013-05-25T11:44:49Z

Syracuse lacrosse's Philadelphia, Final Four weekend got off to a disappointing start Friday night, as the women's program lost a heart breaker in the national semifinal to top-seeded Maryland, 11-10, at Villanova.

The loss snapped the Orange's 13-game winning streak and capped their very successful season with a 18-4 record. The Terrapins advance to the finals where the North Carolina Tar Heels await.

Twice SU trailed by three goals in the second half and both times it erased the deficit. The last time the Orange made a comeback march they took a 10-9 lead thanks to a four-goal run, which was capped by a goal by Katie Webster with 18:31 remaining.

Maryland was able to tie the game at 10, which remained the score until 2:51 to go when the Terrapins' Kelly McPartland capped the scoring with the game's final goal.

Syracuse had a few chances to tie the game, but fell short of making back-to-back National Championship Game appearances.

"We made some mistakes when we had chances to make plays," Gait said. "It's tough. The pressure is on the kids in a tight game. You drop a pass, you didn't back up the goal and you don't score. It's funny how time goes by when you score three or four in a row and then it becomes more difficult to score. Both teams saw that in the second half."

Despite the tough end, the ladies need to be recognized for their amazing achievements. Though, coach Gait and company fell short of a national title, SU's women's lacrosse is becoming a national threat and one day, hopefully, will pull off its first national championship sooner than later.

Syracuse Lacrosse: Steve Ianzito Will Play Against Denver With Injuried Ankle

2013-05-24T20:59:01Z

Syracuse Orange senior defensemen Steve Ianzito has never had a chance to playing a Final Four and be damned if an injured ankle will keep him from accomplishing a dream on Saturday when the top-seeded Orange face off against No. 4-seeded Denver in the national semifinals in Philadelphia (5 p.m. ET on ESPN2).

On Friday, during Syracuse's open practice in Philly, Ianzito said he was going to give it a go despite not being 100-percent after rolling his ankle in last weekend's victory over Yale.

"We're going to give it a go tomorrow," he said. "It felt good today. It's the Final Four. I'm going to be out there with my team as much as possible."

"I don't want to put too much strain on it," Ianzito said. "I've still got to be cautious. It's strong. It's getting there. I've been working my butt off all week trying to rehab this thing. I'm ready to go."

The captain's presence on the field could be key on slowing down the Pioneer's steady offense, which features a strong midfield.

ACC Football TV Schedule -- Early-Season Games Feature Little Orange

2013-05-24T14:00:03Z

The Atlantic Coast Conference, Syracuse football's new home this Fall, released its early-season TV schedule Thursday, and sadly it featured just one update about the Orange's schedule.

The update was the Sept. 14 showdown with visiting Wagner, which will be a 4 p.m. ET kickoff and can be seen on ESPN3 -- I'd expect, at some point, TWCS will pick up the coverage, but this was a bit easier in the past with the Big East Network in place.

As for the Syracuse-Penn State season-opener at MetLife Stadium, well, the ACC is still listing the kickoff time and TV coverage as TBD.

We already knew that Syracuse at Northwestern, Sept. 7, will be carried on the Big Ten Network and will begin at 6 p.m. ET.

Besides that, no other Syracuse non-conference contest has an official start time or broadcast home. Meanwhile, if you want to get excited about ACC football -- and who doesn't? -- here's what was released:

Aug. 29 North Carolina at South Carolina ESPN 6 p.m.

Aug. 29 Presbyterian at Wake Forest ESPN3 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 30 Florida Atlantic at Miami ESPNU 8 p.m.

Aug. 31 Villanova at Boston College ESPN3 Noon

Aug. 31 Elon at Georgia Tech ESPN3 Noon

Aug. 31 Louisiana Tech at NC State ACC Network 12:30 p.m.

Aug. 31 Florida International at Maryland RSN 12:30 p.m.

Aug. 31 BYU at Virginia ESPNU 3:30 p.m.

Aug. 31 NC Central at Duke ESPN3 4 p.m.

Aug. 31 *Penn State vs. Syracuse TBA TBA

Aug. 31 Virginia Tech vs. Alabama ESPN 5:30 p.m.

Aug. 31 Georgia at Clemson ABC 8 p.m.

Sept. 2 Florida State at Pittsburgh ESPN 8 p.m.

Sept. 6 Wake Forest at Boston College ESPN2 8 p.m.

Sept. 7 Florida at Miami ESPN Noon

Sept. 7 Middle Tennessee at North Carolina ACC Network 12:30 p.m.

Sept. 7 South Carolina State at Clemson RSN 12:30 p.m.

Sept. 7 Western Carolina at Virginia Tech ESPN3 1:30 p.m.

Sept. 7 Oregon at Virginia #ABC/ESPN2 3:30 p.m.

Sept. 7 Old Dominion at Maryland ESPN3 4 p.m.

Sept. 7 *Duke at Memphis 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 7 Richmond at NC State ESPN3 6 p.m.

Sept. 7 Syracuse at Northwestern Big Ten Network 6 p.m.

Sept. 14 Virginia Tech at East Carolina FSN Noon

Sept. 14 New Mexico at Pittsburgh ACC Network 12:30 p.m.

Sept. 14 Louisiana-Monroe at Wake Forest RSN 12:30 p.m.

Sept. 14 Nevada at Florida State ESPN or ESPN2 3:30 p.m.

Sept. 14 Georgia Tech at Duke ESPNU 3:30 p.m.

Sept. 14 Wagner at Syracuse ESPN3 4 p.m.

Sept. 14 *Boston College at Southern California TBA TBA

Sept. 14 *Maryland at Connecticut TBA TBA

Sept. 19 Clemson at NC State ESPN 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 26 Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech ESPN 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 17 Miami at North Carolina ESPN TBA

Nov. 14 Georgia Tech at Clemson ESPN 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 29 Miami at Pittsburgh ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 TBA

Syracuse Lacrosse Notes: John Desko Vs. Bill Tierney, Steve Ianzito Questionable

2013-05-23T15:00:09Z

Syracuse Orange lacrosse fans are nearly two days away from the biggest game of the year, a NCAA semifinal showdown with the Denver Pioneers (5 p.m. ET on ESPN2).

Most lacrosse nuts probably have already read a lot of the Final Four stuff over at CollegeCrosse.com and are all caught up and ready to roll for the weekend.

However, if you're not lets get you caught up with a few things.

First, senior defensemen Steve Ianzito is still listed as questionable for Saturday and head coach John Desko said it will be close on whether or not he will play.

Ianzito's teammate and roomie, David Hamlin, believes Ianzito will play.

"He's been making great strides to get back," Hamlin said. "He's been getting treatment, stuff like that, three times a day. I've seen him walking around a little bit and if you ask him, he'll tell you himself it feels great. I think he'll be ready to go."

Meanwhile, freshmen Brendan Conroy and Ryan Palasek will continue to be suspended this weekend and will not travel with the team to Philadelphia.

In the bigger scheme of things, there will be one common theme talked about this weekend and that's the match up between Desko and Bill Tierney, who have a long, long history of coaching against each other.

Twenty-one years ago, an outlier school won its first of what would become six national titles. Princeton beat Syracuse 10-9 in double overtime at Penn's Franklin Field, just a few miles away from this weekend's host venue, Lincoln Financial Field.

The head coach at Princeton? Bill Tierney. The top assistant at Syracuse? John Desko.

Despite their shared past, there's a lot of respect between the pair and it showed in this nice write up in the Baltimore Sun.

Desko said the Pioneers’ offensive versatility is a challenge for many teams.

“They’re a difficult team to prepare for, especially with their offense,” Desko said. “He’s got a few Canadians running out there, box-style players. You can talk to your defenders about the style and how they carry their stick and how they’re good off the ball, and how they catch and shoot with quick releases. But until you experience it, it’s a different type of player to cover, and it’s a different team than his Princeton teams as far as the style of defense that they play. It’s a little different than what I’m used to with a Bill Tierney team, but he’s been there long enough. I credit him and his staff with how well he’s adjusted to a different style of lacrosse and maybe some different type players than he has had in the past. My hat is off to him, especially with all the success he’s had in Denver.”

The Orange’s makeover is a testament to Desko, according to Tierney.

“To me, what I’ve always believed is the great coaches change with their personnel and change with their team,” Tierney said. “What John has done with this team is one of the best. Fifteen or 20 years ago, if I would have said that they were a patient, intelligent, sharp-shooting team that plays the defense in the country and plays tight and relies on their defense in situations like they had in the last two games, it would have been almost blasphemous. But that is what John has done, and his staff, they’re the same guys. Lelan does a great job with the defense, and what whose guys do with their kids and that talent just shows you. You come to a Final Four and you’re looking at a Syracuse team that just plays a different style, but – guess what? – they’re in the Final Four, and that’s really important. They’ve beaten a lot of good teams this year, they’ve been in nine one-goal games, they know what it takes to persevere through ups and downs.”

More Syracuse lacrosse preview stuff will be coming in the upcoming days.

Eric Devendorf Radio -- Yes, You're Reading This Right

2013-05-23T14:00:04Z

Sometimes wonderful blog stories just write themselves, and fortunately for me today is one of those wonderful, unbelievable, glorious days -- it also is a sad day considering Sean is on vacation and probably would KILL this post.

After years of being the Doug Gottlieb of the college basketball world (for me it would be Colin Cowherd, but whatever), former Syracuse Orange guard Eric Devendorf will get his chance to be Doug Gottlieb. Like, for realz.

Better yet? Devendorf will get his shot to do so in the town that helped him develop his wonderful reputation for being a douche -- Syracuse!

According to Syracuse.com's Donna Ditota, Devo has been working out at Wayne State University in Detroit. Wanting to try radio, Devo reached out to Mike Bristol of ESPN CNY. Bristol, who hosts the Syracuse Legends show each Friday at 6 p.m., agreed to give Devo a chance and will allow him to co-host the show with Bristol and Damien Rhodes.

"I definitely like it," Devendorf said. "I'm trying to learn more about it and hopefully expand off it."

It is about this time in a post where I rehash Devendorf's career at SU, but I think your time is better spent imaging Devo Radio and what it will do to your soul.

Just Like Old Times: Syracuse Lacrosse Back In The Final Four

2013-05-23T13:30:06Z

This used to be a yearly thing -- the Syracuse Orange lacrosse team making the Final Four gunning for another National Championship. However, in the past few years the college lacrosse world seemingly caught up with SU, winner of 11 titles, its latest coming in thrilling fashion in 2009 with a victory over the Cornell Big Red.

Now, just like any other college sport, expect maybe football which has been dominated by the SEC, lacrosse's NCAA Tournament has become a crapshoot. If a team can make the tournament it has a chance to win the whole shebang, the perfect example was Loyola (MD) last year.

(Remember when freakin' Loyola (MD) won the national championship?!?!)

Yet, after a three-year hiatus, the Orange, this year's top seed, are back in the Final Four, and Syracuse fans have something to do during Memorial Day Weekend; like take a road trip to Philadelphia or watch a large amount of lacrosse from home.

As mentioned above, for 22 straight years, this used to be a yearly thing. Orange lacrosse fans always knew what they were going to do this time of year and could seemingly book their weekend road trips well in advance, and do it without hesitation. Heck, SU lacrosse players had to sacrifice not attending graduation because they were going to play for a National Championship -- a sacrifice they happily made.

For the past few years, SU had been on the outside looking in and during parts of this season -- in fact a lot of times this season -- it looked like a majority of Orange lacrosse fans would be doing the same "traditional" thing it had been doing the last couple of seasons, which is ignoring the game they care about so much come May.

But somehow, even after a crazy loss to Hobart, its multiple flaws including not being able to win a face-off, SU found itself and was able to make it a run at the Final Four. (Does that sound familiar?). And though, the Orange, despite being the No. 1-seeded team, may not be a favorite entering the weekend it has a shot at a 12th national title, and bringing back a tradition we had all grown to love -- winning a national championship on Memorial Day.

Sure, the tradition may not be like it used to be -- not many things are -- but it sure feels good to care again (oh, and root against Bill Tierney)? And who knows, this could be something we could all, again, be getting used to.

Jim Boeheim Rips Knicks To Back Carmelo Anthony

2013-05-21T16:44:01Z

Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim is a very opinionated man, and whenever given the opportunity to speak his mind about a topic -- whether its conference realignment, Rick Pitino's Kentucky Derby horse or gun control --he will do just that and possibly more.

On Tuesday, less than a day after the New York Knicks were eliminated in the second round of the NBA Playoffs by the Indiana Pacers -- which, of course, led to Carmelo Anthony getting his cliched backlash -- Syracuse.com interviewed Boeheim, as did ESPN's Mike & Mike In The Morning, to talk about 'Melo and the Knicks -- a topic he has, in the past, gotten heated about. And boy, did he delivery some fantastic material.

Via Syracuse.com's Chris Carlson, who asked if he believes Carmelo can win a championship with the Knicks.

"Not on that team," Boeheim said. "He did what he can do. He played very well the final game. Everybody's killing him but Tyson Chandler just didn't try to catch the ball. He threw him the ball and Tyson Chandler went like this (Boeheim dodged in a chair in his office in the Carmelo K. Anthony Center). He was wide open. He should have been looking for the ball right here. Kenyon Martin should have been looking for the ball. They both went like this (Boeheim dodged again). Carmelo gets turnovers and the announcers aren't smart enough to even think, 'Well, the guy should try to catch the ball.' "

Carlson asks Boeheim about J.R. Smith and Raymond Felton.

"Those guys weren't great players where they were and now they're asking them to be second and third options," Boeheim said. "In Miami the second and third options are Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Your fourth option is Ray Allen, who is still in good shape. Your fifth option is Shane Battier, who is still a good player. The New York Knicks have who?"

What about Tyson Chandler?

"Tyson Chandler claims he never gets the ball. He doesn't try to get the ball," said Boeheim, who coached Chandler when he was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team. "He had two points and Hibbert had (21). What was the difference in the series? Raymond Felton was 0-for-7. Lance Stephenson had (25) points. They're going to blame it on Carmelo? I told him when he went to New York, they're going to blame it on you."

Here's a snippet of what he said on Mike & Mike this morning.

"I think he has proven he can be the star player," Boeheim said when asked could 'Melo win a championship seemingly by himself. "But no, he cannot do it by himself. And by the way, neither has anyone else ever won it without (help). Lebron, Dwyane Wade -- Dwyane Wade is one of the best player in the history of the league -- Michael Jordan -- won six with Scottie Pippen, who I believe is one of the best players in the history of the league -- and Kobe won with Shaq."

"Do the Knicks right now have a great player with Carmelo? I am not going to answer that, I am just going to say that" Boeheim said. "I believe he is good enough to win a NBA Championship, but I think he needs another guy with him. Hopefully, one day he will get the opportunity to get that kind of guy."

(Haha, Jim. You just answered the question.)

Anyway, Boeheim's answers are getting some play on other airwaves and some backlash from other media members like New York Post writer Zach Braziller.

Here's my question on Boeheim ripping Knicks: when did he become Coach K? They don't exactly maximize their talent in Syracuse either.
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) May 21, 2013

Point is one title with all the talent he's collected up there he shouldn't be ripping #knicks
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) May 21, 2013

Here's some feedback from Grantland's Zach Lowe.

How reliable/meaningful of a source is Jim Boeheim for NBA analysis, and, specifically, Cuse-related NBA analysis?
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) May 21, 2013

Meanwhile, CBS' Gary Parrish is loving this, well, parts of it.

Now let me state right here that I didn't watch the Knicks enough this season to know whether Boeheim is right or wrong, although I think the idea that Anthony's supporting cast is questionable at best probably makes some sense, if that's the point Boeheim was trying to make.

With King James in Miami, Derrick Rose coming back to the Bulls (presumably, at some point) and the Pacers probably maturing from year to year, I agree, for the most part, that it "doesn't look good" for the Knicks as currently constructed. Either way, I don't really care. I just like the idea that in a culture where most high-major coaches are guarded with their words and far too politically correct that there's still somebody willing to talk off the cuff and passionately ... and in late May, which is also hilarious.

Sometimes, obviously, that's going to work against Boeheim.

He's not always right.

But I'm perfectly willing to take the misguided rants so long as I can also get the rants in general, and isn't college basketball going to be a little less interesting when Boeheim finally retires? (Especially since we'll then no longer be able to ask Boeheim when he's going to retire, which is typically a trigger for another classic rant. But I digress.)

Honestly, I understand why people are irked, but I'll 100-percent agree with Parrish on this one key point.

Boeheim was asked a question about a topic he feels passionate about and he gave his honest opinion -- wrong or right -- and, yet, it upsets you? (The media. Not Smith, Felton, Chandler or Mike Woodson.)

This is the one thing about the media that drives me insane. All the time we -- I'll lump TNIAAM in this for a second -- complain about athletes and coaches being boring. It is the same answers to the same stupid questions and nothing, usually, comes out of a press conference or locker room interview.

UNLESS, you're dealing with James Arthur Boeheim! Then it is real, opinionated and he doesn't care if you agree or not. Yet, because of this -- and a few other things -- media members and other fans dislike him for it.

Sure, disagree with his opinions, but at least respect him for having the balls to give a honest one.

Plus, lets not forget that Boeheim is a basketball savant that watches so much of it he is easily qualified to have an opinion on it.

Just because its about Carmelo, and he might be a bit bias, doesn't mean its not credible or a good one.

Suppose he was asked about Lebron James and his ranking among the greatest NBA players of all-time. Would he be smashed for giving his opinion on the NBA when he's a college coach? Probably. Yet, Boeheim knows more about the NBA than 90-percent of the writers that cover it.

How do I know this? Because he has coached most of these star players and HE WATCHES A BILLION HOURS OF BASKETBALL, just like many NBA experts, which are now ripping him, do.

Did Boeheim go a bit far in ripping the Knicks? Probably. However, it is not a ignorant opinion, so stop slamming him for having it. Instead, write a column pointing out the flaws in his opinion. But, I'll wish you best of luck, because he's probably more right than wrong, like most of his opinions.

Syracuse Lacrosse Pre-Game And Post-Game Festivities

2013-05-21T13:00:05Z

Yeah baby! Syracuse lacrosse has advanced to the Final Four in both the men's and women's game, and if you're planning on making the journey down to Philadelphia, where both championships are being played, SU's Philadelphia Alumni Club is holding a pre-game and post-game festivities Saturday at Broad Street Bullies Pub.

Here's what the SUPAC is doing:

BEFORE Syracuse men vs. Denver -- Saturday at 5 p.m. ET at Lincoln Financial Field

Pre-game/Post-game: Street Bullies Pub (1 p.m. ET)

Price: $5.00 gets you a Syracuse-Bullies pass -- 1/2 select appetizers, $3 domestic drafts, $4 well cocktails, jack drinks & domestic bottles, $5 orange cruches & shots AND SU swag!

Other stuff: Corn hole and GIANT pong in the Plaza.

What you need to do: "identify yourself to the Bullies rep as a member of the "Syracuse Alumni Group" to receive these specials."

More info can be found here.

*Note: If you're under the age of 21, you must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian over the age of 25.

If there are spots in Philadelphia SU fans will be hanging out at please share them here.