Johns Hopkins 2020

[Hopper1]

Great win. I actually thought Owen Murphy looked like a future all american. Fast, fearless, and a slick stick. That guy was slinging the ball all over the place, playing with a bravado you don't see very often for a Pietramala coached freshman. Evan Zinn was great, but you could definitely tell why he wasn't a starter last year. Few too many unforced errors.

Someone else mentioned this, but why did it take so long to figure out the zone? I would think that's a core part of early season 6v6 practice, you know opposing teams are going to throw that at you if man to man falls apart. Bizarre.

I hate to ask this but I'm curious what people think -- There were a couple captains last year who perhaps didn't bring the culture we were hoping for. Do we think that's changed this year? Too soon to tell?

[molo]

Williams lost his hair and found his right hand.

[DMac]

You forgot quick, Hopper1. You better have some awfully talented players on your team if you're going to keep Murphy on the sidelines. That kid needs to be on the field a lot!

[wgdsr]

Great win. I actually thought Owen Murphy looked like a future all american. Fast, fearless, and a slick stick. That guy was slinging the ball all over the place, playing with a bravado you don't see very often for a Pietramala coached freshman. Evan Zinn was great, but you could definitely tell why he wasn't a starter last year. Few too many unforced errors.

Someone else mentioned this, but why did it take so long to figure out the zone? I would think that's a core part of early season 6v6 practice, you know opposing teams are going to throw that at you if man to man falls apart. Bizarre.

I hate to ask this but I'm curious what people think -- There were a couple captains last year who perhaps didn't bring the culture we were hoping for. Do we think that's changed this year? Too soon to tell?

imo coaches' approaches to zone offense is behind the times. hopkins is not alone, uva struggled with it yesterday. the answer to me has always been foot movement in combo with ball movement, but most coaches rely on the latter.

"culture" blame on captains is lazy. better to just talk up the buy in "now" if you want to rally around it in the present day.

[jhu06]

-I've moved on from 2019. The record and Petros offseason comments speak for themselves. Forry is back as a captain however.
-he who shouldn't be named got some tv time out of time outs where you could still hear the screaming. on social media he's beloved by the program, but hopefully he can be respectful, especially in cold weather.
-There was little to no tape on 1/2 the guys we sent out there yesterday. That will change. Towson is a mid major that lost of one of its best sr classes ever, was on the road, had a lot of inexperience and our guys remembered last year. That won't be the case moving forward for other opponents. Their fogo to end the game had never taken live ncca game action.
-williams said in the press conference he has apocia or some skin thing. the flow will return.
-some combination of williams/zinn/connor/forry is going to see the field as the first offensive unit. epstein when he comes back. Baskin/Murphy/degnon/connnanon if he can fire are in the mix and then stagnitta/mabett I guess if they can earn a slot.
-I wasn't impressed w/dipietro last year but he was fine yesterday. williams bailed out young mr glassmeyer on his first clear.
-we seem to go in cycles of speed/size. we had the ranagan group knocking people all over the place w/ssdms getting worked, we went smaller and got bullied, no we're back to size.
-I thought qk was fine. espn knows their stuff, they had the shots of concannon in street clothes, he who won't be named, epstein running gingerly, the pregame with the nets explaining the history. Next time they have to get all the trophies in the atrium.

[HopFan16]

-I thought qk was fine. espn knows their stuff, they had the shots of concannon in street clothes, he who won't be named, epstein running gingerly, the pregame with the nets explaining the history. Next time they have to get all the trophies in the atrium.

Agreed about QK/ESPN. Totally insane to me that we just won 15-7 and all some people can talk about are the announcing and the helmets. It's time to get over both. The helmets went over really well on social media with the youngins and that's who they should be trying to reach. QK was perfectly fine yesterday—if you don't like his style then you're free to mute the TV and/or listen to the radio. Quint does his research. He knows the players, he knows the game better than most.

2k in attendance yesterday—the bar has been lowered from the glory days but that's not a bad number for February 8 this day and age.

I don't think I mentioned Reinson in my notes from yesterday—he also had a very good game. One or two terrific trail checks and always has his stick in the passing lanes. He was all over the place—will be a key player for us this year.

[44WeWantMore]

Am I the only one who is not impressed with the new Jay logo on the helmet? (looks like Woody Woodpecker....)

Rather silly I would opine...

I think there is a sweet spot for Alumni of a certain age who consider the NAG Blue Jay the real Blue Jay.

[johnnyonthegunpowder]

-I thought qk was fine. espn knows their stuff, they had the shots of concannon in street clothes, he who won't be named, epstein running gingerly, the pregame with the nets explaining the history. Next time they have to get all the trophies in the atrium.

Agreed about QK/ESPN. Totally insane to me that we just won 15-7 and all some people can talk about are the announcing and the helmets. It's time to get over both. The helmets went over really well on social media with the youngins and that's who they should be trying to reach. QK was perfectly fine yesterday—if you don't like his style then you're free to mute the TV and/or listen to the radio. Quint does his research. He knows the players, he knows the game better than most.

2k in attendance yesterday—the bar has been lowered from the glory days but that's not a bad number for February 8 this day and age.

I don't think I mentioned Reinson in my notes from yesterday—he also had a very good game. One or two terrific trail checks and always has his stick in the passing lanes. He was all over the place—will be a key player for us this year.

Pretty sure people can talk about whatever they want. Nothing on this forum is of any consequence. It is meaningless and that is why it is enjoyable to talk about cartoon birds. Is it anymore more insane than "X made a nice check" Y is gonna be big" "I tried to hint at you guys that Billy Bob will be important, because the bold truth would be too much for you" "Jimmy John had some key groundballs". What's insane is to think that any comment on this forum is new, original, or of any value at all. For over a decade we have been getting on here after games and running through every player who hit the field and commenting on them and any available minutiae that could possibly be subject to opinion or interpretation. If there are facts, those too will be interpreted in depth. Change the names on the roster and it's the....same....exact...thing...week in and week out, year in and year out.

That bird, however, is new. And that bird suggests sentiments and ideas that do not reflect the soul of this team and do not align with the values of previous birds.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Come to think of it, I don’t recall any of NAG’s Jays having a red tongue.

And great point about being told what to think.

The point here is to have fun as you enjoy the lacrosse season.

[flalax22]

Pretty sure people can talk about whatever they want.

Agree. Great start for the Jays. Quint is annoying. Dixon is the best in the business

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

I’m still wondering - does Towson really, really suck?

[Laxrat]

Yeah, unfortunately I think they suck.

[Laxrat]

Hopkins played well enough to win comfortably. A lot of new contributors, which is awesome. I didn’t see a whole lot from TU beside Kobe.

[flalax22]

I’m still wondering - does Towson really, really suck?

I think they do. We find out a lot more about the Jays in the next two games.

[steel_hop]

I’m still wondering - does Towson really, really suck?

I'm sure you know the old adage of "you are never as good as you think after playing one game and you are never as bad."

Better to win the opener than lose but still a long way to go before selection Sunday. I take a game against Towson, given their losses, with a huge grain of salt. Loyola will be a huge challenge as will up coming games against teams with better offensive talent.

On to the Charles Street Massacre. J/K for our Greyhound followers. But, man, it only seems like yesterday Hopkins was dominating this series...not so much any more. Otherwise, it has been Loyola killing Hopkins or a close Hopkins win.

[Laxrat]

Great to see some big, legal hits this weekend. It’s a new year. That stuff is infectious, building confidence, toughness, and swagger. On to Loyola. Let’s get to 2-0

[51percentcorn]

Glad to see some posters have raised the appropriate issues - it seemed a bit like some think that Loyola losing the 3 S's (Spencer, Scanlon and Stover) clearly translates to a Hopkins advantage. Pretty pretty far from the truth. The bottom line is that Towson right now has some significant offensive challenges which were made worse by Maloof having to sit out last Saturday. Smith went for 2 and 2 - there was an EMO goal - so the Tigers really contributed 2 settled 6v6 goals. Now Darby played OK - the defense had a role in some of Towson's troubles but lets not act like we just shut down Penn State or something.

This coming Saturday is a whole different kettle of fish. If Loyola doesn't get absolutely killed on 50/50 GBs (and Rode had 19 saves) they might have left Klockner with a W a couple days ago. Their Zone D really slowed the Cavs down - expect to see it.

I noticed a few stats from the Charles Street Massacre last year that need to improve IMO. The first is clearing. Hopkins had trouble clearing against Towson to a degree and went a horrendous 8-15 last year against the Hounds. I assume there was a bunch of 10 man in there - if not - hoo boy. The clearing correlates with turnovers to a degree and Hopkins had 16 last year and something like 13/14 on Saturday. The Jays must be able to handle the pressure better to some degree or the final outcome will not change. The third issue - as I pointed out on the Loyola thread - is that the Greyhounds put 29 of 42 total shots on goal. That - from a defensive standpoint - is "not very good" as the 'ol ball coach would say. It means way too many good looks.

Overall Key to the Game IMO (assuming Hopkins can avoid giving up a ton of turnovers and transition) - can the Hopkins defensive mid-field stand on its own enough to avoid slides all over the place and allow the close defenders to keep eyes on Lindley and Olmstead. I think you have to have the Loyola mid-fielders beat you and if they do - shake their hand.

[HopFan16]

The third issue - as I pointed out on the Loyola thread - is that the Greyhounds put 29 of 42 total shots on goal. That - from a defensive standpoint - is "not very good" as the 'ol ball coach would say. It means way too many good looks.

Obviously we don't want a repeat of that as it'd likely portend disaster but this particular stat from last year strikes me as meaningless relative to this year's edition of the Charles Street rivalry. The personnel on both sides of the ball is vastly different. 13 of Loyola's 18 goals from last year—and something like 22 of those 29 shots on goal—are no longer wearing green and grey. Spencer's impact goes without saying, but Scanlan also ate our shorties alive (one especially, who has since graduated) to the tune of 4 goals and 2 assists. Loyola's offense might very well still be good, but it will be different. On the flip side, four Hopkins defensive starters (two close D guys, one LSM, and the top SSDM) are gone. That doesn't mean this year's unit will automatically be any better in this game, but, again, it will be different. I don't think there's very much to take from that stat in isolation.

Loyola brings a lot of defensive personnel back, however, and given some of our struggles with clearing and turnovers against Towson, I think that is a very legitimate area of concern that has ties to both last year's game and the current Blue Jay lineup. The young SSDMs acquitted themselves decently in their defensive play on Saturday, but a few of them left much to be desired in the clearing department.

What might come into play is faceoff matchups—Prouty struggled a bit against Savio and was pulled in favor of Narewski, who did much better (17 of 28). I also think it's unlikely Loyola lets Zinn run wild against shorties as Towson inexplicably did in the first half this weekend. I'd expect to see the talented LSM McNulty on Zinn. This will be a very important game for the DeSimones and the Degnons and the Murphys to prove they can be consistent contributors.

[molo]

Last year Hopkins not only did not have especially strong dms, but they also ran the same two most of the time, with a third getting some pt. Against Towson, they ran four pretty regularly and they are bigger as a group. That to me is one area where they are appreciably better this year.

[51percentcorn]

Fine - except Loyola generated 55 shots against the defending national champs - and while the SOG % was not 70 - they still put 28 between the pipes and made Rode almost get to 20 saves. And in case you hadn't noticed - while they may throw the ball around a little bit and create some self inflicted TO's - UVA's defense is long and lean with several great athletes. So at home against a defense with about 5 new pieces counting the SSDMs and 2nd LSM - you need to limit their opportunities because we might not be able to hold them off like UVA did and I don't think Darby has come anywhere near 20 saves.