Johns Hopkins 2021

[DMac]

Mightyjoe wrote
You should all take some time off from this forum and pick it back up in the spring. May run out things to talk about.

Yup. Slim chance of that though.
https://www.google.com/search?q=addicti ... e&ie=UTF-8

[HopFan16]

JGJR seems like a good dude—haven't been able to find the full interview online yet but here's a short clip of him talking to CBS in Denver about taking the job. Says he rushed out and found a Lax Unlimited store that was open and bought a Hopkins hat because he wanted to be wearing it for the video call with the team last night.

https://twitter.com/MichaelCBS4/status/ ... 2047937536

[44WeWantMore]

Stop the politics and divisive BS please. Take it to Hamsterdam.

Wombat is a 'uniter'..... not a divider.....

A key qualification for a probationary moderator.

[HopFan16]

IL podcast on all the recent Hopkins news: https://audioboom.com/posts/7580501-5-1 ... anders-foy

In addition to a volunteer assistant, still need to hire a DOLO, which is not a trivial position. Whoever it is hopefully he lets HOB film scrimmages.

Mightyjoe makes a good point—it'll be difficult for the team to learn the new schemes if they can't practice together in the fall. I would expect Year One to have some growing pains...please do not panic if we don't make the Final Four immediately.

[nyjay]

I found the IL podcast kind of strange. Xanders, and to a lesser degree Dixon, very much talking out of both sides of their mouths. Saying that Hop fans had expectations that were too high and were too hard on the team. But when talking about Cole Williams, notes the Cole was MVP of the UA game and a top ten recruit, but never really developed year over year and thinks the new staff can really get the best out of him (which the old staff failed to do in four years). I mean, Ty, these are exactly the reasons we had expectations we had. And exactly the reasons we criticized the old staff for lack of player development.

It remains sad that Petro isn't the head coach and that he couldn't pull out of the slide. I wish it didn't have to happen. But it did. And the program is in much better shape now than it was 6 weeks ago. Do I know for certain that the new staff is going to work out? No, but I'm really, really excited for the future and think the program is going to have a lot of success and play a fun brand of lacrosse going forward.

[nyjay]

I found the IL podcast kind of strange. Xanders, and to a lesser degree Dixon, very much talking out of both sides of their mouths. Saying that Hop fans had expectations that were too high and were too hard on the team. But when talking about Cole Williams, notes the Cole was MVP of the UA game and a top ten recruit, but never really developed year over year and thinks the new staff can really get the best out of him (which the old staff failed to do in four years). I mean, Ty, these are exactly the reasons we had expectations we had. And exactly the reasons we criticized the old staff for lack of player development.

It remains sad that Petro isn't the head coach and that he couldn't pull out of the slide. I wish it didn't have to happen. But it did. And the program is in much better shape now than it was 6 weeks ago. Do I know for certain that the new staff is going to work out? No, but I'm really, really excited for the future and think the program is going to have a lot of success and play a fun brand of lacrosse going forward.

[HopFan16]

I found the IL podcast kind of strange. Xanders, and to a lesser degree Dixon, very much talking out of both sides of their mouths. Saying that Hop fans had expectations that were too high and were too hard on the team. But when talking about Cole Williams, notes the Cole was MVP of the UA game and a top ten recruit, but never really developed year over year and thinks the new staff can really get the best out of him (which the old staff failed to do in four years). I mean, Ty, these are exactly the reasons we had expectations we had. And exactly the reasons we criticized the old staff for lack of player development.

To be fair I think there's a bit of a difference between someone publicly making a respectful criticism of a player's development, vs. some anonymous egg on the internet saying X player is garbage and Y player is trash.

I do agree that the "Hopkins fans' expectations are too high" argument is just totally false. If anybody actually took the time to listen to us, no one is expecting a return to championship weekend every year. Absolutely no one, to my knowledge, believes that is possible anymore. Everyone has their own metric for what success looks like but I think most agree on the general idea that the team could be more competitive against rival programs, especially in the playoffs. That's it. It's actually pretty simple. Let's start with not getting blown out of the first round every year. I think it'd be NICE to make a Final Four every four years or so (that'd be one appearance per class) but I am not going to hold anyone to that as some non-negotiable benchmark to meet so long as the team is showing some kind of improvement from the recent trend.

[Sagittarius A*]

And I forget—who was the one here who said we needed a new offensive coordinator because Benson wasn't shooting on the goalies hard enough in pregame warmups? Whoever that was has got to be happy about the JGJR hire—he's going to show the goalies some very funky releases with some zip on the ball.

Diamond sharpens steel.

[nrthcrosslax]

Everyone looks at things through their own lens. Those that hate Hopkins say that Quint is a total Hopkins homer then you have the Hop folks complain that he is always negative towards Hopkins and is over compensating for any appearance of bias. Which is it?
The haters are free to criticize Hopkins and say they don't belong in D1 anymore but at the same time say the alumni are too hard on the program? The most vocal are taken as the consensus opinion. Truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

[jrn19]

Everyone looks at things through their own lens. Those that hate Hopkins say that Quint is a total Hopkins homer then you have the Hop folks complain that he is always negative towards Hopkins and is over compensating for any appearance of bias. Which is it?
The haters are free to criticize Hopkins and say they don't belong in D1 anymore but at the same time say the alumni are too hard on the program? The most vocal are taken as the consensus opinion. Truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

Put me under the Hopkins hater column, but Quint definitely isn’t a homer, at least not when Petro was around. It was almost kinda hilarious how many ways he’d find to sort of get digs in at DP, it was like DP had stole his girl or something. And then he got fired and Quint loved him again. It was funny.

[nyjay]

Agree with jrn19. It was even funnier because Quint's digs were always so passive aggressive. He didn't say things bluntly. There was always just this undercurrent of resentment for some reason. Yet another reason to be excited about the new staff - we can finally see whether Quint has issues with JHU or with Petro personally.

[wgdsr]

I do agree that the "Hopkins fans' expectations are too high" argument is just totally false. If anybody actually took the time to listen to us, no one is expecting a return to championship weekend every year. Absolutely no one, to my knowledge, believes that is possible anymore. Everyone has their own metric for what success looks like but I think most agree on the general idea that the team could be more competitive against rival programs, especially in the playoffs. That's it. It's actually pretty simple. Let's start with not getting blown out of the first round every year. I think it'd be NICE to make a Final Four every four years or so (that'd be one appearance per class) but I am not going to hold anyone to that as some non-negotiable benchmark to meet so long as the team is showing some kind of improvement from the recent trend.

so say if/when the trend is your friend... stalls and plateus a bit... what do you think happens then around hopkinsville?

[nrthcrosslax]

Agree with jrn19. It was even funnier because Quint's digs were always so passive aggressive. He didn't say things bluntly. There was always just this undercurrent of resentment for some reason. Yet another reason to be excited about the new staff - we can finally see whether Quint has issues with JHU or with Petro personally.

I think you are on to something. Baker's real agenda, find the truth behind Quint K... and that b$&ch Carol Baskin!

Edit: Whoops looks like I got censored.

[HopFan16]

A little bit more from that interview with Junior:

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/05/13/ ... s-hopkins/

“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Grant in an interview with CBS4 sports anchor Michael Spencer.

“What a historic program, and some of the best lacrosse players in the country. I’m thrilled.”

Grant spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Air Force. Prior to that he was the head coach at Valor Christian.

“It caught me completely off guard,” Grant Jr. said of his recent hiring.

Grant Jr. had reached out to Hopkins’ head coach Peter Milliman to get a scouting report on some players the Denver Outlaws were considering drafting in the recent MLL draft, and that conversation led to a job interview.

“He said, ‘would you be interested in talking a little bit more about the job here?’” Grant Jr. recalled. “I said, ‘sure I’d like to chat,’ and he reached out to my boss at Air Force to make it formal and bang-bang it happened quick.”

Grant had a virtual meeting with his new players on Monday night, but had to make a quick stop at a local apparel store first.

“I snuck out today, put on my mask and bought a Johns Hopkins hat,” Grant Jr. said while referencing a recent trip to the store.

“I wanted to have it for my call with the guys tonight. Obviously, 24 hours ago, I didn’t have this job, so I would have no reason to have this stuff otherwise,” he joked.

As for whether his ascent up the coaching ranks signals a desire to become a head coach at the college level, Grant Jr. is taking the wait-and-see approach.

“It’s not a goal as in like I’m making steps in my career to do that,” said Grant Jr.

‘When I was a player it was always about trying to get better and trying to learn different facets and become a better leader. Every year it ‘was what am I’m going to tackle to get better.’ Coaching is the same thing. I went from Valor to Air Force, now to the most historic program in the country and I’m going to focus on that.

“This is a destination, and I’m not taking it for granted.”

[DocBarrister]

A little bit more from that interview with Junior:

https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/05/13/ ... s-hopkins/

“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Grant in an interview with CBS4 sports anchor Michael Spencer.

“What a historic program, and some of the best lacrosse players in the country. I’m thrilled.”

Grant spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Air Force. Prior to that he was the head coach at Valor Christian.

“It caught me completely off guard,” Grant Jr. said of his recent hiring.

Grant Jr. had reached out to Hopkins’ head coach Peter Milliman to get a scouting report on some players the Denver Outlaws were considering drafting in the recent MLL draft, and that conversation led to a job interview.

“He said, ‘would you be interested in talking a little bit more about the job here?’” Grant Jr. recalled. “I said, ‘sure I’d like to chat,’ and he reached out to my boss at Air Force to make it formal and bang-bang it happened quick.”

Grant had a virtual meeting with his new players on Monday night, but had to make a quick stop at a local apparel store first.

“I snuck out today, put on my mask and bought a Johns Hopkins hat,” Grant Jr. said while referencing a recent trip to the store.

“I wanted to have it for my call with the guys tonight. Obviously, 24 hours ago, I didn’t have this job, so I would have no reason to have this stuff otherwise,” he joked.

As for whether his ascent up the coaching ranks signals a desire to become a head coach at the college level, Grant Jr. is taking the wait-and-see approach.

“It’s not a goal as in like I’m making steps in my career to do that,” said Grant Jr.

‘When I was a player it was always about trying to get better and trying to learn different facets and become a better leader. Every year it ‘was what am I’m going to tackle to get better.’ Coaching is the same thing. I went from Valor to Air Force, now to the most historic program in the country and I’m going to focus on that.

“This is a destination, and I’m not taking it for granted.”

Translation: “Yep, I want to be a college lacrosse head coach someday. I’m John Grant, Jr., dammit!”

Welcome to Johns Hopkins, Coach.

DocBarrister

[nrthcrosslax]

Would love to have been able to sit in on each the first team meetings with each of the new coaches.

[goldeneagle]

Why care about Quint? Don't you have a mute button?

[MusaCyanocitta]

...
It remains sad that Petro isn't the head coach and that he couldn't pull out of the slide. I wish it didn't have to happen. But it did. And the program is in much better shape now than it was 6 weeks ago.
...

Or so we hope. But we have absolutely no evidence that it's true.

And for those of you idjits who are excited about JGJR just because he was a terrific player, let us not forget that they fired one of the three greatest defensemen ever. Great player != great coach.

[51percentcorn]

let us not forget that they fired one of the three greatest defensemen ever. Great player != great coach.

Not a bad point - they also parted ways - can you fire a volunteer? - with the second greatest goalie ever (IMO)

[jhu06]

podcast was pretty good recap of what we've talked about here for awhile. I was mildly surprised foy/dixon raised the issue of d3/lack of admin support again w/reporting to back up the concerns among coaches/alumni. foy working hard on trolling us that Hopkins isn't a big part of the game anymore. xanders clearly reads this forum and thinks we're (me) are too hard on players. xanders thinks the present and future of Hopkins lacks depth. Petro wasn't very good in recent years at finding/developing overachieving fraser types.

kind of surprised grant was able to find a hopkins hat in a brick and mortar store out there.