Johns Hopkins 2021

[wgdsr]

see that as a lot more likely at duke. at hopkins, not so much. unless robertson is full speed, duke's 3 best may need to be out there at attack, 100% of the time..

if grimes gets on the field/1st 6, they'll man one side of the field.
good chance that happens at uva as well, lot of the same dynamics. not sure if it matters much, and may get one of the lefties at each locale shorties.

[Sagittarius A*]

JGJR is one of the best ever at attack: 6’2” and 220 pounds—and a natural leftie. He will be coaching two near clones, both of whom are a bit bigger and weigh more and are natural lefties. It seems to me that if one JGJR clone on the field is good, then two would be better. To the extent it matters with elite players, Joey would be feeding with his strong hand and the clones would be shooting with their strong hand. An attack with a fifth-year man, a seasoned junior and a freshman has the potential to be a great mix. I look for both Williams and Grimes to start.

It's very possible that we will see that next year. I wouldn't be surprised.
However, Williams tends to be a ball hog, which hurts the offense. He might be better cast as a midfielder.
I think Grimes and Epstein would work very well together. They would also be great in transition.
I think either Murphy or McDermott would work well in the third attack slot.
If Williams does stay at attack, he needs to stop playing 1 on 6 and not disappear in the big games.
Great game against MSM but where was he for SU, UNC, Princeton, and Loyola?

[51percentcorn]

Let's not let facts get in the way of a story - Coppersmith hit the side of the barn to the tune of 30% sophomore and junior year - yes he might have dropped off senior year to 21% but that was one of the true dumpster fire years - 2013 - with the rolling suspensions. He is only listed as a starter 7 times over his career and never took more than 52 shots. SO as a second line middie he gave you 10-14 goals - shot typically around 30% and had huge goals against UVA twice.

Reed's story was not one of having trouble shooting on the run because he was so fast. Reed's story - IMO - was not being utilized in the best role for him by the coaches and then being even less understood what his actual role was with the team by the fans. When Connor was a senior at Gonzaga he was the Washington Post's POY. Care to guess how many goals he scored that senior year? 14. SO how was he the POY when typically in high school an offensive POY would have 114 goals not 14. Why did he score only 14? Was that a result of being too fast and shooting poorly? No it's because Connor's role was a Matt Abbott type of role in high school - he was on the wings for almost every face-off (very limited at Hopkins), played alot of defensive midfield (only when caught on the field at Hopkins) and handed out 33 assists from everywhere on the field on a team that had plenty of kids willing and told to shoot. So what happens when this heralded recruit gets to Hopkins? He's shelved for his entire freshman year - until the Army game when Petro had to sit out alot of players for the rolling suspensions because he kept them on the field against Loyola - and got a couple of key ground balls and alot of people said at the time - why didn't he play more? So his sophomore and junior years - the only time he ever played - did you happen to notice who he played with? His sophomore year Brown/Benn/Cattoni accounted for over 300 shots and his junior year Ryan Brown took the absolutely absurd number of 182 shots all by himself and Brown/both Stanwicks/Tinney and Cattoni combined for 484 shots - there are years where an entire team doesn't get 500 shots. Do you think those stats were by accident? I suggest not. If one of the greatest shooters on the planet gets 182 cracks at it and shoots 33% we're going to bury a kid that shot 26% while taking 39 shots? Ridiculous. In case you are wondering - he was told to alley dodge - if he shot he better ping a corner or miss - the worst thing was a save and have his momentum carry him beyond GLE- but his primary role was to run by someone and bang it behind and have the defense start to rotate to get those 5 guys - plus Crawley - opportunities. Meanwhile, both years he's third on the team in assists and had 4 assists in the '14 quarterfinal against Duke and tied the Hopkins playoff record with 6 against UVA in '15. The kid took 79 shots those two years and scored 19 goals - pretty much 25% - I've seen alot of Hopkins players the past 10 years that would like 25% in their shot% column. In addition, he played for our school pretty much knowing he was on borrowed time with his knee and endured 2 surgeries (one right before his grad school season - literally right before) to come back. Yes, we can all say what if and why wasn't he scoring goals like a Paul Rabil - instead we should be sad that he wasn't more of a Matt Abbott.

[viper]

JGJR is one of the best ever at attack: 6’2” and 220 pounds—and a natural leftie. He will be coaching two near clones, both of whom are a bit bigger and weigh more and are natural lefties. It seems to me that if one JGJR clone on the field is good, then two would be better. To the extent it matters with elite players, Joey would be feeding with his strong hand and the clones would be shooting with their strong hand. An attack with a fifth-year man, a seasoned junior and a freshman has the potential to be a great mix. I look for both Williams and Grimes to start.

It's very possible that we will see that next year. I wouldn't be surprised.
However, Williams tends to be a ball hog, which hurts the offense. He might be better cast as a midfielder.
I think Grimes and Epstein would work very well together. They would also be great in transition.
I think either Murphy or McDermott would work well in the third attack slot.
If Williams does stay at attack, he needs to stop playing 1 on 6 and not disappear in the big games.
Great game against MSM but where was he for SU, UNC, Princeton, and Loyola?

I would hope that Williams ended up being a "ball hog" only because of the lack of options on offense and often the lack of offense altogether. If you think he is a ball hog in the spring - you should see him in the adult summer leagues - of course there you couldn't blame him.

Hopefully, his role (and perceived role) will change with the new staff. Time will tell.

[HopFan16]

This is getting so tiresome—Williams is not a "ball hog"—makes me think you don't know what a ball hog is. He had 19 assists last year as the #2 attackman, has several games in his career with 3+ assists, he's more than willing to pass. Struggling to consistently move the ball out of double teams is not the same thing as being a ball hog. I don't know how you can watch the Towson game and see anything other than a guy who likes to pass the ball when his hands are free and guys around him are open. Also, give the kid a freaking break—Epstein was hurt, so Williams was thrust into a much bigger role. We know he's better suited as a wing dodger and the secondary option, but Epstein's injury forced the entire offense to reinvent itself.

PM and Junior will certainly need to get creative with the offense in 2021 but I don't think both Williams and Grimes will start on attack. We'll see them on the field together—but with one coming out of the box. They both may see time on the left wing, but they can't be there at the same time.

It's amazing to me that some of you have already forgotten about Murphy. How do you watch the last three games of the season with him as a starter and not get excited? He has all the tools and plays with a certain confidence/swagger we haven't seen from a freshman since Tinney. The kid belongs on the field.

[steel_hop]

Let's not let facts get in the way of a story - Coppersmith hit the side of the barn to the tune of 30% sophomore and junior year - yes he might have dropped off senior year to 21% but that was one of the true dumpster fire years - 2013 - with the rolling suspensions. He is only listed as a starter 7 times over his career and never took more than 52 shots. SO as a second line middie he gave you 10-14 goals - shot typically around 30% and had huge goals against UVA twice.

You are right. For some reason I was mixing Reed and Coppersmith. I have no idea why. Not sure why i thought Reed couldn't shoot but that he didn't shoot enough for exactly the reasons you stated.

[Sagittarius A*]

This is getting so tiresome—Williams is not a "ball hog"—makes me think you don't know what a ball hog is. He had 19 assists last year as the #2 attackman, has several games in his career with 3+ assists, he's more than willing to pass. Struggling to consistently move the ball out of double teams is not the same thing as being a ball hog. I don't know how you can watch the Towson game and see anything other than a guy who likes to pass the ball when his hands are free and guys around him are open. Also, give the kid a freaking break—Epstein was hurt, so Williams was thrust into a much bigger role. We know he's better suited as a wing dodger and the secondary option, but Epstein's injury forced the entire offense to reinvent itself.

Go back and watch the Notre Dame game from last year. Epstein had six points in that game, which was basically 2/3 of the entire offense.
The announcers made the point that Epstein needs to have the ball in his stick every possession. But he wasn't getting it. Why?
Because Williams was hogging it and trying to do everything himself.
If Williams stays at attack, he needs to become more of a team player. Not just against the 0-5 teams and MSM. He needs to play unselfish in the big games and learn to play within a team concept. If the new staff can't get him to do that, they should move him to midfield, which I think they should just do anyway. A midfield of Williams, Zinn, and Degnon would be tough to match up.

[nrthcrosslax]

Look for Jack Hawley to continue to tear it up on the FO wings. Some may have wanted to claim nepotism but he acquitted himself nicely.

[HopFan16]

This is getting so tiresome—Williams is not a "ball hog"—makes me think you don't know what a ball hog is. He had 19 assists last year as the #2 attackman, has several games in his career with 3+ assists, he's more than willing to pass. Struggling to consistently move the ball out of double teams is not the same thing as being a ball hog. I don't know how you can watch the Towson game and see anything other than a guy who likes to pass the ball when his hands are free and guys around him are open. Also, give the kid a freaking break—Epstein was hurt, so Williams was thrust into a much bigger role. We know he's better suited as a wing dodger and the secondary option, but Epstein's injury forced the entire offense to reinvent itself.

Go back and watch the Notre Dame game from last year. Epstein had six points in that game, which was basically 2/3 of the entire offense.
The announcers made the point that Epstein needs to have the ball in his stick every possession. But he wasn't getting it. Why?
Because Williams was hogging it and trying to do everything himself.
If Williams stays at attack, he needs to become more of a team player. Not just against the 0-5 teams and MSM. He needs to play unselfish in the big games and learn to play within a team concept. If the new staff can't get him to do that, they should move him to midfield, which I think they should just do anyway. A midfield of Williams, Zinn, and Degnon would be tough to match up.

What does Epstein's six points in that game have anything to do with anything? Cole went 2 and 1 that game on 8 shots with 0 turnovers. Eight shots is a good amount but not unreasonable especially when the rest of the team not named Forry could not hit the broad side of a barn that night: Marr, Concannon, DeSimone, Keogh, and Zinn combined to shoot 1 for 13 against ND—I repeat, 1 for 13. Williams was the only player other than Epstein with an assist!

Williams' issue has always been consistency—he'll have a huge game one day and then disappear the next. But it's not selfishness. He went 3 and 2 against Maryland in the conference tourney last year—again with 0 turnovers—one of just four guys on the team with an assist that game and the only one other than Epstein with multiple assists. When he has a second to breathe and there's another dodging presence in the offense to take some defensive attention away from him, he is an extremely capable passer. He's not Michael Sowers but for a 6'5'' dodge-first slasher he's actually pretty selfless—but he needs some help.

[nyjay]

I tend to believe that next year's team will look very different on both offense and defense and that there will be less pigeon-holing of players into specifically defined roles and responsibilities. As with Reed, sometimes these roles didn't line up with the player's actual strengths/weaknesses. I also don't think that the old staff had the flexibility to change schemes to accommodate the actual strengths of the players on the roster. I tend to believe this is one of the primary reasons - together with kids playing slow as a result of being scared to make a mistake - why players such as Cole never seemed to develop.

I think we'll see a different Cole next year, and one who'll be more like the player we always thought he could be. I also think we'll see some other folks bloom as well under a more player-friendly regime. But maybe I'm just being overly optimistic.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Ty Xanders reported that Michael Gomez is in the transfer portal as of yesterday. An under armour all american, IL named him as the #47 freshmen in the country in 2019 as well as the 12th best freshmen defenseman in the nation in 2019.

Not sure if this is true but there are rumors that he is looking at a school down Charles Street. That can either mean Towson even though it should technically be down York Road, or Loyola.

Technically, should it not be up Charles St (or York Rd) since both are north of Homewood?

Thank You. Seriously, that was driving me insane. It is up to Loyola/Towson is down to the Inner Harbor

It’s neither up nor down. It’s ACROSS the earth’s surface. And probably with a little bit of both up AND down along the way.

[Joe]

As far as Matt goes, you all raise very good questions, being his father I can answer some for you....Although speculation is fun! First off Matt loved Hopkins, you have a very good coach in Milliman. The reason my son decommitted from Hopkins was simple. He wants to be a PHYS ED teacher. That being said he would need to go to grad school to get teaching license. Hopkins is a very expensive school, and although he was offered a top package it still meant 85,000 in student loans. For a teacher to come out with that kind of debt (Plus grad school) it didn't make sense. He decided that he needed to go to a school where he can get a phys ed degree and follow his career path at a less costly price. Hopkins is 73,00 Year. He opened up his search and heard from Loyola, Air force, and Towson. He really liked Nadelen and they had what he wanted. The tradition at Hopkins was very luring but his career path meant more. Smart decision for a 17 year old. Best of luck

[Joe]

or maybe it could be about any reason and there's absolutely no legitimate reason to speculate on the kid's motivations or especially his academic prowess.

As far as Matt goes, you all raise very good questions, being his father I can answer some for you....Although speculation is fun! First off Matt loved Hopkins, you have a very good coach in Milliman. The reason my son decommitted from Hopkins was simple. He wants to be a PHYS ED teacher. That being said he would need to go to grad school to get teaching license. Hopkins is a very expensive school, and although he was offered a top package it still meant 85,000 in student loans. For a teacher to come out with that kind of debt (Plus grad school) it didn't make sense. He decided that he needed to go to a school where he can get a phys ed degree and follow his career path at a less costly price. Hopkins is 73,00 Year. He opened up his search and heard from Loyola, Air force, and Towson. He really liked Nadelen and they had what he wanted. The tradition at Hopkins was very luring but his career path meant more. Smart decision for a 17 year old. Best of luck

[DocBarrister]

Ty Xanders reported that Michael Gomez is in the transfer portal as of yesterday. An under armour all american, IL named him as the #47 freshmen in the country in 2019 as well as the 12th best freshmen defenseman in the nation in 2019.

Not sure if this is true but there are rumors that he is looking at a school down Charles Street. That can either mean Towson even though it should technically be down York Road, or Loyola.

Technically, should it not be up Charles St (or York Rd) since both are north of Homewood?

Thank You. Seriously, that was driving me insane. It is up to Loyola/Towson is down to the Inner Harbor

It’s neither up nor down. It’s ACROSS the earth’s surface. And probably with a little bit of both up AND down along the way.

You’re all wrong.

Going from Johns Hopkins to Loyola or Towson is always going down ... way, way down.

It be what it be.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

or maybe it could be about any reason and there's absolutely no legitimate reason to speculate on the kid's motivations or especially his academic prowess.

As far as Matt goes, you all raise very good questions, being his father I can answer some for you....Although speculation is fun! First off Matt loved Hopkins, you have a very good coach in Milliman. The reason my son decommitted from Hopkins was simple. He wants to be a PHYS ED teacher. That being said he would need to go to grad school to get teaching license. Hopkins is a very expensive school, and although he was offered a top package it still meant 85,000 in student loans. For a teacher to come out with that kind of debt (Plus grad school) it didn't make sense. He decided that he needed to go to a school where he can get a phys ed degree and follow his career path at a less costly price. Hopkins is 73,00 Year. He opened up his search and heard from Loyola, Air force, and Towson. He really liked Nadelen and they had what he wanted. The tradition at Hopkins was very luring but his career path meant more. Smart decision for a 17 year old. Best of luck

Makes sense. Best wishes to Matt!

DocBarrister

[primitiveskills]

or maybe it could be about any reason and there's absolutely no legitimate reason to speculate on the kid's motivations or especially his academic prowess.

As far as Matt goes, you all raise very good questions, being his father I can answer some for you....Although speculation is fun! First off Matt loved Hopkins, you have a very good coach in Milliman. The reason my son decommitted from Hopkins was simple. He wants to be a PHYS ED teacher. That being said he would need to go to grad school to get teaching license. Hopkins is a very expensive school, and although he was offered a top package it still meant 85,000 in student loans. For a teacher to come out with that kind of debt (Plus grad school) it didn't make sense. He decided that he needed to go to a school where he can get a phys ed degree and follow his career path at a less costly price. Hopkins is 73,00 Year. He opened up his search and heard from Loyola, Air force, and Towson. He really liked Nadelen and they had what he wanted. The tradition at Hopkins was very luring but his career path meant more. Smart decision for a 17 year old. Best of luck

Nice post. Best of luck to Matt. Hope he has a great experience on and off the field at Towson.

[Henpecked]

or maybe it could be about any reason and there's absolutely no legitimate reason to speculate on the kid's motivations or especially his academic prowess.

As far as Matt goes, you all raise very good questions, being his father I can answer some for you....Although speculation is fun! First off Matt loved Hopkins, you have a very good coach in Milliman. The reason my son decommitted from Hopkins was simple. He wants to be a PHYS ED teacher. That being said he would need to go to grad school to get teaching license. Hopkins is a very expensive school, and although he was offered a top package it still meant 85,000 in student loans. For a teacher to come out with that kind of debt (Plus grad school) it didn't make sense. He decided that he needed to go to a school where he can get a phys ed degree and follow his career path at a less costly price. Hopkins is 73,00 Year. He opened up his search and heard from Loyola, Air force, and Towson. He really liked Nadelen and they had what he wanted. The tradition at Hopkins was very luring but his career path meant more. Smart decision for a 17 year old. Best of luck

I can't tell you how much I love this response. Too often people question why a student would possibly choose one school over another without even knowing the individual.

You hear a lot of people suggest tha passing up on an opportunity to go to an Ivy League or Elite school like Hopkins makes no sense. But they never factor in the economics of such a decision. My friend has a daughter who was recruited by Princeton for Ice Hockey. He makes a decent amount of money, so the total nut was going to be a BOATLOAD of money for four years. At the same time, she received a full scholarship to play hockey at Colgate and jumped at that opportunity. I have relayed that story to several people who could not wrap their head around the decision to pass up PRINCETON for Colgate. But the decision was based on pure logic. Go to very good school for free versus attending a great Ivy League institution and graduate four years later saddled with enormous debt (or parents in debt). For her the decision was easy and made sense.

You are fortunate to have a son that is not concerned about the labels associated with certain institutions and knows what he would like to pursue in life. I have very successful friends who went to Ivy League schools. And I have very successful friends who went to State Universities. Conversely, i have friends who went to Elite schools and struggled just as much as friends from lesser known schools. There is no formula that works for everyone. Best of luck to your son at Towson. Although, I am not thrilled that he will be playing against Delaware each year.

[jhu06]

If you're going into certain fields, labels matter. I appreciate the dad coming on and good luck continuing a very promising career.

Masters degree in phys ed-is that required?

I visited colgate. felt like an overnight camp w/some books that required snowshoes to get to classes 7 months of the year. wasn't for me.

[HopFan16]

Nice to have Koesterer on staff with these new faceoff rules (knee-down and moto grip no longer allowed). Something tells me he'll be a pretty good teacher of the technique given that's pretty much how he did it himself in the mid 2000s.

[NOVALax2015]

As far as Matt goes, you all raise very good questions, being his father I can answer some for you....Although speculation is fun! First off Matt loved Hopkins, you have a very good coach in Milliman. The reason my son decommitted from Hopkins was simple. He wants to be a PHYS ED teacher. That being said he would need to go to grad school to get teaching license. Hopkins is a very expensive school, and although he was offered a top package it still meant 85,000 in student loans. For a teacher to come out with that kind of debt (Plus grad school) it didn't make sense. He decided that he needed to go to a school where he can get a phys ed degree and follow his career path at a less costly price. Hopkins is 73,00 Year. He opened up his search and heard from Loyola, Air force, and Towson. He really liked Nadelen and they had what he wanted. The tradition at Hopkins was very luring but his career path meant more. Smart decision for a 17 year old. Best of luck

Best of luck to Matt, both on and off the field! His decision makes a lot of sense - career should be the primary objective when choosing a college.