THE 2019 Hopkins Lacrosse Fallout Shelter (44, we want more!)

[flalax22]

I’m not saying he won’t be on the field and I wasn’t actually talking about the fall depth chart. I was talking about that Forry flat out out played him in the fall scrimmages. It was very clear that the Jays are invested in getting Epstein up to speed as he played more minutes than anyone. I could see a platoon situation but handing him the keys to the sports car day one seems to be a bit of a stretch right now. And like Shack where he platooned, why do we want that pressure ... let’s let the kid find his way.

[DougELax]

I hope Forry gets a decent chance and that he can be the straw that stirs the drink that he was becoming as a freshman. The offense sure slowed when he went out with his knee that year.

[HopFan16]

I’m not saying he won’t be on the field and I wasn’t actually talking about the fall depth chart. I was talking about that Forry flat out out played him in the fall scrimmages. It was very clear that the Jays are invested in getting Epstein up to speed as he played more minutes than anyone. I could see a platoon situation but handing him the keys to the sports car day one seems to be a bit of a stretch right now. And like Shack where he platooned, why do we want that pressure ... let’s let the kid find his way.

I take it you were at the scrimmages up at Albany? Any other observations? I haven't seen or heard much outside of HOB's highlight video of the Albany game. Absolutely no reports from the Vermont scrimmage.

For what it's worth, Shack only platooned a few games before he was starting at attack. He was entrenched in the top 3 by the Princeton game. I suppose Epstein could be on a similar trajectory.

[51percentcorn]

I hope Forry gets a decent chance and that he can be the straw that stirs the drink that he was becoming as a freshman. The offense sure slowed when he went out with his knee that year.

He played in every game as a freshman - you'll have to remind me of this knee injury and when it happened

I was talking about that Forry flat out out played him in the fall scrimmages.

I was not at the scrimmages so I can't comment. I might suggest the first time a kid gets to put on the uniform and play with his new teammates is alot different than being a junior captain. Plus a fall scrimmage is a fall scrimmage. If we went by fall scrimmages Joe Pollard would have been on the all-time Hopkins team.

[flalax22]

I was able to see most of fall ball however I too missed the Vermont scrimmage although I was told it was not very competitive.

[HopFan16]

I was able to see most of fall ball however I too missed the Vermont scrimmage although I was told it was not very competitive.

What else happened in fall ball besides the alumni scrimmage, which we all know is no way to really assess players?

Epstein had 2 goals and 2 assists in the Albany game. Smith had 1 goal and 0 assists. I know the stat sheet doesn't always tell the full story, but that doesn't sound like Epstein was "flat-out outplayed."

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Doesn’t matter until Towson, and he gets time at D1 competition. *

THEN we will see.

It’ll be a bit like the excitement of Christmas morning. What will this year’s version of the Jays be like?

Tune in later, as the Blue Jays World Turns...







* (I’m assuming Towson will be D1 competition this year.)

[44WeWantMore]

ISTR a recent Towson game where the Jays did not look like a D1 team.

[jhu06]

3. Johns Hopkins

Patrick Foley
Jack Rapine
Owen Colwell
G: Ryan Darby
Hopkins returns of corps of notable returners on the defensive end. The entire close unit of Patrick Foley (30GB, 14CT), Jack Rapine (31GB, 10CT), and Owen Colwell (20GB, 6CT) is back, as is sophomore Jared Reinson (18GB, 2CT), who saw time as an LSM in 2018. Foley, a senior, is one of the elite cover defenders of the college game and should poised for an All-American season...

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... nits/53583

says a lot about foley and development of rapine/colwell/reinson that they have this unit this high despite no proven entity in net.

[51percentcorn]

Foley will earn his AA Status if he receives it - even before the BIG10 schedule hits he will see Spencer, not sure which UNC atackman, Sowers, Rehfuss/Solomon, Kitchen and Krauss - except for Teat you could probably make a case that Spencer/Sowers and Krauss are your 1st team AA attack. 9.7 GAA for the defense wasn't absolutely horrible last year considering your goalie was at 50% - though you could argue the defense "helped" with that Save percentage. If somehow Darby or whomever is a slight improvement maybe you get that down to 9. Unfortunately for Hopkins, your defense is only as strong as the weakest link which is typically the SSDMs. I know we love to look at Jones 14 CTOs and think we are going to be much improved but Hopkins will still be vulnerable to athletic, big middies. There are reasons why Goodrich is probably the best SSDM in DI - 6'2" 200 lbs is the foundation.

[HopFan16]

Foley will earn his AA Status if he receives it - even before the BIG10 schedule hits he will see Spencer, not sure which UNC atackman, Sowers, Rehfuss/Solomon, Kitchen and Krauss - except for Teat you could probably make a case that Spencer/Sowers and Krauss are your 1st team AA attack. 9.7 GAA for the defense wasn't absolutely horrible last year considering your goalie was at 50% - though you could argue the defense "helped" with that Save percentage. If somehow Darby or whomever is a slight improvement maybe you get that down to 9. Unfortunately for Hopkins, your defense is only as strong as the weakest link which is typically the SSDMs. I know we love to look at Jones 14 CTOs and think we are going to be much improved but Hopkins will still be vulnerable to athletic, big middies. There are reasons why Goodrich is probably the best SSDM in DI - 6'2" 200 lbs is the foundation.

I think adjusted defensive efficiency ratings tell a little more accurate a story as to how a defense performed than sheer goals against, as it considers both the strength of your opponents and your defensive stops per possession. The Jays came in 18th in the country in that category, third in the Big Ten behind Rutgers and Ohio State, and surprisingly ahead of Maryland, who were close behind in 21st. That was an improvement over 2017 when the Jays were 24th, which was a vast improvement over 2016 when the Jays were 39th. So the trend is certainly in the right direction. That said, the D certainly needs to keep improving especially if the Jays want to get back to championship weekend.

Foley was solid for the most part throughout 2018 but I thought he really elevated his game in the final month of the season after the Penn State game. Perhaps not a coincidence that the defense as a whole allowed only 9, 8, 5, 10, 9 goals in that stretch before the 14 to Duke in the quarters. (Though Brock's play also had a lot to do with that, especially in the Big Ten tournament.) Foley eliminated Jared Bernhardt from the face of the Earth two different times, and also limited his man in the Ohio State and Georgetown games. He didn't fare quite as well against Duke's Guterding in the playoffs, but then again no one really does.

Jones can hold his own against bigger middies. I'm assuming Hubler is going to get picked on a lot this year—he has decent size (and apparently put on some muscles this offseason) but I think the bigger issue might be speed. It doesn't help when the coaching staff for some reason decides not to slide when a bigger midfielder is roasting our shorties (like in the UNC game last year). We also have to find someone to rely on behind those two so that they're not completely gassed by the time May rolls around. If the defense falters this year, it certainly won't be for a lack of experience. If they can clamp down on the 1-2 boneheaded miscommunications every game and figure out a way to limit opposing teams #1 middies (still have nightmares about Dox Aitken), then the D has the chance to be very good in front of a new goalie.

I'm not too worried about it. I'm far more concerned about faceoff play. Unless Prouty makes a huge jump I'm not sure how that unit is going to be any better than it was last year, which wasn't very good. Tinney's absence will be felt all over the field but I think his ability to come up with big GBs off the wings will be sorely missed.

[Hoponboard]

High Point vs. Hop scrimmage video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM0Z5So ... e=youtu.be

Scoring for Hopkins:

Marr 2g, 2a
Smith 2g
Epstein 2g
Williams 1g, 1a
DeSimone 1g, 1a
Keogh 1g
Rapine 1g
Kuhn 1g
Baskin 1g
Shilling 1a
Colwell 1a

Concannon did not play as a precaution.

Ryan Darby looked sharp in goal, but his clearing left something to be desired. Giacalone replaced him in the 4th.

Prouty had a slow start at the X, but improved later in the scrimmage.
Matt Nerewski came on in the 2nd qtr and was dominant. I have him winning 8 of 9 FOs.

Jake Lilly scored an impressive goal off a Marr feed.

[HopFan16]

High Point vs. Hop scrimmage video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM0Z5So ... e=youtu.be

Scoring for Hopkins:

Marr 2g, 2a
Smith 2g
Epstein 2g
Williams 1g, 1a
DeSimone 1g, 1a
Keogh 1g
Rapine 1g
Kuhn 1g
Baskin 1g
Shilling 1a
Colwell 1a

Concannon did not play as a precaution.

Ryan Darby looked sharp in goal, but his clearing left something to be desired. Giacalone replaced him in the 4th.

Prouty had a slow start at the X, but improved later in the scrimmage.
Matt Nerewski came on in the 2nd qtr and was dominant. I have him winning 8 of 9 FOs.

Jake Lilly scored an impressive goal off a Marr feed.

Thanks HOB.

Darby looks pretty good to me. Seems to be a calm presence in net. Not a whole lot of movement and fills the frame well depsite his small size.

Epstein’s first step is ridiculous.

That second EMO goal to Forry was a thing of beauty.

Looked pretty sloppy on defense but I suppose that’s to be expected for January 26.

Nice to hear it was a solid day at the X however we will be facing many stronger faceoff teams than High Point this year.

Hope Concannon is ok, we’re going to need him.

[steel_hop]

Not that this is lacrosse specific but went to Margraff's memorial service over the weekend. A number of lax players and coaches were there along with coaches and former players from many other Hopkins sports. Certainly a testament to what type of guy Margraff was.

Speakers were great except for the one that stuck out like a sore thumb...President Daniels. He, per usual, was awful. How Hopkins picked him over Nick Jones is baffling.

[51percentcorn]

I was there at the scrimmage (at least for alot of it - it started a little before noon because I got there just a few minutes after and I missed most of the first quarter). Overall impression was that - and I would be interested to know if attendees at other team's scrimmages felt the same way - it was not very watchable. Both teams were obsessed with the clock and never got into a rhythm. Maybe that was intended but when you have coaches screaming how much time is left and there is no noise to block it out - the kids turn and look and then they almost panic or hurry because now there is only 45 seconds left or whatever. It seemed very disruptive. Other items:
- with so many new faces at the mid-field it was the hardest time I have ever had trying to discern who was who with all the pinnies switched - if you had a roster and could see the number on the sweatpants you could tell but that was too hard
- A scrimmage is a scrimmage and means very little but doing your job to an OK level seems better than doing your job poorly - so with that in mind Darby and the face-off guys did fine - again in that situation - Darby allowed 5 goals and 3 were right on the doorstep - his outlet passes were not always on point
- as has been discussed by some posters before on Laxpower - Epstein absorbed some punishment - Hopkins coaches went ballistic on his second goal when he got trucked (little late IMO) and he took the very last shot of the game at the horn and got blasted and actually stayed down for a beat or two - not a good trend because this kid has no fear
- If you were looking for some signs of like from the Hopkins mid-field on offense it wasn't immediately obvious. DeSimone's goal was a 10 yard blast in the 4th quarter I think likely against some subs - definitely a different goalie. I missed Lilly's goal but saw the replay. Forry Smith's second goal was a middie like sweep and a nice shot - hopefully a sign of real development. He and Marr definitely looked quicker.

But the overall impression was that the clock was the most dominant part of the scrimmage

[steel_hop]

Both teams were obsessed with the clock and never got into a rhythm. Maybe that was intended but when you have coaches screaming how much time is left and there is no noise to block it out - the kids turn and look and then they almost panic or hurry because now there is only 45 seconds left or whatever. It seemed very disruptive.

I'll give everyone some leeway on that one. It is the first scrimmage under a very new type of timing system. I would suspect coaches are trying to instill in players the importance of the clock and making sure to get into the offense. Let's see how teams do this a few games in. I suspect teams will get more used to it as the season moves along.

[Hoponboard]

At first, every possession felt like a longish EMO. By the time each team got their offensive middies on the field, there was about 50 seconds left on the shot clock. Each errant shot cost another ten seconds. The good news is that the limited time made the defense more aggressive at the beginning of the possession, but pack it in at the end. The offense needs to make their move between 50 and 25 seconds. The shot clock definitely increased the drama. Each possession felt like the last minute of the game. Hot goalies could make the games into low scoring affairs.

[jhu72]

At the game on Saturday. Saw nothing that gave me hope about the future of the game of lacrosse. The shot clock did nothing but make the game look disorganized and boring. Only a single example, but totally unimpressed by what I saw.

Typical Jay's team of recent years. Lots of shots, few on goal. Team speed seem improved, but I have no idea how fast High Point is/was.

[wgdsr]

these comments on the shot clock make me dismayed and dreading what this will look and feel like come spring (in a week?). oy vey. just a ridiculous crusade to get to this point. and last year had about as clean a year as you could have. no real issues.

hopkins starters in @ the very end of scrimmages? not sure i'm playing it that way (though admittedly no one from charles street hit my digits yet).

[51percentcorn]

I must agree more with 72 than HOB. There was no growth of drama. However, I agree with SteelHop the most, while i thought it was not fun lax to watch, it was only the first scrimmage so should get better. I saw some Cuse comments where people loved it for their scrimmages.
Also, while I think DeSimone's goal was a 4th quarter goal, the starting attack, defense and goalie were gone by then. Smith started with William's and Marr and then Epstein played most of the 2nd and 4th and played some in the 3rd.