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

[10stone5]

My previous post...
Molting NOT molesting !!!
My ASUS tablet is so helpful in its editing mode.

I believe old timers, and I’m one, are allowed,
well, let’s say, just ogle.

[Hoponboard]

High Point upset #2 Duke 13-9. Scrimmaging them was a good early test. Jays will need their best and most skilled effort to beat Towson.

[MDlaxfan76]

I know you're going sarcastic on me but lacrosse has indeed morphed from a warm Springtime sport into a middle of Winter fiasco...
I remain a staunch Blue Jay fan and have come to terms with the egregious influence of TV control of scheduling and the NCAA Big Brother omnipresence.

I am sort of being sarcastic. But, it really shouldn't be played before March 1st. 15 years ago, teams seemed to have figured out how to play 13-14 games from March 1st to approximately May 1st and then play in the tournament. I don't really blame TV, I blame coaches wanting to set out quasi-football schedules where they play once a week instead of playing a couple of times during the season where they play a mid-week match-up. It isn't like attendance will be any different if Hopkins plays Towson on February 9th or some Wednesday afternoon/night in March or April.

I'd be good with a March 1 start, with no scrimmages before Feb 15, and a final tourney in mid June ala baseball. Yes, the Wall Street summer intern employers would need to adjust to that schedule...but they would. Alternatively, coaches would need to play more mid-week games, when playing out of conference.

Sure, that means less micro-managing of game-prep, and the need for more physical recovery time, but it could also mean playing more players in order to keep legs fresh. Not a bad thing!

I wonder whether this has been seriously discussed by the coaches and Rules Committee at the NCAA.

A mid-June Final would mean that the Final itself would be the only game on one of the "cable" ESPNs. ESPN uses all of its channels to broadcast the baseball and softball playoffs at that time, and all of them have higher ratings than lacrosse. From 1971-1983 there was no Final 4 and the Championship Game was played at a campus stadium. It's perfectly acceptable to say things should be left as they are at present, just as much as it is perfectly acceptable to say that you'd like to go back to the original format. However, to say you want to go back to the original format, you are also saying that you accept the reduced coverage on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU of the playoffs and are willing to watch over the Internet.

That's certainly a valid point, that softball would crowd out any coverage of the quarters and semis. Pretty sad if accurate, but then again, it makes sense given that softball has more than 10X the number of participants than does lacrosse (both men and women).

For my part, though, I'm fine with the internet. Internet TV is here to stay.

But I think what you're really saying is that the NCAA would make less money? As I don't have a high opinion of the NCAA, my question would have to be whether the dough actually flows to the benefit of college lacrosse enough to make a difference. Maybe it does.

So, let's assume we're stuck with Memorial Day weekend. Shorten the season to begin March 1 and cap the total # of games played pre league tourneys to 12. That's plenty.

But then, I'm an old guy...

[OCanada]

The answer to the question of NCAA money flowing to the schools is no. It has been awhile but as I recall in 2003 the hosts take off the final four was 15% of the net. The early rounds never really paid for themselves. A few years later the NCAA upped its take.

[HopFan16]

Thought this was funny. Short video of Pat Foley previewing the season, in which he talks about how close he is with his teammates and how they're going to be the best men at his "weddings." Plural. I guess #8 is already planning for multiple contingencies.



There are also short videos of DeSimone talking about the midfield and Petro talking about the team in general. Nothing revelatory. Here's coach on LSN, a little more substantive: https://www.laxsportsnetwork.com/videos ... 019-season

[johnnyonthegunpowder]

Lol, already planning for wife two. Respect.

[jhu06]

Per IL Towson's starting goalie-a Sr is OUT for saturdays tilt.
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... ates/53691

Brennan who will miss the game was highlighted in Stevens 2019 lookahead.
https://www.uslaxmagazine.com/college/m ... sion-i-men

There isn’t much exiting after this season, and Towson will begin next year with arguably the nation’s best short stick defensive midfielder (Zach Goodrich), a sturdy defense with a goalie entering his second year as a starter (Shane Brennan), a capable faceoff man in Alex Woodall (60.9 percent) and an offense that could return all but one of its regulars. Grad transfer Jean-Luc Chetner departs, but Towson has four other 20-point scorers eligible to return.

[10stone5]

Per IL Towson's starting goalie-a Sr is OUT for saturdays tilt.
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... ates/53691

That may not matter.
They’ve got two real good backups.
Including the kid from Loyola Blakefield.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was not a prelude to a switch of starting goal for the year, for the Tigers.

[HopFan16]

Towson's goalie situation is the least of my worries. The first concern for the Jays should be the faceoff dot—we have a bunch of unproven guys going up against one of the best in the country in Alex Woodall, who went 16-24 against us last year. Prouty was 1-4. The Jays were able to still win that game going away because Towson looked totally discombobulated on offense and failed to capitalize on its possession advantage. I wouldn't expect that to happen two years in a row, especially now that the Tigers are playing at home. Offensive efficiency and not turning the ball over, which includes clearing well is the key to counteracting a faceoff deficit. Obviously, it will help if our veteran defense can step up in front of a new goalie as I expect them to. Towson is not the most challenging offense they will face this year, but they'll pick the D apart if they don't get off the bus focused.

Game notes are not out yet, but I'd expect Forry to "start" at attack with Epstein liberally mixed in. We'll probably see them on the field together at some point. Darby is going to start in goal. Sounds like the team made it through the offseason relatively healthy, hopefully it stays that way.

[jhu06]

As for turnovers, Marr (7 and 4 in 2017) and Williams 4 last year had 11 penalties last year. Spencer, Teat and Sowers combined had 4. Marr has a temper issue veterans, particularly the sons of coaches, are supposed to have under control.

[HopFan16]

As for turnovers, Marr (7 and 4 in 2017) and Williams 4 last year had 11 penalties last year. Spencer, Teat and Sowers combined had 4. Marr has a temper issue veterans, particularly the sons of coaches, are supposed to have under control.

Why are you like this

[51percentcorn]

While '06 can certainly phrase things differently so it is less judgmental and absolute - the point is well taken. Marr has accumulated a lot of penalties. I believe he might have led the team last year. There is no reason for an attackman to be in or near the lead in penalty minutes - who knows whether it is temper or what but it is bad decision making. A personal foul from an attackman is usually one of two things - a slash on the player attempting to clear the ball or a late hit on a player who has already made the pass - both extremely avoidable. Given that he has clearly developed in terms of fewer turnovers, better shooting percentage and increased assists - this should be a focus of a senior captain to improve his decision making - don't take out the opposing goalie after a pass - it's not worth it.

[molo]

Agreed. When coaching high school I always laid into attackmen who fouled--generally because they were beaten on the ride and frustrated--that before the foul, the opponent was attempting to clear, often with the ball in the stick of one of their weakest stickhandlers in our offensive half of the field and now you have just given their best six offensive players a free clear and an extra man. Some defensive fouls prevent goals. Fouls by attackmen are almost invariably high risk, low reward.
I don't know much about Towson's middies, but I expect their defense to be good and know they have maybe the nation's best dm in Goodrich. It will be interesting to see how the teams match up between the lines. If Epstein plays attack and Smith midfield, Hopkins will be running at least three middies who were attackmen. That didn't matter much when you could slow the game down and use lots of POGOs, but from what I have seen under the new rules, all middies are going to have to do more between the lines. I'm not saying the Hopkins guys can't do that, only that it is more of a position change than it used to be.

[HopFan16]

Robert Kuhn taking over Jeremy Huber's #19: https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/lac ... story.html

[ColumbiaBlueBlack]

While '06 can certainly phrase things differently so it is less judgmental and absolute - the point is well taken. Marr has accumulated a lot of penalties. I believe he might have led the team last year. There is no reason for an attackman to be in or near the lead in penalty minutes - who knows whether it is temper or what but it is bad decision making. A personal foul from an attackman is usually one of two things - a slash on the player attempting to clear the ball or a late hit on a player who has already made the pass - both extremely avoidable. Given that he has clearly developed in terms of fewer turnovers, better shooting percentage and increased assists - this should be a focus of a senior captain to improve his decision making - don't take out the opposing goalie after a pass - it's not worth it.

Unless it's a Franzing

[johnnyonthegunpowder]

I've been the only one touting Marr since day 1, never gave up on him and now's he a captain. There were endless calls to sit him with very little warrant. For a coach's son, it has been surprising to see some of the choices he's made. The good far out weighs the bad with Marr, and it has for a long, long time.

What a day for lacrosse in Baltimore tomorrow. Conrad v Spencer right down the street and Tigers wearing some beautiful throwbacks tomorrow. A hi of 37 sounds balmy; it hasn't hit zero in my neck of the woods for a week.

https://twitter.com/Towson_MLAX/status/ ... 0027659265

Hopkins really needs to ramp up its media presence beyond just posting pics and graphics. Towson and Loyola talent is putting us to shame.

[University West]

Game notes up this morning.

https://hopkinssports.com/news/2019/2/8 ... notes.aspx

Notes confirm the Michigan and Maryland games are on BTN.

Under 25 hours...

[HopFan16]

Game notes up this morning.

https://hopkinssports.com/news/2019/2/8 ... notes.aspx

Notes confirm the Michigan and Maryland games are on BTN.

Under 25 hours...

Not seeing a projected lineup, which makes sense. Under "Key Personnel," the middies are listed as follows (in # order): Concannon, DeSimone, Keogh, Zinn, Stagnitta, Lilly, Cattoni. Mabbett and Degnon not included. Baskin and Smith listed with the attackmen. The only SSDM mentioned after Jones and Hubler is DiPietro, who Ernie says "will take on a bigger role this season."

Exactly 24 hours now.

[johnnyonthegunpowder]

John Crawley assistant coaching up a lead for Colgate right now in the first quarter at Cuse

[jhu06]

Big big win for John Crawley. Not sure how many programs helmed by first year head coaches and their staffs have gone into the Dome and beaten cuse, but that's a fantastic start for them.