Johns Hopkins 2021

[DocBarrister]

Rewatched the game last night. The amazing thing to me was just how clean the offense was. Just really no unforced errors. Yes, the Jays had a lot of possession, and some of the possessions primarily involved making lots of adjacent passes, but you don't get this extra long possessions if you're dropping the ball or throwing bad passes. Defense was similarly fundamentally sound. Just solid team defense all around. Just a remarkably clean game, which is remarkable given that we're still pretty early in the season, no fall ball, not a ton of practice so far. Arrow is really pointing up.

Favorite moment of the game has to be the Mabbett goal. Really got to hand it to the kid, after that OSU game, he could have just packed it in. But he didn't - he's 100% better as an on ball defender and had a couple of good GBs as well. After his goal, loved how the team (Epstein in particular) embraced him. Big moment for him and I think for the team as well.

Mabbett has really bought into his new role. Reinson is also having a terrific season. Defense has been the most improved aspect of the Blue Jays’ game compared to 2020.

DocBarrister

[HopFan16]

Hard to argue with that so far. The D has shaved 2 goals per game off their average from last year. Szuluk has been a nice addition on-ball. Reinson is certainly playing well. After the OSU game the shorties have improved, though they still have a lot more work to do. Foot speed may be an ongoing concern there. Martin could help with that a bit. His quick GB pickup (off Delaney's caused turnover) straight into transition is the kind of play we've been missing from that position not just earlier this year, but over the last several years. Pick it up on the first try, get it up field. The kind of simple thing that helps wins games but has been a struggle for us recently.

Goals scored are up about half a goal per game even as faceoffs have been down by about 8%. Competition has been different of course but my guess is the adjusted efficiency numbers, which account for your level of competition, are also up from last year on both sides of the ball. Team shooting percentage is up 6%.

Rutgers presents a challenge. They really like to run, more than any opponent we've seen so far. Transition D needs to be buttoned up. If you can win some faceoffs, take care of the ball, and force Rutgers to beat you in the 6-on-6, Jays will have a shot at home. As they say, sometimes the best transition defense is a good offense. No gimme saves for the goalie, no dumb turnovers.

[jrn19]

Hard to argue with that so far. The D has shaved 2 goals per game off their average from last year. Szuluk has been a nice addition on-ball. Reinson is certainly playing well. After the OSU game the shorties have improved, though they still have a lot more work to do. Foot speed may be an ongoing concern there. Martin could help with that a bit. His quick GB pickup (off Delaney's caused turnover) straight into transition is the kind of play we've been missing from that position not just earlier this year, but over the last several years. Pick it up on the first try, get it up field. The kind of simple thing that helps wins games but has been a struggle for us recently.

Goals scored are up about half a goal per game even as faceoffs have been down by about 8%. Competition has been different of course but my guess is the adjusted efficiency numbers, which account for your level of competition, are also up from last year on both sides of the ball. Team shooting percentage is up 6%.

Rutgers presents a challenge. They really like to run, more than any opponent we've seen so far. Transition D needs to be buttoned up. If you can win some faceoffs, take care of the ball, and force Rutgers to beat you in the 6-on-6, Jays will have a shot at home. As they say, sometimes the best transition defense is a good offense. No gimme saves for the goalie, no dumb turnovers.

Offensive efficiency for you guys is 30.7%, last year was 30.2%. Defensive efficiency is 25.8%; which if it stays that way would be the best by any Hopkins defense since at least 2015. 2018 was 28.7%

[Drcthru]

Your numbers don't agree with lacrossereference!
https://lacrossereference.com/stats/adj ... cy-d1-men/

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

QK:

“If you can stand 25 minutes of Anish, Carc and I… check out the debut of “Yard Sale” ... We promise nothing.”

And will probably deliver nothing.

HowAboutNoBear

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HowAboutNoWombat

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[nyjay]

Good stuff:

https://twitter.com/jhumenslacrosse/sta ... 0967251968

[jhu06]

-you don't want to say there's a must win, but after this week schedule is road for the middle of the conference and home for the top/bottom. Want to bag this one this weekend and put Rutgers in desperation mode heading back to new jersey.
-it's fan appreciation week-do they let the students and band in?
-the black tarp around the fence was not a good move if you're not allowing friends etc in. Looks like a lot of ppl showed up on saturday to watch.
-2019 rutgers/hop game notes "adam c had 9 goals in his second season as a student and first as a student athlete-in 2016"
-rutgers had at terps last week at us this week home vs terps the following week and mens ncaa hoops selection committee gave their mens team an 830 friday night game-their first in 30 years. Lot of energy/emotion they're bringing this weekend.
-absolutely needs to be a graphic showing the ages of the rutgers players on saturday
-quint makes such a big deal of his earn it on the field, work hard off the field stuff and then spends every convo talking about how last place acc team deserves an ncaa bid. I'm not sure how those two views of life-earning something through work and getting rewarded for last place really jive.
-matt lawrence is doing a nice job as social media guy.
-Pesko recruiting tape. Like grimes, he's just so much bigger out there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W7t5As_KhU

[HopFan16]

Reinson won Big Ten defensive player of the week for his effort against PSU:

https://bigten.org/news/2021/3/16/gener ... onors.aspx

Here's a bittersweet stat: He's the first Hopkins player to earn that honor since Pat Foley in 2018. There are better ways to gauge whether or not a defense has improved but starting to win awards like this one again after nearly 2 years of failing to do so is probably a decent sign.

[51percentcorn]

2019 rutgers/hop game notes "adam c had 9 goals in his second season as a student and first as a student athlete-in 2016"

What's your point - kid had back to back ACLs - people who have had Chris Boland in their house should not throw stones - glad to see him out there - he's a terrific player and an unbelievable shooter - would not come off him for anyone coming down the middle - time and room means turn and rake and he doesn't need much time or room unfortunately

And I don't mean that as any type of jab at ol #32 - he had two significant injuries and I was also glad to see him play some full years for Hopkins

[bananas]

Schedules matter. Tough games toughen. After watching Hopkins recent performance . Id rather be playing a overrated Georgetown than a quickly improving JHU this weekend. Knights and Jays hung with Terps for awhile. We'll both have another chance another day, right now this game has big ramifications. Cant wait.

[jhu06]

2019 rutgers/hop game notes "adam c had 9 goals in his second season as a student and first as a student athlete-in 2016"

What's your point - kid had back to back ACLs - people who have had Chris Boland in their house should not throw stones - glad to see him out there - he's a terrific player and an unbelievable shooter - would not come off him for anyone coming down the middle - time and room means turn and rake and he doesn't need much time or room unfortunately

And I don't mean that as any type of jab at ol #32 - he had two significant injuries and I was also glad to see him play some full years for Hopkins

I had a coach/student teacher who played ncaa ball for 7 years because of injuries, I have a lot of respect for the dedication and I saw personally what kind of character it builds. It's not a jab at adam, robbie hummels college career length is brought up all the time when people talk about his career.

quint and anish with a lot of love for the program again. Kind of confusing how they're learning we have all these highly recruited players when they covered the team for so long. Tillman comes off like a really good person as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH5tMOvO-zQ

[DocBarrister]

2019 rutgers/hop game notes "adam c had 9 goals in his second season as a student and first as a student athlete-in 2016"

What's your point - kid had back to back ACLs - people who have had Chris Boland in their house should not throw stones - glad to see him out there - he's a terrific player and an unbelievable shooter - would not come off him for anyone coming down the middle - time and room means turn and rake and he doesn't need much time or room unfortunately

And I don't mean that as any type of jab at ol #32 - he had two significant injuries and I was also glad to see him play some full years for Hopkins

I had a coach/student teacher who played ncaa ball for 7 years because of injuries, I have a lot of respect for the dedication and I saw personally what kind of character it builds. It's not a jab at adam, robbie hummels college career length is brought up all the time when people talk about his career.

quint and anish with a lot of love for the program again. Kind of confusing how they're learning we have all these highly recruited players when they covered the team for so long. Tillman comes off like a really good person as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH5tMOvO-zQ

“Yard Sale” is hilarious. Their game calls are not always the best (although I like QK, Anish, and Carc better than most folks do), but that podcast is terrific.

DocBarrister

[jhu06]

doc I really hope you submit a fan appreciation video for this weeks pregame show.

[HopFan16]

Haven't been posting all of these (there has been one every week for a month or two now) but thought this email from Milliman was worth sharing here:

Supporters of Blue Jay lacrosse,

We are back at it this week after a good win against a very solid team. I believe that we put forth our best effort of the year. It showed us a clearer picture of what we might be capable of as we continue to develop. I have been open with the team that I still don’t know how good we can be and that unknown is not a bad thing. We should not be focused on how good we can be, but instead, we should just focus on being our best version every day. The biggest message of the week is that we need to find more motivation from a win than we do from a loss. Wins can be more taxing mentally, but that is a part of the challenge that we need to attack in order to keep improving.

There are a few takeaways from the game this past weekend that are worth mentioning. For starters, this was the first victory for our senior class against Penn State, and that was clearly a motivating factor going into the contest. The seniors were great at leading the energy and being the voice throughout. In the end, senior defender Jared Reinson had one of the better games we have seen so far this season. He helped us play good team defense which was evident in the final score. In addition, he finished with four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Coach Koesteror also stats “nuggets” which refer to deflections of any opponent's passes and Jared finished the game with six. I believe Jack Lyne and the rest of the defense also played well, capitalizing on a possession advantage that was earned through faceoffs, ground balls, and discipline on offense.

Our first faceoff unit of Matt Narewski, Connor Delaney, and Alex Mabbett was excellent in their anticipation of the loose balls and determination to get those balls for our team. We are still a long way off from being a good transition offense, but we were able to find a few chances and we even converted a couple of them into goals. On the offensive end, Coach Grant continues to stress the importance of patience and ball movement. We run a motion offense and it will take a while for the guys to completely grasp it. We are starting to see improvements in terms of decision making and fundamental development. We may not be a high scoring group this year, but we need to be willing to grind out possessions and fight for great shots rather than settling for good shots.

Rutgers is up next and they look to be a very good team this year. They will test us in transition and they have a high powered offense that is capable of putting up some goals. We need to continue to play our game and defend our home turf. It should be a good one.

[Laxfam20057]

Anyone know what is going on with Grimes ? Shooting a hot .067 %. Starting 4 out of 4 game with 1 points. Time for the bench ??

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

MasseyRankingsThru16MAR2021

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Hopkins is listed at 18th, BUT, Massey hasn’t removed the nonplaying Ivy teams yet, of which four 0-0 Ivy teams are still ahead of the Jays.

Remove those rows, and Hopkins would be 14th.

I also checked laf’s numbers. He currently calculates JHU at 37th. He has always stated his system needs many weeks played before his rankings start to be meaningful.

I’m not sure how either of these systems will handle the dearth of OOC games.

W

[51percentcorn]

Anyone know what is going on with Grimes ? Shooting a hot .067 %. Starting 4 out of 4 game with 1 points. Time for the bench ??

I am pretty sure nothing is "going on" with Grimes other than he is a freshman with little practice and he is finding his way amongst a starting six of a grad student - 2 seniors - a junior and a sophomore. I have pointed out too that as a team it is difficult to accept a starting attackman with only 1 goal in 4 games but - as I think HF16 has pointed out - there has been more aggressiveness and small signs of progress. What's the alternative? Everyone appears to be pretty happy with Cole as a middie soooo.... I guess you could move Keogh or Angelus back to attack but what are the ramifications of that? One thing I am pretty sure - the kid can sling it - so if they start to fall the team gets better. I really don't know the answer to this question but other than O'Neill - have alot of freshmen been making noise - I have a sense the interruptions of practice have impacted that class' normal effect.

[wgdsr]

it's 4 games and i'm not sure the coaches are looking at this year to win a natty. that said, 10 games is this year's regular season and it can't go on a lot longer. or maybe it can.

he's not intimidated but he's not going to take the bull by the horns with an experienced group until those shots fall. catch 22. what he needs imo is good looks and just making the proper shot. his talent will produce results. does probably need to come soon.

surprised mcdermott hasn't been out there. has he seen the field?

[random observer]

Anyone know what is going on with Grimes ? Shooting a hot .067 %. Starting 4 out of 4 game with 1 points. Time for the bench ??

I am pretty sure nothing is "going on" with Grimes other than he is a freshman with little practice and he is finding his way amongst a starting six of a grad student - 2 seniors - a junior and a sophomore. I have pointed out too that as a team it is difficult to accept a starting attackman with only 1 goal in 4 games but - as I think HF16 has pointed out - there has been more aggressiveness and small signs of progress. What's the alternative? Everyone appears to be pretty happy with Cole as a middie soooo.... I guess you could move Keogh or Angelus back to attack but what are the ramifications of that? One thing I am pretty sure - the kid can sling it - so if they start to fall the team gets better. I really don't know the answer to this question but other than O'Neill - have alot of freshmen been making noise - I have a sense the interruptions of practice have impacted that class' normal effect.

Here's a quick accounting of the 2020 5 star attack so far. Not the most favorable comparison for Grimes, but I think he's too talented not to figure it out as long as he stays healthy:

1. Brennan O'Neill/Duke -- Started day 1, lighting it up (22G, 5A in 8 games)
2. Owen Hiltz/Syracuse -- moved into the starting lineup after the Army game, also killing it (12G, 4A in 4 games)
4. Brendan Grimes/Hopkins-- slow start, but has shown flashes (1G, 0A in 4 games)
7. Eric Malever/Maryland -- playing second line middle and starting to turn it on (1G, 4A in 4 games)
9. CJ Kirst/Cornell-- Cornell not playing this year
14. Casey McDermott/Hopkins -- seeing limited time at middie, so hard to get a read
18. TJ Haley/Georgetown -- started day 1, great feeder still finding his scoring game (3G, 18A in 5 games)
19. Daniel Kelly/Maryland -- seeing limited time at middle, so hard to get a read(0G, 1A in 4 games)
21. Sam King/Harvard -- Harvard not playing yet
22. Michael Boehm/Michigan -- started day 1, looking solid (8G, 5A in 4 games)

[MDlaxfan76]

Anyone know what is going on with Grimes ? Shooting a hot .067 %. Starting 4 out of 4 game with 1 points. Time for the bench ??

Heck of an opening post, Laxfam, but welcome aboard!

I suspect Grimes will progress, just as I'd expect the team to continue to progress with more time together. Likely won't be a straight line though.