Johns Hopkins 2021

[tech37]

If it's injury related, which seems logical, have to wonder why the coach didn't at least hint about that. Otherwise, look at all the speculation.

[FlyEaglesFly]

Umm Bernhardt would absolutely be in the Top 50 in scoring in that offense. Or any offense for that matter.

[FlyEaglesFly]

I don't like it at all that the Coach just threw his best player under the bus in the newspaper.
The team just hit rock bottom in the BIG and Instead of accepting responsibility and saying," It's my fault. The team wasn't properly prepared etc," he starts calling out his players. NO. That never works.
Benching the kid says it all. That's more than enough motivation.
Milliman has one strike against him coming in the door. He's not a Hopkins alumnus.
We've never had a coach work out for us that wasn't. Sorry, but that's the truth.
Now, this nonsense is not acceptable. It's bad look for the University, the Athletic Department, and the program.
NOT NOT ACCEPTABLE on any level. That's a second BIG strike against him.
The team lost because of the bad decisions of the coaching staff. A coach who can't look himself in the eye and admit his own mistakes isn't worth a dime. Don't see a positive future here right now. Sorry if you don't like that.

Omg

[ohmilax34]

Umm Bernhardt would absolutely be in the Top 50 in scoring in that offense. Or any offense for that matter.

Agreed

[ohmilax34]

Are you seriously asking why Joey isn't in the Top 50 in the country in scoring for a team that averages 10 goals per game? Or are you suggesting that if he is, as I think he is, a Top 10 player in the country why isn't he lifting Hopkins to more than 10 goals per game?

Yes to both. Elite attackmen score, and score a lot. It's not like we're discussing defensemen here.

You could put Jared Bernhardt in that offense, and Jared wouldn't be in the Top 50 in scoring either.

That would make sense, except you forgot that DeSimone is on that Top 50 list.

He's not scoring at an elite level. I don't think it's a criminal offense to point out the obvious. I'm not trying to demean him, or his team.

You've been around for a while....how many times have we found out that a kid having a year that disappoints fans....was simply struggling through injuries, and not complaining about it?

seriously. bernhardt looks like superman out there at times. maybe he gets tripped up in a future game, but this is getting a little cray.
epstein, for a frosh in particular, produced. they needed him to, imo. and he delivered. what he becomes next, we'll see and his injury was unfortunate.
but now bernhardt present day comparisons are just silly.

Not to speak for Wheels, but he wasn't comparing Bernhardt to Epstein; he was saying that Bernhardt wouldn't be putting up #'s in Hopkins offense either. Bernhardt's clearly the better player right now but that doesn't mean he'd be up near the top in an offense that is definitely still trying to put pieces together and lacks consistent dodging threat, either.

I think by saying Epstein was a top 10 player, he was making a comparison to Bernhardt, who is certainly a top 10 player.

[HopFan16]

And people wonder why our page count is so high

[ohmilax34]

And people wonder why our page count is so high

I don't. JHU lacrosse is fascinating!

Is Epstein playing almost exclusively on the wing these days? Would Epstein be better of if he played behind the goal more? Would the offense be better if he and Desimone could both play behind the goal? I don't mean the both are behind the goal at all times. Teams have had 2 guys who can dodge from X. Syracuse had Josh Coffman and Mike Powell in 2002. They combined for almost 9 points a game. Epstein is a talented wing shooter, and like some have pointed out, he may injured and his dodging effectiveness might be limited by that.

I know wing initiation is trending now. There are stats to support it as an effective strategy, even compared to initiating from X.

The wing dodge and feed he made to Desimone was awesome.

[youthathletics]

And people wonder why our page count is so high

It's like social media page for HS aged senior citizens.

[wgdsr]

Are you seriously asking why Joey isn't in the Top 50 in the country in scoring for a team that averages 10 goals per game? Or are you suggesting that if he is, as I think he is, a Top 10 player in the country why isn't he lifting Hopkins to more than 10 goals per game?

Yes to both. Elite attackmen score, and score a lot. It's not like we're discussing defensemen here.

You could put Jared Bernhardt in that offense, and Jared wouldn't be in the Top 50 in scoring either.

That would make sense, except you forgot that DeSimone is on that Top 50 list.

He's not scoring at an elite level. I don't think it's a criminal offense to point out the obvious. I'm not trying to demean him, or his team.

You've been around for a while....how many times have we found out that a kid having a year that disappoints fans....was simply struggling through injuries, and not complaining about it?

seriously. bernhardt looks like superman out there at times. maybe he gets tripped up in a future game, but this is getting a little cray.
epstein, for a frosh in particular, produced. they needed him to, imo. and he delivered. what he becomes next, we'll see and his injury was unfortunate.
but now bernhardt present day comparisons are just silly.

Not to speak for Wheels, but he wasn't comparing Bernhardt to Epstein; he was saying that Bernhardt wouldn't be putting up #'s in Hopkins offense either. Bernhardt's clearly the better player right now but that doesn't mean he'd be up near the top in an offense that is definitely still trying to put pieces together and lacks consistent dodging threat, either.

yes, i saw what he wtote. and what you just stated, to me, is a comparison to #1.

to build on that, comparison or not, as a freshman epstein finished in the top 20? 33? 47? with a not-top 10 offense and not oodles of dodging threats. and a lot of the same pieces now 2 years hence, minus several guys who had good years.
and desimone is a top 50? but bernhardt wouldn't be? better bet might be hopkins scoring just a tad bit more, and maybe with more weight on his shoulders his own production goes up.

#strawmansilliness

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Bottom line is this: the events of last week, leading through the week of practice, the game, and post game, were a “teaching moment” for everyone, and that includes the staff.

I have no idea what the rhyme and reason were behind some of it, because I haven’t asked around. So, I have no inside information.

But one thing is for sure: a major ingredient to the laying of the now famous Hopkins Easter Egg was the frustration of the team being 2-4 and then becoming 2-5.

I’m not convinced this was all stats related. Again, I have ZERO inside information, but if an individual or chorus of “things were better last year under Petro” opened up last week at 2-4, I could see this “not starting at attack” move as a way to get EVERYBODY’s attention.

I bet one thing: Joey will be motivated by it. As hopefully the whole team will. And the staff.

W

[youthathletics]

Probably best to blame the HS ranking system.

[GSP]

With Millman bringing in his own recruits and the program being 2 years away, it might be wise for Epstein to at least explore the transfer portal for a spot where he could better utilize his impressive talents. At he very least. it would allow him to discover what opportunities might be available. When Hopkins benched its best player, they forfeited any claim on Epstein's loyalty.

With all the PG's using up the remainder of their eligibility this year, places like Duke (who will lose Sowers, Robertson and a few others) would jump at the chance to replace those losses with Epstein. Epstein deserves better It would be a win/win.

[primitiveskills]

And people wonder why our page count is so high

I don't. JHU lacrosse is fascinating!

Is Epstein playing almost exclusively on the wing these days? Would Epstein be better of if he played behind the goal more? Would the offense be better if he and Desimone could both play behind the goal? I don't mean the both are behind the goal at all times. Teams have had 2 guys who can dodge from X. Syracuse had Josh Coffman and Mike Powell in 2002. They combined for almost 9 points a game. Epstein is a talented wing shooter, and like some have pointed out, he may injured and his dodging effectiveness might be limited by that.

I know wing initiation is trending now. There are stats to support it as an effective strategy, even compared to initiating from X.

The wing dodge and feed he made to Desimone was awesome.

I think that last sentence ios the most important. Sure, you could have both Desimone and Epstein alternate operating from X, but Desimone has shown that he's not as effective initiating from the wing, whereas Epstein appears to be particularly dangerous there. I don't think it necessarily minimizes Epstein to have him on the wing, but I do know that if all he is doing out there is volume shooting from GLE, that's not maximizing his game. Let him initiate out there to create for himself and others. Then you could have Desimone doing his thing from X and its a win-win.

[HopFan16]

Probably best to blame the HS ranking system.

I know you're joking but this is what I was talking about earlier re: the talent discussion. According to the prevailing HS ranking system, Michigan SHOULD be just as good as Hopkins. Zawada, Bonomi, Shriber, Boehm, Clay, Rowlett—these are all IL top 50 players. About the same amount of high-end talent as Hop has. Zawada and Boehm in particular would be playing on any team. jhu06 scoffs at this but the talent gap is not large. We should be wondering less what happened to Hopkins and more why it took Michigan so long to be competitive with the roster it does have. They're not yet at a place where they can win these games consistently but no one should be surprised anymore when Michigan steals a conference game or two. (Except against Maryland, obviously. That is still a ways away from reality.)

[ohmilax34]

Probably best to blame the HS ranking system.

I know you're joking but this is what I was talking about earlier re: the talent discussion. According to the prevailing HS ranking system, Michigan SHOULD be just as good as Hopkins. Zawada, Bonomi, Shriber, Boehm, Clay, Rowlett—these are all IL top 50 players. About the same amount of high-end talent as Hop has. Zawada and Boehm in particular would be playing on any team. jhu06 scoffs at this but the talent gap is not large. We should be wondering less what happened to Hopkins and more why it took Michigan so long to be competitive with the roster it does have. They're not yet at a place where they can win these games consistently but no one should be surprised anymore when Michigan steals a conference game or two. (Except against Maryland, obviously. That is still a ways away from reality.)

I had a similar email drafted and accidentally deleted it. Some idea with OSU and PSU. They're not winning a ton of lacrosse games this season and they returned a bunch of players.

[Wheels]

Not to speak for Wheels, but he wasn't comparing Bernhardt to Epstein; he was saying that Bernhardt wouldn't be putting up #'s in Hopkins offense either. Bernhardt's clearly the better player right now but that doesn't mean he'd be up near the top in an offense that is definitely still trying to put pieces together and lacks consistent dodging threat, either.

This is exactly it.

You put Epstein on a Top 10 team right now, and his point totals would be through the roof. Hopkins isn't playing poorly because of Epstein, Epstein is playing poorly because of Hopkins.

[random observer]

Not to speak for Wheels, but he wasn't comparing Bernhardt to Epstein; he was saying that Bernhardt wouldn't be putting up #'s in Hopkins offense either. Bernhardt's clearly the better player right now but that doesn't mean he'd be up near the top in an offense that is definitely still trying to put pieces together and lacks consistent dodging threat, either.

This is exactly it.

You put Epstein on a Top 10 team right now, and his point totals would be through the roof. Hopkins isn't playing poorly because of Epstein, Epstein is playing poorly because of Hopkins.

I'm a big fan of Esptein's but think you are way way off. Bernhardt (and other players of his ilk such as Gray and Sowers) is just a different level player than him right now, and its goes well beyond scheme/teammates/coaching. Frankly if you throw him on Maryland's roster today, I'm not sure that there's a role for him in the starting attack given how Bernhardt, Wisnauskus, and Maltz complement each other. Even at his explosive best as a freshman, Epstein was nowhere near a top 10 player in the country. That's not a slight on Epstein, but rather a comment on just how high that summit is.

[jrn19]

Not to speak for Wheels, but he wasn't comparing Bernhardt to Epstein; he was saying that Bernhardt wouldn't be putting up #'s in Hopkins offense either. Bernhardt's clearly the better player right now but that doesn't mean he'd be up near the top in an offense that is definitely still trying to put pieces together and lacks consistent dodging threat, either.

This is exactly it.

You put Epstein on a Top 10 team right now, and his point totals would be through the roof. Hopkins isn't playing poorly because of Epstein, Epstein is playing poorly because of Hopkins.

I'm a big fan of Esptein's but think you are way way off. Bernhardt (and other players of his ilk such as Gray and Sowers) is just a different level player than him right now, and its goes well beyond scheme/teammates/coaching. Frankly if you throw him on Maryland's roster today, I'm not sure that there's a role for him in the starting attack given how Bernhardt, Wisnauskus, and Maltz complement each other. Even at his explosive best as a freshman, Epstein was nowhere near a top 10 player in the country. That's not a slight on Epstein, but rather a comment on just how high that summit is.

In 2019, as a freshman, he was 16th in the country in PPG and 12th amongst players in B1G/ACC/Ivy/BE/PL. 10th in GPG amongst players in those conferences. In his final 9 games he averaged 5.5 PPG which would have been good for 6th in the country by the end of the year. Maybe not a Top 10 player if you included defenders and goalies and FOGO’s but Top 10 attacker? He certainly was very close to that conversation and definitely in it.

[DMac]

Carc said he was the best freshman in all of college lacrosse.

[pcowlax]

Well that settles that!