Johns Hopkins 2021

[kramerica.inc]

I’ve said all season that any ACC team can beat any other ACC. I erroneously was wrong in my appraisal of the Big 10. Hopkins almost showed that any Big 10 team can beat any other team.
Will Maryland win the BTT? Probably, but the BJs exposed their vulnerabilities yesterday.

That was a promising display. Gotta give Milliman an extension to complete what he started.

[wgdsr]

I’ve said all season that any ACC team can beat any other ACC. I erroneously was wrong in my appraisal of the Big 10. Hopkins almost showed that any Big 10 team can beat any other team.
Will Maryland win the BTT? Probably, but the BJs exposed their vulnerabilities yesterday.

That was a promising display. Gotta give Milliman an extension to complete what he started.

caught most of the 2nd half last night. have to say hopkins played at a different speed and skill level, matching umd. what a difference it looks like having a few more size guys out there that can handle, shoot and move.

clearing was pretty sloppy both ways. maryland's shorties are animals, be interesting to see if they can do that to everyone. bernhardt is other worldly vs. the pack this year. crazy.

[jhu06]

Any word on Kirson’s injury?

mabbett, lyne, keough, schilling. a bunch of guys seeing less of the field unknown why. felt like lilly got less run. They had peshko out on the wing too at the end of the game on faceoffs which is a monster commentary on our midfield situation and ssdm situation. I expected 51 or someone to make a deal about that. It probably should've been zinn but we'd had a number of faceoffs and it looked like he had been out there and I guess they figured freshest body who could shoot. Still underscores the lack of midfield depth and some of the other concerns that have been raised about roster construction.

[HopFan16]

Any word on Kirson’s injury?

mabbett, lyne, keough, schilling. a bunch of guys seeing less of the field unknown why.

For someone who has posted on this forum nearly 1,000 times it is truly impressive how little you pay attention to what anyone else says. Genuine question: Do you read other posts? It has been discussed numerous times that Mabbett and Keogh are HURT. That is why they are not playing. Lyne is also hurt. They talked about that on the broadcast and it was mentioned here before the game. Shilling was taken off EMO because he missed two easy dunks on the crease against Rutgers. You don't need to be an insider to come to that conclusion. None of these reasons are "unknown." I mean this sincerely: What is going on? Are you okay?

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

The 3-goal limit is a super strange rule, but oh well. I don't think it changes very much. Just win.

This is the B1G. I'd imagine it is probably something along the lines of not rewarding teams for blowing out other teams because they are supposed to be gentleman like to each other. Gotta remember at one point they named the 2 divisions for the football teams "Leaders" and "Legends."

And Woody.

[wgdsr]

checking in on #endlinegate. wasn't able to zapruder it, just rewind as it was a stream and my dvr had an intense volleyball game.
couple things:
- the rule - not only when and where it goes out, it's not when it hits out but when it breaks the plane (even though it isn't "out" yet).
- when it broke the plane, it was on a perpendicular closer to wisnauskas
- marcille got a head start running, was at a higher speed as the ball broke plane.
- tough camera angle
- the dives -- well after the ball was out, of course.
- refs love to triangulate and show off their high-level math skills vs the peasants.

all in all, it wouldn't surprise me if the real difference distance bt the 2 was less than a foot either way. can see how partisans would be upset and think otherwise, but it wasn't the most egregious call of all time and could've been correct.

[51percentcorn]

I agree with most of your sentiment wg - it does look to me in the photo that Marcille's helmet - because he started to dive before Wisnauskas - created enough separation to the endline that negated the issue of the ball being closer to the MD player on an east-west axis. Not the worst call in the world. I have not watched that replay - where was the ref that made the call? If he was off to the left - you might have thought he would give it to Marcille. Anybody wondering if a 5'6" vs a 6"2 player are going for that play there is some assuming going on?

Oh well - not really the issue - if you want to win that game you do some of the following things:
- Take a better shot at 4 minutes than DeSimone apparently did - full disclosure - did not see it - but highlight commentary was certainly that it was sooner than it needed to be and it was an easy save - by the play by play stats it looks like Hop had 20 more seconds approx.
- Clear the ball at 3 minutes
- Don't give up a fluke goal
- Don't lose every single face-off so that the last time you touched the ball was your turnover at 3:08

Do one or more of those things and we would likely be crowing about the upset
Somewhat similar to another famous 14-13 loss by Hopkins in the '81 title game - all anybody from Hopkins wants to talk about are the 2 (some say 3 - I think one of them was in fact late) Cookie Monster goals that should have counted but the real issue is giving up 6 straight goals when you had the game for the taking at 11-8.

[wgdsr]

i'd add:
- 2 seconds left, hold wisnauskas at gle for even just a beat. have to figure jhu knew the time remaining.
- narewski played phenomenal. on the last fo, go down and get it with the step on everyone. swat and miss on the goose, and it goes the other way.
- don't try to catch an 80 yard clearing pass. check the stick and ball's oob.
- leave wisnauskas wide open at 8 yards bc hanging in no man's land at top of the crease. he has scored a billion goals in his career and he's unguarded.

little things win games late. but it takes all ten.

[nyjay]

I’ve said all season that any ACC team can beat any other ACC. I erroneously was wrong in my appraisal of the Big 10. Hopkins almost showed that any Big 10 team can beat any other team.
Will Maryland win the BTT? Probably, but the BJs exposed their vulnerabilities yesterday.

That was a promising display. Gotta give Milliman an extension to complete what he started.

caught most of the 2nd half last night. have to say hopkins played at a different speed and skill level, matching umd. what a difference it looks like having a few more size guys out there that can handle, shoot and move.

clearing was pretty sloppy both ways. maryland's shorties are animals, be interesting to see if they can do that to everyone. bernhardt is other worldly vs. the pack this year. crazy.

Result notwithstanding, highly entertaining as well. I liked that Hop played with some attitude and didn't back down from the physical play. Really, really like Peshko on the crease. His ability to work and handle the ball in tight spaces and be creative with his finishing could result in a lot more goals. Feels like our crease play (both catching and finishing) has been pretty weak this year.

[OCanada]

Sheesh. I also 100% know of players told by Petro his class was full. Not certain I see the point unless it is wide to leave optionality in play hoping for a better player to come along.

I would be interested in seeing the commitment dates for the classes of 2014 and 2015. I would also be interested in seeing who declined offers for those classes. For example the top recruits for attack were A B C but we didn’t get them but we did get M N O who were 6 7 8. Be also interesting to know who was off the board because the D 1 coaches knew they were going to X.

Maybe use IL top 25 attackers as the base

[OCanada]

I doubt this statement is accurate. I know other schools that were known to be full before any other inc Hopkins but I haven’t been close to the program in a number of years so let’s see the data

[Typical Lax Dad]

Sheesh. I also 100% know of players told by Petro his class was full. Not certain I see the point unless it is wide to leave optionality in play hoping for a better player to come along.

I would be interested in seeing the commitment dates for the classes of 2014 and 2015. I would also be interested in seeing who declined offers for those classes. For example the top recruits for attack were A B C but we didn’t get them but we did get M N O who were 6 7 8. Be also interesting to know who was off the board because the D 1 coaches knew they were going to X.

Maybe use IL top 25 attackers as the base

Jules Heninburg was told they were full....two or three others had the same message. Rising junior.

[HopFan16]

I think fixating on whether or not there was room left for certain players in recruiting classes is missing the forest for the trees. Hopkins wasn't the only school to "miss" on Heningburg or focus its attention on other guys in that class. It's not like Petro struck out in 2015: He landed Tinney and Stanwick, while Moreland and Fraser were also solid hits. (Fraser, of course, was not an early recruit.) You can't go back and pick apart every single recruiting decision in isolation and go "well they clearly should have recruited X instead of Y." The error was in the early-recruiting strategy on a very basic level—the wholesale decision to accumulate the best 9th graders possible with little regard for roster construction.

This is why some people need to stop freaking out that Milliman's first full class (2022) doesn't have quite as many "big names" as Petro's did. Someone said earlier "if we couldn't win with all the 5 stars then we certainly won't be able to with no 5 stars." That's garbage. The game has grown, there are lots and lots of excellent players out there and not all of them go to the recruiting camps IL covers. Just look at Peshko right now! He was not on IL's top 100. In fact IL definitely knew about him but still decided not to rank him. Neither was Dunn or Deans. Those guys look like they will be major contributors. Meanwhile our top offensive recruit and our top defensive recruit, at least according to IL, have underperformed relative to expectations (Smith hasn't gotten to perform at all—but perhaps there is a reason for that). I am still excited about both of them but the fact remains that recruiting is an art, not a science. The previous staff tried to turn it into a science and game it, and it didn't work as well as anyone hoped.

Hopkins has its pros and cons. I can see it settling into a situation similar to where Georgetown is right now. GTown's profile is quite similar—a rigorous academic school with an urban-ish Mid-Atlantic campus competing in a major conference. They have a few things we don't, while we have some things they don't. But Georgetown is a top 10 team again—and I think will be consistently in the future—after YEARS of suckitude. Warne hired two excellent new coordinators in 2017, committed to changing the culture of the program, and voila. There were serious, serious growing pains for them but it paid off. It's not unreasonable to think we can be where Georgetown is—or perhaps better—in a year or two but it starts with recruiting the right guys for what this staff wants to do and that clearly differs from the old staff's philosophy.

[Typical Lax Dad]

I think fixating on whether or not there was room left for certain players in recruiting classes is missing the forest for the trees. Hopkins wasn't the only school to "miss" on Heningburg or focus its attention on other guys in that class. It's not like Petro struck out in 2015: He landed Tinney and Stanwick, while Moreland and Fraser were also solid hits. (Fraser, of course, was not an early recruit.) You can't go back and pick apart every single recruiting decision in isolation and go "well they clearly should have recruited X instead of Y." The error was in the early-recruiting strategy on a very basic level—the wholesale decision to accumulate the best 9th graders possible with little regard for roster construction.

This is why some people need to stop freaking out that Milliman's first full class (2022) doesn't have quite as many "big names" as Petro's did. Someone said earlier "if we couldn't win with all the 5 stars then we certainly won't be able to with no 5 stars." That's garbage. The game has grown, there are lots and lots of excellent players out there and not all of them go to the recruiting camps IL covers. Just look at Peshko right now! He was not on IL's top 100. In fact IL definitely knew about him but still decided not to rank him. Neither was Dunn or Deans. Those guys look like they will be major contributors. Meanwhile our top offensive recruit and our top defensive recruit, at least according to IL, have underperformed relative to expectations (Smith hasn't gotten to perform at all—but perhaps there is a reason for that). I am still excited about both of them but the fact remains that recruiting is an art, not a science. The previous staff tried to turn it into a science and game it, and it didn't work as well as anyone hoped.

Hopkins has its pros and cons. I can see it settling into a situation similar to where Georgetown is right now. GTown's profile is quite similar—a rigorous academic school with an urban-ish Mid-Atlantic campus competing in a major conference. They have a few things we don't, while we have some things they don't. But Georgetown is a top 10 team again—and I think will be consistently in the future—after YEARS of suckitude. Warne hired two excellent new coordinators in 2017, committed to changing the culture of the program, and voila. There were serious, serious growing pains for them but it paid off. It's not unreasonable to think we can be where Georgetown is—or perhaps better—in a year or two but it starts with recruiting the right guys for what this staff wants to do and that clearly differs from the old staff's philosophy.

Good post.

[smoova]

This is why some people need to stop freaking out that Milliman's first full class (2022) doesn't have quite as many "big names" as Petro's did. Someone said earlier "if we couldn't win with all the 5 stars then we certainly won't be able to with no 5 stars." That's garbage.

Preach! Folks need to remember that the guys handing out stars have never been fired because their ratings were wrong, incomplete or underestimated talented players from geographically-inconvenient locations.

[51percentcorn]

Yes to 16 - I was not trying to state or imply the following
- Petro did not get to pick through the litter of recruits before everyone else and keep and discard as he pleased. It is a two way street - many top recruits felt, feel and will feel that Hopkins is not the place for them. What he did do - IMO - was stretch the early recruiting paradigm down to the next level and threw discipline out the window. If the first less than 5 guys who might have been worth the risk - a la Brennan O'Neill or Rambo or someone like that and you don't get them - well don't stretch down to the next 60/100 or more
- Petro was not alone - we all know UNC/UVA/others were in the early recruiting game and I did not mean to imply that Petro was always first or had the most number of verbals by a certain date - I remember a year where it seemed like Carolina had a new kid every day. BUT - and maybe my perception is wrong and it would be hard to really validate the issue - Hopkins was maybe the most consistent early recruiter year in and year out and the classes filled up quicker than most others. I also was not alone in that perception.

I think I can rationalize why he did it - but even he admits it didn't work out. The list of evils that can Kevin Bacon their way down to some of Hopkins current and recent issues go back to this paradigm. It was a disaster and I maintain the only way out is to shrink the roster down to a skeleton level and be way more strategic in what positions you go after - what players you go after - and correspondingly how you spend your dollars.

[a fan]

I think fixating on whether or not there was room left for certain players in recruiting classes is missing the forest for the trees. Hopkins wasn't the only school to "miss" on Heningburg or focus its attention on other guys in that class. It's not like Petro struck out in 2015: He landed Tinney and Stanwick, while Moreland and Fraser were also solid hits. (Fraser, of course, was not an early recruit.) You can't go back and pick apart every single recruiting decision in isolation and go "well they clearly should have recruited X instead of Y." The error was in the early-recruiting strategy on a very basic level—the wholesale decision to accumulate the best 9th graders possible with little regard for roster construction.

This is why some people need to stop freaking out that Milliman's first full class (2022) doesn't have quite as many "big names" as Petro's did. Someone said earlier "if we couldn't win with all the 5 stars then we certainly won't be able to with no 5 stars." That's garbage. The game has grown, there are lots and lots of excellent players out there and not all of them go to the recruiting camps IL covers.

+1000.

Burn your IL recruiting issue. The D1 world will make much more sense if you simply pay attention to what happens on the field.

[primitiveskills]

I think fixating on whether or not there was room left for certain players in recruiting classes is missing the forest for the trees. Hopkins wasn't the only school to "miss" on Heningburg or focus its attention on other guys in that class. It's not like Petro struck out in 2015: He landed Tinney and Stanwick, while Moreland and Fraser were also solid hits. (Fraser, of course, was not an early recruit.) You can't go back and pick apart every single recruiting decision in isolation and go "well they clearly should have recruited X instead of Y." The error was in the early-recruiting strategy on a very basic level—the wholesale decision to accumulate the best 9th graders possible with little regard for roster construction.

This is why some people need to stop freaking out that Milliman's first full class (2022) doesn't have quite as many "big names" as Petro's did. Someone said earlier "if we couldn't win with all the 5 stars then we certainly won't be able to with no 5 stars." That's garbage. The game has grown, there are lots and lots of excellent players out there and not all of them go to the recruiting camps IL covers. Just look at Peshko right now! He was not on IL's top 100. In fact IL definitely knew about him but still decided not to rank him. Neither was Dunn or Deans. Those guys look like they will be major contributors. Meanwhile our top offensive recruit and our top defensive recruit, at least according to IL, have underperformed relative to expectations (Smith hasn't gotten to perform at all—but perhaps there is a reason for that). I am still excited about both of them but the fact remains that recruiting is an art, not a science. The previous staff tried to turn it into a science and game it, and it didn't work as well as anyone hoped.

Hopkins has its pros and cons. I can see it settling into a situation similar to where Georgetown is right now. GTown's profile is quite similar—a rigorous academic school with an urban-ish Mid-Atlantic campus competing in a major conference. They have a few things we don't, while we have some things they don't. But Georgetown is a top 10 team again—and I think will be consistently in the future—after YEARS of suckitude. Warne hired two excellent new coordinators in 2017, committed to changing the culture of the program, and voila. There were serious, serious growing pains for them but it paid off. It's not unreasonable to think we can be where Georgetown is—or perhaps better—in a year or two but it starts with recruiting the right guys for what this staff wants to do and that clearly differs from the old staff's philosophy.

Agree. The transfer portal/ immediate eligibility era also potentially speeds up the process.

[CharmCityLaxMan]

Okay, reality check. I don’t think at this point that Hopkins has anything to offer that is better than what Georgetown has to offer except possibly a more rigorous science curriculum that most lacrosse players are not interested in, while they attempt to navigate the rigors of D1 lacrosse. Homewood is not NW DC. No basketball. DC nightlife superior to the Block. It’s a difficult task to beat out the likes of most universities in the recruiting arena unless you can promise Nattys. Those days seem gone. Sorry but that’s how I am seeing it now.

[nyjay]

Okay, reality check. I don’t think at this point that Hopkins has anything to offer that is better than what Georgetown has to offer except possibly a more rigorous science curriculum that most lacrosse players are not interested in, while they attempt to navigate the rigors of D1 lacrosse. Homewood is not NW DC. No basketball. DC nightlife superior to the Block. It’s a difficult task to beat out the likes of most universities in the recruiting arena unless you can promise Nattys. Those days seem gone. Sorry but that’s how I am seeing it now.

Maybe you're right, but I don't think you are. G'Town hasn't had nationally regarded basketball since Iverson left (OK, maybe that's a little harsh, I guess I forgot about, um, Otto Porter?). As far as admissions selectivity, Hop has been improving consistently and G'Town hasn't quite kept up. And Hop has always had the better academic reputation, even when it was less selective in admissions (like when I was there). The "Block" really? From a guy with "CharmCity" in his handle? And for lax, Hop will always be > than G'Town. It may take some time, but I'm pretty sure Hop wins another Natty (45th) before G'Town wins its, um, well, first? Enjoy kicking us while we're down, just like I'm enjoying whatever the hell it is that's going on at Syracuse, but we'll be back.