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

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Labatt Blue, 16 oz...$8.25.

That’s acceptable in Wombat’s book. Glad it was a tall boy too.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

So, what do we collectively think of the shot clock?

I kind of like it, but I think it makes Hopkins worse.

[HopFan16]

So, what do we collectively think of the shot clock?

I kind of like it, but I think it makes Hopkins worse.

Agreed on both points. The overall flow of games is much more to my liking now. No more extended possessions with 2 minutes of circle passes, "fake shots" to ward off the clock being put on, more quick-strike early offense and an emphasis on transition (as well as some dramatic late-clock goals). It's insane that they had the refs just deciding when to put the clock on.

This offense probably could have survived the loss of Stanwick OR Tinney, but losing them both is starting to look like an impossible void to fill. Epstein is doing all he can but there just aren't enough experienced playmakers right now. Baskin and Keogh are coming on a little bit but Williams and DeSimone are both going in the wrong direction. For a motion offense built on quick ball movement, we're not seeing much of that so far...just a lot of the usual hapless dodging and two-man games. Maybe Benson doesn't think he has the passers to swing it around quickly this year without Tinney and Stanwick, but the problem is he doesn't really have the dodgers either, especially at midfield. Bobby B. has a tall task to figure something out quickly. If I'm Benson I might consider doing what Brown in 2016 did—strike as quickly as you can in every possession, take every transition opportunity that's there. This team has been surprisingly good in transition this year—historically you don't think of Hopkins teams as fast-paced but they've got some dudes who can get up and down and score. Time to use them. I think you all know who I'm talking about.

I'd have thought the shot clock would be good for this veteran defense, as there is now less time for opposing offenses to break them down—and since they're not a very aggressive defense (instead built on the idea of forcing saveable shots), you'd think a clock/shorter possessions might assist with implementing that philosophy. So far, no bueno.

[BlueJaySince1947]

What's the story with Cole Williams ? I believe I could knock the ball out of his stick ! And his shooting prowess seems almost indifferent.

[wgdsr]

could be a slump. still a lot of season to go.
i have never changed my opinion that his stick/shooting will hold down his production. marr gets the set feet/step down role, and as a dodger williams will always have someone on his hands/he'll be on the run --- and his stroke and stick don't lend to anything other than flinging the ball at the goal as hard as he can.
someone floated the idea of moving him to middie --- if hopkins and he continue to struggle, i'd say that's a possibility and who knows, may open things up...
marr can sit on his proper porch and have less of his shooting angle taken away...
either williams or desimone will be running at shorties again...
smith is back in the neighborhood of his sniper range if he's on attack...

@ some point, you'd be looking at what you are losing/potentially gaining by the stats vs. what you believe you'd be "potentially" losing.

[51percentcorn]

It certainly is a marked difference from 2018 - Williams is on pace for approx. 13 goals this year - as we all know down from 35
DeSimone is on pace for 2 goals - down from 14 or 16 last year

They don't look hurt - they appear to be moving OK - DeSimone appears to have a big confidence issue. Early 4th quarter he had a wide open shot from the Hopkins left wing on what I think was a left handed goalie. I was literally standing right behind him on the fence. If you looked up time and room in the dictionary there would have been a picture of this play. He could have pulled it near pipe high or low, bounced it and gone 5 hole or changed levels far pipe and made the goalie have to make a great save on a low fastball - instead he basically couldn't have made it any easier for the 'tender - right in his stick chest high. Doesn't even resemble the same kid.

Williams is repeating the mistakes made freshmen year - I would love to understand the difference Stanwick and Tinney make for these two. DeSimone you can understand a little bit - he gets more poles with no Tinney but they get shortstick switches and he does nothing with them. With Williams maybe its the lack of an outside threat that allows more collapsing and double/triple teams. They need some outside shooting.

[HopFan16]

I believe that DeSimone attended one of Ryan Brown's shooting camps last summer with Epstein, Keogh, and Zinn. Sometimes those things do wonders for a kid's confidence...sometimes they get in a guy's head and give them too much to think about. No idea what's going on with DeSimone—and I'm certainly not blaming his current struggles on a summer shooting clinic—but whatever the case is he's clearly thinking too much.

I do think it's possible he's playing hurt—it can be hard to tell. I'd have had no idea Keogh hadn't practiced in two weeks based on how he's moving in games. Looks fine to me—obviously that's not the case. Aside from his shooting woes DeSimone can't beat anyone right now, including shorties. Last year if we got him switched onto a shortie on the wing or inverted at X, we'd have liked those odds. Maybe that's part of the confidence issue, but I wouldn't rule out a physical problem that's exacerbating what's going through his head.

I am worried but not as worried about Williams. He's in a funk—we already knew he could be pretty inconsistent, especially when the offense as a whole isn't working. He tends to go as the offense goes. If they're moving the ball around quickly and shooters are finishing their shots (inside and long range) then it seems like he benefits most of all (Maryland B1G championship game is a good example, and Tinney was hardly even involved in that game. Shack had 3 assists). He does, however, need to develop a better ability to pass out of double teams. You can assume a double is coming every time he rolls around GLE. Gotta anticipate that and get the ball out quicker. Also goes without saying that he needs to protect his stick more. He had moments of good shooting last year but is indeed falling back into some bad old habits. I think he might actually be a better shooter righty than lefty.

[BlueJaySince1947]

Quint’s hatred of Petro is blatantly obvious

His hatred of everything Blue Jay is blatantly apparent...been that way since his first babblethon on ESPN...!
I've long been of the opinion that back in the day he approached Petro with a request to be part of some JHU lacrosse function only to be turned down...

[BigTimeYouthLaxCoach]

More Mabbett, more Zinn and this team needs inside finishing, it's time to dust off Fox on the bench.

That gives you three guys with size, two with the ability to run by guys and one with size that can score inside. The shrimps aren't getting it done.

Zinn yes, big fast and strong... Not so much Mabbett, slow, not tough and not much of a finisher...

I think you're wrong laxbro. You haven't seen what I've seen.

[DocBarrister]

So, what do we collectively think of the shot clock?

I kind of like it, but I think it makes Hopkins worse.

I kinda miss the long offensive possessions that drain the opponent and then crush the defensive unit with a goal at the end.

Having said that, I generally agree with you. Seeing more transition offense and more up and down flow. Think Hopkins was one of the teams that had a tougher time with the change.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

... after Joey Epstein’s hit on the MSM player near the midfield line reflected pure coaching joy. Coach Pietramala loved it.

When’s the last time we saw such joy from Coach Petro? Can’t recall.

And hard to recall the last time during Petro’s tenure that we saw a Hopkins freshman as impressive and polished as Joey Epstein. Kyle Harrison? No (not as a freshman). Rabil? Maybe. The Stanwicks? Close. Epstein is just DIFFERENT.

Aside from the hustle and work ethic, just love Epstein’s confident and measured aggression. Against MSM, his first goal was on an ankle-twisting dodge on a MSM longpole. Then there was Epstein’s wing dodge against a longpole (with an assist from a nice pick), resulting in a switch to a short stick. Epstein didn’t hesitate and after executing a beautiful Rabil-esque swim move and switching to his left hand (!?! ), he finished the play with a rifle shot for a goal. That would have been impressive for a senior on the Tewaaraton watch list ... but from a freshman?!?

Epstein’s a walking rebuttal to that tired “early recruiting” argument.

Darby had a stellar game (except for that Hail Mary heave with 11 seconds left in the first half). Saved those rifle shots from long range, often cleanly. Solid on clears. He’s improving every week in the toughest job on the field.

Great to see Prouty succeed on faceoffs.

Williams and Marr did not have a good night, but I’m beginning to think part of that was from a lack of sufficient assistance from their teammates. Williams has too often been on an island, dodging against a longpole with the inevitable slide, often resulting in a turnover or a flailing shot. Think the Blue Jays need to work on setting up more effective two-man games for Williams.

As for Marr, we just don’t see that fluid motion offense very much anymore, concluding with a time-and-room shot for Marr. Does the shot clock have anything to do with that? Had Marr played in the beautiful offense of the 2006 Virginia Cavaliers, who routinely set up time-and-room shots with a patient passing game, Marr would have scored 50 goals.

Hopkins D played a good game, but those stupid penalties by Foley and Jones are really concerning. Do not recall the last Hopkins team with so many stupid penalties from seniors.

Still, even Quint K called his best game in a long time (but the harsh criticism of Petro was shocking).

Blue Jays are definitely a work in progress, but they are making progress. They will need to with the schedule they have.

DocBarrister (remains optimistic)

[laxbro11]

... after Joey Epstein’s hit on the MSM player near the midfield line reflected pure coaching joy. Coach Pietramala loved it.

When’s the last time we saw such joy from Coach Petro? Can’t recall.

And hard to recall the last time during Petro’s tenure that we saw a Hopkins freshman as impressive and polished as Joey Epstein. Kyle Harrison? No (not as a freshman). Rabil? Maybe. The Stanwicks? Close. Epstein is just DIFFERENT.

Aside from the hustle and work ethic, just love Epstein’s confident and measured aggression. Against MSM, his first goal was on an ankle-twisting dodge on a MSM longpole. Then there was Epstein’s wing dodge against a longpole (with an assist from a nice pick), resulting in a switch to a short stick. Epstein didn’t hesitate and after executing a beautiful Rabil-esque swim move and switching to his left hand (!?! ), he finished the play with a rifle shot for a goal. That would have been impressive for a senior on the Tewaaraton watch list ... but from a freshman?!?

Epstein’s a walking rebuttal to that tired “early recruiting” argument.

Darby had a stellar game (except for that Hail Mary heave with 11 seconds left in the first half). Saved those rifle shots from long range, often cleanly. Solid on clears. He’s improving every week in the toughest job on the field.

Great to see Prouty succeed on faceoffs.

Williams and Marr did not have a good night, but I’m beginning to think part of that was from a lack of sufficient assistance from their teammates. Williams has too often been on an island, dodging against a longpole with the inevitable slide, often resulting in a turnover or a flailing shot. Think the Blue Jays need to work on setting up more effective two-man games for Williams.

As for Marr, we just don’t see that fluid motion offense very much anymore, concluding with a time-and-room shot for Marr. Does the shot clock have anything to do with that? Had Marr played in the beautiful offense of the 2006 Virginia Cavaliers, who routinely set up time-and-room shots with a patient passing game, Marr would have scored 50 goals.

Hopkins D played a good game, but those stupid penalties by Foley and Jones are really concerning. Do not recall the last Hopkins team with so many stupid penalties from seniors.

Still, even Quint K called his best game in a long time (but the harsh criticism of Petro was shocking).

Doc is on point here, in regards to Epstein, he is phenomenal, love watching him play. I do see that the team has improved and are playing together as a team. Marr's needs to lead... B1G 10 play will be telling.

I was also shocked by Quint calling out Petro..

Blue Jays are definitely a work in progress, but they are making progress. They will need to with the schedule they have.

DocBarrister (remains optimistic)

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Q told us how to kill slugs with salt or beer.

[HopFan16]

... after Joey Epstein’s hit on the MSM player near the midfield line reflected pure coaching joy. Coach Pietramala loved it.

When’s the last time we saw such joy from Coach Petro? Can’t recall.

And hard to recall the last time during Petro’s tenure that we saw a Hopkins freshman as impressive and polished as Joey Epstein. Kyle Harrison? No (not as a freshman). Rabil? Maybe. The Stanwicks? Close. Epstein is just DIFFERENT.

I think it's more likely that Petro's "smile" was merely a manifestation of disbelief that the refs called a loose-ball push (or whatever the call was) on Epstein for that hit.

Rabil had a great freshman year—37 points for a midfielder, 3rd team All-American. And, you know, we won the championship that year. Rabil had the game-winning assist to overtime to beat Virginia in the semis and then had 2 goals against Duke in the ship. He was, of course, surrounded by guys like Harrison, Barrie, Byrne, Huntley, Doneger, Peyser, the list goes on and on. Just a tad more talent on that team than on this current one, I'd say.

Even Shack had his brother Wells, Ryan Brown, Tinney, Crawley, Reed, Cattoni. Quite a lot of offensive firepower on that team too. Shack was the third option on offense and saw a ton of shorties. Epstein has a lot more on his shoulders right now. You look at this roster compared to those ones, and the weapons just aren't there. If DeSimone and Williams ever figure it out, big "ifs," then you've got those two and Marr to work with Epstein and while guys like Baskin, Concannon, Keogh, Smith could come along as ancillary pieces, there just isn't a whole lot to take pressure off the freshman. It truly will be a baptism by fire, and hopefully it helps him reach his potential—which is probably the highest of any Hopkins attackman in well over a decade. Doesn't seem like the first championship since '05 is in the cards this year but I think we have now have a player—the type of kid every championship team needs—to get us there in the future. Maybe. One can dream.

[Drcthru]

Darby had a stellar game (except for that Hail Mary heave with 11 seconds left in the first half). Saved those rifle shots from long range, often cleanly. Solid on clears. He’s improving every week in the toughest job on the field.






Do we still call it a "Gilman clear"?

[jhu06]

they won in 2007 too.

https://www.apnews.com/e0428b484841433d8bdfe16231edb5c1
Anyone bought the book referenced in there? Sounds like something worth getting.

Game notes highlight a slow February start for the second year in a row, and non offensive scoring-19 for the defense/f/o ect (and 18 pts for the first midfield). Delaware is 6-1 but hasn't beaten anyone of note. Interesting to see if the coaches make any personnel changes in the lineup particularly on offense and emo or just try to tweak and play through what we've got. Whatever the decisions, there's not much slack from here on out.

[OCanada]

Baktimore’s police force has become ineffective, inefficient, corrupt, poorly trained, poorly resourcef etc. it’s faults are bleeding over onto the various campuses. It would be irresponsible for the university not to address the need. Rep Cummings was raised in Baltimore and is fully aware of the split that has characterized the relationship. Hopkins purchased blocks of homes, rehabilitated them and provided housing to employees who were victims of crime coming and going to work at an alarming rate. I understand the concept of accountability. Currently Hopkins students have little of it re: the BCPD. In the past I met two of Baltimore’s biggest crime lords both of whom said, in one form or another, the problems were beyond the ability of the BCPD because of racial divides, the close proximity of wealth to poverty etc. The middle class exodus from the City exacerbated everything. Hopkins formed the East Baltimore Community Organization to help address many of these issues. I know they spent a lot of time on them. None of its efforts have been able to eradicate problems that have a very very long history in development. I hope approval is in the offing

[runrussellrun]

I always thought that HOpkins should move the entire campus to the old Sparrow Point Steel mill site. Why not?

It's not like Hopkins had endeared themselves to the neighbors and anything 200 yards from campus.

[primitiveskills]

This offense probably could have survived the loss of Stanwick OR Tinney, but losing them both is starting to look like an impossible void to fill.

Agree, and could also argue that Fraser was just as big a loss. Right now, there's no reason to defend anyone outside 10 yards. Hard to create offense if there's not at least a threat of an outside shot.

[jhu06]

substitute Tennessee womens basketball for Hopkins lacrosse and you basically have this program since Brody gave Rabil his diploma.
https://sports.yahoo.com/why-one-of-col ... 37562.html

"The Lady Vols (hopkins blue jays) continued their descent from perennial juggernaut, to sporadic title contender, to the fringes of national relevance, staggering to a 19-12 record that leaves them squarely on the bubble just days before this year's women's NCAA tournament bracket is unveiled.

"Aided by the strength of the Tennessee (HOPKINS) brand in women's basketball (LACROSSE), Warlick (PETRO) has recruited well throughout her tenure, luring the nation's top-ranked class in 2017 and backing that up with a pair of top-10 classes in 2018 and 2019.

"If Tennessee (HOPKINS) is calling on the phone, kids are still going to stop and pay attention," said Dan Olson, owner of the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. "The Tennessee (HOPKINS) name still resonates with kids. They're still pulling some of the top players year after year."

Where Warlick has sometimes struggled is molding elite talent into a cohesive, winning team. This year's Lady Vols (BLUE JAYS) are erratic shooting from the perimeter, sometimes turn the ball over too frequently and rank 252nd in field-goal percentage defense nationally."