Johns Hopkins 2022

[HopFan16]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. Statistically the O is pretty much exactly the same now except that 2020 team had Williams and Murphy and also won a lot more faceoffs. So despite losing those two talented guys and gaining fewer possessions via faceoffs, the offense is currently scoring the same amount of goals per game as they did when the previous staff left. There isn't much else the current coaches can do. The players are who they are and they can't just wave a magic wand and have Jonathan Donville pick Hopkins instead of Maryland. He wanted a journalism program and we don't have one. Syracuse with their media/comms program should be the ones wondering why they couldn't land him.

On the other side of the ball, both the statistics (basic goals per game as well as the advanced/efficiency metrics) AND the eye test suggest the defense is considerably better than where the last staff left it despite a lot of the personnel being the same. I do think the previous staff did a bit better recruiting defenseman toward the end of their tenure than they did on offense — Smith and Martin were both their recruits and they look like they can play (though, to be fair, Martin was supposed to be an offensive midfielder so the new staff also deserves some credit for getting him acclimated to a new position). McManus is an athlete and Lyne has ability when healthy though that's not very often. The overwhelming body of evidence across Coach Koesterer's career at various stops says he's a good defensive coach who can develop talent. Several guys have improved on that side of the ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

[jhu7276]

gawd...we just suck...I will be at the Michigan game for my 50th class reunion this Saturday and I'm not expecting anything much except for a crabcake...

[DocBarrister]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. Statistically the O is pretty much exactly the same now except that 2020 team had Williams and Murphy and also won a lot more faceoffs. So despite losing those two talented guys and gaining fewer possessions via faceoffs, the offense is currently scoring the same amount of goals per game as they did when the previous staff left. There isn't much else the current coaches can do. The players are who they are and they can't just wave a magic wand and have Jonathan Donville pick Hopkins instead of Maryland. He wanted a journalism program and we don't have one. Syracuse with their media/comms program should be the ones wondering why they couldn't land him.

On the other side of the ball, both the statistics (basic goals per game as well as the advanced/efficiency metrics) AND the eye test suggest the defense is considerably better than where the last staff left it despite a lot of the personnel being the same. I do think the previous staff did a bit better recruiting defenseman toward the end of their tenure than they did on offense — Smith and Martin were both their recruits and they look like they can play (though, to be fair, Martin was supposed to be an offensive midfielder so the new staff also deserves some credit for getting him acclimated to a new position). McManus is an athlete and Lyne has ability when healthy though that's not very often. The overwhelming body of evidence across Coach Koesterer's career at various stops says he's a good defensive coach who can develop talent. Several guys have improved on that side of the ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

Defense is markedly improved under JK. Certainly much more aggressive and productive with respect to caused turnovers. Overall size and athleticism has also improved, especially at SSDM.

DocBarrister

[flalax22]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

That game is regularly brought up at my weekly coaches meeting. How far the blue blood team had fallen. It is a very good perspective to keep in the front of mind. The rest of that season was shaping up to be a disaster.

[DocBarrister]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

That game is regularly brought up at my weekly coaches meeting. How far the blue blood team had fallen. It is a very good perspective to keep in the front of mind. The rest of that season was shaping up to be a disaster.

Selective memories indeed … I recall a spirited effort by MSM and a Blue Jay team that fought back to win the game.

Upsets happen … just ask Duke about their Jacksonville contest.

DocBarrister

[HopFan16]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

That game is regularly brought up at my weekly coaches meeting. How far the blue blood team had fallen. It is a very good perspective to keep in the front of mind. The rest of that season was shaping up to be a disaster.

Selective memories indeed … I recall a spirited effort by MSM and a Blue Jay team that fought back to win the game.

Upsets happen … just ask Duke about their Jacksonville contest.

DocBarrister

It was a terrible performance against a bad team, far worse than what we saw this weekend. That MSM team was doubled up by UMBC and beat VMI by a goal. Wins and losses don't always tell the whole story. If "spirited" is the bar well these past few games have been extremely spirited — they're clearly battling hard/diving for every endline — despite poor performance in several areas.

[flalax22]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

That game is regularly brought up at my weekly coaches meeting. How far the blue blood team had fallen. It is a very good perspective to keep in the front of mind. The rest of that season was shaping up to be a disaster.

Selective memories indeed … I recall a spirited effort by MSM and a Blue Jay team that fought back to win the game.

Upsets happen … just ask Duke about their Jacksonville contest.

DocBarrister

Doc I think you’re the first person who has ever talked about that game as a positive spirited comeback. I appreciate your views. Perhaps we will one day look back at it as a “transformative” moment for the program.

[jhu06]

north carolina made a big show in their preview of the game about their young players they were working in this year and then they beat us. By my rough count we had 17 juniors/srs/grad students play last weekend which says this is a roster that should have enough experience to beat caa/patriot league teams at home and away. They couldn't do it and there's never an excuse for a hopkins team to go 18 minutes to start a game without a goal especially against a delaware team.

there will be turnover next year, and probably a much less experienced team. Is the excuse next spring going to be "they're young give them more time"?

[Dip&Dunk]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

That game is regularly brought up at my weekly coaches meeting. How far the blue blood team had fallen. It is a very good perspective to keep in the front of mind. The rest of that season was shaping up to be a disaster.

Selective memories indeed … I recall a spirited effort by MSM and a Blue Jay team that fought back to win the game.

Upsets happen … just ask Duke about their Jacksonville contest.

DocBarrister

It was a terrible performance against a bad team, far worse than what we saw this weekend. That MSM team was doubled up by UMBC and beat VMI by a goal. Wins and losses don't always tell the whole story. If "spirited" is the bar well these past few games have been extremely spirited — they're clearly battling hard/diving for every endline — despite poor performance in several areas.

Actually VMI beat them by a goal.

[HopFan16]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

That game is regularly brought up at my weekly coaches meeting. How far the blue blood team had fallen. It is a very good perspective to keep in the front of mind. The rest of that season was shaping up to be a disaster.

Selective memories indeed … I recall a spirited effort by MSM and a Blue Jay team that fought back to win the game.

Upsets happen … just ask Duke about their Jacksonville contest.

DocBarrister

It was a terrible performance against a bad team, far worse than what we saw this weekend. That MSM team was doubled up by UMBC and beat VMI by a goal. Wins and losses don't always tell the whole story. If "spirited" is the bar well these past few games have been extremely spirited — they're clearly battling hard/diving for every endline — despite poor performance in several areas.

Actually VMI beat them by a goal.

In 2020? Everything I'm seeing says MSM won 10-9.

north carolina made a big show in their preview of the game about their young players they were working in this year and then they beat us. By my rough count we had 17 juniors/srs/grad students play last weekend which says this is a roster that should have enough experience to beat caa/patriot league teams at home and away. They couldn't do it and there's never an excuse for a hopkins team to go 18 minutes to start a game without a goal especially against a delaware team.

there will be turnover next year, and probably a much less experienced team. Is the excuse next spring going to be "they're young give them more time"?

They may have made a big show of it but in reality they haven't actually played those guys a whole lot. One of the middies has started to make a bit of noise but the vast majority of their production is still coming from the knowns, AKA Chris Gray. They can also afford to mix in younger guys more often if they wanted to because they have a player like Gray to anchor the offense. If you got your wish and we were playing all freshmen, the team would be 0-9 and you'd be apoplectic. You'd be trying to resurrect Johns Hopkins himself from the dead so that you could say he's on the hot seat.

[51percentcorn]

north carolina made a big show in their preview of the game about their young players they were working in this year and then they beat us. By my rough count we had 17 juniors/srs/grad students play last weekend which says this is a roster that should have enough experience to beat caa/patriot league teams at home and away. They couldn't do it and there's never an excuse for a hopkins team to go 18 minutes to start a game without a goal especially against a delaware team.

there will be turnover next year, and probably a much less experienced team. Is the excuse next spring going to be "they're young give them more time"?

Shouldn't make a claim so easily refuted
Chris Gray - 28% of Carolina goals - ooops not a young player
Kelly - 17% of Carolina's Goals - oops senior
Solomon -11% of Carolina's goals - oops senior
Tillman - 10% of Carolians Goals - oops junior
Gray/Kelly/Soloman/Tillman and one of the Shertzingers - 111 points - 62% of Carolina's production - oops nobody but Tillman not a senior

Herbert is a Sophomore - he's 6th in points with 13 - not bad not setting the world on fire
Next O'Connell - oops Graduate student

So next year - you'll be expecting what? Only specifically addressing the offense - DeSimone and Keogh are gone - they've used up their eligibility. Epstein and Degnon are technically seniors but can have their COVID eligibility if they and the program wants. Degnon you would think they would want for sure. Given the furor that seems to surround Epstein these days the once unthinkable - he would leave before his eligibility is up - could happen. Nobody other than Keogh that plays mid-field is a graduate student or senior. But if Epstein and/or Degnon left - that means that 4 out of your Top 5 point producers are gone and the returnees are Angelus/Peshko from the current top 6. So if that were to happen - yeah I would expect some freshmen and sophomores to get alot of time - make alot of mistakes but hopefully show some promise. But - what am I talking about - Milliman can get whoever he wants - talent and experience are not the issue - national title next year - I am sure a certain poster will predict it.

[Sagittarius A*]

Actually VMI beat them by a goal.

"VMI will be heard from today."
-Stonewall Jackson
5:30 PM, May 2, 1863
-minutes before rolling up the entire Union Flank at Chancellorsville

[DocBarrister]

Bottom line — the offense is not worse than it was when this staff took over in 2020. Some of ya'll have selective memories. That team should have lost to MOUNT ST. MARY'S at home but lucked out thanks to their goalie's one-in-a-million errant pass on a clear directly into Williams' stick. ball in a way we weren't really seeing with late-stage Petro.

That game is regularly brought up at my weekly coaches meeting. How far the blue blood team had fallen. It is a very good perspective to keep in the front of mind. The rest of that season was shaping up to be a disaster.

Selective memories indeed … I recall a spirited effort by MSM and a Blue Jay team that fought back to win the game.

Upsets happen … just ask Duke about their Jacksonville contest.

DocBarrister

Doc I think you’re the first person who has ever talked about that game as a positive spirited comeback. I appreciate your views. Perhaps we will one day look back at it as a “transformative” moment for the program.

First, I think MSM deserves some praise for their effort.

Second, yeah … the Blue Jays didn’t play a great game, but they did fight their way to a win.

And yes, it was “transformative”, as I think it contributed to Petro’s firing.

DocBarrister

[Dip&Dunk]

Actually VMI beat them by a goal.

"VMI will be heard from today."
-Stonewall Jackson
5:30 PM, May 2, 1863
-minutes before rolling up the entire Union Flank at Chancellorsville

(A) Doc is correct, I missed 2020 reference. VMI gave up two goals in last 20 sec to lose by one. Exorcised that ghost this year.
(B) VMI may be heard from but Stonewall Jackson won't be.

[Matnum PI]

Pretty obnoxious tweet. Keep in mind, the UVA-UMD game, a much better comparison to BC-UNC, had over 10,000 fans.

[HopFan16]

Despite the team stinking, Hop is third in average attendance this year behind only Syracuse and Virginia. These stats are publicly available on the NCAA website. Anyways, 1,600 for two middling teams for a Friday game — which typically do worse attendance-wise than Saturdays — isn't bad. UNC-Virginia had about the same for their Thursday night game a few weeks ago.

A bad Hopkins team is still getting twice as many fans on average than Duke and UNC and almost three times as many as Notre Dame. Yale, Penn, and Princeton are all in the Duke/UNC range as well at about 1k less per game than Hop. Rutgers is averaging a pathetic 618 fans per home game. PSU: 560 and Cornell: 430. Weather has had something to do with the latter, but not that much. Only 468 people went to Cornell's 13-12 victory over Yale last weekend.

I've seen a lot of people tweet this as a way to say "look how far the program has fallen!" which is true I guess but it also makes nearly every other men's program look even worse by comparison. If a team goes 8-1, but no one is there to see it, does it make a sound?

[jhu06]

north carolina made a big show in their preview of the game about their young players they were working in this year and then they beat us. By my rough count we had 17 juniors/srs/grad students play last weekend which says this is a roster that should have enough experience to beat caa/patriot league teams at home and away. They couldn't do it and there's never an excuse for a hopkins team to go 18 minutes to start a game without a goal especially against a delaware team.

there will be turnover next year, and probably a much less experienced team. Is the excuse next spring going to be "they're young give them more time"?

Shouldn't make a claim so easily refuted
Chris Gray - 28% of Carolina goals - ooops not a young player
Kelly - 17% of Carolina's Goals - oops senior
Solomon -11% of Carolina's goals - oops senior
Tillman - 10% of Carolians Goals - oops junior
Gray/Kelly/Soloman/Tillman and one of the Shertzingers - 111 points - 62% of Carolina's production - oops nobody but Tillman not a senior

Herbert is a Sophomore - he's 6th in points with 13 - not bad not setting the world on fire
Next O'Connell - oops Graduate student

So next year - you'll be expecting what? Only specifically addressing the offense - DeSimone and Keogh are gone - they've used up their eligibility. Epstein and Degnon are technically seniors but can have their COVID eligibility if they and the program wants. Degnon you would think they would want for sure. Given the furor that seems to surround Epstein these days the once unthinkable - he would leave before his eligibility is up - could happen. Nobody other than Keogh that plays mid-field is a graduate student or senior. But if Epstein and/or Degnon left - that means that 4 out of your Top 5 point producers are gone and the returnees are Angelus/Peshko from the current top 6. So if that were to happen - yeah I would expect some freshmen and sophomores to get alot of time - make alot of mistakes but hopefully show some promise. But - what am I talking about - Milliman can get whoever he wants - talent and experience are not the issue - national title next year - I am sure a certain poster will predict it.

On page 4 of the unc game notes they spotlighted their incoming freshmen class and I would think PM over the last 2 years has given the least amount of playing time to freshmen of almost any coach in the country. This is a veteran team that's struggling with fundamentals and that after almost 2 years Grant jr can't get an offense going against a caa opponent. Chauvette on manup is a joke and just underlines how little offense they were able to add or how much they overestimated the amount of talent they had on that end.

The other thing about the offense is that the Benson teams used to do work inside. Brandon Benn was a machine, wells got to the net. This year other than peshko occasionally the last two weeks who do you see inside?

The wait until next year stuff is just an excuse. You bring in a younger roster with the added pressure of 2 years of failure.

Yes visiting fans are coming to watch their team conquer a once proud brand. What I see on the broadcasts is the student section on the southeast corner that was filled when I was there near empty.

[Matnum PI]

Despite the team stinking, Hop is third in average attendance this year behind only Syracuse and Virginia...

Question, how does JHU, and other teams for that matter, calculate attendances? Ticket sales? Is this verified? I ask because I was at the JHU-SU game where the attendance was 2,288. Again, I was at the game and... 2,288?! I dunno. I didn't count all the fans but this seems, again, seems, inflated. Anyway, I wonder how accurate the attendance numbers are.

[HopFan16]

On page 4 of the unc game notes they spotlighted their incoming freshmen class

Your obsession with game notes — now for other teams! — is at this point close to certifiable. If it's in the game notes it must be true!!!

and I would think PM over the last 2 years has given the least amount of playing time to freshmen of almost any coach in the country.

He put an entire midfield of all freshman on the field last year. Also, that's not even close to true. Have you actually watched any lacrosse this year?

The other thing about the offense is that the Benson teams used to do work inside. Brandon Benn was a machine, wells got to the net. This year other than peshko occasionally the last two weeks who do you see inside?

You used to constantly sh*t on Benson and I'm sure we could go back and find a post of you saying something along the lines of good riddance or that you're happy he was sent packing.

The wait until next year stuff is just an excuse. You bring in a younger roster with the added pressure of 2 years of failure.

You've now said that you can't use a team being too old/recruited by other guys as an excuse and are now saying the same for next year/younger players. You can see how you're setting up unwinnable scenarios for the staff, can't you? Because everyone else can.

Yes visiting fans are coming to watch their team conquer a once proud brand. What I see on the broadcasts is the student section on the southeast corner that was filled when I was there near empty.

You graduated 16 years ago — please find me a student section ANYWHERE that is filled. You've been saying this same thing over and over again for years and refuse to understand why it's happening, not just at Hopkins but everywhere. Kids don't give a crap, it isn't unique to Johns Hopkins. You know this and ignore it every time. Even Loyola which is known for its raucous (aka drunken) student section is averaging half as many fans as we are this year. Hopkins lacrosse games still do better numbers than the vast majority of schools. It's a fact. We're not the only program playing other good teams. So what's their excuse?

[51percentcorn]

Question, how does JHU, and other teams for that matter, calculate attendances? Ticket sales? Is this verified? I ask because I was at the JHU-SU game where the attendance was 2,288. Again, I was at the game and... 2,288?! I dunno. I didn't count all the fans but this seems, again, seems, inflated. Anyway, I wonder how accurate the attendance numbers are.

I would imagine quite honestly that it might be tickets sold - do they still have a security guy ripping the ticket stub off or do they now have code scanners? I don't know.

On page 4 of the unc game notes they spotlighted their incoming freshmen class and I would think PM over the last 2 years has given the least amount of playing time to freshmen of almost any coach in the country. This is a veteran team that's struggling with fundamentals and that after almost 2 years Grant jr can't get an offense going against a caa opponent. Chauvette on manup is a joke and just underlines how little offense they were able to add or how much they overestimated the amount of talent they had on that end.

Who cares what game notes say? the results are that Carolina is as upper class deep on production as anybody.
As '16 points out - despite the fact that they had very limited practice time - Grimes played from Day 1 and by the end of the year an all freshmen mid-field was getting major minutes - Do you actually watch? It is very true that few freshmen have played this year - I wonder why that is - wouldn't have anything to do with the fact Hopkins was returning 8 of the 9 attackmen/1st and second mid-fields - several SSDMs - and virtually the entire close D could it??? Or with the fact that the class kinda had some big question marks attached to it since 70ish percent of them were last minute replacements - oh but that's right - we can call up Jeff B and get whatever player we want off of Amazon Prime. I keep forgetting that.