Johns Hopkins 2023

[wgdsr]

Hop just beat a terrible Maryland team. Maryland beat an atrocious Ohio st team in overtime. Milliman was dead weight at Cornell and everyone knew it. Cornell has a superior coaching staff now

cornell was .500 in the b1g this year with that staff.

[DocBarrister]

Mazzone had 8 GBs (and 2 CTs) and was money in transition. (He has 65 GBs this season??? What???) He has played himself into 1st team All-America consideration. He does absolutely everything and I'm not sure there's a defenseman who has had a bigger impact on his team this year than him.

Smith added 5 GBs/3 CTs, Brown with 3 and 2, Szuluk with 2 and 2. When your defensemen are that disruptive and good off the ground, you're probably going to win.

That being said, Tyler Dunn gets the game ball. We lose that game if Wierman is allowed to get in a rhythm. Dunn kept him in check all night.

Mazzone is definitely having an AA-caliber year.

Dunn 14-23 on faceoffs against arguably the best FO specialist in college lacrosse. Been that kind of season for the Blue Jays … someone always seems to step up each game.

DocBarrister

[Basement Bias]

Let's play To Win on repeat for the next 24 hours! The crab is back where it belongs!

[Hoponboard]

Keep on starting Narewski. It has revived Dunn.

[jhu06]

https://pro.lacrossereference.com/rpi-d ... ifospeivmd

hard to see us going above virginia or below georgetown/someone else doing well in their tournament to get up to 8. Seed probably between 4 if we win the big ten tournament and 7 if we lose to the maryland/rutgers. all in all a big accomplishment to be in this sppt. Something in the yale/army/penn/denver/north carolina mix for round 1 and then cornell/penn state/maryland/georgetown group round 2.

https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... ns-bracket

[51percentcorn]

We're very likely to see Maryland in 12 days - that's all that matters right now and all that's in the control of JHU. What the committee says on May 6 is beyond Hopkins control. That being said a BIG 10 tournament title and a 13-4 record would speak volumes for a Top 4 seed - clearly nothing lower than a 5 - which might get you something other than Georgetown and as we all know the draw is half the battle.

I also echo Hop 16's sentiment - Suck It Black Hole

[Sagittarius A*]

We're very likely to see Maryland in 12 days - that's all that matters right now and all that's in the control of JHU. What the committee says on May 6 is beyond Hopkins control. That being said a BIG 10 tournament title and a 13-4 record would speak volumes for a Top 4 seed - clearly nothing lower than a 5 - which might get you something other than Georgetown and as we all know the draw is half the battle.

I also echo Hop 16's sentiment - Suck It Black Hole

Ha. That's what Black Holes do.
I saw RD after the game schmoozing with PM, basking in the glow. He must be happy after all the abuse he's taken on this board. lol
Hopkins ranked #7 nationally and probably ranked #4 in the Lax polls on Monday. I think he was doing a little dance at midfield.
Indeed, great win for the Jays tonight. Team played terrific defense. Much better than in the Petro era when they wouldn't even try to take the ball away and the SSDM's ducked.
I think if the Jays can beat UMD again at Homewood, tall task, they can beat Penn State when they don't have the benefit of their home officiating in Happy Valley.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Lager with the tiny pp energy

Per Coach Kelly's Instagram of the postgame festivities, Ronny D and Baker were both at the game and on the field. I don't know many university presidents who travel to road lacrosse games. It's time everybody cut that guy a break.

Well deserved week off, some guys who are banged up need it. LET'S RIDE

Good win today. That’s a program win.

[Wheels]

Remember when I said that the Terps need to get as close to 50 shots as possible, win 60%+ at the face-off, and keep turnovers at 15 or fewer in order to win games?

The Terps had 16 shots at the end of the first quarter. Wierman had won 5 of 6 face-offs. The Terps had 4 turnovers compared to 5 for Hop. Things looked good for the Terps.

Through the next 3 quarters, the Terps had a combined 17 shots, Wierman won 8 of 21 face-offs. The Terps finished with 18 turnovers.

Hop's physical play on defense and their pressure on adjacent passes rattle the Terps.

If an opponent sees Angelus and Melendez combine for 9 points, that probably means things won't end well for them. Such was the case tonight.

Hop's off ball pick play forced match-up changes, but more importantly, their transition game made sure that Angelus and Melendez had opportunities to get going.

[faircornell]

Congratulations to the Hopkins faithful and Head Cosch Pete Milliman on a signature win.

[jhu06]

We're very likely to see Maryland in 12 days - that's all that matters right now and all that's in the control of JHU. What the committee says on May 6 is beyond Hopkins control. That being said a BIG 10 tournament title and a 13-4 record would speak volumes for a Top 4 seed - clearly nothing lower than a 5 - which might get you something other than Georgetown and as we all know the draw is half the battle.

I also echo Hop 16's sentiment - Suck It Black Hole

Ha. That's what Black Holes do.
I saw RD after the game schmoozing with PM, basking in the glow. He must be happy after all the abuse he's taken on this board. lol
Hopkins ranked #7 nationally and probably ranked #4 in the Lax polls on Monday. I think he was doing a little dance at midfield.
Indeed, great win for the Jays tonight. Team played terrific defense. Much better than in the Petro era when they wouldn't even try to take the ball away and the SSDM's ducked.
I think if the Jays can beat UMD again at Homewood, tall task, they can beat Penn State when they don't have the benefit of their home officiating in Happy Valley.

There have been something like 14 hopkins presidents and like 10 of them or in that range have seen the program win a national title on their watch. One guy Lincoln Gordon lasted 4 years and had 4 titles.

[OCanada]

Gordon may have been the worst President in modern times.

Dnaiels shows up for a PR campaign with photos. The gross mischaracterization of Petro’s term as a coach has a life of its own.

[AreaLax]

[FannOLax]

Will the Milliman critics check in tonight? How much more do you need to see to know this guy can coach. Hop got a good one.

I said it last week and I will say it again, Melendez is the best player I have seen this season. Unreal talent. I only saw him play one time in high school and I remember saying… “this kid is going to Marquette?”

Maybe the best thing about this win is that it (at least temporarily) silences the "Owen Murphy should still be on Hop" narrative. (Nothing against Owen Murphy but good to live in the present with the team you have!)

I think the team had a lasting mental image of Murphy struting around Hoemwood last year with "The Crab". He was barely on the field tonight for them. What a difference a year makes.

Yep. Live by the taunt, die by the taunt. Really happy for the Hopkins lax family -- college lacrosse is so much better when Hop is relevant. Congrats.

+1 Great to have JHU back where it belongs.

[51percentcorn]

Couple random thoughts/questions:

In the team picture with the crab - who is on the very back left - next to Deans - with the lower leg cart? Is that Todaro?

Dunn was obviously the MOP of this game - he has come up big for the team a few occasions this year but if they don't get Wierman under control the ugly crab is not back in the Cordish Center. Between two teams of comparable talent - faceoffs can not only be an important stat it can be the most important

This team - depending upon its ultimate draw could make some noise in the NCAA tournament - but there is one major cloud on the horizon - goaltending. Unless you have a video game offense like Duke in one of those years you can't survive a goalie save % in the 30/40s on a consistent basis. The defense held Maryland to 33 shots - 17 on goal - Maryland averages 43 shots per game and multiplying that by 60% means they put about 24-25 on goal. And yet we were one non turnover away from 1 more shot and possibly OT. 38/39/40 and 35 in 4 of your last 6 outings is a bit of an issue and one of your exactly 50% outings was stopping 8 of 16 shots on goal against Ohio State who could finish the season 5-9. He's one of the all time Hopkins favorite players and his outlet passes have been spot on but we need better at Job #1.

I think if the Jays can beat UMD again at Homewood, tall task, they can beat Penn State when they don't have the benefit of their home officiating in Happy Valley

Where does this stuff come from?? Officals are not local - these are not State College High School grads stumbling out of Phyrst or Zeno's to go ref the Hopkins game - DeFelice/Glock etc. officiate all over. And if memory serves me correctly - one team got a one minute man advantage with about a minute left in the game and screwed the pooch royaly - quite possibly Milliman's worst bench coaching example. Yeah would have been great to get a push call on the last face-off but that was a really tough bang bang play. ANd be careful what you think or wish for - if Hopkins had Fracyon - no one would want to play them. Penn State's firepower is good - pretty comparable to Hopkins I would say - but it's not UVA's or Notre Dame's etc. They are 9-3 because of Fracyon/Posey and the defense. ANd it's why anybody that defeats them usually has a huge face-off possession advantage because if possessions are even then you've got a problem with the kid between the pipes -17/17/18 saves last 3 games. Hopkins scored 6 goals over the last 42ish minutes and Melendez is not likely to go for 6 again and Penn State may not turn the ball over 22 times again. SO if you don't solve the face-off and ground ball problem you probably lose again.

Of course we have Maryland or Rutgers to worry about before that.

[HopFan16]

In the team picture with the crab - who is on the very back left - next to Deans - with the lower leg cart? Is that Todaro?

Yeah that's Todaro. He was wheeling around last week at Homewood too. Super unfortunate. One foot injury is hard enough to come back from, but two in successive years? Feel for the kid and hope he's able to make an impact at some point down the line.

Chauvette will be back soon, gives you another option to throw at the second midfield and a sure pair of hands/finishing ability from mid-range.

As for Deans, the recovery timeline for a finger injury varies wildly depending on the nature of the injury but I'll take the fact that he was stretching/getting loose in the background of that video the other day as a sign he'll be back this season. He's already been out for a few weeks. If it was along the lines of a clean fracture with no ligament damage that'd give him a shot to return in the B1G tourney or NCAAs.

You always wonder if the week off is a net negative because you don't want to throw a hot team out of its rhythm, but I think we need it. There are guys who suit up on Saturdays who have not practiced a whole lot during the week. Will be good to get them at or closer to 100% as we flip the calendar to May.

Melendez etched his name in Hopkins lore with that diving goal on Makar, the eventual game winner. So glad we get another year out of him — maybe two, if he gets a medical redshirt for one of his seasons at Marquette? Because of the nature of our offense, nobody is going to put up huge Tewaaraton-level point totals but Melendez is what baseball scouts would call a 5-tool player. He is an elite athlete, shoots the ball very well, can dodge from any spot on the field, gets teammates involved, and has the requisite lax IQ. On top of all that, he has fit the culture like a glove and his teammates love playing with him. There were some concerns that due to the balanced and unselfish offense that we didn't have that one "guy" to turn to in crunch time. Think we found him.

[51percentcorn]

The gross mischaracterization of Petro’s term as a coach has a life of its own.

O'C - first point - virtually everything out of the Black Hole's computer is a gross mischaracterization so welcome to Hopkins thread life with him.

Second point - would you not agree that one of Petro's primary philosphies - reported to be due to his belief the reward vs risk was extremely low because of stick technology - was keep everything in front of you - slide to recover and let the goalie see the shot from alittle further out than the opponent prefered? I thought the first person to say that on this board was .... You

So it is not mind boggingly different but my perception is that Koesterer's defensive philosphy has a little more on ball pressure and double teams than Petro's generally did.

In terms of any mischaracterization - gross or otherwise - one of the biggest contributors on this topic is the biggest voice in the sport - Quint. He absolutely LOVED to call Petro's defensive scheme "SOFT". That was his word - not conservative not position oriented but SOFT.

In terms of SSDMs - my thought goes back to Mr. Dickens "It was the Best of Times (Benson Erwin etc.) it was the worst of times (the smurfs)". I just don't believe rolling out 5'7" and 5'9" as some of your primary SSDMs will work on a consistent basis. Size matters - you need athleticism of course with that size but you generally need size. Do you want Cody Ince locked on Griffin Schutz on a consistent basis? Nothing at all against the young man but having 2 guys that average out to 6' ft tall and 190 lbs or so as your primary SSDMs is not a luxury Petro had in his last few years. He probably began the grooming of players like Lilly and Mabbett for those roles but they didn't get to see the field alot in '19.

[OCanada]

The gross mischaracterization of Petro’s term as a coach has a life of its own.

O'C - first point - virtually everything out of the Black Hole's computer is a gross mischaracterization so welcome to Hopkins thread life with him.

Second point - would you not agree that one of Petro's primary philosphies - reported to be due to his belief the reward vs risk was extremely low because of stick technology - was keep everything in front of you - slide to recover and let the goalie see the shot from alittle further out than the opponent prefered? I thought the first person to say that on this board was .... You

So it is not mind boggingly different but my perception is that Koesterer's defensive philosphy has a little more on ball pressure and double teams than Petro's generally did.

In terms of any mischaracterization - gross or otherwise - one of the biggest contributors on this topic is the biggest voice in the sport - Quint. He absolutely LOVED to call Petro's defensive scheme "SOFT". That was his word - not conservative not position oriented but SOFT.

In terms of SSDMs - my thought goes back to Mr. Dickens "It was the Best of Times (Benson Erwin etc.) it was the worst of times (the smurfs)". I just don't believe rolling out 5'7" and 5'9" as some of your primary SSDMs will work on a consistent basis. Size matters - you need athleticism of course with that size but you generally need size. Do you want Cody Ince locked on Griffin Schutz on a consistent basis? Nothing at all against the young man but having 2 guys that average out to 6' ft tall and 190 lbs or so as your primary SSDMs is not a luxury Petro had in his last few years. He probably began the grooming of players like Lilly and Mabbett for those roles but they didn't get to see the field alot in '19.

I don’t know if you are quoting me but generally yes although it is tempered by the personnel.

Two illustrations. Last spring he asked a former Cuse AA if their defenders knew what a slide package was. Cuse’s defense had not been so good for several years. They were not getting the D players that fit into their schemes.

When Urich was coaching GT they pressed out aggressively all over. It was Judo time. Use it against them . They did

So he is very used to slide packages and has used them which was the point i believe.

Coach also has to match his game plan to his talent level.

It is a question of probabilities and resources

[primitiveskills]

The gross mischaracterization of Petro’s term as a coach has a life of its own.

O'C - first point - virtually everything out of the Black Hole's computer is a gross mischaracterization so welcome to Hopkins thread life with him.

Second point - would you not agree that one of Petro's primary philosphies - reported to be due to his belief the reward vs risk was extremely low because of stick technology - was keep everything in front of you - slide to recover and let the goalie see the shot from alittle further out than the opponent prefered? I thought the first person to say that on this board was .... You

So it is not mind boggingly different but my perception is that Koesterer's defensive philosphy has a little more on ball pressure and double teams than Petro's generally did.

In terms of any mischaracterization - gross or otherwise - one of the biggest contributors on this topic is the biggest voice in the sport - Quint. He absolutely LOVED to call Petro's defensive scheme "SOFT". That was his word - not conservative not position oriented but SOFT.

In terms of SSDMs - my thought goes back to Mr. Dickens "It was the Best of Times (Benson Erwin etc.) it was the worst of times (the smurfs)". I just don't believe rolling out 5'7" and 5'9" as some of your primary SSDMs will work on a consistent basis. Size matters - you need athleticism of course with that size but you generally need size. Do you want Cody Ince locked on Griffin Schutz on a consistent basis? Nothing at all against the young man but having 2 guys that average out to 6' ft tall and 190 lbs or so as your primary SSDMs is not a luxury Petro had in his last few years. He probably began the grooming of players like Lilly and Mabbett for those roles but they didn't get to see the field alot in '19.

I agree with much of this, but the "smurf SSDM" narrative is over-played. Three of our top 4 SSDMs (Ince, Raposo, Jaronski) are hardly looming physical presences. A huge difference in Koesterer's system vs Petro's is how the SSDMs are used, not the size of the SSDMs used. In the previous system, SSDMs, big and small, were easily isolated, especially up top. If you watch 'Cuse, that song remains the same. In the current system, SSDMs are rarely isolated up top (the slide from a pole will come very early) and when they are defending at X, they often defend as a SSDM pair. The overall effect is that the SSDMs are often in the middle, playing off-ball, and less often in positions where they are the primary defender of a dodger in space.

[51percentcorn]

It is a question of probabilities and resources

Agree 100% - for the record I was not quoting you but paraphrasing off of memory. Anyway the one rejoinder I think to your points is the old Bill Parcells line - Petro not only was the chef but he shopped for all the groceries as well. To continue that analogy - it is clear - maybe not to some - that he could not buy any produce or meat that he wanted - others were shopping as well and competiton for the best produce or marbled ribeye was/is fierce - BUT - he didn't have to be almost always among the first to enter the store when it opened and start buying bananas for a joke intended example before they were ripe - I think that contributed to some meals that didn't come out as planned.

All that aside - and did I miss '06 on this because I can't believe he hasn't made an issue of this - but who was the kid on the short bus from the BIG that decided 1 PM and 3:30 PM on a Thursday in the middle of a good sized NE American City was a great idea? Who's going to be there to watch those games? If you're a Maryland fan for example and they defeat Rutgers you get the pleasure of watching your team and then Baltimore traffic at 5:30/BW Parkway or 95 traffic and then maybe to top it off some Washington DC beltway traffic. Yum Yum sign me up. Then on Saturday - the second half of the Championship game is right at post time for the Kentucky Derby. AND it appears if you look at the BTN schedule the event immediately preceding the Championship game is Ohio State/Iowa baseball - yes that's right the sport where the game can theoretically never end. AND the women's lax 'Ship is at 8 PM - I'm not saying men's sports are more important but isn't it fair to say there is a higher level of interest and viewership connected to men's lax? Close to 7,000 people braved the threat of storms and rain to watch Hopkins/Marland - 1900 watched the #2 Northwestern team play Maryland last night.