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

[DocBarrister]

Blue Jays’ biggest issues this past season were in some basic fundamentals, especially picking up gbs, team defense, and goalie play.

Saw too many instances where a Hopkins player got to a groundball, showing sufficient speed and athleticism, but failed to pick it up. That’s a fundamental skill, like finishing tackles. I recall Notre Dame football players missing lots of tackles despite being in a position to make the tackle. The Irish apparently fixed that issue after bringing in a new defensive coordinator. Picking up gbs is a basic skill that Hopkins should practice each and every day. May not be glamorous, but it’s clear Hopkins needs to work on that.

Team defense and goalie play go together. If Darby isn’t vocal and assertive enough in directing the defense, Petro should put someone in who is. Was very impressed with Giacolone’s play. Not just his stops, but with his clearing.

Offense and faceoffs will be fine (albeit, could always improve).

DocBarrister

[ABClaxfan]

Just for the record - I am not opposed to smaller (in terms of height and weight) players - I do think there are positions - SSDM in particular - where you can't be a certain someone's size and be highly successful on a consistent basis. And all the players previously mentioned - Bitter, Sankey, Teat, Sowers, Kraus, Ament, Tinney etc. all have at least one apparent thing in common - beyond average quickness and most of them play attack. My point in citing Angelus/Murphy/Cohen/Chauvette (if HF16 is right Chauvette is off this list for a year - he's listed as Culver '19 - he's going somewhere else to PG?) is that this appears to be 4 versions of the same player - 5'9"/10" 165 lbs - so they are not getting much done on a DI lacrosse field through size and strength. I've seen Angelus play on several occasions for PVI - nice player - smart/unselfish/I wouldn't say blinding quickness but he's quickish - what do you need 4 of them for? Epstein hopefully here for the next three years - the three rising juniors - also of the same approximate stature that can play attack for you are here for the next two. With Epstein - what do you need - you need SHOOTERS - you need someone to catch the ball and put it past the goalie - Kyle Wharton/Brandon Benn not to mention Ryan Brown would score 50+ with 32 behind the cage. Forry Smith's accuracy and craftiness will net him more than 20 if he's the attackman joining the line next year but you need Shooters who can step down and rip it from 12 yards out - not 4 kids who generally need the ball in their stick some to use their quickness to be effective.

Owen Murphy is definitely a shooter
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiting/profile/46024

[HopFan16]

If they keep Forry at midfield, Murphy will be an option for attack.

I do wonder how Joey being predominantly a righty shooter (from range) could affect the make-up of the attack unit. Toward the end of the year he showed an ability to post up from the righty wing and bury shots from all different sorts of release points. He had that area all to himself with Marr and Williams both being lefties. So do you want your 3rd attackman to be more of a "shooter" in the Kyle Wharton mold or an inside crease cutter/finisher like Brandon Benn? Ideally, of course, it'd be someone who can wear both hats. But you don't want to crowd Joey out of that right wing spot in transition, IMO.

The attack is the least of our worries, but it's not making me depressed to think about it, unlike some other areas, so here we are.

[51percentcorn]

Owen Murphy is definitely a shooter

Well that is good news - it's a skill this offense definitely needs IMO - yes I perhaps too harshly criticized Marr but it is irrefutable that his stats dropped way down from last year and he all but disappeared in the last few games but it is also clear that he was perhaps the one stretch shooter with velocity as a primary weapon. Smith and Epstein rely much more on location and angles than velocity - again IMO. This is a good candidate for a year or two stretch on mid-field (if Smith moves to attack) because he should not be tasked with trying to dodge on people stronger than him, rather he should be asked to find the spaces where he can drop the hammer if he really has that type of velocity. I have never seen the child play but without question Hopkins needs that skill - in spades.

[seacoaster]

Just curious: you guys going to make a JHU 2020 thread? I like the annual page count, and you folks are dripping over into next year.

Page Count.

[DougELax]

Blue Jays’ biggest issues this past season were in some basic fundamentals, especially picking up gbs, team defense, and goalie play.

Saw too many instances where a Hopkins player got to a groundball, showing sufficient speed and athleticism, but failed to pick it up. That’s a fundamental skill, like finishing tackles. I recall Notre Dame football players missing lots of tackles despite being in a position to make the tackle. The Irish apparently fixed that issue after bringing in a new defensive coordinator. Picking up gbs is a basic skill that Hopkins should practice each and every day. May not be glamorous, but it’s clear Hopkins needs to work on that.

Team defense and goalie play go together. If Darby isn’t vocal and assertive enough in directing the defense, Petro should put someone in who is. Was very impressed with Giacolone’s play. Not just his stops, but with his clearing.

Offense and faceoffs will be fine (albeit, could always improve).

DocBarrister

Groundballs have been a recurring complaint here for several years. I don't know if the team doesn't practice getting them enough, if it is another recurring complaint of lack of speed and athleticism or if all of Hop's recruits are so talented that groundballs don't happen in practice.

I would humbly disagree that faceoffs are fine by coupling with above problem. How many times does Hop get the clamp only to have the opponent get the groundball or double team the FOGO and cause a turnover. I think these go together and the wings need to get more groundballs or get to open space as an outlet for the FOGO. This have been more of a problem when Hop's FOGO wasn't as mobile as the current bunch (not blaming the men playing injured as they were, just suggesting that help would be beneficial).

[DougELax]

Just curious: you guys going to make a JHU 2020 thread? I like the annual page count, and you folks are dripping over into next year.

Page Count.

Last year couldn't start a new thread until after the championship game. I wouldn't worry about page count - either complaints about retaining the coaching staff or the zeal of replacing coaches will account for plenty of pages.

[DougELax]

Just curious: you guys going to make a JHU 2020 thread? I like the annual page count, and you folks are dripping over into next year.

Page Count.

Last year couldn't start a new thread until after the championship game. I wouldn't worry about page count - either complaints about retaining the coaching staff or the zeal of replacing coaches will account for plenty of pages.

Plus Wombat is good for at least 50 pages by himself (unless he is suspended).

[seacoaster]

Just curious: you guys going to make a JHU 2020 thread? I like the annual page count, and you folks are dripping over into next year.

Page Count.

Last year couldn't start a new thread until after the championship game. I wouldn't worry about page count - either complaints about retaining the coaching staff or the zeal of replacing coaches will account for plenty of pages.

I'm not worried about it; jeez, with this crowd? I am just trying to protect the integrity of the annual page counts of yore. "JHU 2020 (We'd Seriously Like More)."

[CrossCrease]

Picking up ground balls is more about athleticism than stick skills. Sure, having a crafty stick will get you a few extra, but overall it’s size/speed/body positioning/anticipation. There’s only so much that can be improved through practice, which is mostly the stick skills

[co2519]

State of the program IMO
I disagree fairly strongly with HF16 on the lame duck issue - the 2020 class is what - 7/9 months (I can never keep track) from being able to sign NLIs? And that is a class with a couple easily identifiable talents (starting with Grimes and McDermott) - think of the Shays/Corrigans/Tiffanys and other poachers of the world let loose on that class with no news on Petro. And if you want Petro out you need to give the new coach enough time to try to shore up that class. And if you want Nadelin (though I think he made a bad in game mistake at the end of regulation yesterday) this is the year. It's the cheapest you'll ever have to buy out Petro and I have not heard that Nadelin is extended at Towson yet (maybe I missed it). Any body that wants Petro to stay but to get a new defensive coordinator - that idea is not really possible because it would require Petro to fire Dwan (only 2 paid assistants) which is Never going to happen.

Now players - I will try to stick to facts/stats and not really insult anyone personally

Goalie - projected grade - C-
Incumbent did not play well - especially on long range shots - was replaced after 1st qtr of NCAA first round for only time of the year
Replacement fared OK for 3 quarters - bigger - left handed
Freshmen (DNP) and Incoming recruit
Conclusion - low level of experience at the most important position

Close Defense - projected grade C+/B- (if Foley returns) - overall some athleticism - not terrific on ground balls (save Foley's 1 game against Maryland) - troubles may be related to having to cover for SSDMs
If Foley returns - Petro in particular would have the issue of no excuses - 3 seniors - 3 years of playing together - if there is selfishness (Petro's favorite word)/poor play who is to blame? Also raises the issue of replacing every member of close D in 2021
6 other returning (theoretically) players with little to no experience -
Brandon Shure played on man down in 8 games but must have been replaced for some others - junior - garnered 1 gb as only stat

5 Recruits - Some are held in some regard - Rodgers is Hopkins lone Xanders' 5 star and Jaronski gets some high marks -some of these names may eventually play LSM - Jaronski is described as big/versatile

Conclusion: If Foley returns high level of experience - would seem little room under current regime for any returning player to gain experience
If Foley does not return - no clear cut lead to replace him especially among returning players

Long Stick Midfield Defense - Projected Grade D+/C-
Little apparent depth - need demonstration of increased presence on the wings - ground ball pick-ups - on ball defense
Conclusion - Beyond Reinson and Blondell - whom?

SSDM - Project Grade D/D+
One known incumbent - may have to rely on some freshmen - Coulter returning?
Conclusion: Many unknowns - current incumbent is listed at 5'10" 200 lbs - may benefit from shedding some lbs to improve quickness
Some comments in recruiting land that incoming 2 or 3 players could land at SSDM

Offensive Midfield - Projected Grade C-/C
There are several question marks here - Is Concannon returning? Was Zinn happy with his role i.e. no transfer portal? Does this years midfield lose 1 or more to the attack and whom? Smith/DeSimone/Concannon/Keogh/Baskin - this assumes Concannon and Zinn return and Zinn goes to the first mid-field and Smith departs for the vacated attack spot.
1st Mid-field - DeSimone/Zinn/Concannon - junior soph senior
2nd Mid-field - Keogh/Baskin/Cattoni - junior junior soph
DeSimone has to regain his speed and quickness and his shooting confidence - at 5'11" 185/190 lbs is better than 200 - can't have a first midfielder with 4 goals and 11% shooting
This still leaves the All Airport threesome of sophomores - Lily/Mabbett/Degnon - looking for work - I think one of them is really going to have to make a huge leap to crack the line-up for playing time if everybody returns - Degnon 3 games 0 stats - Lily 6 games 1 shot 1 TO Mabbett 1 Goal 2 shots 1 ground ball
Still have issue of only 1 mid-fielder taller than 6 ft on the top 2 lines if my line-ups are anywhere near accurate - Keogh and Baskin were more than neutralized by the Notre Dame SSDMs - it's a fact that our offensive middies get pushed around

Conclusion: Any hope has to be pinned on Zinn making the leap/DeSimone recovering his mojo and the munchkins still developing along - little apparent help in the 2019 class - more in 2020


Attack - Projected Grade B+
Epstein/Williams/Smith - that's a fine attack - soph/senior/senior - Smith's shooting efficiency will work well with Epstein and Williams - Williams obviously needs to improve on 26% shooting - I thought maybe Carc's most insightful comment last night was around Williams and overhand 3/4 shooting vs side-arm - accuracy seems to dip way down on the sidewinders
No returning depth - though Baskin/Keogh can be emergency depth
Shilling - another smaller player - used on EMO
5 attack recruits? Murphy/Krampf/Chauvette/Angelus/Cohen
4 of the attack recruits are small - e.g. Chauvette 5'10" 165 Cohen 5'9" 160
5? Really??

Face-offs - Projected Grade B/B+
Prouty at 57% and M. Narewski at 51% in their first real seasons of action give reason for optimism - wing play and ground balls need to improved
Hopkins likely won the clamp more than 50% of the time last night - absolutely abused after that

You're right about the lame duck thing, my math was off by a year—thought those 2020 kids had already committed. My mistake. You definitely do not want to risk losing anyone from that class, which I think will probably be our most impactful as a group since the Shack/Tinney/Moreland class.

Nice summary, agree with most evaluations. To fill in some of the gaps:

- Chauvette is now with the 2020 class I believe. So only 4 attackmen incoming: Murphy/Krampf/Angelus/Cohen. Don't know much about Cohen. The other three have ability but there doesn't appear to be much PT up for grabs at the position unless Smith stays at midfield. Is Burnett still coming? Haven't heard a peep about him since he reclassed.

- DeSimone absolutely 1000% must regain the burst he showed as a freshman. I don't understand the logic behind the weight gain—my assumption is they knew he'd be getting poled this year more and thought he needed to get stronger. The result was...not as intended.

- I don't think Zinn is going anywhere but if he does, the blame is placed squarely on this staff and it'll be completely soul-crushing to watch him become an All-American at Duke or UVA. But I think he's staying.

- I will continue to lobby for Degnon to get a chance as I lobbied for Zinn. He is a tall, rangy, lefty shooter who can possibly fill a little bit of the role vacated by Marr. Was a very good player at Dematha. He is credited with "appearing" in 3 games but I don't think he was allowed to touch the ball. Mabbett had that one goal against PSU's backups, but that did not seem to earn him even a sniff of playing time in a game that mattered. If he gets a step quicker I think he could be very good. HOB has harped on this I think—Mabbett is a good passer from the top of the formation. Sees the field well, can make the skip passes.

- LSM: Of the guys currently on the roster, Gomez is a name to watch. Long Island kid who plays with an edge. Can play both LSM and close but his path to PT at Hopkins is probably faster at LSM. Re: incoming guys, heard good things about Jaronski and Ruddy. Finley-Ponds from what I've heard is a little undersized but extremely quick and athletic, could be someone to keep an eye on.

- I hope Foley comes back but if he doesn't, what are the options? Reinson could move down to close, but that leaves a gaping hole at LSM. Otherwise your choices are Shure/Capobianco/Kenneally/Gomez/etc. of the current crop. Kenneally had some hype as a high IQ guy, needs to hit the weight room. Of the incoming guys, Rodgers is the best bet to find the field his first year at either close or LSM.

- Two total unknowns to me are Schreiber and Brunner—if anyone knows anything about these kids that'd be helpful. Potentially our only true offensive middie options in the incoming class as I'm quite certain Handsor/Glassmeyer/Chambers are more likely to be SSDMs or wing players. As mentioned Witman has changed his commitment to D2.

I live in CO - Finley-Ponds is definitely VERY quick and athletic, and also plays with an edge from what I've seen. Plays for Denver Elite club team so goes against very good summer competition; at the same time, the high school competition out here is obviously not what it is back east. Re Brunner - also plays for Denver Elite, so the same goes for him. Haven't seen him play much but will have a change to do so this summer.

[foreverlax]

Picking up ground balls is more about athleticism than stick skills. Sure, having a crafty stick will get you a few extra, but overall it’s size/speed/body positioning/anticipation. There’s only so much that can be improved through practice, which is mostly the stick skills

Ground balls for Hopkins 460 vs Opponents at 468....

[DALaxDad]

Picking up ground balls is more about athleticism than stick skills. Sure, having a crafty stick will get you a few extra, but overall it’s size/speed/body positioning/anticipation. There’s only so much that can be improved through practice, which is mostly the stick skills

Ground balls for Hopkins 460 vs Opponents at 468....

Virginia 711 vs Opponents 551. That was just my first look. A top team should be at least 10 -15% more than its opponents.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Just curious: you guys going to make a JHU 2020 thread? I like the annual page count, and you folks are dripping over into next year.

Page Count.

Last year couldn't start a new thread until after the championship game. I wouldn't worry about page count - either complaints about retaining the coaching staff or the zeal of replacing coaches will account for plenty of pages.

I'm not worried about it; jeez, with this crowd? I am just trying to protect the integrity of the annual page counts of yore. "JHU 2020 (We'd Seriously Like More)."

If you look at admin’s forum and subforum structure, all of these current team threads are within the 2019 Men’s D1 sub-forum.

We’ll need @admin to create the 2020 Men’s D1 sub-forum before setting up shop.

I’m thinking:

2020 We Can See Clearly Now, The Blue Haze Is Gone, Hopkins Thread (Stuck and Loathing At 44)

Might be a little too long though...

[foreverlax]

Picking up ground balls is more about athleticism than stick skills. Sure, having a crafty stick will get you a few extra, but overall it’s size/speed/body positioning/anticipation. There’s only so much that can be improved through practice, which is mostly the stick skills

Ground balls for Hopkins 460 vs Opponents at 468....

Virginia 711 vs Opponents 551. That was just my first look. A top team should be at least 10 -15% more than its opponents.

Interesting. There may be something to that 10-15% out-performance.

Looking at GBs/face-offs won

UVA - 711/270
Opponents - 551/193

Towson - 548/293
Opponents - 428/134

Hopkins 460/243
Opponents 468/237

Yale - 632/363
Opponents 432/104

[HopFan16]

Hopkins was not a good GB team this year and that must improve (how? i don't know—it's been a problem for many years now) BUT comparing anyone to Virginia in that respect is futile. The Cavs are far and away the best groundball team in the country and no one else is really close, IMO.

I do think the wet ND surface played a part in last weekend's complete inability to pick the ball up off the ground. I also think—being a pretty young team—the moment got to them a little bit. GBs to me are about focus as much as they are about stick skills and athleticism. If you've got the playoff jitters you're not gonna have a good time scooping the ball up.

Leadership is an interesting question moving forward. I assume Forry will retain his captainship and based on everything I've seen and heard about him he absolutely deserves to. Could they really make Epstein the first sophomore captain in Hopkins history? That'd be something. My guess is he'll have to wait till junior year. It will be a large senior class, especially if Concannon, Coulter, and Foley all return. Of those you'd think Concannon and Foley will be candidates for the C patch. I don't know what's going on in the locker room or the huddle or pre/post-game so I won't comment on this year's leadership but on paper it looks like there are some good options for 2020.

[Sagittarius A*]

Many people were saying after the Ohio state game that we just weren’t big enough or athletic enough to compete.

Those "many people" are not smart. The Jays were leading that game 12-10 with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Then it was tied 13-13 with 2 minutes left. OSU scored with 50 seconds left in the game to win. The issue was not size. The issue was we couldn't win a faceoff in the 4th quarter. Inacio was on an absolute tear. I'm pretty sure that game qualifies as "competing."

Ohio State's large and athletic players didn't seem to help them much against Michigan a few weeks later.

Hop needs to get bigger and faster at two specific positions—SSDM (which has been a problem for years) and offensive midfield (which became a problem this year due to the graduations of Tinney, Fraser, and Valis all at once, compounded by DeSimone losing his burst and the coaching staff refusing to play the tallest fastest most athletic midfielder on the team for most of the season).

IF a lot of things go right next year—DeSimone finds that first-step again, Zinn plays a lot more, at least 1 or 2 of these incoming freshmen SSDM/two-way middies pan out, Blondell or Rodgers or someone can step up at LSM, maybe 1 of the Mabbett/Degnon/Lilly trio steps up—then it's possible the middle of the field is stronger and/or more athletic next year. That and goaltending are clearly the two biggest question marks for me headed into 2020.

And where was Mr. Narewski when Prouty couldn’t win a face off in the 4th quarter?
Ah seated firmly on the bench. Brilliant!
We were beating Ohio State until they just literally ran us off the field.
Narewski
Zinn
Coulter
Giacolone
Alice in Wonderland.

[Drcthru]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOGj8qM6hQ0

Very cool. Thank you.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOGj8qM6hQ0

Very cool. Thank you.

I figured that was NSFW.

[10stone5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOGj8qM6hQ0

Very cool. Thank you.

Dunbar, wasn’t he ?