Johns Hopkins 2025

[DocBarrister]

i wonder if Doc still thinks Hopkins had a chance against ND now.

You don’t?

DocBarrister

No.

You’re such a pessimist … a real Debbie Downer.

DocBarrister

I'm a realist. At the same time, I think I have more faith in our coach longer term than you.

I’m still rooting for him, as I have said before. Think he is a very good coach, as I have said before. He is a very good recruiter, as I have said before.

I just don’t think he’s The Guy who leads Hopkins back to a national championship, as I have said before.

Very good just doesn't cut it when it comes to winning national championships.

PM won't have a team as talented as his 2024 squad for quite a while. He didn’t maximize the talent he had. I like the aggressive defense, the institution of a ride, his ability to recruit productive transfers. It's all very good.

It's just that very good is not enough. Now, that’s being real.

DocBarrister

A Fan has been telling us that for years.

Which proves that a fan has moments of lucidity and insight!

DocBarrister

[jhu06]

PM looked to Canada a long time ago. At least since his days at RIT. RIT still brings in a lot of Canadians. He was not at Cornell for maybe 3 years. He did not have a team of 100% “his” players.

Jeff Teat is the son of Dan Teat a legendary player in Canada. He was very influential in Jeff’s decision w connections all over the game.

Regardless Teat had a great career under PM.

The market for Canadian players was much less efficient when he was at RIT leaving room for finding under recruited players. That market has become much more efficient since.

I think one of the best comments he has had since he took over was early in his tenure when he was asked about "his players" on the team and his response was "If I'm bringing them back they're my players and I'm accountable for them". I thought that was absolutely phenomenal as a human and a coach. He could have pulled a stunt like the one Deion Sanders pulled at Colorado Football when he took over and walked in to their lockerroom with cameras rolling and said "I'm here because you (players) stunk and I'm going to bring my guys who can come in and play". PM didn't do that. I think Jameson has more than acquitted himself at his end of the field and now the onus is on Crawley to prove he has elite d1 mettle in every facet of the job.

[51percentcorn]

He is a very good recruiter, as I have said before.

Maybe - the jury is still out IMO - Discounting the junior class from this year given the unusual circumstances - Milliman has now had 2 classes come through Hopkins - 28 names on the roster - Collison/Kilrain/Ayers/Brown/H. Chauvette/younger Martin - English of course would have played - Todaro appeared in 2 games that no one can remember - That's 20 names remaining - let's add up the game minutes/seconds those 20 players had - ummm -producer in earpiece - ZERO - nothing - nada - bupcus. Good news - lots of eligibility on the table - Bad news - what's the player happiness meter?
Now of course with all the veterans that stayed/transferred in (good news in another direction) it was known that sort of time allocation was possible - but the truth to power answer is we don't know exacty what we have because most haven't played.
This year's recruiting class is ranked 18th in total stars by Inside Lacrosse - 2 of the recruits are slated as SSDMs/1 goalie/1 FO - so 7 field players - Eye has had an inauspicous last 2 years - suspensions/injuries - his skills - unstoppable motor & ground ball machine appear to be just what the doctor ordered - McCleary/Gregorek and Crogan all appear to have potential - we'll see - Burke is the only quasi attack recruit - a late flip or two would help.
Plus Crawley is the Director of Recruiting - I'll assume that might be the reason for the face on the vodcast when Russell mentioned how great Jen Baker is - but he obviously plays an important role.

PM won't have a team as talented as his 2024 squad for quite a while.

Again - same reply as above - you don't know that - except for maybe goalie - you are losing alot of experience - talent? Short stick too of course - Here's the mid-field production walking out the door - 32 goals - 12 assists - that's very replaceable. Chauvette's and Degnons shot percentages were not miles apart - have the kid hit the weight room - keep his shooting stroke - give him 130 cracks at the apple - he'll score 40+. Get Melendez back to 53 - have English play a full year healthy - and you're left with Angelus' production - roughly 4 points a game - can you give Ayers the keys to the car and have him drive 4 points a game? Probably not right away - but when Angelus was a true freshman and headed for a a 6-7 goal 10/11 assist campaign from the mid-field nobody and I mean nobody was predicting 25 and 44 - and we atill don't want to talk about the 1 shy of 40 turnovers. So what I like about the Milliman/Crawley program is there appears to be a plan in place - whether it works or not is up to inspection.

He didn’t maximize the talent he had.

No evidence to support this. The team was hampered offensively not by your lunacy of not dodging aggressively - but by the fact that most of them were not very good at it or were somewhat one dimensional - e.g. Peshko/Grimes. They also wanted to play slower given the issues at face-off and therefore didn't "hunt shots" as wg.. put it I think. The Melendez troubles (whatever they were) and the English/Iler injuries were direct hits to dodging success as well. They were ranked 5th or so in the pre-season - they' came within a goal of making the Final Four week-end - sounds like they hit the bulls-eye in terms of what most thought.

I think one of the best comments he has had since he took over was early in his tenure when he was asked about "his players" on the team and his response was "If I'm bringing them back they're my players and I'm accountable for them".

I agree - this is his exhibited strength to date IMO - he improved the culture - he eventually got the boat rowing in the same direction. Despite a 4-9 season and a 6-9 season I would think some of those players at least had other options - there appeared to be very few voluntary transfers - even after the roster trimming. I always thought a highlight was after the decimating loss to Maryland in 22 - that team could have easily - so easily - thrown in the towel and said to Penn State - enjoy your trip to the electric chair - yet they went up there and dominated Penn State and accounted themselves much better against Maryland.

[DocBarrister]

He is a very good recruiter, as I have said before.

Maybe - the jury is still out IMO - Discounting the junior class from this year given the unusual circumstances - Milliman has now had 2 classes come through Hopkins - 28 names on the roster - Collison/Kilrain/Ayers/Brown/H. Chauvette/younger Martin - English of course would have played - Todaro appeared in 2 games that no one can remember - That's 20 names remaining - let's add up the game minutes/seconds those 20 players had - ummm -producer in earpiece - ZERO - nothing - nada - bupcus. Good news - lots of eligibility on the table - Bad news - what's the player happiness meter?
Now of course with all the veterans that stayed/transferred in (good news in another direction) it was known that sort of time allocation was possible - but the truth to power answer is we don't know exacty what we have because most haven't played.
This year's recruiting class is ranked 18th in total stars by Inside Lacrosse - 2 of the recruits are slated as SSDMs/1 goalie/1 FO - so 7 field players - Eye has had an inauspicous last 2 years - suspensions/injuries - his skills - unstoppable motor & ground ball machine appear to be just what the doctor ordered - McCleary/Gregorek and Crogan all appear to have potential - we'll see - Burke is the only quasi attack recruit - a late flip or two would help.
Plus Crawley is the Director of Recruiting - I'll assume that might be the reason for the face on the vodcast when Russell mentioned how great Jen Baker is - but he obviously plays an important role.

PM won't have a team as talented as his 2024 squad for quite a while.

Again - same reply as above - you don't know that - except for maybe goalie - you are losing alot of experience - talent? Short stick too of course - Here's the mid-field production walking out the door - 32 goals - 12 assists - that's very replaceable. Chauvette's and Degnons shot percentages were not miles apart - have the kid hit the weight room - keep his shooting stroke - give him 130 cracks at the apple - he'll score 40+. Get Melendez back to 53 - have English play a full year healthy - and you're left with Angelus' production - roughly 4 points a game - can you give Ayers the keys to the car and have him drive 4 points a game? Probably not right away - but when Angelus was a true freshman and headed for a a 6-7 goal 10/11 assist campaign from the mid-field nobody and I mean nobody was predicting 25 and 44 - and we atill don't want to talk about the 1 shy of 40 turnovers. So what I like about the Milliman/Crawley program is there appears to be a plan in place - whether it works or not is up to inspection.

He didn’t maximize the talent he had.

No evidence to support this. The team was hampered offensively not by your lunacy of not dodging aggressively - but by the fact that most of them were not very good at it or were somewhat one dimensional - e.g. Peshko/Grimes. They also wanted to play slower given the issues at face-off and therefore didn't "hunt shots" as wg.. put it I think. The Melendez troubles (whatever they were) and the English/Iler injuries were direct hits to dodging success as well. They were ranked 5th or so in the pre-season - they' came within a goal of making the Final Four week-end - sounds like they hit the bulls-eye in terms of what most thought.

I think one of the best comments he has had since he took over was early in his tenure when he was asked about "his players" on the team and his response was "If I'm bringing them back they're my players and I'm accountable for them".

I agree - this is his exhibited strength to date IMO - he improved the culture - he eventually got the boat rowing in the same direction. Despite a 4-9 season and a 6-9 season I would think some of those players at least had other options - there appeared to be very few voluntary transfers - even after the roster trimming. I always thought a highlight was after the decimating loss to Maryland in 22 - that team could have easily - so easily - thrown in the towel and said to Penn State - enjoy your trip to the electric chair - yet they went up there and dominated Penn State and accounted themselves much better against Maryland.

In summary, PM is a very good coach.

There … saved a few folks 5 minutes of their life by summarizing your treatise.

DocBarrister

[51percentcorn]

I could say many things to save folks time reading your posts but I'll refrain

[DocBarrister]

I could say many things to save folks time reading your posts but I'll refrain

Great. Another 5 minutes saved.

Blue Jays had a terrific season. They were talented enough to have done more. Hopkins defeated two of the Final Four teams (Virginia and Maryland) and certainly should have beaten a third (Denver).

Lost opportunity, 2024.

DocBarrister

[51percentcorn]

If it took you 5 minutes to read my next to last post - maybe you need even more help than I imagined

[DocBarrister]

If it took you 5 minutes to read my next to last post - maybe you need even more help than I imagined

Truth be told, I had an AI search engine read your posts for me first. The algorithm filed a complaint at The Hague for intentional infliction of cruelty. After reading your posts myself, I supported the complaint.

That took 5 minutes.

DocBarrister

[HopFan16]

If it took you 5 minutes to read my next to last post - maybe you need even more help than I imagined

Put him on ignore. Best decision I've made since joining this forum.

2025 season begins now for every team. Depends how the rest of the transfer portal shakes out but my guess is the Jays will be ranked in the back half of the top 10. Somewhere in the 6-8 range. Back-to-back quarterfinals earns them the benefit of the doubt as a preseason top 10. Some real losses but Smith (fingers crossed), Collison, English, Kilrain, Chauvette, Ayers, Deans, Melendez, Bauer, Brown + the Yale guys is a good core to build around. We'll see how the goalie room unfolds and if there's an addition there. But they return key pieces at every position and where they don't they've already made impactful adds. Coming in with reduced expectations from the outside observers might be good for this team

[norcalhop]

At some point, we have to have a decent home grown goalie for 3-4 years of stability. Same with face-offs (which we have had, but better options statistically would be nice). People started clowning on Patrick Jamieson from Duke towards the end (yes, he had some tough 30% save games), but i wouldn't mind that level of talent on the team at all to further develop.

[norcalhop]

He is a very good recruiter, as I have said before.

Maybe - the jury is still out IMO - Discounting the junior class from this year given the unusual circumstances - Milliman has now had 2 classes come through Hopkins - 28 names on the roster - Collison/Kilrain/Ayers/Brown/H. Chauvette/younger Martin - English of course would have played - Todaro appeared in 2 games that no one can remember - That's 20 names remaining - let's add up the game minutes/seconds those 20 players had - ummm -producer in earpiece - ZERO - nothing - nada - bupcus. Good news - lots of eligibility on the table - Bad news - what's the player happiness meter?
Now of course with all the veterans that stayed/transferred in (good news in another direction) it was known that sort of time allocation was possible - but the truth to power answer is we don't know exacty what we have because most haven't played.
This year's recruiting class is ranked 18th in total stars by Inside Lacrosse - 2 of the recruits are slated as SSDMs/1 goalie/1 FO - so 7 field players - Eye has had an inauspicous last 2 years - suspensions/injuries - his skills - unstoppable motor & ground ball machine appear to be just what the doctor ordered - McCleary/Gregorek and Crogan all appear to have potential - we'll see - Burke is the only quasi attack recruit - a late flip or two would help.
Plus Crawley is the Director of Recruiting - I'll assume that might be the reason for the face on the vodcast when Russell mentioned how great Jen Baker is - but he obviously plays an important role.

PM won't have a team as talented as his 2024 squad for quite a while.

Again - same reply as above - you don't know that - except for maybe goalie - you are losing alot of experience - talent? Short stick too of course - Here's the mid-field production walking out the door - 32 goals - 12 assists - that's very replaceable. Chauvette's and Degnons shot percentages were not miles apart - have the kid hit the weight room - keep his shooting stroke - give him 130 cracks at the apple - he'll score 40+. Get Melendez back to 53 - have English play a full year healthy - and you're left with Angelus' production - roughly 4 points a game - can you give Ayers the keys to the car and have him drive 4 points a game? Probably not right away - but when Angelus was a true freshman and headed for a a 6-7 goal 10/11 assist campaign from the mid-field nobody and I mean nobody was predicting 25 and 44 - and we atill don't want to talk about the 1 shy of 40 turnovers. So what I like about the Milliman/Crawley program is there appears to be a plan in place - whether it works or not is up to inspection.

He didn’t maximize the talent he had.

No evidence to support this. The team was hampered offensively not by your lunacy of not dodging aggressively - but by the fact that most of them were not very good at it or were somewhat one dimensional - e.g. Peshko/Grimes. They also wanted to play slower given the issues at face-off and therefore didn't "hunt shots" as wg.. put it I think. The Melendez troubles (whatever they were) and the English/Iler injuries were direct hits to dodging success as well. They were ranked 5th or so in the pre-season - they' came within a goal of making the Final Four week-end - sounds like they hit the bulls-eye in terms of what most thought.

I think one of the best comments he has had since he took over was early in his tenure when he was asked about "his players" on the team and his response was "If I'm bringing them back they're my players and I'm accountable for them".

I agree - this is his exhibited strength to date IMO - he improved the culture - he eventually got the boat rowing in the same direction. Despite a 4-9 season and a 6-9 season I would think some of those players at least had other options - there appeared to be very few voluntary transfers - even after the roster trimming. I always thought a highlight was after the decimating loss to Maryland in 22 - that team could have easily - so easily - thrown in the towel and said to Penn State - enjoy your trip to the electric chair - yet they went up there and dominated Penn State and accounted themselves much better against Maryland.

Great analysis. I still do wonder what is happening to Koleton and others. Stuart Phillips had some fan fare preseason too. I don't have Doc on ignore yet, but I am inching closer.

[FannOLax]

Is Hackler a SSDM or an offensive middie? 16 goals would seem to suggest the latter

Believe he's more of an SSDM, but that he was needed to play a lot of offense this year due to Yale's injuries on that end. Seems to be one of an increasingly rare breed who can play both ends well. My guess is he's labeled a d-mid on the roster but given our graduations at the midfield, will be given every opportunity to chip in offensively.

Hackler is a really good O player as well. He's played mostly ssdm for Yale but I think that was a mistake. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he played extensive minutes at O mid this year for you guys. He's an excellent player.

Well, one of those goals was from 70 or 75 yards in a man-down scenario (against Harvard). For me, Hackler has a lot in common with Yale class of 2019 midfielder John Daniggelis, who was a first-line offensive midfielder for several years. Both Hackler and Dangles were captains their senior years on a team that has only one captain per year (Tevlin was 2022 captain before moving on for a year at Notre Dame). However Milliman utilizes him, Hop is getting a tremendous athlete in Hackler.

[Sagittarius A*]

I have to give PM a lot of credit for bringing in Ierlan. He was the best goalie we've had in many many years. A pleasure to watch.
Melendez came up huge in the QFs. You can't ask much more than 4 goals and he would have gotten the game winner if Angelus had just flipped him the ball in the 4th Quarter on the fast break instead of trying to make some move and slipping. Melendez was just standing naked on the crease. The ball has to move fast on the break. There was no reason not to exploit that.
I do believe, in my heart of hearts, that Hop should have, actually did, win that game. Others may believe what they want to.
The loss of English at the beginning of this season was a huge blow to the offense as he was a primary initiator.
I talked to some ex-players who expressed confidence in PM.
I hope he can bring in some impact players from the portal, or flip some recruits.
Not sure what the future holds, but this was certainly the best season we've had in a long while.

[jhu06]

Is Hackler a SSDM or an offensive middie? 16 goals would seem to suggest the latter

Believe he's more of an SSDM, but that he was needed to play a lot of offense this year due to Yale's injuries on that end. Seems to be one of an increasingly rare breed who can play both ends well. My guess is he's labeled a d-mid on the roster but given our graduations at the midfield, will be given every opportunity to chip in offensively.

Hackler is a really good O player as well. He's played mostly ssdm for Yale but I think that was a mistake. I wouldn't be shocked at all if he played extensive minutes at O mid this year for you guys. He's an excellent player.

Well, one of those goals was from 70 or 75 yards in a man-down scenario (against Harvard). For me, Hackler has a lot in common with Yale class of 2019 midfielder John Daniggelis, who was a first-line offensive midfielder for several years. Both Hackler and Dangles were captains their senior years on a team that has only one captain per year (Tevlin was 2022 captain before moving on for a year at Notre Dame). However Milliman utilizes him, Hop is getting a tremendous athlete in Hackler.

I haven't seen the 2025 rival rosters for next year yet but with the corona exemptions ending I'm not sure we're going to see teams with the amount of depth especially offensively next year. Having all these poles with experience returning-smith maybe, deans, carson brown, kaufman, kilrain, could be a huge edge as a lot of teams especially early in the elements struggle to build new offensive identities and give whatever the goalie they settle on, new ssdms etc a leg up.

[HopFan16]

I have to give PM a lot of credit for bringing in Ierlan. He was the best goalie we've had in many many years. A pleasure to watch.
Melendez came up huge in the QFs. You can't ask much more than 4 goals and he would have gotten the game winner if Angelus had just flipped him the ball in the 4th Quarter on the fast break instead of trying to make some move and slipping. Melendez was just standing naked on the crease. The ball has to move fast on the break. There was no reason not to exploit that.
I do believe, in my heart of hearts, that Hop should have, actually did, win that game. Others may believe what they want to.
The loss of English at the beginning of this season was a huge blow to the offense as he was a primary initiator.
I talked to some ex-players who expressed confidence in PM.
I hope he can bring in some impact players from the portal, or flip some recruits.
Not sure what the future holds, but this was certainly the best season we've had in a long while.

Who murdered you and is wearing your skin?

[dms87]

Thank you to the young men and coaches of the 2024 team. The skill, fight, passion and pride they displayed was wonderful and brought many of us great joy this year. This is overdue but I couldn't even consider reading the site or watching any lacrosse after that loss, it was just brutal. I suspect that entire team still can't get parts/plays of that game out of their heads. Sometimes it is as simple as you just have to find a way to beat your guy and finish when presented the opportunity. As much as I love Hop they still struggle in this area. The ball movement and picks are thoughtful and effective at times but please find 1 guy that can consistently physically beat their guy to shoot or draw a slide, even when everyone knows what is coming.

If you went in person to any of the games this year and watched the interactions of the coaches, players, families and fans, before and after the games, you have to see that they do have a positive culture built on the love of the game and respect for who and what they represent. They just fell short on the field physically and mentally, which although painful, happens. But I sense they are building great men, which I admire and after a few days that takes the sting off any losses.

[primitiveskills]

Thank you to the young men and coaches of the 2024 team. The skill, fight, passion and pride they displayed was wonderful and brought many of us great joy this year. This is overdue but I couldn't even consider reading the site or watching any lacrosse after that loss, it was just brutal. I suspect that entire team still can't get parts/plays of that game out of their heads. Sometimes it is as simple as you just have to find a way to beat your guy and finish when presented the opportunity. As much as I love Hop they still struggle in this area. The ball movement and picks are thoughtful and effective at times but please find 1 guy that can consistently physically beat their guy to shoot or draw a slide, even when everyone knows what is coming.

If you went in person to any of the games this year and watched the interactions of the coaches, players, families and fans, before and after the games, you have to see that they do have a positive culture built on the love of the game and respect for who and what they represent. They just fell short on the field physically and mentally, which although painful, happens. But I sense they are building great men, which I admire and after a few days that takes the sting off any losses.

100% on the culture that’s been created around the program. Lots of reasons to be optimistic going forward.

[PotomacRiver]

Put him on ignore. Best decision I've made since joining this forum.

2025 season begins now for every team. Depends how the rest of the transfer portal shakes out but my guess is the Jays will be ranked in the back half of the top 10. Somewhere in the 6-8 range. Back-to-back quarterfinals earns them the benefit of the doubt as a preseason top 10. Some real losses but Smith (fingers crossed), Collison, English, Kilrain, Chauvette, Ayers, Deans, Melendez, Bauer, Brown + the Yale guys is a good core to build around. We'll see how the goalie room unfolds and if there's an addition there. But they return key pieces at every position and where they don't they've already made impactful adds. Coming in with reduced expectations from the outside observers might be good for this team

6-8 feels right. I think we'll be better than expected despite some losses - as 51percentcorn said, Degnon is certainly a loss but replacing shooters is something we've done well for a long time (Huntley to Wharton to Brown to Marr to Degnon) and I think Chauvette will step in just fine. Not suggesting he's close to the same player yet, but consider Ryan Brown's leap from Fresh to Soph (17goals as a middie to 40 goals in lefty attack spot); Chauvette put up 14 in a similar role and hopefully with more opportunities and a bit of time in weight room he can put up 30+ next year. Most of the other top contenders have big losses as well. Just been a while since we've had a game changing QB-type attackman, probably not since Dan Denihan (Wells and Shack were great but more opportunistic against #1 poles rather than real dodging threats, some of that due to injury).

[norcalhop]

will be a slow 9 months from here on out. Only transfer portal to ponder.

[FannOLax]

will be a slow 9 months from here on out. Only transfer portal to ponder.

Fall ball in four or five months.