Johns Hopkins 2025

[primitiveskills]

A hopkins degree is not a bad consolation prize for Webb however.

Staudt is a good addition to the team. I have to wonder, though, whether top goalie recruits would think twice about coming to a program that routinely accepts a lot of transfer goalies. Could imagine competing coaches (like Tillman) telling a top recruit, “Hopkins? You want to be on the scout team for four years?”

DocBarrister

That's the problem. Top goalie recruits haven't been coming to JHU for awhile. In order to ween off the portal goalies, it's going to be up to Cook or Lamitie to emerge as a legit multi-year starting goalie.
To recruits, "You can see what this program can do with a good goalie, Are you the next great Hopkins goalie?"

It is hard to predict goalies. So much of the game is mental for them and most recruits come from top programs, so they are rarely put in the mental ringer.

+1. Would agree with the points made about the the futility of trying to predict a keeper's D1 ability during the early recruiting days. Now there's a different problem: the availability and quality of goalie-specific training all over the country has gotten way, way better over the past 10 years or so. There are a bunch of very technically sound HS goalies out there. Other than maybe the top one or two guys each year, the margins that determine who might ever see the field on the D1 level are rarely tested in most HS leagues or club settings. The mental aspects especially, as you've said.

Of the JHU recruits, I've been able to see Cook in-person on a number of occasions. He has all the ingredients: very good technically, good athlete, decent size, patient, good in the clearing game. He's really good. And I wouldn't venture to guess how much he'll play at Hopkins.

The other thing is that these kids realize that if they are going D1, they are going to be on a roster of 4-5 goalies, all of whom were stars in HS. Only one will play any given year, many won't play at all. The kids that stick it out are the ones that enjoy the entire experience of playing D1 lacrosse and the academic, friendship, personal growth, and networking perks that come along with it. All of these guys could play as much as they want if they dropped to D3. I think most of these kids are realistic about it coming in, the ones that aren't leave.

[Rusty_chisel]

Doc

You need to stop. Peshko, Grimes, even Collison, are not dodgers. There is no need to slide to them. Asking them to dodge more would have resulted more turn overs than goals by a wide margin.

Would everyone here like to see middies that could dodge, of course. They did not have it this year. They were good at getting lost in the ball movement and have good hands once they get inside.

Each year, someone takes a position that is not reflective of the talent. Initially, it is more of a quick observation but when they get pushback, they not only refuse to back down but then start taking even more absurd positions. Looks like you are this years Sag A (sorry for the cheap shot Sag A, you have been much more rationale this year albeit quiet). Your position is what makes a good offense if you have the players, and is not what players they had.

Since you like to cherry pick a bad play that somehow worked, I am sure you are also convinced that David Tyree should have had a hall of fame career based on his facemask catch in the Super Bowl.

I am not saying this to beat up on you. I appreciate many of your posts, especially on the players that came before Larry Quinn, Brian Wood, Del, Morrill, etc. You are just arguing something that is just not supported by the skill set of this year's team.

You’re right … there is no need to slide to them … if they aren’t dodging.

That’s kinda my point.

By the way, anyone who says Collison isn’t a dodger isn’t watching Collison.

DocBarrister

You refuse to accept the reality that "they aren't dodging" because they could not dodge. The offensive game plan was designed to avoid this shortcoming. Even one on one, the big guys, especially Pesko and Grimes, would just flat out lose the ball even without a slide. There would be NO SLIDE because they can't get past their man. Collison has potential but is much better coming from behind and backing in - more off a Jeff Cook or Craig Bubier dodge where they overwhelm you but no where near their ability to do so. You ight as well tell them to run faster.

You have reach 2023 Sag A or goalie warm up levels of delusion with their capabilities.

[51percentcorn]

The other thing is that these kids realize that if they are going D1, they are going to be on a roster of 4-5 goalies, all of whom were stars in HS. Only one will play any given year, many won't play at all. The kids that stick it out are the ones that enjoy the entire experience of playing D1 lacrosse and the academic, friendship, personal growth, and networking perks that come along with it. All of these guys could play as much as they want if they dropped to D3. I think most of these kids are realistic about it coming in, the ones that aren't leave.

This is a fantastic point that I sometimes overlook - 99.9% of these young men should be focusing on what the education and networking opportunities will provide for them. 8 PLL teams - goalies don't have to leave after 4 years - chances are you're not making your fortune stopping lacrosse balls. The one caveat, however, is level of expectations given that even under the new recruting timelines - you're still filling up your class before they take the field as juniors in high school - way better than verballing quasi 8th graders - but still many may not have even started or played on varsity yet. So not to harp on Verdi but for example he apparenty committed to Hopkins in October of 2021 - what did Milliman say at that point to a goalie from Chaminade? We could all write the recruiting spiel probably but my guess is young Phillip - while eyes are likely open - may not have envisioned first Ierlan and now Staudt coming in. If he enjoys the camraderie and the school - that's the best outcome - but there's got to be an itch these players want to scratch.

[51percentcorn]

You refuse to accept the reality that "they aren't dodging" because they could not dodge. The offensive game plan was designed to avoid this shortcoming. Even one on one, the big guys, especially Pesko and Grimes, would just flat out lose the ball even without a slide. There would be NO SLIDE because they can't get past their man. Collison has potential but is much better coming from behind and backing in - more off a Jeff Cook or Craig Bubier dodge where they overwhelm you but no where near their ability to do so. You ight as well tell them to run faster.

You have reach 2023 Sag A or goalie warm up levels of delusion with their capabilities.

Oh no - he reached delusional state so many years ago. If I could offer some possibly helpful advise - take your User ID and scoop your eyeballs out because it will not stop - never stop.

[norcalhop]

A hopkins degree is not a bad consolation prize for Webb however.

Staudt is a good addition to the team. I have to wonder, though, whether top goalie recruits would think twice about coming to a program that routinely accepts a lot of transfer goalies. Could imagine competing coaches (like Tillman) telling a top recruit, “Hopkins? You want to be on the scout team for four years?”

DocBarrister

That's the problem. Top goalie recruits haven't been coming to JHU for awhile. In order to ween off the portal goalies, it's going to be up to Cook or Lamitie to emerge as a legit multi-year starting goalie.
To recruits, "You can see what this program can do with a good goalie, Are you the next great Hopkins goalie?"

It is hard to predict goalies. So much of the game is mental for them and most recruits come from top programs, so they are rarely put in the mental ringer.

+1. Would agree with the points made about the the futility of trying to predict a keeper's D1 ability during the early recruiting days. Now there's a different problem: the availability and quality of goalie-specific training all over the country has gotten way, way better over the past 10 years or so. There are a bunch of very technically sound HS goalies out there. Other than maybe the top one or two guys each year, the margins that determine who might ever see the field on the D1 level are rarely tested in most HS leagues or club settings. The mental aspects especially, as you've said.

Of the JHU recruits, I've been able to see Cook in-person on a number of occasions. He has all the ingredients: very good technically, good athlete, decent size, patient, good in the clearing game. He's really good. And I wouldn't venture to guess how much he'll play at Hopkins.

The other thing is that these kids realize that if they are going D1, they are going to be on a roster of 4-5 goalies, all of whom were stars in HS. Only one will play any given year, many won't play at all. The kids that stick it out are the ones that enjoy the entire experience of playing D1 lacrosse and the academic, friendship, personal growth, and networking perks that come along with it. All of these guys could play as much as they want if they dropped to D3. I think most of these kids are realistic about it coming in, the ones that aren't leave.

Even though recruiting can be bunk, most of the All American goalies including Ierlan were 5 stars. Entemann, Ierlan, Gianforcaro, Fracyon were all 5 stars. Carrol, Will Mark (a transfer), Vigue were mostly 4 stars.

[norcalhop]

The other thing is that these kids realize that if they are going D1, they are going to be on a roster of 4-5 goalies, all of whom were stars in HS. Only one will play any given year, many won't play at all. The kids that stick it out are the ones that enjoy the entire experience of playing D1 lacrosse and the academic, friendship, personal growth, and networking perks that come along with it. All of these guys could play as much as they want if they dropped to D3. I think most of these kids are realistic about it coming in, the ones that aren't leave.

This is a fantastic point that I sometimes overlook - 99.9% of these young men should be focusing on what the education and networking opportunities will provide for them. 8 PLL teams - goalies don't have to leave after 4 years - chances are you're not making your fortune stopping lacrosse balls. The one caveat, however, is level of expectations given that even under the new recruting timelines - you're still filling up your class before they take the field as juniors in high school - way better than verballing quasi 8th graders - but still many may not have even started or played on varsity yet. So not to harp on Verdi but for example he apparenty committed to Hopkins in October of 2021 - what did Milliman say at that point to a goalie from Chaminade? We could all write the recruiting spiel probably but my guess is young Phillip - while eyes are likely open - may not have envisioned first Ierlan and now Staudt coming in. If he enjoys the camraderie and the school - that's the best outcome - but there's got to be an itch these players want to scratch.

PLL salaries are pennies compared to the cost of these schools and median pay 5 years later from top privates. I would totally focus on education followed by playing time and then team success in that order.

[jhu06]

The question is if they're done w/the portal/adding for the year. We should point according to news reports Kilrain flipped in august going into his sr year of hs. You'd think they'd feel ok in order at lsm, close d, goal. Maybe attack, and still thinking about ssdm/midfield.

[DocBarrister]

Doc

You need to stop. Peshko, Grimes, even Collison, are not dodgers. There is no need to slide to them. Asking them to dodge more would have resulted more turn overs than goals by a wide margin.

Would everyone here like to see middies that could dodge, of course. They did not have it this year. They were good at getting lost in the ball movement and have good hands once they get inside.

Each year, someone takes a position that is not reflective of the talent. Initially, it is more of a quick observation but when they get pushback, they not only refuse to back down but then start taking even more absurd positions. Looks like you are this years Sag A (sorry for the cheap shot Sag A, you have been much more rationale this year albeit quiet). Your position is what makes a good offense if you have the players, and is not what players they had.

Since you like to cherry pick a bad play that somehow worked, I am sure you are also convinced that David Tyree should have had a hall of fame career based on his facemask catch in the Super Bowl.

I am not saying this to beat up on you. I appreciate many of your posts, especially on the players that came before Larry Quinn, Brian Wood, Del, Morrill, etc. You are just arguing something that is just not supported by the skill set of this year's team.

You’re right … there is no need to slide to them … if they aren’t dodging.

That’s kinda my point.

By the way, anyone who says Collison isn’t a dodger isn’t watching Collison.

DocBarrister

You refuse to accept the reality that "they aren't dodging" because they could not dodge. The offensive game plan was designed to avoid this shortcoming. Even one on one, the big guys, especially Pesko and Grimes, would just flat out lose the ball even without a slide. There would be NO SLIDE because they can't get past their man. Collison has potential but is much better coming from behind and backing in - more off a Jeff Cook or Craig Bubier dodge where they overwhelm you but no where near their ability to do so. You ight as well tell them to run faster.

You have reach 2023 Sag A or goalie warm up levels of delusion with their capabilities.

Wow, just two total posts and you’re already pontificating on this forum.

Collison can dodge … it’s delusional to think otherwise.

Can’t wait to read your third pompous post.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

You refuse to accept the reality that "they aren't dodging" because they could not dodge. The offensive game plan was designed to avoid this shortcoming. Even one on one, the big guys, especially Pesko and Grimes, would just flat out lose the ball even without a slide. There would be NO SLIDE because they can't get past their man. Collison has potential but is much better coming from behind and backing in - more off a Jeff Cook or Craig Bubier dodge where they overwhelm you but no where near their ability to do so. You ight as well tell them to run faster.

You have reach 2023 Sag A or goalie warm up levels of delusion with their capabilities.

Oh no - he reached delusional state so many years ago. If I could offer some possibly helpful advise - take your User ID and scoop your eyeballs out because it will not stop - never stop.

If you disagree with my views on the Hopkins offense, take it up with Quint Kessenich next time you see him. We are pretty much in agreement.

Maybe you won’t listen to me out of spite, but you should listen to Quint, because he knows a whole lot more about lacrosse than you do.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

A lot of you folks are giving me a hard time about urging the Hopkins offense to get more aggressive. You say I’m delusional despite QK and other writers saying pretty much the same thing.

You give me a hard time about saying Collison should dodge more. But some of you (HopFan16) say Collison has first team AA potential (and I agree), but then don’t really say what that next step is.

Tell me, how many first team AA middies are out there who can’t dodge. I’m delusional because I think Collison can dodge? Something he did spectacularly from time to time. Some of you have some real issues with reality.

Fact is, Collison does have first team AA potential. Division I coaches see that. Frankly, I think that’s one reason he made third team AA this year (I think his play merited HM AA). But he is never going to achieve first team AA if he doesn’t dodge more frequently and aggressively. Being a cutter and setting picks isn’t going to make him a top Division I middie.

This reminds me of how much grief I got for pushing Petro to adopt a more aggressive takeaway defense that causes turnovers, prevents shots from even being taken, and pushes transition offense. It was a running joke around here.

And after more than a decade of pushing for an aggressive defense? Pretty much every top team plays aggressive defense, although styles can differ. Hopkins plays an aggressive defense now. Even Petro’s UNC defense causes turnovers at a pretty good clip.

I was right a decade ago and I got a lot of grief for it.

So … maybe I should have earned a bit of trust when I say (and Quint says) that the Blue Jays need a more aggressive offense. More early offense when opportunities arise (we saw a bit of that in the NCAA tournament). More aggressive dodging from the middies (saw a bit of that against Lehigh). I think Quint is right … Blue Jays need to be less conservative and more aggressive on O if they ever want to reach the Final Four again.

That’s not delusional. That’s just common sense.

I was right about aggressive defense. I’m pretty sure I’m right about the O and I’m not alone in my view.

Biggest win of 2024? Virginia, regular season, when the Hopkins middies went wild on the Cavaliers. Note: Three of Collison’s four goals in that game were unassisted.

Case closed.

DocBarrister

[norcalhop]

The question is if they're done w/the portal/adding for the year. We should point according to news reports Kilrain flipped in august going into his sr year of hs. You'd think they'd feel ok in order at lsm, close d, goal. Maybe attack, and still thinking about ssdm/midfield.

I don't Milliman is done.

[HopFan16]

The question is if they're done w/the portal/adding for the year. We should point according to news reports Kilrain flipped in august going into his sr year of hs. You'd think they'd feel ok in order at lsm, close d, goal. Maybe attack, and still thinking about ssdm/midfield.

I don't Milliman is done.

They've addressed the main areas of need, and there isn't much high-end talent left in the portal barring someone else entering late. You'd probably welcome a guy like Balsamo or the 6'5'' Salisbury middie but outside of that I'm not seeing the obvious impact. A few other decent offensive players in there but no one that really screams out that they need to be taken, especially when you've got seven 4-star freshmen and sophomore middies on the roster already.

[norcalhop]

The question is if they're done w/the portal/adding for the year. We should point according to news reports Kilrain flipped in august going into his sr year of hs. You'd think they'd feel ok in order at lsm, close d, goal. Maybe attack, and still thinking about ssdm/midfield.

I don't Milliman is done.

They've addressed the main areas of need, and there isn't much high-end talent left in the portal barring someone else entering late. You'd probably welcome a guy like Balsamo or the 6'5'' Salisbury middie but outside of that I'm not seeing the obvious impact. A few other decent offensive players in there but no one that really screams out that they need to be taken, especially when you've got seven 4-star freshmen and sophomore middies on the roster already.

I mean flipping recruits. Based potentially on some info.

Also, more FO depth via Ramsey wouldn't hurt. If he regains form from injury, I'd take a 63% win rate any day.

[PotomacRiver]

A lot of you folks are giving me a hard time about urging the Hopkins offense to get more aggressive. You say I’m delusional despite QK and other writers saying pretty much the same thing.

You give me a hard time about saying Collison should dodge more. But some of you (HopFan16) say Collison has first team AA potential (and I agree), but then don’t really say what that next step is.

Tell me, how many first team AA middies are out there who can’t dodge. I’m delusional because I think Collison can dodge? Something he did spectacularly from time to time. Some of you have some real issues with reality.

Fact is, Collison does have first team AA potential. Division I coaches see that. Frankly, I think that’s one reason he made third team AA this year (I think his play merited HM AA). But he is never going to achieve first team AA if he doesn’t dodge more frequently and aggressively. Being a cutter and setting picks isn’t going to make him a top Division I middie.

This reminds me of how much grief I got for pushing Petro to adopt a more aggressive takeaway defense that causes turnovers, prevents shots from even being taken, and pushes transition offense. It was a running joke around here.

And after more than a decade of pushing for an aggressive defense? Pretty much every top team plays aggressive defense, although styles can differ. Hopkins plays an aggressive defense now. Even Petro’s UNC defense causes turnovers at a pretty good clip.

I was right a decade ago and I got a lot of grief for it.

So … maybe I should have earned a bit of trust when I say (and Quint says) that the Blue Jays need a more aggressive offense. More early offense when opportunities arise (we saw a bit of that in the NCAA tournament). More aggressive dodging from the middies (saw a bit of that against Lehigh). I think Quint is right … Blue Jays need to be less conservative and more aggressive on O if they ever want to reach the Final Four again.

That’s not delusional. That’s just common sense.

I was right about aggressive defense. I’m pretty sure I’m right about the O and I’m not alone in my view.

Biggest win of 2024? Virginia, regular season, when the Hopkins middies went wild on the Cavaliers.

Case closed.

DocBarrister

Haven't looked at the forum in a few days but just glancing back at the last few pages of posts, things seem to have devolved a bit, everyone isn't as far apart on this as it seems. I don't think anyone would disagree that the Hopkins offense, particularly in the back half of the season, was lacking in its ability to reliably generate offense in 6v6 sets and this was largely because of a lack of effective dodging. Hence Quint's "minimally invasive" comments during gamecast. However, there is a disagreement over the cause of this problem: A) Hopkins was limited by its personnel vs B) the personnel was there but the coaches were holding them back. Let's get into specifics here...my general impressions player by player:

Angelus: Great feet, quick change of direction. Lacks straight line speed to consistently challenge D1 poles to score or draw a slide, but could occasionally sneak one in if defender out of position/caught napping. When switched onto a shortie, quick enough to be a scoring threat and looked to go to the goal more often this year when presented with that matchup. However, still more of an opportunistic passer/orchestrator of the offense; even when switched onto short stick, teams generally seemed to be inclined to let the matchup play out rather than send quick slide. Sometimes that would burn them, but preferable to early sliding that allows ball movement to an open Degnon.

Melendez: Not the same player as last year; sometimes would show flashes of quickness but looked a step slow. More than that though, mostly very passive with the ball in his stick. Interestingly in last UVA game, some of our early best offense was getting Melendez switched onto a SSDM; in those handful of matchups he was a real scoring threat, but we kind of moved away from that. Hard to know exactly what was going on with him this year (injury, confidence, both). But when healthy, a player who can pose a legitimate threat to go to goal against a pole, and a "red alarm" player for the defense against a short stick.

Degnon: Power shooter. Best with feet set on left wing sniping off of ball movement, but added wrinkle to his game sweeping to his left from up top with an on ball pick that could free up his hands for a couple seconds. Those plays looked spectacular when they worked, but if you watch possession-to-possession, he shot the ball straight into goalie stick on many of those. Another added wrinkle to his game was winding up for shot from the left wing, but faking and bringing stick across his body to get inside and then do a slick finish. Overall more a beneficiary of ball movement rather than sometime who initiates ball movement.

Bauer: Pretty fast and quick. Good passer and always dodges with head up. Not a huge threat to score 1v1 against a pole, but can run by shortsticks. I will say he often does seem to dodge to pass, rather than dodge to score but ready to pass the ball in event of a slide. Should be quite productive next year if he doesn't draw the pole.

Grimes: Strong shot, big but neither quick nor fast and mostly goes to his left. Was main dodger on 2nd midfield line, as he often drew shortstick. Despite his size, often easily pushed off balance. Struggled to beat shortsticks and defenses would just do a quick hedge slide+recover without anyone really rotating.

Peshko: Same as above but right handed. Slightly more pep in his step, so off ball movement could sometimes beat a shortie who wasn't broken down into proper defensive stance and go to goal.

Chauvette: Pure shooter, neither fast nor quick nor strong. But lightning fast release and can pick corners.

Collison: The tough one. Big, strong, and has a powerful left handed shot. Average straight line speed, below average quickness. Because of his size, doesn't need to outright beat his man to get a shot off. Really wants to get to his left hand. His freshman year, one of his most effective plays was dodging against shortstick from behind the goal and then getting above goal line extended for a question mark dodge back to his left hand for quick shot; teams are now ready for that and send a quick double to his back before he turns left. From up top, teams force him to his right hand down the alley and hedge from the crease + have a strong slide ready to his blind side in case he turns back left. Otherwise on lefty sweep dodges across the top, the SSDM would really overplay his left. Struggles dealing with double teams; either tries to do too much and runs into the double for turnover, or attempts hero pass rather than pass adjacent to allow quick ball movement. He absolutely can dodge, but a big area for improvement is passing out of doubles and better anticipation of where the slides are coming from (reflected in being 2nd on team in turnovers despite not being the main dodger). If he can improve in that area over the summer/fall ball, could absolutely have a 1st team AA-type season.

In short, I think there's an intermediate here. I mostly see a team of skilled players, but lacking in elite dodging threats...though for different reasons. The coaches don't want to sabotage the team, and they aren't stupid. I'd be shocked if they purposely are holding back an elite dodging threat just for giggles. The offense simply didn't have a lot of effective dodging threats this year, some due to just physical/talent limitations, and others because they need to grow a bit more as 6v6 lacrosse players. But again, I don't think it's controversial at all that for us to have success next year, Collison will have to play a bigger role as both initiator and scorer, just needs to improve a few things. I'm certainly rooting for him to do so.

[wgdsr]

good synopsis, potomac. and diplomatic of you. you did omit what quint thinks about those guys, tho.

[51percentcorn]

Great post Potomac ... I would add a wrinkle to your conclusions. The observation that Hopkins was a slow tempo - deep in the shot clock team - not "hunting shots" as our UVA friend put it---- cannot be disputed. Therefore, it WAS a coaching philosophy decision. The observation is correct - what is 100% incorrect is that a simple decison to change dodging philosophy would have altered the trajectory of the season. What folks should focus on is the WHY it was that way - not just some snippy comment from QK - but explain why this might be so. I am NOT saying PM and JC are geniuses and obviously made all the right calls but there is clearly - clearly - justification for what transpired. Crawley's reputation as a player was that he never saw a shot he didn't like so I am not sure this is exactly how we wants the offense to look. I posted something to this effect before but again here are the reasons they chose the path they chose:
- The two most effective dodgers to be a threat to score and give out a dime from 2023 were almost unquestionably Melendez and English - one was hurt and lost for the year very early on - the other's production decreased by 50% (Melendez took 29 fewer shots - shot percentage went down by 10 points) despite starting every game on pretty much exactly the same team. Again, whether itwas injuries to his legs, quickness lost to strength training, loss of confidence or the pu pu combo platter - that's the you know what in the punch bowl - you had a starting attackman with 27 points.
- The rest of team were not great dodgers - that's a fact as you accurately assess in your detail
- They were not great at face-offs - what they were great at was 6v6 defense with finally a high quality goalie behind them. Long - minimally invasive possessions had the following benefits: Potential for tiring the opposing defense (hence maybe some of the 4th quarter rallies) and giving rest to your defense so they are fully prepared and not gasping for air and potentially avoiding runs where the opponent plays make it take it.
- They were also halfway decent at shooting - In the top 8 on the stat sheet - Grimes was the worst shot percentage at 28%. Cliches exist because sometimes they are true and Hopkins was clearly a team that looked for an optimal shot vs the first one. The longer you go into the shot clock a philosophy could be that the defense will make a mistake - the defender will be slow to get out on Degnon as he slips to his spot etc. etc.

So IMO - it is 100% accurate to say Hopkins was a very slow tempo team- call it minimially invasive if you will if you want to be a jerk and affirm whatever issue you have with the team you played for. What is ridiculous is to suggest that they simply had to decide to be different. As if all of us could decide to play in the NBA and it would be so. The coaches made a decision based on personnel to give the team the best chance ITO to succeed. They went 11-5 - lost to a semifinalist by 1 goal - lost to get to the semifinals by 1 goal in Double OT - Lost two other games by one goal (1 in OT and the other to a quarterfinalist) and had one clunker by 3 goals to an NCAA tournament team. This off 4-9 and 7-9 two and trhee seasons ago. Seems to me they judged it pretty well.
Oh - then there's this - another cliche that happens to be true but hindsight is 20/20 and Monday morning quarterbacking is never wrong in the eye of the beholder. I am as guilty as anyone byt very very few of us - maybe none - ever watched a practice - ever sat in a film session - ever attended a coaches meeting - so you know better about what the team should do?

[HopFan16]

Potomac is a hugely welcome presence on this forum and there are some good points being made here but I'm not sure why anyone is discussing this in good faith with Mr. Triple Team. Not worth it. Even with the guy on ignore I can tell he's derailing every attempt to talk about anything else simply by seeing the username pop up literally five times in a row.

norcal makes a good point about faceoffs — I'm of the opinion you can never have too many options in this era of lacrosse. Especially with the rules possibly changing again — who knows if that will affect certain guys' ability to win draws. Better to have options. If Ramsey's got a clean bill of health, his numbers are good and he's got two former teammates at Homewood already, it makes sense.

BUT I don't think it's necessary. Callahan is already a 50% guy. Ideally you'd like him above that — maybe he will be as he was his freshman year — it's a decent place to start at worst. You're already bringing in an experienced 60% guy from D3, will he stay at 60% in D1, probably not but there's reason to expect he can be a capable 1B. And then you bring in Hobot, our first UA/NB All-American faceoff guy in I don't know how long. You've got to assume he will contribute, perhaps in a major way. FO is one position where we've seen freshmen come in and immediately be The Guy.

The underdiscussed part of this is wing play. Have to get better there. My hope is DiCicco/Eye and the Yale guys will help. The FO mediocrity was absolutely a drain on the offense. If we're winning 55% instead of 48%, something tells me there'd be less hand-wringing about the offense.

[primitiveskills]

The other thing that has to be said re: offensive philosophy is that it has to make sense from the overall game perspective. Folks may wish it were different (folks like QK, who clearly favor a ACC/Ivy "defense-optional" style, which is fine), but by a wide margin the strength of this years' JHU team was on the defensive end, particularly in 6v6. This was compounded by a couple of things: 1) loss of some key initiators on offense (English going down, Melendez was dealing with his issues, even having a guy like Evans hurt, who when healthy is a very good initiator from the low wing and X), 2) the face-off unit as a whole dropped off from 2023 (Mazzone and Hawley losses were huge in retrospecy, and probably prospect!)- that meant fewer possessions and more defense being played, and 3) while the rope units were excellent on the defensive end, generating transition O was not their strong suit (as admitted by Milliman on several occasions (not a mystery why the Yale middies were pursued in the portal, BTW). When that's your reality, the 6v6 offense has two jobs: be efficient enough to score enough goals to win games, and, equally as important, do not create easy offense and extra/ long possesions for the other team.

People bemoan the Maryland game (which Hopkins actually won, although you wouldn't know it from the general reaction on this board), but that's a good illustration of why this worked for much of 2024. Would it have been great if Hopkins had been more efficient in the second half and put up a few more goals? Sure, but that's an excellent defense (ask Quint's beloved Blue Devils what they think). But Maryland's offense had zero chance in 6v6 versus a rested Hopkins defense. The only way Maryland could have won that game was if Hopkins created offense for them with turnovers, bad clearing/ transition play, or giving Maryland a lifeline with chances to create offense with its superior FO unit (ask Penn State about how that went). Using patient possessions, limiting turnovers, resting the D was exactly the way to win that game, and that's what happened.

Listen, would it be awesome to just be able to flip the switch and play offense like UVa? Sure, that might be fun to watch, but there definitely would have been a few more Ls to endure. You've got to play with the team you have.

[norcalhop]

Potomac is a hugely welcome presence on this forum and there are some good points being made here but I'm not sure why anyone is discussing this in good faith with Mr. Triple Team. Not worth it. Even with the guy on ignore I can tell he's derailing every attempt to talk about anything else simply by seeing the username pop up literally five times in a row.

norcal makes a good point about faceoffs — I'm of the opinion you can never have too many options in this era of lacrosse. Especially with the rules possibly changing again — who knows if that will affect certain guys' ability to win draws. Better to have options. If Ramsey's got a clean bill of health, his numbers are good and he's got two former teammates at Homewood already, it makes sense.

BUT I don't think it's necessary. Callahan is already a 50% guy. Ideally you'd like him above that — maybe he will be as he was his freshman year — it's a decent place to start at worst. You're already bringing in an experienced 60% guy from D3, will he stay at 60% in D1, probably not but there's reason to expect he can be a capable 1B. And then you bring in Hobot, our first UA/NB All-American faceoff guy in I don't know how long. You've got to assume he will contribute, perhaps in a major way. FO is one position where we've seen freshmen come in and immediately be The Guy.

The underdiscussed part of this is wing play. Have to get better there. My hope is DiCicco/Eye and the Yale guys will help. The FO mediocrity was absolutely a drain on the offense. If we're winning 55% instead of 48%, something tells me there'd be less hand-wringing about the offense.

Hobot while good has been injured a lot in his career including this year. It would be nice to finally have someone winning at a 60%+ clip. This would be top 8 in the country: https://www.ncaa.com/stats/lacrosse-men ... vidual/410

[steel_hop]

Vigue were mostly 4 stars.

I'm good friends with his dad. His dad was not only a freaking alum, played football and was an athletic trainer for the lax team. It was infathomable that Petro didn't even at least look at him. His dad told me Petro had no interest in him.

Same thing can be said of Marcus. No idea if the kid is/was interested but there should have been at least a phone call to gage interest.