Johns Hopkins 2025

[primitiveskills]

I don't care about the PLL either, but I think the point of the observation is that (as a first-order approximation), neither JHU nor SU had the raw talent that some fans might have thought / hoped they had. Yes, there were injuries (at least one of them catastrophic), but by and large, the Jays and the Orangemen were less talented than we predicted / hoped.

That was true in real-time. Nothing about PLL rosters is revelatory. Its more of QK clickbait agenda.

[wgdsr]

I don't care about the PLL either, but I think the point of the observation is that (as a first-order approximation), neither JHU nor SU had the raw talent that some fans might have thought / hoped they had. Yes, there were injuries (at least one of them catastrophic), but by and large, the Jays and the Orangemen were less talented than we predicted / hoped.

That was true in real-time. Nothing about PLL rosters is revelatory. Its more of QK clickbait agenda.

ok, but what about the draft? because i couldn't watch a game in the back half of the college year without hearing about how important and positioned a player was for the draft over and over.

[primitiveskills]

I don't care about the PLL either, but I think the point of the observation is that (as a first-order approximation), neither JHU nor SU had the raw talent that some fans might have thought / hoped they had. Yes, there were injuries (at least one of them catastrophic), but by and large, the Jays and the Orangemen were less talented than we predicted / hoped.

That was true in real-time. Nothing about PLL rosters is revelatory. Its more of QK clickbait agenda.

ok, but what about the draft? because i couldn't watch a game in the back half of the college year without hearing about how important and positioned a player was for the draft over and over.

Completely agree. QK and the ESPN guys are desperate to generate this relevance. The problem is that it can’t be instantly created. When you try to manufacture it, it just makes old guys like me roll their eyes.

[HopFan16]

Pat Stevens has the Jays #9 in his "way early" 2025 rankings: https://www.usalacrosse.com/magazine/co ... sion-i-men

Obviously this is all just for fun and meant to generate clicks/discussion — like what I am about to do. So from that standpoint, good job Mr. Stevens. You have succeeded. But I predict this will not age well. Hopkins getting leapfrogged by three Ivy league teams that either didn't make the playoffs at all (Yale, Cornell) or got destroyed in the first round (Princeton), and weren't able to reload through the transfer portal (in fact one of Yale's best players last year is now wearing blue). Just seems a little optimistic.

Think he underrates the Big Ten in general with Maryland at #6, PSU at #11, and Michigan at #13 (behind Towson? ok). I like Princeton a lot — that attack is for real — but they were not particularly close to a Final Four type team last year and now they lose Gianforcaro. Seems like a bit of a leap. As for Yale, they lose Brandau, but scoring has never been their problem. They have not earned the benefit of the doubt on defense. Till proven otherwise, not sure how you have that team ahead of the Jays. I buy the argument for Cornell — they lose the least out of the Ivy teams and return arguably the best player in the country. And were the only team to give Notre Dame trouble (aside from Georgetown early on).

Duke at #7 is purely a bet on Danowski because their roster is going to look *completely* different this season.

[jhu06]

Pat Stevens has the Jays #9 in his "way early" 2025 rankings: https://www.usalacrosse.com/magazine/co ... sion-i-men

Obviously this is all just for fun and meant to generate clicks/discussion — like what I am about to do. So from that standpoint, good job Mr. Stevens. You have succeeded. But I predict this will not age well. Hopkins getting leapfrogged by three Ivy league teams that either didn't make the playoffs at all (Yale, Cornell) or got destroyed in the first round (Princeton), and weren't able to reload through the transfer portal (in fact one of Yale's best players last year is now wearing blue). Just seems a little optimistic.

Think he underrates the Big Ten in general with Maryland at #6, PSU at #11, and Michigan at #13 (behind Towson? ok). I like Princeton a lot — that attack is for real — but they were not particularly close to a Final Four type team last year and now they lose Gianforcaro. Seems like a bit of a leap. As for Yale, they lose Brandau, but scoring has never been their problem. They have not earned the benefit of the doubt on defense. Till proven otherwise, not sure how you have that team ahead of the Jays. I buy the argument for Cornell — they lose the least out of the Ivy teams and return arguably the best player in the country. And were the only team to give Notre Dame trouble (aside from Georgetown early on).

Duke at #7 is purely a bet on Danowski because their roster is going to look *completely* different this season.

Top 10 isn't bad considering everything that was lost and where the program has been. I'm excited to read from the forums reports about how PM/JK/BK can work and develop with kids they recruited in hs who will only be here 4 years as opposed to the petro recruits and transfers we've seen on the field. I'm hoping to see improved results particularly on the offensive midfield. More athleticism, speed, dodging.

Stevens did the dirty work on starts/scoring lost-which takes a lot of work, but next year he needs to include faceoffs/saves/gbs returning because you see in his terp preview with the loss of their fogo that scoring and starts don't tell the whole story of a teams offseason.

Petro used to release schedules in december. PM had his out in september last year.
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... cure/62122

[DocBarrister]

Pat Stevens has the Jays #9 in his "way early" 2025 rankings: https://www.usalacrosse.com/magazine/co ... sion-i-men

Obviously this is all just for fun and meant to generate clicks/discussion — like what I am about to do. So from that standpoint, good job Mr. Stevens. You have succeeded. But I predict this will not age well. Hopkins getting leapfrogged by three Ivy league teams that either didn't make the playoffs at all (Yale, Cornell) or got destroyed in the first round (Princeton), and weren't able to reload through the transfer portal (in fact one of Yale's best players last year is now wearing blue). Just seems a little optimistic.

Think he underrates the Big Ten in general with Maryland at #6, PSU at #11, and Michigan at #13 (behind Towson? ok). I like Princeton a lot — that attack is for real — but they were not particularly close to a Final Four type team last year and now they lose Gianforcaro. Seems like a bit of a leap. As for Yale, they lose Brandau, but scoring has never been their problem. They have not earned the benefit of the doubt on defense. Till proven otherwise, not sure how you have that team ahead of the Jays. I buy the argument for Cornell — they lose the least out of the Ivy teams and return arguably the best player in the country. And were the only team to give Notre Dame trouble (aside from Georgetown early on).

Duke at #7 is purely a bet on Danowski because their roster is going to look *completely* different this season.

I think #9 is about right, give or take. Losing Jacob Angelus will be particularly tough to overcome. It’s the ol’ DocBarrister Principle:

What you lose is just as important, or more so, than what you return.

Blue Jays lost a lot. Other teams have as well, of course.

Last season, Blue Jays should have reached the Final Four. After all, Hopkins had beaten two FF teams (MD and UVA) and should have beaten a third (DU).

In 2025, I think a quarterfinal finish would actually be pretty good.

DocBarrister

[jhu06]

Pat Stevens has the Jays #9 in his "way early" 2025 rankings: https://www.usalacrosse.com/magazine/co ... sion-i-men

Obviously this is all just for fun and meant to generate clicks/discussion — like what I am about to do. So from that standpoint, good job Mr. Stevens. You have succeeded. But I predict this will not age well. Hopkins getting leapfrogged by three Ivy league teams that either didn't make the playoffs at all (Yale, Cornell) or got destroyed in the first round (Princeton), and weren't able to reload through the transfer portal (in fact one of Yale's best players last year is now wearing blue). Just seems a little optimistic.

Think he underrates the Big Ten in general with Maryland at #6, PSU at #11, and Michigan at #13 (behind Towson? ok). I like Princeton a lot — that attack is for real — but they were not particularly close to a Final Four type team last year and now they lose Gianforcaro. Seems like a bit of a leap. As for Yale, they lose Brandau, but scoring has never been their problem. They have not earned the benefit of the doubt on defense. Till proven otherwise, not sure how you have that team ahead of the Jays. I buy the argument for Cornell — they lose the least out of the Ivy teams and return arguably the best player in the country. And were the only team to give Notre Dame trouble (aside from Georgetown early on).

Duke at #7 is purely a bet on Danowski because their roster is going to look *completely* different this season.

I think #9 is about right, give or take. Losing Jacob Angelus will be particularly tough to overcome. It’s the ol’ DocBarrister Principle:

What you lose is just as important, or more so, than what you return.

Blue Jays lost a lot. Other teams have as well, of course.

Last season, Blue Jays should have reached the Final Four. After all, Hopkins had beaten two FF teams (MD and UVA) and should have beaten a third (DU).

In 2025, I think a quarterfinal finish would actually be pretty good.

DocBarrister

Out of curiosity what are the other DocBarrister principles of lacrosse?

I remember you were highly critical of Petros defenses for example not pressuring the ball enough.

[DocBarrister]

Pat Stevens has the Jays #9 in his "way early" 2025 rankings: https://www.usalacrosse.com/magazine/co ... sion-i-men

Obviously this is all just for fun and meant to generate clicks/discussion — like what I am about to do. So from that standpoint, good job Mr. Stevens. You have succeeded. But I predict this will not age well. Hopkins getting leapfrogged by three Ivy league teams that either didn't make the playoffs at all (Yale, Cornell) or got destroyed in the first round (Princeton), and weren't able to reload through the transfer portal (in fact one of Yale's best players last year is now wearing blue). Just seems a little optimistic.

Think he underrates the Big Ten in general with Maryland at #6, PSU at #11, and Michigan at #13 (behind Towson? ok). I like Princeton a lot — that attack is for real — but they were not particularly close to a Final Four type team last year and now they lose Gianforcaro. Seems like a bit of a leap. As for Yale, they lose Brandau, but scoring has never been their problem. They have not earned the benefit of the doubt on defense. Till proven otherwise, not sure how you have that team ahead of the Jays. I buy the argument for Cornell — they lose the least out of the Ivy teams and return arguably the best player in the country. And were the only team to give Notre Dame trouble (aside from Georgetown early on).

Duke at #7 is purely a bet on Danowski because their roster is going to look *completely* different this season.

I think #9 is about right, give or take. Losing Jacob Angelus will be particularly tough to overcome. It’s the ol’ DocBarrister Principle:

What you lose is just as important, or more so, than what you return.

Blue Jays lost a lot. Other teams have as well, of course.

Last season, Blue Jays should have reached the Final Four. After all, Hopkins had beaten two FF teams (MD and UVA) and should have beaten a third (DU).

In 2025, I think a quarterfinal finish would actually be pretty good.

DocBarrister

Out of curiosity what are the other DocBarrister principles of lacrosse?

I remember you were highly critical of Petros defenses for example not pressuring the ball enough.

That is THE DocBarrister Principle.

DocBarrister

[HopFan16]

Zach Palmer was hired as the OC at Detroit Mercy. Another Blue Jay in the coaching ranks.

Will give Petro credit. An absurd number of his former players are now coaching at the D1 level.

[norcalhop]

https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/08/16/undergra ... quirement/

About time. Might make recruiting harder, however.

[DocBarrister]

https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/08/16/undergra ... quirement/

About time. Might make recruiting harder, however.

Come on … Hopkins admitted a pretty good player with a 2.7 HS GPA not too long ago. Doubt his SATs made any difference.

DocBarrister

[norcalhop]

https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/08/16/undergra ... quirement/

About time. Might make recruiting harder, however.

Come on … Hopkins admitted a pretty good player with a 2.7 HS GPA not too long ago. Doubt his SATs made any difference.

DocBarrister

I suspect those days are long gone. And who was this? Did they win a championship?

[44WeWantMore]

Since none of the my highschool mistakes were immortalized, I would rather not draw attention to him, but he turned out to be less than we hoped for on the field.
I hope he turned out to be more than he expected to be in the classroom.

If RD saw that tweet, I expect it was another nail in DP's coffin.

[norcalhop]

Since none of the my highschool mistakes were immortalized, I would rather not draw attention to him, but he turned out to be less than we hoped for on the field.
I hope he turned out to be more than he expected to be in the classroom.

If RD saw that tweet, I expect it was another nail in DP's coffin.

The turned out less on field than expected applied to most in Petro's tenure unfortunately. I'm also surprised RD did the tough but right thing for once. But maybe he found out like Caltech that students who didn't submit scores were doing poorer in the classroom compared to year's past.

Making the school test optional would have further boosted inflated test scores on an already easy SAT helping rankings. Maybe he'll revisit some of his other decisions in due time.

[norcalhop]

I think I know who you all are referring to (first name with a W not Wells). At least, he was a top recruit with unsurprisingly UVa as an option too.

[jhu06]

https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/08/16/undergra ... quirement/

About time. Might make recruiting harder, however.

This existed during the entire Petro era and the team did just fine, especially at the outset. One of things you learn fast at Hopkins is that while a lot of athletes are Hopkins caliber students a lot are not.

Dropping standardized tests was yet another example of Daniels trying to break what wasn't broken.

In the game notes, program should've started including years ago all the alumni currently active in the d1, d2,d3, mcla coaching ranks along with tweeting the alumni at games. Nice way to showcase the programs tradition and how the alums continue to invest their time in the game.

[HopFan16]

Dropping standardized tests was yet another example of Daniels trying to break what wasn't broken.

Every single elite school went test optional during Covid. A lot of them are bringing the requirement back now. It's not a Daniels thing. It's a higher education thing. It also won't impact recruiting.

Freshmen move in tomorrow and then fall ball starts the following week. Alumni game set for Oct. 5. Not sure when/where the other fall games will be.

[wgdsr]

I think I know who you all are referring to (first name with a W not Wells). At least, he was a top recruit with unsurprisingly UVa as an option too.

^^^^ underrated gaslighting post.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Dropping standardized tests was yet another example of Daniels trying to break what wasn't broken.

Every single elite school went test optional during Covid. A lot of them are bringing the requirement back now. It's not a Daniels thing. It's a higher education thing. It also won't impact recruiting.

Freshmen move in tomorrow and then fall ball starts the following week. Alumni game set for Oct. 5. Not sure when/where the other fall games will be.

Some schools made it optional before COVID. One coach that had kids commit early at a test optional school, threatened to drop kids if he found out they were sitting for a standardized test as he didn’t want to be “better dealed”.

[wgdsr]

Dropping standardized tests was yet another example of Daniels trying to break what wasn't broken.

Every single elite school went test optional during Covid. A lot of them are bringing the requirement back now. It's not a Daniels thing. It's a higher education thing. It also won't impact recruiting.

Freshmen move in tomorrow and then fall ball starts the following week. Alumni game set for Oct. 5. Not sure when/where the other fall games will be.

Some schools made it optional before COVID. One coach that had kids commit early at a test optional school, threatened to drop kids if he found out they were sitting for a standardized test as he didn’t want to be “better dealed”.

any coach that threatens me is getting dropped. what a world we live in.