Johns Hopkins 2023

[Farfromgeneva]

To be clear i was born in Rochester. I graduated HS in Niagara Falls. We played: Canadian football and Canadian schools in hockey. I had a lot of Canadian friends. I had a different screen name when laxpower started. I changed to OCanada as a reaction to some dissing of a couple of Canadian players on laxpower.

Pet peeve. You graduated "from" HS, or did you (verb) "make fine adjustments or divide into marked intervals for optimal measuring of your HS, e.g.
“graduate a cylinder”

Well he did say Niagara Falls…

[Sagittarius A*]

Well he did say Niagara Falls…

Niagara Falls! Slowly I turned, step by step.....

[44WeWantMore]

To be clear i was born in Rochester. I graduated HS in Niagara Falls. We played: Canadian football and Canadian schools in hockey. I had a lot of Canadian friends. I had a different screen name when laxpower started. I changed to OCanada as a reaction to some dissing of a couple of Canadian players on laxpower.

Pet peeve. You graduated "from" HS, or did you (verb) "make fine adjustments or divide into marked intervals for optimal measuring of your HS, e.g.
“graduate a cylinder”

Now we really miss Old Hopper, so I carry the torch...

You do not get a degree (active voice); instead, an institution confers a degree upon you (so you use the passive voice). Therefore:

Preferred: I was graduated by JHU.
Less preferred: I was also graduated from Duke.
Only Informal: I graduated from a Long Island High School.

P.S. Who hasn't forgiven the occasional OCanada typo?

[Farfromgeneva]

To be clear i was born in Rochester. I graduated HS in Niagara Falls. We played: Canadian football and Canadian schools in hockey. I had a lot of Canadian friends. I had a different screen name when laxpower started. I changed to OCanada as a reaction to some dissing of a couple of Canadian players on laxpower.

Pet peeve. You graduated "from" HS, or did you (verb) "make fine adjustments or divide into marked intervals for optimal measuring of your HS, e.g.
“graduate a cylinder”

Now we really miss Old Hopper, so I carry the torch...

You do not get a degree (active voice); instead, an institution confers a degree upon you (so you use the passive voice). Therefore:

Preferred: I was graduated by JHU.
Less preferred: I was also graduated from Duke.
Only Informal: I graduated from a Long Island High School.

P.S. Who hasn't forgiven the occasional OCanada typo?

Love the specific institutional choices.

How would one describe completing studies at Syracuse?

[44WeWantMore]

Any Hopkins fan (or Cornell, or Hobart fan) would love to have a straight man like you to tee up a punch line like that.

[DocBarrister]

Fact is, PM is the first lacrosse head coach to lead Hopkins to consecutive losing seasons since Wilson Fewster in 1952-1953.

The best I can tell, no head coach in the nearly 140-year history of Johns Hopkins lacrosse has ever led the team to three consecutive losing seasons. In addition, the Blue Jays are in the midst of the first three-season losing record streak in the program’s history. A losing record in 2023 would mean four consecutive losing seasons … once unthinkable for Johns Hopkins.

There has never been a Hopkins lacrosse head coach who has kept his job after two consecutive losing seasons, much less three. So, PM is, historically speaking, already working on borrowed time.

I think PM has brought in a very good recruiting class and some talented transfers. Here’s hoping he can lead the Blue Jays to a winning record in 2023. Johns Hopkins will need to be a top-15 caliber team to achieve that with their tough schedule.

To win!

DocBarrister

[Sagittarius A*]

Fact is, PM is the first lacrosse head coach to lead Hopkins to consecutive losing seasons since Wilson Fewster in 1952-1953.

The best I can tell, no head coach in the nearly 140-year history of Johns Hopkins lacrosse has ever led the team to three consecutive losing seasons. In addition, the Blue Jays are in the midst of the first three-season losing record streak in the program’s history. A losing record in 2023 would mean four consecutive losing seasons … once unthinkable for Johns Hopkins.

There has never been a Hopkins lacrosse head coach who has kept his job after two consecutive losing seasons, much less three. So, PM is, historically speaking, already working on borrowed time.

I think PM has brought in a very good recruiting class and some talented transfers. Here’s hoping he can lead the Blue Jays to a winning record in 2023. Johns Hopkins will need to be a top-15 caliber team to achieve that with their tough schedule.

To win!

DocBarrister

Doc, you're usually one of the more optimistic people on here.
It definitely looks like a collision between the talent and the schedule coming up soon.
Given Hop has like zero preseason AA's (they don't seem to have any top 50 players although Degnon and Narewski are both pretty darn good) I think I would do everything I could to soften the schedule to try to achieve a winning record. The two games they won last year against Cuse and Loyola at home are now at their places and much much harder to win.
This Hop team will need lights out preparation and coaching to have a chance against this schedule.

[OCanada]

Wilson Fewster

Wilson Fewster coached the freshmen team while Bob Scott coached the varsity for awhile. He would break down a player’s game and rebuild it. Things like how to hold your crosse, how to protect the ball, how to get the ball off the ground.

From the lax Hall of Fame writeup:

Wilson L. Fewster started his long association with lacrosse at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute where he was first team All-Maryland from 1942-1945 on Poly's championship teams of those same years. At Johns Hopkins, Fewster played on national championship teams in 1947, 1948 and 1950. He was named first team All-American in 1947, third team in 1948 and honorable mention in 1950. He played for the South in the North/South Collegiate All-Star game in 1950.

Fewster continued his lacrosse career as a coach from 1951-1966 at Washington & Lee, University of Virginia, and Johns Hopkins. He later coached the Baltimore Athletic Club and the Mt. Washington Lacrosse Club. Fewster played with Mt. Washington L.C. in 1955 and 1956, winning the club championship in both of those years. Fewster is a member of the All-Time Hopkins team. He passed away in June, 2014.

[10stone5]

I knew I recognized that last name.
His dad played for the Yankees, Chick Fewster was on the
Yanks when Babe Ruth was just starting out with that team.

[NElaxtalent]

Several references to "this schedule"...

Seems to be one of the more manageable Hop schedules I've seen.

According to the Nike Poll:

5 unranked teams (Loy, Utah, Syr, Mich, PSU)
4 teams ranked 15 - 20 (UNC, Jax, Navy, SJU)
3 teams ranked 10 - 15 (Rut, OSU, Del)
3 Top 5 (UVA, MD, G-Town)

No Princeton or Duke.

Looks to me the Hop faithful are Fearing The Storm when Hop used to Be The Storm. Not long ago Jax, Utah, SJU, Mich, Del & Rut would have been the cupcakes on Hop's sched.

Even conceding the Top 3 teams + Rut, OSU & Del games, that leaves (9) very winnable games if Hop plays at a DECENT Hop level. If there is a problem it is NOT the daunting schedule.

[HopFan16]

I would do everything I could to soften the schedule to try to achieve a winning record.

Loser mentality. Thankfully the staff doesn't think this way

[jrn19]

Not long ago Jax, Utah, SJU, Mich, Del & Rut would have been the cupcakes on Hop's sched.

I mean, 10 years ago they had Siena, Manhattan, and UMBC on the schedule. They used to play The Mount semi-regularly. Jacksonville, Saint Joe's, Delaware, and Rutgers are really good teams. Playing 10 Top 20 teams out of 15 games is about as tough a schedule as you can get. It'll almost certainly be in the Top 5 or so of SOS unless the B1G just craters this year.

But yes, the schedule won't ruin their season. If they're a good team, they'll win about half of the very difficult games and finish a little bit above .500 and that will get them in the NCAA Tournament. If they're not, they'll lose those games and won't make it, but if you're not good you're not beating a lot of good teams anyway so doesn't matter.

[jhu06]

Several references to "this schedule"...

Seems to be one of the more manageable Hop schedules I've seen.

According to the Nike Poll:

5 unranked teams (Loy, Utah, Syr, Mich, PSU)
4 teams ranked 15 - 20 (UNC, Jax, Navy, SJU)
3 teams ranked 10 - 15 (Rut, OSU, Del)
3 Top 5 (UVA, MD, G-Town)

No Princeton or Duke.

Looks to me the Hop faithful are Fearing The Storm when Hop used to Be The Storm. Not long ago Jax, Utah, SJU, Mich, Del & Rut would have been the cupcakes on Hop's sched.

Even conceding the Top 3 teams + Rut, OSU & Del games, that leaves (9) very winnable games if Hop plays at a DECENT Hop level. If there is a problem it is NOT the daunting schedule.

your second to last paragraph is a conversation we stopped having on a weekly/daily basis here and the old forum 3-5 years ago. All we can do is look forward at this point.

[HopFan16]

Several references to "this schedule"...

Seems to be one of the more manageable Hop schedules I've seen.

According to the Nike Poll:

5 unranked teams (Loy, Utah, Syr, Mich, PSU)
4 teams ranked 15 - 20 (UNC, Jax, Navy, SJU)
3 teams ranked 10 - 15 (Rut, OSU, Del)
3 Top 5 (UVA, MD, G-Town)

No Princeton or Duke.

Looks to me the Hop faithful are Fearing The Storm when Hop used to Be The Storm. Not long ago Jax, Utah, SJU, Mich, Del & Rut would have been the cupcakes on Hop's sched.

Even conceding the Top 3 teams + Rut, OSU & Del games, that leaves (9) very winnable games if Hop plays at a DECENT Hop level. If there is a problem it is NOT the daunting schedule.

They’re literally playing half of the top 20 and those other five are pretty close. It doesn’t get much tougher than that. If it’s manageable it’s only because Loyola and especially Syracuse are coming off extremely down years. The bottom end of the schedule is also tougher than it used to be. They used to have at least one or two automatic wins against teams like Siena, Manhattan, UMBC, etc. The “worst” team they play this year is probably Utah, and they were 10-4 a season ago and are not an easy out for anybody.

[xxxxxxx]

Agree, that is as tough a schedule as can be played, I am sure it is top 5 SOS in the country. No one can say he is ducking anyone.

[flalax22]

Agree, that is as tough a schedule as can be played, I am sure it is top 5 SOS in the country. No one can say he is ducking anyone.

Just history if I’m reading Doc B correctly.

I agree with 16 absolutely loser mentality. It’s Johns Hopkins and whatever the issues are you work through it playing a top schedule. That’s what the Jays do.

[Sagittarius A*]

Agree, that is as tough a schedule as can be played, I am sure it is top 5 SOS in the country. No one can say he is ducking anyone.

Just history if I’m reading Doc B correctly.

I agree with 16 absolutely loser mentality. It’s Johns Hopkins and whatever the issues are you work through it playing a top schedule. That’s what the Jays do.

Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.
Three losing seasons in a row suggests something must change or else you're stuck in a downward spiral.
You can't make the playoffs with a losing record. And you can't recruit well if you're not in the playoff conversation.
Hopkins used to have talent to play with anyone. It doesn't anymore. The coaches need to face reality, but all it's been from them is pure hubris from day one. "it doesn't matter what our stats were last year", "it doesn't matter what recruits are ranked," "We're going to score a lot of goals."
Right.
Your team can't have to pull off a miracle every week. It needs some softer games on the schedule, especially to start out with. A few games to build some confidence and tweak your lineup. Otherwise it's just mentally exhausting for the players.
You can keep playing a killer schedule, going sub .500 and not making the playoffs, or you can make adjustments. Increase your strength of schedule as your talent improves. Anyway, time is running out on this staff.
16 works for the athletic department, as far as I can tell.

[51percentcorn]

While it's another absolutely horrible take by the Black Hole - there is a reasonable discussion to be had about the scheduling philosophy. There are benefits to having a couple of teams on the schedule where you might be expected to have more firepower and win the game and it has little to do with your final record - plenty of teams have winning records and find themselves on the outside looking in for May because of the schedule so you clearly need to have a balance and a strong OOC schedule. But having some early season games of that nature can hopefully give you the following:
- Your better players enjoy success - they see the ball going past a goalie and in the net - they also theoretically enjoy more repetitions because you have the ball more
- You get to play more people - this is perhaps the best and most obvious benefit which I will touch upon later
- It's a good mental feeling to win
- Game still should provide multitude of teaching opportunities in preparation for harder opponents

The biggest issue I see with the Hopkins schedule is that one can envision a scenario where every game can be at least competitive and the ones where you could maybe expect a bigger differential lean in the opponents favor - Maryland/UVA/Gtown. This then runs into my magic number of 23/24. Here are the number of Hopkins players that played last year in games decided by fewer than 5 goals: 23/24/26/25/26/26/27/23 - the games where it reached 26 and 27 appeared to incorporate some players returning from injury - Fernandez/Grimes/Narewski/Lyne etc. SO playing virtually every game where the score could be (notice I said could) closer reduces the opportunity for bench players to remain engaged and perform if an injury should occur. The roster is 50 - which is the best I can remember for a while - so the math is easy - if the games are competitive - half the team will not play.

As data points - Hopkins best two seasons record wise in the last 13 seasons - which admittedly ended in bitter disappointment but at least saw quarterfinal appearances - were 2011/2012. Both seasons saw some games where Hopkins played teams thought to be "cupcakes" - they took alot of grief for playing those teams on Laxpower but they didn't make the tournament in those years because they won against Manhattan and Siena - they made it because they beat UVA twice Syracuse in '12 Maryland in '11 UNC in '11 etc etc later in the season.

And certainly I think it can be said that a program some have pointed to and asked why Hopkins can't have more common results - Duke - has often employed a strategy with the following elements:
- No scrimmages
- 17 game regular season with some games against opponents that would appear well overmatched
- Play alot of people in those games - also play some tough games - don't sweat an early season upset or two. In 2013 Duke lost every tough game they played out of the gate - Denver/Maryland/Penn/Notre Dame - they were 2-4 and maybe what kept their head above water was kicking the dog doo out of overmatched Jacksonville and Mercer.

So I am not crying for an easier schedule - the schedule for the most part is fine - I don't think having 2 stretches where you are playing 3 competitive games in a week is the way to go but whatever. I am just saying I would not mind a game or two where everybody hopefully got to play and help development down the road. It would not be a bad thing. As someone once famously said "we're talking about practice" No subsitute for game experience.

[Sagittarius A*]

While it's another absolutely horrible take by the Black Hole

Hey, you figured it out!!
Yes, Sagittarius A * is the Black Hole at the center of our galaxy!!
Kudos!!!
I'm impressed.

[10stone5]

They imaged Sag A a few months back
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