LaxPower Back-Up Stick

So tired of the "entitled" argument. It may have been true 15 years ago, but not since the sport exploded. Entitlement comes in all shapes and sizes, and just because some kid went to prep school, it does not mean he or she doesn't have a work ethic. But, maybe I'm being naive.

These players haven't been under a rock for ten years. They were raised on hi speed internet, and they no Hopkins has sucked for a while now. But, they also know about tradition, and I guarantee you each one of them comes here in hopes of being part of a team that resurrects Hopkins lacrosse and returns it to the standard.

That said, obviously something is wrong with the culture. I don't think the school cares about lacrosse, and I think the sooner lacrosse team becomes insignificant, the happier it will make those who govern the village of Johns Hopkins University.

Wow go out of town for a day or two and the whole place falls apart
Random thoughts - I did watch the game:
- The comments about the post game presser are ridiculous - call up virtually any press conference after a loss from any team and the players ALL look like they just been told their pet goldfish has died - '16 is absolutely correct - Forry Smith acted like that because he just played 60 minutes in the freezing cold, lost the game and got asked one question - if they had asked him any other questions he would have answered them and frankly Hopkins should like the fact he looked as down as he did - maybe he cares
- Sybil - I mean Sag A - is depressed again
- While Loyola dominated the game and deserved to absolutely win - I think there are a couple things to hopefully hang your hat on to a degree. The Hopkins defense held up pretty well against a completely lopsided time of possession - yes Loyola was not slinging shots at the goal at every opportunity but 10 goals in that weather to that team in the second game of the season is acceptable. Also, Darby played OK. His counterpart played better but after 2 games his save % is at 56. I wasn't sure I'd ever see that.
- I also think the Epstein stuff is mostly nonsense as well. He practiced all week. My guess is the teammates on defense took it easy on him - no one wants to be the teammate that takes the best offensive player completely out for the year - and there was some some hope there that maybe should not have been. Clearly he got out there and couldn't handle the pace of a real game. And he got removed. About the only thing you could say is that maybe Petro should have shouldered some of the blame and said - yeah in hindsight we put him out there too soon. Instead he wove it into his narrative for the year about accountability and playing well - still that's pretty picky.
- As to specific reasons about the game - one stat I noticed that seemed to make a big difference to me is the starting 3 D for Loyola had 9 GBs the starting D for Hopkins had 3. When your team has 22 ground balls and Prouty, Forry Smith and Epstein for God's sake account for half of them you are in big trouble. Once again every 50/50 face-off went to the gang in green. 8 TOs in the first half - 2-8 face offs in the first half - 2 TOs from your EMO specialist his only stats for the game - they all add up to possession after possession, Throw in some suspect shooting - your two reputed offensive stars went 1 for 17 and 10 of those 17 shots were saved then you have what you have. A death by a thousand paper cuts

This team may be better defensively than last year - way too soon to tell - big time fire power is headed their way in the next many games but it is clear without the young man from Landon at top form they have offensive issues - the 1st/tied for 4th and 6th leading scorers from last year - 112 points - is either out for a while or done for the year because of knee injuries. No excuses next man up and all that but they are going to have to earn more and keep possession of the ball to hang in there.

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 12:05 pm

Sagittarius A* wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 9:19 am But he was way way outplayed by his counterpart for Loyola, who is also a Junior.

I don't know, this seems like grasping at straws to pin it on the goalie when in fact he was one of the only Blue Jays who played well enough to win that game. He's not competing against their goalie. He's competing against their shooters. He saved more shots than he allowed in. That at least gives you a shot. He did his job, for the most part (again, outlet passes continue to be a bit of an adventure). God knows I was hoping we'd have a new goalie this year but I'm not going to complain about 56% through two games.

loyola11 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:42 pm I am jumping over to the hopkins page to give you guys my opinion of hopkins.

Playing Epstein a huge mistake, looked like a hs player... could not move, turnovers, that was a coaching mistake

FO was handled by Savio.

GK, played well.

Middies, Zinn did not live up to the hype, he looked overwhelmed. Your middies overall are average.

EMO has alot to work on, 2 man up and you do not score.

You have alot to work on with your upcoming schedule... maybe 500 again this year

"Overwhelmed" is most definitely not the right word for Zinn's performance. He had a bad shooting day—still had more points than any Loyola middie.

While we're sharing opinions of one another—I don't think you should be very pleased with that performance from the Greyhounds. We may have been bad but that does not necessarily mean you were good. 20% offensive efficiency through two games (60th in the country). Good luck scoring against Army this year.

i agree with you, our middies are just as average... this has been my biggest complaint. They do not draw the double teams or rotate the defense. They run the alley well and passing is average. You begged 45 for us to shoot right handed and he could not even do it. We will be in for along season if we do not figure it out

what was the last great groundball Hopkins team?

The 1898 team was excellent. Sorry I don't have film on them.

NovaHound wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 5:15 pm I hate to say much or anything on a rivals site but many of your fans need to face a reality. You are still HOPKINS! Any kid playing this game beginning from a young age knows about Hopkins and would die to play there. Yeah, maybe it ain't the glory days anymore but your tradition is still there and every team, especially those players who didn't get a chance to suit up for the Blue Jays, gets up to play Hopkins. You guys bring out the best from any team you play. Just a fact.

Now maybe recruiting's been down a bit lately, and kids that wanted to play there feel snubbed. That's true. That's why they play hard against you. But you still get really good players and you have them on your team. I know most, if not every player, doesn't gives a damn about what Lax Power posters write, and don't even pay attention to it, but cut yourself some slack and give these young men a hand when they're down instead of beating the dump out of them.

Come on... I appreciate your knowledge and insight into the game and you might have a lot to add, but too many add too much. Just take care of business and you'll be fine. Wouldn't
be surprised to see you guys again later this year...at least I'm hoping for it. And please, don't pin it all on Epstein. He's hurt. He must have the hugest heart in the world to have gone out there yesterday. Thanks for letting me share.

Terrific post. Thank you, NovaHound.

DocBarrister

Lacrosse fans have the most intense display of manic-depressive symptoms of any fans I know. Geez. Two games in (with a .500 record) and the sky is falling according to some here. (on the Loyola page, we are also 1-1, having lost to the #1 (or #1A) team in the country, and some want to upend the entire starting lineup already )

Hop lost to a very good Loyola team. Hop is also very good this year.

I think your coach is done, but that's another matter. The kids play for themselves and their teammates, not the coach; the coach is useful (and sometimes needed) for weekday practice intensity, in-game strategy, and extra motivation leadership, but good teams can rise above even a bad coach.

These kids will find a way to win. They are too good to lay down their sticks.

I would dearly like to see Hopkins take it to UNC. In spite of their scores YTD, Carolina is not a team that Hopkins should fear.

I think Saturday made a couple things a little more clear:

1. The offense is a mess and has no reliable on-field leadership with Epstein injured. Won't win when our top 2 returning scorers record double bagels (but atleast Joey had an excuse). I don't want to single out kids but Cole Williams is the guy we need to step up right now and - while endlessly talented, it seems the book on his college career will be that for whatever reason he cannot be relied on to produce from game to game. It is frankly disappointing for a guy who is so physically imposing to disappear as frequently as he does and not have better learned to harness his powers in the 3.5 years he's been here. Would love it if he spent the rest of the season proving me wrong in his last year but the clock is ticking.

2. Darby and the defense played have improved and played well enough to win I think despite playing way too much defense (some of it their own making because another year and we can't clear again ). They kept the team in striking distance most of the day, if only the offense had shown up. That said, Loyola is not a terribly strong offense themselves at this point so the jury is still out. UNC should give us a real good barometer reading though.

thatsmell wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:44 am Consider the source.
He’s a “non-practitioner” in many fields.
Both as a doctor AND with lacrosse.

Farfromgeneva wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:48 am Are you saying it’s fake news?

I dont think it's fake news. Just opinion.
Opinion that comes from someone who lacks bonafides.

OCanada wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:00 pm Epstein was injured. Another of the top 6 missed as well ? Epstein is an elite player. By that I mean he can score north of 80 points and raise the overall production by 5 or more ppg. Loyola is a very good team. They won at home by 3. The home field differential. It was always going to be a close game.

Stanwick was a blue chip player but gosh he was underperforming. And ze coach ze coach. It’s like ze plane ze plane. No need to look at the obvious.

Did I miss the second coming of Del Dressel or Paul Rabil? I had hard time finding those 3-5 pts.

I know they covered the spread of PB. They also held LC to 10. So much for Wombat’s prognostication. Covered that too.

If Epstein can’t get healthy it going to be a long season. Second elite offensive key to suffer a major injury.

That’s two offensive injuries to pair with two self-inflicted injuries on the defensive end of the field.

I don’t recall making a prognostication on the LC score.

I thought Loyola would win, and they did. Same for this weekend. Carolina.

The one big prognostication that I made months and months ago was 4-9. That remains highly possible. I’ve seen even more signs of potential implosion since I made that comment.

And no, it’s not what I’m hoping for. I would love for my comments like that, and many similar comments around this thread by others, to be firmly proven WRONG. Maybe even inspiration and bulletin board material.

But for now, the band plays on... on the deck of the Titanic.

W

thatsmell wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 9:57 am

thatsmell wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:44 am Consider the source.
He’s a “non-practitioner” in many fields.
Both as a doctor AND with lacrosse.

Farfromgeneva wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:48 am Are you saying it’s fake news?

I dont think it's fake news. Just opinion.
Opinion that comes from someone who lacks bonafides.

Hi ts! Hope you are doing well.

Welcome to the dumpster fire, 2020 edition.

Could you remind us of how many Loyola players were out Saturday?

I think you were missing two from the D and one on O, and yet LC still got up 10-4, until Hopkins “won” the fourth quarter. (60 minute game though... oops).

Peter Brown wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 9:22 am Lacrosse fans have the most intense display of manic-depressive symptoms of any fans I know. Geez. Two games in (with a .500 record) and the sky is falling according to some here. (on the Loyola page, we are also 1-1, having lost to the #1 (or #1A) team in the country, and some want to upend the entire starting lineup already )

Hop lost to a very good Loyola team. Hop is also very good this year.

I think your coach is done, but that's another matter. The kids play for themselves and their teammates, not the coach; the coach is useful (and sometimes needed) for weekday practice intensity, in-game strategy, and extra motivation leadership, but good teams can rise above even a bad coach.

These kids will find a way to win. They are too good to lay down their sticks.

I would dearly like to see Hopkins take it to UNC. In spite of their scores YTD, Carolina is not a team that Hopkins should fear.

Most rabid sports fan should be on Lithium during the season. Euphoric one week then devitalized the next. As a very controversial coach once said "“You're never as good as you think you are when you win; and you're never as bad as you feel when you lose.”

Would love it if Darby can make the jump from making the saves he should to that plus the occasional "How the f did he do that!" save.
Williams really needs to be able to assert dominance consistently. I think these two factors alone elevate Hopkins to a "can fight with anyone" level. even without Epstein. Simplistic, I know, but tops on my wish list at this point.

a fan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:52 pmTheir shooting is WORSE than last year. And that's saying something.

Is it? Is it saying something? What it's saying is that they are missing two of their best shooters, one of whom is also the engine of the entire offense. When you take a 36% and a 31% shooter out of an offense that shot around 29% last year, do we think overall team shooting percentage goes up or down (and, again, the presence of one of those guys puts his teammates in better shooting positions)? What do we think folks? Might have to call in the researchers at APL for this one.

Regardless, you're talking about a two-game sample size, in which one bad shooting day by one player can seriously skew the team's numbers. Flatly saying the shooting is "worse than last year," based on two games, without acknowledging the gargantuan loss of the team's best offensive player (and another one of its perennial 30%+ shooters), is, what's the word? Oh yeah, stupid!

at johns hopkins there's always supposed to be more talent and kids who can play. depth. marr, concannon, epstein are nice players but we've also lost 27 or whatever it is games the last 4-5 years. zinn, connor, baskin, cole really need to become consistent quarter to quarter playmakers or this isn't going to work. Stagnitta has 25 games or whatever as a senior, they need something there.

stats through 2 games. 67th in ct, 57th in clearing, 55th in man up, 48th in assists per game, 50th in shooting percentage. The numbers like darby and prouty and that's about it.

https://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/ranking ... t_code=MLA

WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 10:06 am

thatsmell wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 9:57 am

thatsmell wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:44 am Consider the source.
He’s a “non-practitioner” in many fields.
Both as a doctor AND with lacrosse.

Farfromgeneva wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:48 am Are you saying it’s fake news?

I dont think it's fake news. Just opinion.
Opinion that comes from someone who lacks bonafides.

Hi ts! Hope you are doing well.

Welcome to the dumpster fire, 2020 edition.

Could you remind us of how many Loyola players were out Saturday?

I think you were missing two from the D and one on O, and yet LC still got up 10-4, until Hopkins “won” the fourth quarter. (60 minute game though... oops).

We were missing 3 guys that were expected contributors. 2 Defenders and 1 attackman.

Matt Hughes and Cam Wyers were both out on defense. Hughes was expected to start this year on defense but is still rehabbing a knee. So not a surprise, but we hope to get him back soon to bolster our depth on defense. Cam Wyers started on defense last week against UVA but was held out due to team rules infraction. He should be back next week against Rutgers. Ross Pridemore also played last week against UVA and is vying for that 3rd attackman slot. I believe he was another team rules infraction. He too should be back for RU and is a talented box finisher. Hope those kids are on board now, cause we could use them and the train is moving- with or without em!

Last exceptional Hopkins goalie? Schwartzman?

nrthcrosslax wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:07 am Last exceptional Hopkins goalie? Schwartzman?

Bassett

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 10:28 am

a fan wrote: ↑Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:52 pmTheir shooting is WORSE than last year. And that's saying something.

Is it? Is it saying something? What it's saying is that they are missing two of their best shooters, one of whom is also the engine of the entire offense. When you take a 36% and a 31% shooter out of an offense that shot around 29% last year, do we think overall team shooting percentage goes up or down (and, again, the presence of one of those guys puts his teammates in better shooting positions)? What do we think folks? Might have to call in the researchers at APL for this one.

Regardless, you're talking about a two-game sample size, in which one bad shooting day by one player can seriously skew the team's numbers. Flatly saying the shooting is "worse than last year," based on two games, without acknowledging the gargantuan loss of the team's best offensive player (and another one of its perennial 30%+ shooters), is, what's the word? Oh yeah, stupid!

While your reasoning on the 'why' is sound, I think a fan was simply saying that 29% was miserable...and 26.5% is worse.
No more or less than that.

TheBigIguana wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:22 am

nrthcrosslax wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:07 am Last exceptional Hopkins goalie? Schwartzman?

Bassett

I was wondering if anyone would put him up there.