LaxPower Back-Up Stick

Unmentioned so far (I think): being on the better side of FOWP than your opponent can mean you are playing less defense. With a very lopsided FOWP, that can mean a lot less defense.

Not as important with the shot clock, but still, in the heat of May, you don’t want your D tuckering out.

Put it another way: if it were a nut kicking contest, would you really want to say “you go first”?

GSP wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 9:15 am Johns Hopkins fails to crack the Inside Lacrosse Top 20 with undefeated Princeton and Syracuse on the immediate horizon.

Now, Quint, one of Dave's most obsequious boosters, fails to even rank them as well. Could that be DP's, Walter Cronkite, "The war is now unwinnable" moment?"

Very sad indeed.

Why should the team be in the top 20? They've been blown out in 2 games and beat a team that is likely going to one of the worst DI teams this year. Loyola is average for them. UNC is good but not great. Outside of riding and EMO, UNC looked decent. Every other team UNC faces will be able to handle the ride and not give up a ton of penalties.

Further, Hopkins man down looked awful. UNC's EMO is effective but Hopkins gave up 3 of their EMO goals in less 20 seconds of UNC offensive possession (I'm counting the 2nd goal in the unreleaseable penalty against Degnon as under 20 seconds because there was a face-off scrum). UNC scored one EMO goal in 7 seconds on the cut by Cook, which is really unexcusable. The ball hadn't even been rotated once for the man down unit to be that far off one of UNC's best players.

I doubt other teams will let Cary go off and will actually figure out that throwing out a zone once in awhile might be a good idea to throw UNC off. None of UNC's players scream bomber from outside that will make it a requirement that they should play man-to-man.

I've never understood why anyone cares what Q the K bleats about...???

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 9:34 am Having said that, yes, there is clearly something not working right now. The whole thing shouldn't fall apart when your best player is hurt.

Maybe it should fall apart - Just look at the stats from last year - Epstein had 70 odd points no one else was close. I don't know whether it's the players coaches or both but the horses aren't likely to get the job done. With the exception of Degnon - who has been an unbelievable surprise - what else does Hopkins have - this is not meant to throw anyone - player or coach under the bus but these are facts about the starting line-up:

Smith - Except for his somewhat lost soph season he's probably going to average around 18-22 goals per season - that's just OK - avg 1.3 gpg so far - he's right on his money line

Williams - high volume shooter - one of the few dodging threats from the attack spot - off to a slightly better start than last year but still misses the cage and has shots saved with an all too glaring frequency - Without looking to the stat sheets - might get near 100 goals - as a fan watching him play up close in high school I had higher hopes - 6 goals 25% shooting - Meh

Baskin - 2 goals this year on 17% shooting - what's the total starting his junior year (probably something like 33/34 games) - has it reached 20? -

DeSimone - So I know this math better - 16/4/4 -24 goals in 33 games - shot % is way up - good and bad - he's only taking about 3-4 shots per game

Zinn - 4 goals and a 15% shot percentage. Goalies have made 8 saves compared to the 4 that have gone by them.

There you have it

None of this unfortunately is an unbelievable revelation - no one - with the glaring exception of Degnon is measurably better than last year - even with Zinn don't see incredible development - I just see way more opportunity. To quote Denny Green within his famous rant "they are who we thought they were"

Murphy and Angelus to date are the back-up quarterback fan darlings - we can have those visions of sugar plums of Murphy sniping corners and Angelus outquicking defenders for shots or assists but those right now live in a fantasy world not the real world. Otherwise with Keogh and Concannon sidelined there is no one else.

Hopkins did not have consecutive goals against Carolina and only had one instance against Loyola IIRC - in part i think that's because we are not winning face-offs or are not retaining possession after a "win" with the regularity hoped for

GSP wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 9:15 am Johns Hopkins fails to crack the Inside Lacrosse Top 20 with undefeated Princeton and Syracuse on the immediate horizon.

Now, Quint, one of Dave's most obsequious boosters, fails to even rank them as well. Could that be DP's, Walter Cronkite, "The war is now unwinnable" moment?"

Very sad indeed.

They don't belong in the T20. Last two losses were routs, and the only win is looking less impressive by the week.

-40th or worse in the country in every category except faceoffs, saves, and turnovers. Aside from Prouty and degnon no one has played well this year.
https://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/ranking ... dividual=T
-I don't know quint personally. I don't think he has an agenda and I'm fine w/his work. dixon referred to Hopkins as "we" several times in his broadcast.
-they've won one ncaa tournament game at homewood since the clc went up. maryland women won 2 last spring.
-if there's accountability we're seeing some different faces on the field next weekend. start with mcmanus, connor, baskin.
-mcmanus, lyne, colwell, reinson, jaronski-16 gbs, 8 turnovers. Lyne has started 3 games he has 1 gb.

51percentcorn wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 10:53 am Murphy and Angelus to date are the back-up quarterback fan darlings - we can have those visions of sugar plums of Murphy sniping corners and Angelus outquicking defenders for shots or assists but those right now live in a fantasy world not the real world.

Visions of sugar plums? They both literally scored on their first shots of the season—both unassisted off dodges against shorties. I don't think it's a giant stretch to think maybe they could be productive with more opportunity.

They have both matched Baskin in points on probably less than a third of the playing time (certainly in Angelus' case). Everything we know about Jacob Angelus is that he scores points. He did it in high school against good competition. He did it in preseason scrimmages. And pretty much the instant he's allowed to touch the ball in a real game, he did it. Perhaps the staff should join us in the sugar plum fairy world.

I don't get how they don't immediately go back to those plays. It's like they take note of it—"Ok, these guys can beat their man and score"—and then...move on? Put it in the bank to accumulate interest? Save it for later?

DMac wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:16 pm Cuse is 5-0 on face offs, Army is ahead 4-1. Is that context? Cuse was behind pretty much the whole game while dominating at the X. That's not all that unusual in lacrosse.
There were a whole lot of people making a whole lot of noise about TD Ierlan a couple of years back, no? Gonna win a NC if you've got TD...well, maybe not.

If you have TD and are already outstanding at other facets of the game (Yale - offense and defense) then getting more possessions won't hurt. However, if the other facets of the game have weaknesses - it certainly diminishes the success at the X.

CU77 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:27 pm

Jhu99 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 22, 2020 3:38 pmHire Metzbower

OK, I'll say something about Hopkins. The above is the dumbest idea yet on this thread. Hire a guy who's never been a HC to learn on the job at Hopkins? Totally insane. Nadelen is a much better idea.

Nadelen, Marr (probably wouldn't leave Albany) or Seth Tierney. While Hofstra may not have done much under Tierney (they didn't do much under Danowski either) I truly believe that the turning point for this program was the day he left the program. The offense he left behind (2007) was the last that was truly consistent and competitive, despite no measurable drop in recruiting over the last 12 years.

viper wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:31 am

CU77 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:27 pm

Jhu99 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 22, 2020 3:38 pmHire Metzbower

OK, I'll say something about Hopkins. The above is the dumbest idea yet on this thread. Hire a guy who's never been a HC to learn on the job at Hopkins? Totally insane. Nadelen is a much better idea.

Nadelen, Marr (probably wouldn't leave Albany) or Seth Tierney. While Hofstra may not have done much under Tierney (they didn't do much under Danowski either) I truly believe that the turning point for this program was the day he left the program. The offense he left behind (2007) was the last that was truly consistent and competitive, despite no measurable drop in recruiting over the last 12 years.

Or maybe it had something to do with the Rabil, Huntley, Byrne (the list goes on) all graduating.

Tierney's offenses at Hofstra have been anemic. They haven't made an NCAA tournament since 2011.

You want offense? I'd be looking at what Hop alum Greg Raymond is doing at Hobart right now.

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:39 am

viper wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:31 am

CU77 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:27 pm

Jhu99 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 22, 2020 3:38 pmHire Metzbower

OK, I'll say something about Hopkins. The above is the dumbest idea yet on this thread. Hire a guy who's never been a HC to learn on the job at Hopkins? Totally insane. Nadelen is a much better idea.

Nadelen, Marr (probably wouldn't leave Albany) or Seth Tierney. While Hofstra may not have done much under Tierney (they didn't do much under Danowski either) I truly believe that the turning point for this program was the day he left the program. The offense he left behind (2007) was the last that was truly consistent and competitive, despite no measurable drop in recruiting over the last 12 years.

Or maybe it had something to do with the Rabil, Huntley, Byrne (the list goes on) all graduating.

Tierney's offenses at Hofstra have been anemic. They haven't made an NCAA tournament since 2011.

You want offense? I'd be looking at what Hop alum Greg Raymond is doing at Hobart right now.

Yes they did graduate talent, but by the same right we have had top recruits like Ryan Brown, several Stanwicks, John Ranagan, Joel Tinney, etc replace them. In Ranagan's case it's even more interesting to me that he never fulfilled his potential at Hopkins, but certainly seemed to after he graduated as a pro.

Regarding the offenses at Hofstra - they were never great under Danowski either. However after moving to Duke he doesn't seem to have any issues. As a result I'll give Tierney the handicap of where he is, where it's a tough recruiting sell to begin with.

Blame who you like but I think it is pretty hard to point to a spot on the field and say it isn't broken in some form right now. Do we do anything well?

Greg Raymond is an interesting name that has been bouncing around my head the last few years.

Danowski had some really good teams in the late 90s and early 2000's at Hofstra that got the short end of the NCAA stick a few times (2002 to mind very clearly - the last year before the tournament expanded to 16).

You can have buy in and accountability all you want but what if you just aren't exceptionally talented? Is any D coordinator really worried about anyone other than Williams, now possibly Degnon, and hoping car 32 stays in the garage?

Catbird wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:49 am Greg Raymond is an interesting name that has been bouncing around my head the last few years.

That’s a first class guy. Good call.

Typical Lax Dad wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:51 am

Catbird wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:49 am Greg Raymond is an interesting name that has been bouncing around my head the last few years.

That’s a first class guy. Good call.

I gotta think he would prefer the Baltimore winters.

HopFan16 getting it right again. Seth Tierney is not the answer. Hofstra is consistently at the bottom of D1 in scoring. His teams always play great defense, but if you are looking for offensive production, he is not the answer.

I have a hard time believing that Petro will be gone from Hopkins, but if he is ousted I like the idea of Greg Raymond. Terrific coach who gets the most out of his players. He was a great defensive coach at Princeton back in the day as well. My $.02

I would volunteer Coach Nadelen for this position too. But only in order to get him out of the CAA.

Henpecked wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:54 am I have a hard time believing that Petro will be gone from Hopkins, but if he is ousted I like the idea of Greg Raymond. Terrific coach who gets the most out of his players. He was a great defensive coach at Princeton back in the day as well. My $.02

We can debate the details to death, but it appears clear to me that the program needs a change if only to recalibrate the mood around it.

HopFan16 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:17 am They have both matched Baskin in points on probably less than a third of the playing time (certainly in Angelus' case). Everything we know about Jacob Angelus is that he scores points. He did it in high school against good competition. He did it in preseason scrimmages. And pretty much the instant he's allowed to touch the ball in a real game, he did it. Perhaps the staff should join us in the sugar plum fairy world.

I don't get how they don't immediately go back to those plays. It's like they take note of it—"Ok, these guys can beat their man and score"—and then...move on? Put it in the bank to accumulate interest? Save it for later?

I agree for the most part with you. The way I would put it - as a junior Brett Baskin is less than likely to be part of a Hopkins resurgence. He is what he is. He's going to likely get you 10-13 goals a year performing mainly invert dodges when picks get him matched on a shortstick or the long stick is late getting through the pick. That's not a bad thing but it's a second mid-field thing. It's not a starting attack or first mid-field thing. Murphy and Angelus may have a chance to be part of something over the next 3 years. Time to start the process - live with whatever mistakes they'll make.

Voelker, Boyle, Durkin

Thoughts?

Voelker has been around at Drexel for a 11 years now, and Penn for a few before that (he coached them in 2006 when they came here for the NCAA I recall)? Drexel came close in 2014 but he never really had that year that put him on the map as a household name. Not sure he is the right guy since they may want someone a little younger who could be around for a while.

No thanks to Boyle and Durkin at this date - need more experience.