A small trip down memory lane
May 2022
"And I didn't see Cornell making any effort to hold onto Milliman. They just let him walk and ended up with the better coach.
He can't recruit and he sucks as a coach. Unless he wins the NC there's not way he gets a contract extension.
If I were him, I'd be looking for a new home ASAP."
May 2022
"
I think it's safe to say Peter Milliman is the worst coach in the history of Hopkins lacrosse, reinforced be back-to-back seasons out of playoff contention. It wasn't just that he didn't make the playoffs, he wasn't even in contention. He has no five-star recruits in the next two classes. The article about his hiring is the poster for how not to hire a coach.
When Debbie Yow was out looking for a replacement for Cottle, she asked around and listened to coaches about who to hire. I don't think lacrosse was even a sport she was all that familiar with, but she listened to people and got the very best coach out there. Hiring your buddy from Cornell after ZOOM interviews has turned into an utter disaster. Milliman's "holier than thou", "my way or the highway approach" has sent the program into a tailspin. I don't care how he came up, or what dues he's paid, it's clear he's a FCJ. IT's going to be impossible to get top-tier transfers now while other BIG teams load up on them. Hopkins lax is seriously behind the eight ball now and it's Jen Baker's fault.
We have gotten rid of other coaches before. We will get rid of PM."
September, 2022
"If I were him I'd probably be looking for an exit strategy before his contract expires. Fading into the background and allowing the team to improve is, I think, the best option for him at this point."
October 2022
"I'm sorry, but that was like the lamest article ever. It took PM three years to explain to the team the importance of running out potential shots.
I can recall vividly Chic screaming to an attackman from across the field during practice " Did you have a shot? Did you have a shot?"
Woke era=losers
Thank you Jen Baker"
This little unrelated gem from October 2022
Ground balls and face-offs aren't as important as you think.
Here's one of the best from November, 2022
"Many things are commonly believed that are totally false. I could generate a long list here but it's beyond the scope of this forum.
IL has not been far off in predicting Hop's standing recently, so dismissing them completely doesn't seem sound.
So let's see in May who's right. Foy is (effectively) predicting a similar losing record as last year (Hop lost some pieces, got some replacements, it's a push) and you are (I assume) predicting a brighter future, say some kind of winning record, maybe 8-6, or 9-5 regular season.
So let's revisit this conversation in May.
Hint * get your excuses ready LOL"
Another November, 2022 classic
Coaches: This is easy. Reality: We have no idea what we're doing.
It's hard to watch a team with really bad fundamentals. First rule in sports: Don't beat yourself.
I have other issues as well. On top of that I don't think the HC really gives a damn one way or the other to be honest.
So, sorry, not optimistic.
A great one after the schedule came out
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
And on to Feb
I think we can safely conclude now that this Hopkins schedule is moronic. The debate is over on that point. It wasn’t the sole cause of the losses to UNC and Loyola, but it didn’t help. And I don’t think we can exclude the possibility that it may have contributed to some injuries.
So IMHO - the team and staff have no need for you. We can all be wrong about things - For example, I was completely wrong about what goalie they would start but at least some rational thought went into the prediction and then I said I missed it by a mile. You should slink off into the background and not be heard from.
Sagittarius A* wrote: ↑Wed Apr 19, 2023 8:23 am
The thing about Hopkins lacrosse is not playing the toughest schedule, it's making the playoffs and going deep in the playoffs. Back in the day, the team may have only played 2-3 tough games a year. Hopkins lacrosse is about championships and to do that you have to make the playoffs. We had a 40+ year streak of making the playoffs until RD intervened.
What are you talking about? The difference in the "Back in the day era" such as the mid 80s there were only a few programs that were truly relevant - only Cornell/UVA/MD/Hopkins/UNC and Syracuse had won titles by 1985 - IN 1985 Hopkins played every single one of them except Cornell in the regular season. In 1984 - starting with UVA - Hopkins played the #3/#3/#5/#9/#8/#6/#15/#8/#5/#1 ranked teams (at the time) in order to go undefeated and win the title.
Look, there's a reasonable off season discussion to be had about scheduling philosophy. I have said befiore that I see some benefits to playing a game or two where you have a reasonable expectation there is more firepower on your side of the field - the primary one being you hopefully get to play everyone and they remain or are more engaged. For example, even though they are going up to Easton this year - UVA will likely handle the 5-8 Leopards next Tuesday and maybe by a sizable margin - it seems like Lars schedules a game like that at the end of every year - in the title year of 19 they tacked on VMI and Marist at the end of the season - scored over 20 in both. Duke famously does the no scrimmages max amount of game events and throws in a couple where they might go in knowing they have more talent. The biggest drawback to the Hopkins schedule in my opinion is that it took until the next to last game of the year to play over 30 players. All that being said all the credit to the HEAD COACH - not the volunteer aassistant for correctly identifying that RPI is one of the committee's KING criteria and creating a schedule that puts Hopkins in the forefront of that metric.