 |
| (above) The Baltimore Sun blog notes that Hopkins lost to DU because their players weren't excited about playing Denver |
By the numbers, Johns Hopkins, not Denver, should have advanced to the Final Four at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday.
As coach Dave Pietramala correctly noted, the Blue Jays were superiors in areas like shots (36-29), ground balls (31-23) and faceoffs (16-of-27). So why did #3 Johns Hopkins fall, 14-9, to the #6 Pioneers in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal at Hofstra University’s James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y., on Saturday?
“I don’t think our team gave them the level of respect they deserved,” Pietramala said. “Why that is, I don’t know. I’ve seen us play other teams, and you come out of the locker room and you get a feel for your team. You watch your team practice, you watch your team warm up, and I just don’t think that we as a group gave them the respect that they deserved. And that’s a shame because we allowed an opportunity to slip by us.”
Asked to elaborate on that lack of respect, Pietramala began his answer by asking the reporter if he had any children.
“I can tell you from experience, kids understand certain things,” said Pietramala, the father of seven-year-old twin boys. “They understand Syracuse. They understand Virginia. They understand Carolina. They understand Maryland. Teams that have won championships. This was a new team for us. I’m telling you that when we got on the plane [after scouting Denver’s 13-10 victory over Villanova in the first round on May 15], we walked away like, ‘Wow.’ [Coach Bill Tierney] inherited a very talented team, but what I would say is, what a magnificent job they’ve done as a staff of actually making them a team. … Listen, I know my team. I know the feel of our locker room. There are no excuses. We got beat, and we should’ve prepared better. Shoot, if you want to blame anybody, blame me. I’m the head coach. That’s the way it goes. But I didn’t feel like we had that little extra something that we’ve had in some other games. I can’t attribute it to our guys not caring. They do care. If you know the things we’ve dealt with this year and the way they’ve done things, I can’t say they did not care. I just don’t think we played with the level of respect that maybe we should have, and that’s our fault.”
14 comments:
Snobs.
Hopkins got mauled.
Go DU
Would have been one thing if it was a couple goals, but 6 goal runs and leads means DU deserved every bit of it. The lacrosse world is obviously still unsure how to handle the idea that a team like Denver is competitive.
I'm trying to recall the words from a Frank Zappa song: You're breaking my heart, you're tearing it apart, so bleep you.
Old Pio quoting Frank Zappa. Impressive. :-)
Final Four is set.
Duke, Maryland, Virginia & DU.
Three ACC schools plus DU. Wow.
With Maryland making it, I can see a big turnout.
Hope DU has enough tickets for Pio fans who want to be there.
I think Hopkins overlooking DU and the Pios bitch-slapping Hopkins is going to make UVA very respectful of DU next week.
The Pios will have their work cut out for them going up against ACC foes in ACC country.
That said, we may pick up a few fans from Princeton, Syracuse, Cornell and Hopkins for representing the non ACC teams.
Also can't imagine that Maryland fans will cheer for Virginia.
DU will be massive underdogs yet again.
"Also can't imagine that Maryland fans will cheer for Virginia."
And we won't be rooting for Duke either!
This Maryland fan would be more than happy to see Denver and Maryland in the final.
But the Terp's cannot look past Duke as they are a good team and will be a tough win. The Terp's can certainly beat Duke and I know I hope they do.
Denver beating Virginia would be a sweet thing to see as well.
Here's hoping for a Denver vs. Maryland final!
Beating Virgina would be huge.
DU has never beaten Maryland and we've certainly never played them in front of 40-60,000 Marylanders.
Then again, beating Duke twice in a season is no picnic, either,
Honestly, I just happy DU is dancing.
"...Tierney is a heck of a coach and he has a very young squad. Denver was the clearly superior team and they frankly play the game the way it should be played. Schools on the East coast have been served notice...there's a new sheriff in town..."
From the Sun blog.
Good stuff indeed. Go Pioneers!
There will be a new sheriff in Baltimore...His name is Boone.
Fear the Turtle!
Go TERPS!!!!!
Call the Whahhhhhmbulance!!!!!!!!!!!!
Post a Comment