My UW Hoops Screed
Two preliminary assumptions:
1. People care about UW hoops.
2. All the kids are wonderful people, and my scathing criticism does not imply that any of them are bad people.
I have NO idea how Hopkins assembles this group of players and then plays the style of basketball that we're forced to watch week after week. It's God damn painful to watch.
Mulcahy: I like this guy. For the olds, I think he could be the UW equivalent of the Sonic's Johnny Johnson. Point forward, who can give you 10 points a night, but more importantly, 10 assists a night, 6 or 7 rebounds that he has no business getting and 3 or 4 steals just based on the fact that he clearly understands the game. I'd love to see the offense run through him at the elbows/high post. However, Hopkins parks the guy at the 3-point line (and he's a shitty shooter from that range) and lets him try to figure out what in the sam-hell Wheeler is trying to do on offense. Mulcahy is about as mis-matched to our shit-show offense (and I use that term loosely) as any player in college hoops.
Wheeler: Complete mystery as a point guard. He'll put up a great stat line and if you're on the other team, you're happy as hell that he's NOT on your squad. For every great play, he'll give you a head-scratcher that comes out of nowhere. Career wise, he's got a bunch of assists, but I'd love to know how many of those were to guys on the perimeter who hit wide open 3's after he drew the defense to him as opposed to how many of those were passes on the interior when a big man bailed him out on one of his out of control drives that seem to happen with such randomness that I'm positive his perimeter shooters are as surprised by his penetration as the defense is (sorry for the run-on sentence).
Brooks: Elite (hat tip to Fudgie) athlete. Every time I see him, I think "why is this guy not Matisse Thybulle with better offense"? Disappears for long stretches of the game and NEVER asserts himself on the defensive end of the floor. If he's gonna' play at the next level (which he's not), he oughta' be a defensive stopper that can actually score from time to time. I think he's good, not great, but in our system he just sorta' floats around, with the occasional burst to remind you that he's on the floor and can take over a game, then, he disappears again.
Meah: 7-footer that plays like he's 6'2, and he's regressing. If you watch him, on either end of the floor, every time a shot goes up, he takes one or two steps TOWARD the hoop, which instantly makes him out of position for rebounds that he should easily get. He can't react to anything that comes off the rim that isn't right in his hands because he's so deep under the basket. It's a horrible habit that is going to be very hard to break. He's a step slow on offense and defense, again, because he doesn't seem to realize how big he is. He never establishes position and holds it and makes guys work around him, instead, he's constantly "chasing" everything.
Johnson: When I see him, I think of Venoy Overton (minus the strong pimp-hand) with better offense. He's inconsistent, helter-skelter (not always in a good way) and not a very good passer, but he definitely has a role on this team because he appears to be one of the few guys that actually wants to prove something when he's on the floor. I don't necessarily like his game, but if you gave him a role that was clearly defined (create chaos) in limited scenarios, I think he has a lot of value.
Wood: I like his game, but he clearly has no idea what Hopkins expects him to do out there. We all know he's supposed to spot-up and shoot (and make) 3's, but when was the last time you saw UW run any sorta set/quick-hitter to get him a look? Never? I can count how many times Wheeler has drawn the defense and kicked to him on one hand. Every clean look he gets seems to be an accident or an after-thought. So, if you're Wood, what do you do? Float and HOPE that someone gets you the ball, or try to be more active on offense? If you're more active, you probably just get in Wheeler's way and you STILL don't get a clean look.
If you gave me this bunch of guys, I'd use our depth to full court/half court press more often and try to create transition opportunities for Wheeler or Brooks. If I had to run a half-court offense, it would go through Mulcahy at mid-range. I'd show Brooks about 10 hours of tape on Thybulle and tell him that if he wants to play at the next level, that's what he's gotta' do and I'd try to motivate him to be a difference maker on the defensive end and let that transition to his offense. I'd turn Johnson loose from time to time and let him ball hawk/improvise on defense to try to change pace and generate offense out of his defense. I don't know what I'd do with Meah, as I'm not sure what he adds to the other 4 guys you have on the floor at any given time.
I'll stop now.
I know ... TLDR ... I just had to vent.
