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Mike 'Dead Man Walking' Hopkins...Why Is He Still Leading The MBB Program???
ChillyDawg
Member Posts: 1,469
It only took the UW 13 games to fire Jimmy Lake while Mike Hopkins has been destroying the UW MBB program for the past two seasons...what gives?
Mike Hopkins was a pushup hire suggested by some very powerful boosters over at the Tyee Club and former players that wanted to turn the UW MBB program into Syracuse West by hiring a 22 year career assistant coach to lead the way.
Mike Hopkins had never been a head coach before at any level outside of taking over for Jim Boheim when he was suspeneded by the NCAA and went 4-5 with a Syracuse team that would eventually make the Final Four.
Mike Hopkins looked good coaching Romar's recruits but ever since he had to get off of the LoRo lifeboat he has been atrocious coaching his own recruits recruited by him to play in his outdated 2-3 zone defensive system and who knows what he is running on offense going into his fifth year coaching at Montlake. The only thing Hopkins has seemingly changed this season is mixing in more man to man defense and full court pressure. The offense is still mostly based on one on one particulars. Hopkins only knows one way to coach especially on defense he's married to the 2-3 zone defense.
Mike Hopkins basketball acumen is severely lacking as is his ability to make in game and half time adjustments in real time. A critical thinking coach is able to design a complete system on both ends of the court best suited to his players strengths. Last season he wanted a three point shooting offense (30 attempts per game) despite not having a good three point shooting team. Who does that?
Mike Hopkins can't manage the program properly either word to Quade Green (academics) and Naz Carter (sexual assault allegation cover up).
Also, after 4 seasons leading the program who has Mike Hopkins developed in the program during his tenure? Naz Carter? Hameir Wright? Jamal Bey? Nate Roberts? Cole Bajema? Riley Sorn? Elijah Hardy? Bryan Penn-Johnson? Marcus Tsohonis? RaeQuan Battle? Nate Pryor? Erik Stevenson?
Mike Hopkins has had a high roster turnover with no roster continuity going into year five at Montlake. Mike Hopkins two best players this season (Terrell Brown, Daejon Davis) are just like one and dones so many people complained about as they will be gone next season.
It only took Jen Cohen two days to hire Hopkins https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2017/03/timeline_of_mike_hopkins_hiring_washington_acted_swiftly_to_pluck_sus_coach_in_w.html after she backstabbed LoRo after promising Romar the upcoming season to coach his highly touted recruiting class before making a decision on his coaching future at the UW.
Btw- didn't Mike Hopkins come over from a dirty NCAA sanction program in Syracuse https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2015/3/9/8166543/syracuse-ncaa-scandal-explained-jim-boeheim where he feigned ignorance to NCAA investigators concerning the related particulars despite, in his own words, being very involved with the players both on and off of the court? Is this the type of individual that people want to lead the UW MBB program, represent the University?
I don't know why the UW hired an assistant lap dog coach from a dirty NCAA program...that's on Jen Cohen and her fascination with hotel room interview pushups.
Comments
NIU 6,356 https://gohuskies.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/northern-illinois/boxscore/20065
NAU 6,297 https://gohuskies.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/northern-arizona/boxscore/20066
TSU 5,315 https://gohuskies.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021-22/texas-southern/boxscore/20067
Lots of empty seats all around the arena...tonight even the DawgPack has many empty seats- how much longer will this be allowed to go on under Mike Hopkins?
SI https://www.si.com/college/washington/basketball/nobody-saw-it-but-huskies-hold-off-texas-southern
Nobody Saw it, But Huskies Hold Off Texas Southern...
Smallish crowd watches the UW win its second game in three outings.
It's hard to differentiate University of Washington basketball opponents these days, with Texas Southern, Northern Arizona and Northern Illinois coming from all directions to fill out the non-conference schedule.
For Husky fans, it seems if you've seen one of these geographically christened teams, you've seen them all.
On Monday night, the local disinterest was evident as a crowd barely numbering 1,500 sat through another rugged early-season encounter, watching the UW beat Texas Southern 72-65 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
While much has been made about the Huskies redoing their roster with a bunch of Seattle guys who grew up together — and they do seem to enjoy each other's basketball company — this is still a program that needs to go a long way in winning back their fans.
It took PJ, one of the locals who was called home and a onetime Texas guy at that after playing for TCU, to put the Huskies ahead for good at 58-56 with his 3-pointer right of the key. The UW let the Tigers hang around far too long, but that shot seemed to take the air out of them some.
"PJ hung that shot," said teammate Terrell Brown, the Arizona transfer. "We believe in him. We want to be confident in his shot."
Mike Hopkins' team improved to 2-1, which may not sound like much, until considering the UW finished 5-21 last season. They're nearly halfway to their previous win total.
The Huskies, in coming out of a pandemic-restricted season, no matter who they played for last year, said basketball is starting to look familiar to them again.
"It's great to get back out there and play with competition and fans back," said guard Daejon Davis, a Stanford transfer. "There's a lot of moving parts. We haven't had a real season in about a year and a half."
The maroon-shirted Tigers fell to 0-3 on their four-game Western swing, with only a stop at Air Force in Colorado Springs, remaining. If it's any indication where the UW stands right now after its 7-point win, Texas Southern came up short to Oregon by 17 and to St. Mary's by 9.
"It wasn't pretty, but we found a way to beat a good basketball team," Hopkins said.
The Huskies methodically ran their weave to death, often settling for a short-range jumper from Brown, Davis and now Jamal Bey, with the latter player now looking for his shot more. It works.
Brown led the Huskies with 20 points, while Davis chipped in 15, Fuller had 11 and Bey added 10. Yes, they share the ball. Brown interestingly had all of the UW's 9 assists, too, which was one more than Texas Southern.
Hopkins didn't as substitute much as these teams were never more than four points apart in the opening half and never separated by more than seven all evening.
The coach just left it up to his top six or seven players to shoulder the load and grit out the victory, once more putting them in a late press to unsettle the opponent. Hopkins also got 7 points and 7 rebounds from junior-college transfer Langston Wilson, a high-flying player who's been a little sore lately from landing on the floor in games and in practice.
The UW got beat bad on the boards, 53-29, giving up 29 offensive rebounds alone, but they made up for it by creating 21 turnovers and committing just 11.
"The coach was challenging us," Davis said. "We won with toughness."
The Huskies play Wyoming — with no Northern or Southern designation on the opposing jersey this time — on Thursday night at home, with hopefully a few more fans in the seats for the 8 p.m. tipoff and what should be their toughest opponent yet.
That being said, Brandon Roy, who has a PhD in basketball, would be a very solid choice as the next head basketball coach for the UW as he would lift the UW MBB program's profile nationwide while restoring local interest in the program from both supporters and recruits. Recruiting would boom especially if the UW completes its new basketball facilities. As long as he hires an experienced staff to support him I don't see any issues with any potential hiring of BRoy to lead the program.
We all seen how BRoy turned Nathan Hale HS into a State and National HS Champion after being a Metro doormat program in only one season by attracting top flight players (Michael Porter Jr, Jontay Porter, PJ Fuller, MarJon Beauchamp, Freddie Brown III) to his program. Players want to play for BRoy.
Penny Hardaway went from HS to coaching Memphis and Memphis has three consecutive twenty win seasons under his leadership going into season four under Hardaway coaching their program.
CP: Roberts (R-SR), Sorn (R-SR)
PF: Wilson (SR), Grant (SO), Ariyibi (SO)
SF: Bajema (SR), Linhardt (FR)
SG: Fuller (SR)
PG: Penn (JR), Johnson (FR), Menifield (FR)
That potential roster would most likely be projected as another very weak team UW MBB team under Mike Hopkins who has shown that he can not develop nor coach up talent.
If both Bey and Mathews return to the UW then the 2022-23 UW MBB roster would most likely look something like this:
CP: Roberts (R-SR), Grant (SO), Sorn (R-SR)
PF: Matthews (5th SR), Wilson (SR), Ariyibi (SO)
SF: Bey (5th SR), Bajema (SR), Linhardt (FR)
SG: Fuller (SR)
PG: Penn (JR), Johnson (FR), Menifield (FR)
Still a very lackluster roster with very little upside to excite the UW MBB fanbase and supporters.
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/up-and-down-husky-mens-basketball-team-still-figuring-out-recipe-for-winning/#comments
After a 2-1 showing this week at the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Washington men’s basketball team regained a little bit of confidence in a suspect offense that began the round-robin tournament ranked among the worst shooting teams in the country.
Before Monday’s tournament opener, the Huskies shot 33.3% on field goals, including 24.1% on three-pointers (19 of 79) and 65.6% on free throws, which largely explains why they compiled a disappointing 2-2 record in four nonconference home games.
In their next two outings, Washington converted 48.1% of its shots and was 21 of 28 at the line in a 77-74 win over George Mason. The next night, UW was a sizzling 58.3% on field goals, including 10 of 22 on 3’s, in an 87-76 win over South Dakota State.
However, in keeping with their early two-steps-forward-one-step-back pattern, the Huskies regressed Wednesday during an 81-62 loss to Nevada, shooting 37.3% from the floor and converting 9 of 17 free throws (52.9%).
“We saw what the recipe for winning is for us, and we saw what the recipe for losing is for us,” coach Mike Hopkins said. “That’s why you play in these tournaments. You play to learn a lot about your team.”
Since James Naismith invented basketball in 1891, good-to-average shooting teams are more likely to beat average-to-bad shooting teams, which is a hoops truism that’s seemingly going to present a problem for the Huskies.
Heading into Saturday’s 7 p.m. nonconference matchup against Winthrop (2-3) at Alaska Airlines Arena (Pac-12 Network), Washington (4-3) still has several issues to resolve on offense.
Hopkins and the UW staff should be commended for luring Seattle native Terrell Brown Jr. back home after a year with the Arizona Wildcats and giving him the keys to the offense.
The former Garfield High product who also played two years at Seattle University has been an early breakout star, entering this weekend’s games ranked first in the Pac-12 and 10th nationally in scoring at 22.4 points per game.
Only nine UW players have averaged 20 or more points in a season.
After Brown torched South Dakota State for a career-high 32 points on 13-for-18 shooting, Nevada used an extra defender to restrict his mobility and reduce his ability to get into the lane.
Still, he finished with 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
“Teams are going to load up on him and do different things,” Hopkins said. “He’ll learn from it and find ways where we can take advantage of those situations. It’s just like a good post player; if two guys come, you’ve got to make the kick-out and make sure you’re making those extra passes and getting open shots. We’ll keep getting better at that for sure.”
Unless Brown can make shots for others, the Huskies might not get any better.
Without the 6-foot-3 senior guard, who is shooting 47.5% on field goals, the rest of the UW players are 34.8% on field goal shooting.
Even with Brown, UW ranks last in the Pac-12 in field goal shooting (39%) and three-point shots (30.1%). Washington’s poor marksmanship from the perimeter is particularly troubling considering the Huskies are second in the conference with 146 attempts behind the arc.
Hopkins wants to diversify an offense that’s become overly reliant on Brown.
Hopkins is hoping fifth-year senior guard Daejon Davis can pull out of an early shooting slump. The Stanford transfer is averaging just 7.9 points while shooting 30.9% from the field and 28% on three-pointers — all career lows.
Senior forward Jamal Bey has seemingly plateaued and is averaging 10.3 points for the second straight year. Inexplicably, he leads the team with 11 three-pointers and 42.3% shooting on 3s, but is third among UW players with 26 attempts behind the arc.
Newcomers Emmitt Matthews Jr. and backup guard PJ Fuller are defensive mainstays who have produced 21-point performances.
However, Matthews is a highly erratic on offensive, considering he shoots 65.4% at the line and 34.8% on 3’s. And Fuller needs to be more consistent offensively. He’s been held to four points or fewer in three games.
Hopkins appears to have improved Washington’s defense that’s still last in the Pac-12 in points allowed (72.3) but is first in steals (7.9) and at times can be oppressive when switching between the 2-3 zone, man-to-man and full-court press.
“They’re starting to believe in each other, and we’re learning how to win,” Hopkins said. “We’re also learning what we have to do and that’s what great about these preseason games.
“We have to move forward. It’s DMGB: Doesn’t Matter, Get Better. We’re learning a lot about ourselves and when teams do that, we have guys step up and make shots and get great contributions from a lot of different players.”
Mike Hopkins UW MBB Intro Presser (2017)
Mike Hopkins: Why He Choose The UW (2017)
Jen Cohen Addresses The Media After Mike Hopkins Hired (2017)
New UW MBB/WBB Head Coaches (2017). Fast Forward One UW Basketball Coach Is Gone (Jody Wynn) And The Other Remaining UW Basketball Coach (Mike Hopkins) Needs To Be Fired ASAP.
UW vs Winthorp (Nov 27/2021)...look how empty the 10,000 max capacity Alaska Airlines Arena is. 5,703 announced attendance bit I highly doubt if 2,500 people (including the band and arena staff) were in the building.
SI (click for Podcast Apr/6/2021) https://www.si.com/college/washington/basketball/the-noah-dickerson-podcast-hameir-wright-talks-of-his-frustrations
After four years at the University of Washington and coming off a 5-21 season, former Husky forward Hameir Wright will use his final college season of eligibility and play elsewhere. He does not go quietly.
The New York native leaves unhappy with the way things went with him and the Huskies this past year and he shares his frustrations with one-time teammate Noah Dickerson.
Wright wasn't sure what his role was with change hinted at but the plays remaining the same and he let his displeasure show, especially in launching 3-pointers at times.
"In some games I got into it was I didn't care — I was going to chuck it," he acknowledged. "Those were games I didn't shoot well."
Wright talked about his ups and downs on the court and his interactions with coach Mike Hopkins. He doesn't come away with a good feeling about it.
"I wasted my talents here and I told coach Hopkins that," he said.
The 6-foot-9 Wright is one of six Huskies who have left the program since the season ended and entered the transfer portal, a process for changing schools that's been made easier than it was before.
A three-year starter, the forward from Albany, New York, averaged 6.2 points and 4.7 rebounds as a UW senior. He shot 37.9 percent from the field, 29 percent from 3-point range. He started 25 of 26 games for the Huskies.
"I always felt I could do more but it is what it is," Wright said. "Whether or not I didn't earn it or whether I didn't get the opportunity, that's up for debate."
How would you grade the Husky offseason coming off of last season’s debacle?
Max Vrooman: I’m giving Hopkins a B-minus. It was clear that drastic change was needed and I think Washington did close to as well as could reasonably have been expected. I would have loved to beat out Gonzaga for Nolan Hickman or LSU for transfer Tari Eason but this was a reasonable rebuild on the fly. Considering every incoming guy knows there’s a chance this is Hop’s last year if things go south I liked the addition of Jones and Q-Pon to the assistant coaching staff. I would prefer for Washington to have a team that’s starting in the top half of the conference but at least Hop built a roster that has a not completely ridiculous path to get there.
Tom Adamski: Based off where we were in April and coming off a 5-21 season, I’d say a solid B that totally outkicked their coverage. Landing 4 local players that have started on Power 5 teams to jump on board with a coach that was on the proverbial hot seat, is pretty impressive in my opinion. I jumped out of my seat when UW landed #2 JUCO player Langston Wilson. Of course missing on Banchero, Hickman, Nowell and transfers like Tari Eason and Bryson Williams would have been a bigger upgrade, but let’s remember... we were 5-21 and 15-17 the year before. Also, the additions of UW legend Quincy Pondexter and Big Man coach Wyking Jones are equally important that will help with player development, toughness, energy and future recruiting.
Andrew Berg: In an absolute sense, it’s hard to give Hopkins a very good grade. In terms of how well he has set up the team to win in 2022 and beyond, I will give him a C-. On the positive side, it appears that he has recognized that his approach was not working and leaned more heavily on transfers from the region to supplement the roster. While that seems like a better long-term plan, the team is still woefully short on talent that can compete near the top end of the conference and there aren’t promising signs coming down the recruiting trail in the foreseeable future.
Which of the incoming D1 transfers are you most looking forward to watching play this season and why (Brown, Davis, Fuller, or Matthews)?
Max Vrooman: I’m the most intrigued by Emmitt Matthews Jr after getting a sneak peak in the exhibition last week. He’s likely not going to lead the Huskies in any single statistical category but he looks like he could be a difference maker in the Husky zone and is definitely aggressive taking the ball to the rim. Second place goes to Davis after having to wait 4 years longer than we should’ve to see him in a UW uniform.
Tom Adamski: I’m a big fan of all these guys but going with Terrell Brown as I think he will be the straw that stirs the drink and he was also the first Transfer to commit to lead the charge. Born leader and reminds me of Will Conroy and Andrew Andrews. He was at one-time considered a Top-12 transfer coming out of Seattle University but had to play more of a supporting role at Arizona. Brown plays under control, can score the ball and plays really good defense. Like Andrews, could be a guy living at the free throw line at the end of games. Brown had 174 attempts in 2019-2020 with his attacking style.
Andrew Berg: Whether or not his contributions amount to a big jump in the standings, I’m most excited to watch Brown. His dominant performance for Seattle U at Hec Ed is fresh in my memory. I don’t expect him to have games like that every night. Even so, it has been since Jaylen Nowell since the Dawgs had a perimeter player who can get his own bucket the way Brown can. For an offense prone to stagnation, that’s a welcome respite .
Which of the other newcomers are you most looking forward to watching play this season and why (Ariyibi, Grant, Penn, Wilson)?
Max Vrooman: The obvious answer here is Langston Wilson and that’s who I’m picking. He’s still learning the sport but has 99th percentile leaping ability even at the NBA level. Against Central last week he dove into the stands for a loose ball twice in his first 2 minutes on the court. Between that constant effort and his freakish dunking ability he’s going to instantly become a fan favorite.
Tom Adamski: I previewed Langston Wilson last week and very excited for him but I’ll go with Jackson Grant here and he might end up playing the most minutes out of these 4. The Exhibition game was my first time seeing Grant play live and it was very easy to see his talent. He’s got great footwork and a high basketball IQ. His 3 blocks show that he can play both the 4 and 5 spot. He’ll make an impact this year off the bench and could potentially push for a starting spot. Also very excited for Sam Ariyibi in the future after seeing him at the Crawsover and at the Exhibition game!
Andrew Berg: I’m not going to be original just for the sake of being different; Wilson is my pick, too. In addition to the athleticism and the freaky track record, Wilson looked closer to ready to contribute and more able to do the nuanced parts of the game during the Crawsover than I expected. He might not be just a dunker. He might make a real difference right away.
Which of the returners do you think takes the biggest leap from last year to this year (Bajema, Bey, Roberts, Sorn)?
Max Vrooman: I would really love for the answer to be Bey but I’m going with Cole Bajema. It looked like the light was starting to come on for him down the stretch last year (6.3 pts, 2.3 reb, 57% 3pt in the last 6 games). Bajema had trouble finishing at the rim but if he is able to improve in that regard he’s already the best shooter on the team and has a chance to be a fantastic 6th man/scoring option off the bench.
Tom Adamski: Mike Hopkins at Media day said Bajema had made the most notable change from last year to this year (bigger/stronger) but I’m going to take a leap of faith on Nate Roberts. There have been multiple reports that Roberts has looked much better from last year and scored in double figures in a “not-so-secret” scrimmage with Boise State last weekend. Wyking Jones has experience working with Bigs and has focused on helping Roberts slow things down as well as focus on staying out of foul trouble by moving his feet more. If he can continue to rebound and be some sort of threat to score down low, that could increase the ceiling of the team this year.
Andrew Berg: Bajema seems like the smart pick. He has shown the underlying skills to shoot and rebound with very good quickness and leaping ability. What he hasn’t shown is consistent engagement or aggressiveness. If he asserts himself in the offense with a larger role, he doesn’t need to change much about his game to be a significant contributor.
What is your prediction for how this season turns out (approximate Pac-12 finish, postseason berth?, etc.)?
Max Vrooman: The consensus from the various preseason polls and rankings is that the Huskies are going to finish 11th in the conference. It’s hard to say that’s not warranted given they’ve ended up 12th and 11th over the past 2 seasons and are turning over almost their entire roster. I’m still worried about the guard depth and UW is once again susceptible to a Quade Green type situation where if Daejon Davis misses a chunk of time due to injury then things could unravel quickly. But there’s enough veteran talent that has been injected into this squad for me to think they will likely overperform those expectations.
- Ceiling 6th in the conference and thanks to chaos on the other side of the bracket stealing the auto-bid as a #12 seed
- Floor The team is better than last year but a few injuries and a more competitive bottom end of the conference leads to another 12th place finish
- Expectation Washington is clearly ahead of the bottom few teams in the league but that still results in a 16-15 (8-12) season which is good for 9th in the Pac-12
Tom Adamski: New season, new energy and everyone is 0-0! This team reminds me a little of the 2015-2016 team with Murray, Chriss and Andrews that went into the season with low expectations. That team was a lot of fun to watch and had explosive athletes but of course had two Lottery picks and 1st team player in Andrew Andrews. This team doesn’t have those 3 but they have more experience and both teams were picked #11 preseason. I see UW falling short of an NCAA tournament berth but right on the NIT bubble with 19 wins and a #7 finish in conference. But like the great Ted Lasso says, I don’t believe in the “It’s the hope that kills you” mantra so I won’t be shocked if UW sneaks their way into the Big Dance!Andrew Berg: Unfortunately, it’s hard for me to envision the Dawgs getting out of the bottom half of the conference. The non-conference schedule is soft enough to get to possibly push .500 for the overall season, which could lead to a consolation berth in the NIT. Even so, the roster is full of respectable role players without the one or two stars who can take over a game on either end of the floor. If Grant and some of the other newcomers can show the promise to become that sort of player in another year or two, I’ll take that as a successful season.
UW Projected Depth Chart
CP: Roberts/Grant/Sorn
PF: Matthews/Wilson/Ariyibi
SF: Bey/Bajema/*Lundeen
SG: Davis/Fuller
PG: Brown/Penn
Note: *Lundeen was just awarded a scholarship for 2021-22
Walk-Ons
G Iglesia
G Geron
G Hopkins
G Luttinen
G Neubauer
COVID Aside, Husky Basketball Needs to Get Well
Loser of 39 of his past 51 games, Mike Hopkins doesn't have too many chances left.
A month into another taxing University of Washington basketball season, with the pandemic wiping out Sunday afternoon's UCLA game at Alaska Airlines Arena and unwilling to leave this team alone, some rudimentary observations about this group are necessary before play resumes.
This average UW team still should be no worse than 8-0 or 7-1 at this point, not 4-4.
That's not misguided hype, rather it should be the benefit of playing an underwhelming non-conference schedule filled mostly with geographically christened lightweights in Northern Illinois, Northern Arizona, Texas Southern and South Dakota State.
Into his fifth season as coach, Mike Hopkins says these Huskies, once they receive medical clearance again, will be pretty good.
He'll need to make some changes. Hopkins repeatedly plays the wrong guys.
A year ago, he insisted on using a limited talent in forward Hameir Wright as a UW starter for 25 of 26 games and gave him free rein to launch 3-pointers that wouldn't drop.
Today, Wright can't get off the bench at North Texas and rarely is permitted to launch shots from behind the line.
Hopkins now chooses to start 6-foot-11, 265-pound junior Nate Roberts, a player unable to create his own shots and unfailingly foul prone, where the coach should use him in relief, in spurts.
Offensively, it's like playing 4-on-5, always a disadvantage.
A pre-game UW ritual is letting a manager dunk, with help.
Hopkins should be starting PJ Fuller and Jackson Grant in place of Jamal Bey and Roberts.
Fuller is one of the most aggressive players on the team, Bey, while adequately skilled, one of the most passive.
That position swap is a no-brainer.
The other one is an absolute necessity.
The 6-foot-10 Grant, a McDonald's All-American from Olympia High School in the state capital, needs to play.
He's a big man who can put the ball in the basket.
Unlike Roberts, he has a fundamentally sound mid-range jumper and inside moves.
Hopkins needs to put him in the lineup, suffer with him, season him as he goes.
It's what previous UW coaches did with promising big men James Edwards, Christian Welp and Todd MacCulloch.
They let them play and make mistakes, made them four-year starters, flourished with them, sent them to the NBA.
Without a post player providing any semblance of points, these Huskies will be lucky to finish as a .500 team.
Hopkins needs to lose whatever upperclassman loyalty he feels to his holdover guys who aren't performing at the highest level. Six players hitting the transfer portal as fast as they could last March should have taught him that.
Tougher together?
No, totally untethered.
His starting lineup should be all newcomers: veterans Terrell Brown Jr. (Arizona, Seattle U), Emmitt Matthews Jr. (West Virginia), Daejon Davis (Stanford), Fuller (TCU) and Grant the youngster.
Five scorers.
Let them run and press.
Make them play at all times like they did against George Mason — like the 1981 Oregon State Beavers who went 26-2 by whipping the ball around the perimeter without ever letting it touch the floor, always sharing it and getting rewarded.
Once all of the Huskies get healthy again, they need to do something to bring the fans back.
The crowd was embarrassingly low, in the hundreds, to watch the Huskies host Texas Southern on a Monday night in mid-November.
Socially distancing took on an unpleasant new meaning that evening.
Let the UW followers see the four transfers with Seattle ties turn up the tempo and young Grant mature in front of their eyes.
More than ever, Hopkins needs to question some of the things he does, get a better read on his manpower and find ways to win again consistently.
It's been a while.
Alaska Airlines Arena had drawn only smallish crowds so far.
Hopkins somehow survived last season's 5-21 atrocity, which is normally a firing offense. He's lost 39 of his past 51 games over three seasons and still draws a paycheck, which is nothing short of miraculous.
On game night, the clock is ticking on each shot, each half-court possession, each game.
It's also about to run out on Hopkins unless he gets over his head-coaching stubbornness and tries something a little different, fills the arena with warm bodies and brings long-overdue results.
He's made a bunch of recruiting mistakes. Remember Elijah Hardy and Bryan Penn-Johnson? Hardy's on his third team now, BPJ doesn't play anymore.
Hopkins needs to make up for these shortcomings with coaching genius, stuff he learned at Syracuse from Jim Boeheim.
Honestly, he doesn't have many chances left.
If not, we'll see another news conference like the one held at the UW this past week, introducing someone to fix the football team.
Hopkins is clearly not the right guy going forward ...
The Jimmy debacle needed to be handled first ...
Once revenues are fixed properly the attention will turn to Hop when the buyouts go down ...
College hoops is a rough business ...
It doesn't matter until there's a coach in place that knows how to coach and recruit to what is successful in today's game
Ken Cross: "Coach Hop" drops by and discusses the Dawgs' restructuring for 2021-22, his talented incoming transfers, the potential for veterans Jamal Bey and Nate Roberts this season.
Seattle Times (click for full article) https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/will-mike-hopkins-maniacal-tough-as-nails-approach-turn-around-huskies-program/
You can’t understand Hopkins, and how much he’s diving into the rebuild of the Huskies, without coming back to the sheer force of his personality. He exudes energy even when in seeming repose. “You’re not used to seeing anything like that in your lifetime,” says an ex-teammate.
Mike Hopkins tends to cry easily.
It’s part of his makeup and a window into his psyche. The new Washington men’s basketball coach is a fount of passion, and he tends to become so emotionally invested in his players, in his work — in everything — that it leaves him highly vulnerable to what the emoji-driven world likes to call “all the feels.”
“It’s because I care so much,” he explains as he chokes up during an interview in his office while relating the story of when he told his mentor, Jim Boeheim, that he was leaving his Syracuse job as Boeheim’s heir apparent to head to Seattle; and again while telling the story of how proud he was of former Orange player Scoop Jardine for becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college; and again while telling the story of how his dad talked him out of transferring from Syracuse when he was a player, mired on the bench after two seasons.
You can’t understand Hopkins, and how fully throttled he’s diving into the rebuild of the Huskies’ basketball program, without coming back to the sheer force of his personality. He exudes kinetic energy even when in seeming repose (a state rarely reached by a guy who is known to talk on two phones simultaneously, the better to squeeze more results into his waking day). He has brought a near-maniacal drive to basketball since his playing days; Boeheim admits he never thought Hopkins had the stuff to be anything but a role player (he became a two-year starter and team captain).
“Mike was a guy I frankly didn’t have high hopes for as a player,” Boeheim said in a phone interview. “He was more of a project guy. But he wanted to get better. He outworked everybody. He was on the floor 10 to 12 times every practice, and 10 to 12 times in the game. He became a very good college player.”
Granted, that’s pretty standard stuff in the sporting world — another yarn about an underdog with a chip on his shoulder and a caffeine-laced personality (eye-roll emoji) — but Hopkins takes it to an extreme that makes him stand out even within that cliché.
“Mike was a cross between an MMA guy and (UW rower) Joe Rantz from ‘The Boys in the Boat,’ ” says former Syracuse teammate Tim O’Toole, now an assistant coach at California. “He would have died fighting to succeed at ’Cuse.”
Marv Marinovich, a family friend and former NFL player, warned Hopkins when he went off to college in the rugged Big East that he was going to be perceived as soft because he came from Orange County in California (with flowing strawberry-blonde surfer hair, no less — Justin Bieber-like, in the words of his wife Tricia to Sports Illustrated). The first time someone challenges you, Marinovich told Hopkins, “you fight ’em like you’ve never fought before.”
Flash forward to one of his early practices at Syracuse in what turned out to be a redshirt first season in 1988. Every day was a test of survival among the star-studded cast he walked into that included Sherman Douglas, Billy Owens and Derrick Coleman, all future high NBA draft picks. But it was a walk-on, Dave Bartelstein, who pushed Hopkins’ buttons one day with his elbows and aggression.
Channeling Marinovich, Hopkins bopped him in the mouth. He didn’t get pushed around any more after that.
“Everyone was trying to test me from day one,” Hopkins said. “You had to set the tone. It was just fighting for your space and showing, ‘I’m here to play. I’m not here to just be an ornament.’ ”
You might think that story is apocryphal, maybe embellished for maximum effect. I contacted Bartelstein, now an executive with an investment firm in Chicago, for confirmation.
Hop File
- Mike Hopkins, 47, is the 19th head coach in Washington basketball history.
- Coaching at Syracuse: He spent 22 seasons alongside Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim. He was a part of 16 NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2003 National Championship, four Final Fours, five Elite Eights and 10 Sweet 16s.
- Playing at Syracuse: Hopkins became the Orange’s starting shooting guard his junior year and the team won the 1992 Big East Championship. He played 111 career games in the Carrier Dome and was the team captain as a senior en route to averaging 9.2 points and 3.7 rebounds.
- Pro career: CBA, the Netherlands and Turkey.
- Family: Wife Tricia, sons Michael Griffith Jr. and Grant Richard, daughter Ella Grace.
“Of course I remember it,” he said with a laugh. “I still have the scar on my lip.”Bartelstein explained that he and Hopkins were friends then and now, “but when we got between the lines, it was no holds barred. I was giving it to Mike more than he thought I should. I’m 5-11, he’s 6-4. He didn’t like a walk-on talking too much to him and showing him up, and the next thing you know, he had a fist in my face.
“He was a tough, hard-nosed guy. He didn’t care if it was me or Derrick Coleman, he’d go through you.”
Said O’Toole: “Hop is not going to back down for any human being. He’ll fight you in the most clean, human way.”
Leo Rautins, a former Syracuse star who had returned to the area, took a liking to young Hopkins and would engage him in after-hours workouts at Most Holy Rosary Parish. Rautins would try to toughen him up with the kind of trash talk and rough play he knew Hopkins would have to weather to succeed in the Big East.
“He loved it,’’ Rautins said. “He’d get pissed off but kept coming back for more.”
The Syracuse coaching staff saw this, ate it up and tucked it away. Tim Welsh, the assistant coach who picked up Hopkins at the airport when he arrived from California, remembers walking into Boeheim’s office and asking him, “How the heck is this kid going to play for us?”
Elaborating more than 25 years later, Welsh said, “I looked around the room, and we had Sherman Douglas and Stevie Thompson and Billy Owens and Derrick Coleman and Dave Johnson — all these men. And you have this little, skinny, pale kid from Southern California who weighed about a buck-fifty, buck-sixty.”
Welsh, who would go on to be the coach at Iona and Providence, began to be won over when Hopkins agitated Douglas so much in a 3-on-3 drill one day that Douglas swung an elbow and bloodied Hopkins’ nose. Hopkins went into Welsh’s office afterward and told him he would get back at Douglas by beating him out for the starting job. Welsh laughs at the memory, because Douglas at the time was a first-team All-American and the consensus choice as the top point guard in the nation.
“But I said, ‘You know what? I like this guy. He’s going to make it here,’ ” Welsh recalled. “I had my doubts, but he’s going to make it through grit, toughness and hard work. That has been his MO ever since. Just outwork and out-tough people.”