Washington - NIU - Tues 7PM

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

Well football is over so time for the 4 of us who care about hoops to get in here. I didn’t watch the pre season game but family members who did seemed to like what they saw. Also rumors that they smacked Boise in a close door game. I have no idea how good they will be this year but until I know for certain they suck I will be interested in seeing how this team performs.

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

NIU was 18-13 last year, and randomly it looks like that was good enough for Michigan State to hire their head coach, bizarre. Haven’t made the NCAA tournament in forever.

ChillyDawg · November 2021

2020-21 Northern Illinois Huskies (2-12/3-16)

Northern Illinois University Roster https://niuhuskies.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

NIU has a new head coach in former Arizona State associate head coach Rashon Burno who should be very familiar with the UW and Mike Hopkins having faced the UW on the basketball court over the past four seasons in Pac-12 conference play.

NIU brings back six returnees from a season ago, led by senior G 6’2 Trendon Hankerson who averaged 13.9 points per game while starting all 19 contests a season ago. Each of NIU’s other five returnees also started games last season as C 6’9 Adong Makuoi (Sr) made 14 starts, G 6’8 Anthony Crump (Sr) started 11 games, F 6’7 Zool Kueth (Sr) made nine starts, F 6’7 Chinedu Kingsley Okanu (Sr) started five contests and G 6’0 Kaleb Thornton (Jr) was in the starting lineup three times.

Among NIU’s seven newcomers, three bring Division I experience, including F 6’9 Chris Osten (Sr) who joins the Huskies after playing 24 games, including six starts, with the Arizona State Sun Devils a season ago. G 6’3 Keshawn Williams (So) returns to Chicagoland following one season at Tulsa while G 6’5 Darweshi Hunter (Jr) spent last season in the Big Sky Conference at Weber State.

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

Edwin_Bambino said:
NIU was 18-13 last year, and randomly it looks like that was good enough for Michigan State to hire their head coach, bizarre. Haven’t made the NCAA tournament in forever.

Wikipedia lied, that was 2 season ago. They were 3-16 last season. Whoops.

FremontTroll · November 2021

Edwin_Bambino said:
NIU was 18-13 last year, and randomly it looks like that was good enough for Michigan State to hire their head coach, bizarre. Haven’t made the NCAA tournament in forever.

Damn you had me thinking I missed an Izzo retirement announcement for a minute there.

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

FremontTroll said:

Edwin_Bambino said:
NIU was 18-13 last year, and randomly it looks like that was good enough for Michigan State to hire their head coach, bizarre. Haven’t made the NCAA tournament in forever.
Damn you had me thinking I missed an Izzo retirement announcement for a minute there.

Their coach went back to MSU to be an assistant under Izzo. Ill chalk up my lack of reading comprehension to a little academic prowess.

FremontTroll · November 2021

Edwin_Bambino said:

FremontTroll said:

Edwin_Bambino said:
NIU was 18-13 last year, and randomly it looks like that was good enough for Michigan State to hire their head coach, bizarre. Haven’t made the NCAA tournament in forever.
Damn you had me thinking I missed an Izzo retirement announcement for a minute there.
Their coach went back to MSU to be an assistant under Izzo. Ill chalk up my lack of reading comprehension to a little academic prowess.

Yeah I figured that out. He was a long-time Izzo assistant before going to NIU.

ChillyDawg · November 2021

Husky News

Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/seattle-dawgs-how-four-childhood-friends-found-their-back-home-on-uw-mens-basketball-team/

Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/washington-mens-basketball-2021-22-season-keys-players-to-watch/

Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/pac-12-mens-basketball-power-rankings-wsu-enters-with-high-expectations-but-ucla-and-oregon-still-teams-to-beat/

UWDawgPound https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2021/11/9/22735391/northern-illinois-game-preview-how-to-watch-uw-washington-huskies-basketball

UWDawgPound https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2021/11/8/22763403/mens-basketball-shoot-around-uw-washington-huskies-mike-hopkins-expectations

UW Depth Chart

CP: Roberts/Sorn
PF: Matthews/Wilson/Grant/Ariyibi
SF: Bey/Bajema/*Lundeen
SG: Davis/Fuller
PG: Brown/Penn

Walk-Ons:

G: Geron, G Hopkins, G Luttinen, G Neubauer, G Iglesia

*Lundeen was recently awarded a scholarship for 2021-22

https://twitter.com/UW_MBB/status/1457529666546245632

https://twitter.com/UW_MBB/status/1457530463665278978

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

https://twitter.com/jdub2379/status/1458265565655539714?s=21

HuskyJW · November 2021

Can Nate Roberts play DL?

greenblood · November 2021

Great start!

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

Well, uh, not great. They did pull it together a little bit at the end of the half so hopefully that continues. But if they play like that all season it will certainly be Hopkins last.

haie · November 2021

Why do our two mens sports coaches have to be shit tier

ChillyDawg · November 2021

Box Score https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401364992

So far UW still can't shoot a high fg% (8-30/26%) or ft% (9-15/60%).

The issue just might be in the coaching...

ChillyDawg · November 2021

Box score https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401364992

So far the UW can't shoot a high fg% (8-30/26%) or ft% (9-15/60%) just like last season.

The issue may be in the coaching...just sayin'.

Miley_Cyrus · November 2021

What are the Huskies trying to do on offense? I legit couldn't even begin to describe what they're looking to do, sets they run, or any sort of philosophy.

It's just a free for all. What do they do at practice? I don't understand. Absolutely zero movement off the ball.

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

Well, uh if UW shoots like this all year it’s going to be a long season, and Hopkins last. NIU isn’t good, if UW just shoots decently they win this game comfortably.

Roberts monster game, if only he was average offensively.

Thought Terrell Brown looked like a player.

Davis, Matthew’s, and Bey all had absolute stinkers. Bajema was invisible.

Offensive in the half court looked stagnant. Press looked good, that’s about it. If I’m trying to be an optimist hopefully this cold shooting night was an aberration and the team gels with more experience together. Most likely it’s going to be a long season but the investigation into if this team sucks will continue for a few more games. So far all signs point to yes.

Also NIU with dagger three pointers anytime they really needed to stop the momentum. Brutal.

EastCoastDoog · November 2021

Kimmy’s got some explaining to do

ChillyDawg · November 2021

Edwin_Bambino said:
Well, uh if UW shoots like this all year it’s going to be a long season, and Hopkins last. NIU isn’t good, if UW just shoots decently they win this game comfortably.

Roberts monster game, if only he was average offensively.

Thought Terrell Brown looked like a player.

Davis, Matthew’s, and Bey all had absolute stinkers. Bajema was invisible.

Offensive in the half court looked stagnant. Press looked good, that’s about it. If I’m trying to be an optimist hopefully this cold shooting night was an aberration and the team gels with more experience together. That’s about it.

The refs have been trying to help the UW out big time...but they can't shoot ft at a high %...21-36 (58%)

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

EastCoastDoog said:

Kimmy’s got some explaining to do

Lol, he has been insinuating they would be good all off-season.

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

ChillyDawg said:

Edwin_Bambino said:
Well, uh if UW shoots like this all year it’s going to be a long season, and Hopkins last. NIU isn’t good, if UW just shoots decently they win this game comfortably.

Roberts monster game, if only he was average offensively.

Thought Terrell Brown looked like a player.

Davis, Matthew’s, and Bey all had absolute stinkers. Bajema was invisible.

Offensive in the half court looked stagnant. Press looked good, that’s about it. If I’m trying to be an optimist hopefully this cold shooting night was an aberration and the team gels with more experience together. That’s about it.
The refs have been trying to help the UW out big time...but they can't shoot ft at a high %...21-36 (58%)

I had a similar thought during the game, Refs seemed to be working quite hard for UW.

ChillyDawg · November 2021

UW 64 NIU 71 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401364992

So much for the cup cake OOC schedule. Poor shooting all the way around doomed the UW in this game:

UW FG 20-75 (26%)
UW 3FG 3-18 (16%)
UW FT 21-36 (58%)

In comparison NIU shot:

NIU FG 21-48 (43%)
NIU 3FG 12-23 (52%)
NIU FT 17-25 (68%)

UW outrebounded NIU 51-37 while they also had 12 steals, 12 turnovers, 6 blocks but only 4 assists total as a team.

I wonder how much time does Mike Hopkins spend on ft shooting in practices? Also, can Mike Hopkins identify good shooters (FG/FT/3FG) when recruiting players and/or develop them into shooters? Bey, Bajema and Roberts look pretty much the same the players- how well does Mike Hopkins develop players that stay 3-4 years in the program? Is Riley Sorn, who was on the bench in street clothes, injured? His size in the paint would have helped out a lot against a smallish NIU team.

The UW's next opponent, Northern Arizona, lost 81-52 to Arizona tonight. The UW should beat NAU on Thursday but I thought the same concerning tonight's opponent.

theknowledge · November 2021

Edwin_Bambino said:
Well, uh if UW shoots like this all year it’s going to be a long season, and Hopkins last. NIU isn’t good, if UW just shoots decently they win this game comfortably.

Roberts monster game, if only he was average offensively.

Thought Terrell Brown looked like a player.

Davis, Matthew’s, and Bey all had absolute stinkers. Bajema was invisible.

Offensive in the half court looked stagnant. Press looked good, that’s about it. If I’m trying to be an optimist hopefully this cold shooting night was an aberration and the team gels with more experience together. Most likely it’s going to be a long season but the investigation into if this team sucks will continue for a few more games. So far all signs point to yes.

Also NIU with dagger three pointers anytime they really needed to stop the momentum. Brutal.

This is spot on. Average shooting, 40% on 2’s, 30% on 3’s and 65% from the line and UW wins by six or seven. Half court defense lacked rotation which led to a slew of open 3’s for NIU and they buried them at over 50%. Outside of better rebounding and a decent press this looks like the last two versions of UW. Can’t shoot, can’t shoot, poor half court defense, can’t shoot.

HireBRoy · November 2021

27 more shots and 11 more free throws...

Edwin_Bambino · November 2021

ChillyDawg said:
UW 64 NIU 71 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401364992

So much for the cup cake OOC schedule. Poor shooting all the way around doomed the UW in this game:

UW FG 20-75 (26%)
UW 3FG 3-18 (16%)
UW FT 21-36 (58%)
In comparison NIU shot:
NIU FG 21-48 (43%)
NIU 3FG 12-23 (52%)
NIU FT 17-25 (68%)
UW outrebounded NIU 51-37 while they also had 12 steals, 12 turnovers, 6 blocks but only 4 assists total as a team.

I wonder how much time does Mike Hopkins spend on ft shooting in practices? Also, can Mike Hopkins identify good shooters (FG/FT/3FG) when recruiting players and/or develop them into shooters? Bey, Bajema and Roberts look pretty much the same the players- how well does Mike Hopkins develop players that stay 3-4 years in the program? Is Riley Sorn, who was on the bench in street clothes, injured? His size in the paint would have helped out a lot against a smallish NIU team.

The UW's next opponent, Northern Arizona, lost 81-52 to Arizona tonight. The UW should beat NAU on Thursday but I thought the same concerning tonight's opponent.

I think the glass half full view would be that Daejon Davis, Emmitt Matthews, and Bey all performed much worse than their average game body of work throughout the course of their careers and from when I have seen them play, so hopefully it was just a few off nights.

The Hopkins abused side of my mind immediately thinks he just made them all shitter by having them play whatever offensive system this is supposed to be.

ChillyDawg · November 2021

Edwin_Bambino said:

ChillyDawg said:
UW 64 NIU 71 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401364992

So much for the cup cake OOC schedule. Poor shooting all the way around doomed the UW in this game:

UW FG 20-75 (26%)
UW 3FG 3-18 (16%)
UW FT 21-36 (58%)
In comparison NIU shot:
NIU FG 21-48 (43%)
NIU 3FG 12-23 (52%)
NIU FT 17-25 (68%)
UW outrebounded NIU 51-37 while they also had 12 steals, 12 turnovers, 6 blocks but only 4 assists total as a team.

I wonder how much time does Mike Hopkins spend on ft shooting in practices? Also, can Mike Hopkins identify good shooters (FG/FT/3FG) when recruiting players and/or develop them into shooters? Bey, Bajema and Roberts look pretty much the same the players- how well does Mike Hopkins develop players that stay 3-4 years in the program? Is Riley Sorn, who was on the bench in street clothes, injured? His size in the paint would have helped out a lot against a smallish NIU team.

The UW's next opponent, Northern Arizona, lost 81-52 to Arizona tonight. The UW should beat NAU on Thursday but I thought the same concerning tonight's opponent.
I think the glass half full view would be that Daejon Davis, Emmitt Matthews, and Bey all performed much worse than their average game body of work throughout the course of their careers and from when I have seen them play, so hopefully it was just a few off nights.

The Hopkins abused side of my mind immediately thinks he just made them all shitter buy having them play whatever offensive system this is supposed to be.

This is Hopkins 5th season at Montlake and we still don't know what type of offensive system he is running. To me it seems like just give the ball to the best player and everyone else get out of the way. He did mix it up on defense with more man to man and full court pressing but that 2-3 zone defense needs to be limited as it gives up a lot of wide open 3s and is hard to defensive rebound out of when played consistently.

Emmitt was a high energy role player at West Virginia. Daejon never led Stanford to March Madness in 4 seasons. Brown has bounced around a lot as a player- he was a high scorer at Seattle U but more of a role player at Arizona last season.

Mike Hopkins hasn't shown the ability to coach players up...time will tell.