Big Props for Hop

[cuseinseattle]

Umm, that's really not a formidable quartet of 3-point shooters. Crisp is under 30%, Thybulle is pretty much right at 30%, and Nowell is under 33%. They have all had some decent stretches shooting the 3 at times, but overall their perimeter shooting is pretty crappy. I literally cringe every time Crisp launches one of his sideways fadeaway threes. Green is a VERY good three point shooter but he's somewhat limited because his shot setup and release is so slow, so he needs to be WIDE open before he shoots. The overall numbers on both teams (UW 141 triples on 34.1% and SU 120 triples on 32%) are substandard for this day and age.

I understand what you are saying but after our top 3 guys we have no one shooting over 20%.

 

[rhcuse]

There is one thing indisputable, UW is far more exciting and entertaining to watch than SU this season. Happy for Hop and don't think he will ever come back -- "he gone".

I find myself watching every UW game now and would take Thybulle on my team any day. They give it all on both ends, get out in transition and share the ball. My kind of basketball.

SU / UW in the 8/9 play-in game, BOOK IT!!

 

[SoBeCuse]

Umm, that's really not a formidable quartet of 3-point shooters. Crisp is under 30%, Thybulle is pretty much right at 30%, and Nowell is under 33%. They have all had some decent stretches shooting the 3 at times, but overall their perimeter shooting is pretty crappy. I literally cringe every time Crisp launches one of his sideways fadeaway threes. Green is a VERY good three point shooter but he's somewhat limited because his shot setup and release is so slow, so he needs to be WIDE open before he shoots. The overall numbers on both teams (UW 141 triples on 34.1% and SU 120 triples on 32%) are substandard for this day and age.

Yeah, definitely sub standard. I don’t know. Granted I have only watched them twice but I see more skill exhibited on the floor than SU. The games I watched Crisp was really good. He’s quick too. He’s only turning it over 2.5 a game. They have THREE guys with over 50 assists. After Frank we have Marek at 33, lol. Tyus has 32. Part of the reason I think we ISO SO much is that our players don’t have a lot of skill. Passing, attackers off the bounce, ballhandling, etc., is lacking. That’s a talent issue, IMO.

 

[JazzNC]

I think Hop has done a great job as a first year head coach. Glancing through Washington and Syracuse's schedules we have shared only two common opponents. They beat Kansas, we lost. We beat Va Tech, they lost. I hope SU and Washington aren't both sitting on the bubble competing for one of the last spots. I actually like their chances to get into the tournament a bit better than ours. But, regardless how it all plays out... I'm happy for Hop and wish him well, but I'll always pull for SU first.

 

[IthacaMatt]

. We have a new AD, and a legendary coach who wouldn't leave. New AD who is JB's buddy, wasn't gonna push him out. The Chancellor could have done so, but didn't..

The Chancellor DID try to push him out. The Chancellor is the one who set the 3 year expiration date. It was only when Hop realized that JB wasn't going to willingly go that he took the Washington job, and it was at a time of the year that the chancellor and the AD really had no choice but to bring JB back, and the AD had to offer him more than a one or two year extension just for recruiting purposes.

 

[FrancoPizza]

JB vs Hop in play-in game

 

[CousCuse]

It's funny how different fan bases view things differently. People out here are just blown away they are even in the conversation for the NCAA tourney and in the top 1/2 of the conference. I was in line getting in last night and one guy says this is our first game in 5 years. People are talking about the NCAA tourney and it's almost February. Can you believe this.

You mean they're not whining, crying, entitled , ungrateful know it all's who constantly seek to undermine and disparage the coach? That must be novel.

 

[Cuseregular]

Watched the entire game. What impressed me was the passing, the assists, the energy from his players. Loved seeing Them pass and move the ball like I saw last night.

Missed that game but for the first time ever a team other than the Cuse has made it into the planning book not to miss both their next couple of games. Late night Thursday and then later Saturday against a some ranked teams I think (asu). Go Hop!

 

[AlaskaSU]

I wasn't really that worked up about the 4-5 record, but I do think a program of our caliber should get a guy with head coaching experience.

did jb have any prior head coach experience?

 

[MSOrange]

did jb have any prior head coach experience?

Yeah this is the same program and situation that it was 40 years ago. Brilliant. If you look at Power 5 coaches, only Alabama, Washington, Oklahoma State, California and Northwestern hired someone without head coaching experience so I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation for a program of our caliber.

 

[orange79]

did jb have any prior head coach experience?

Well, he was head golf coach while an assistant hoops coach, so yes.

 

[Brooky03]

I'd prefer to have the successor to JB be somebody from his coaching tree. If we're going to hire outside of that, it better be for a big time coach at a big time program. No bringing in an upstart doing well at some garbage mid major.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I would take Buzz over Hop, just my opinion. The Hop ship has sailed, he's not coming back as I don't see him moving his family again anytime soon. In addition, I don't think Hop would want to deal with the expectations and he's clearly going to carve his own way at UW. They will also pay him more for modest success.

Such are problems when you have a hall of famer that doesn't want to retire, there really isn't anything you can do but sit and wait for JB to hang it up, he's kind of holding the thing hostage at this point but I honestly can't say he hasn't earned it. There is more talent on the way and I think JB is setting up to have one more charge with a couple years with a solid squad. I just wish we could keep the good not great players for another year or so but it's the nature of the beast.

 

[Dave85]

Mike Hopkins has Washington arriving ahead of schedule

I wish all the best for Coach Hop. He was a great leader for the Orange for years. I've always loved his enthusiasm and good character. I miss him from the program.

 

[Dave85]

I'd prefer to have the successor to JB be somebody from his coaching tree.

When the time comes, I don't care who they get as long as its a proven commodity who is paid the highest amount possible. We need the best possible coach for the job.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I would take Buzz over Hop, just my opinion. The Hop ship has sailed, he's not coming back as I don't see him moving his family again anytime soon. In addition, I don't think Hop would want to deal with the expectations and he's clearly going to carve his own way at UW. They will also pay him more for modest success.

Such are problems when you have a hall of famer that doesn't want to retire, there really isn't anything you can do but sit and wait for JB to hang it up, he's kind of holding the thing hostage at this point but I honestly can't say he hasn't earned it. There is more talent on the way and I think JB is setting up to have one more charge with a couple years with a solid squad. I just wish we could keep the good not great players for another year or so but it's the nature of the beast.

For all the hype Buzz gets on this board JB beatshim 80 percent of the time. I think fans here like him because his teams push the pace, but they play absolutely no defense.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Yeah this is the same program and situation that it was 40 years ago. Brilliant. If you look at Power 5 coaches, only Alabama, Washington, Oklahoma State and Northwestern hired someone without head coaching experience so I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation for a program of our caliber.

I think there have been more head coaches than the ones you mentioned who never had prior head coaching experience before leading good programs. Not all are power 5 programs but they are programs with strong basketball traditions, some were excellent coaches who have moved on because of the chance they were given.(those small private schools just can't pay like the large state schools) It's a nice addition to justify hiring a prospect who has been a successful head coach previously but not absolutely necessary if the fit is good. Admittedly it sure makes an easier sell when hiring and also a way to avoid a bigger stink if they don't work out though. Below are a few more who had no prior head coaching experience:

Tom Izzo at Michigan St, Fred Hoiberg at Iowa St, Frank Martin when he was at Kansas St, Chris Mullin at St John's, Patrick Ewing at Georgetown, David Padgett at Louisville (tough circumstances I know), Chris Mack at Xavier, Sean Miller at Xavier, Archie Miller at Dayton, Roy Williams at Kansas, Mark Few at Gonzaga, Brad Stevens at Butler, Jamie Dixon at Pitt etc

Even in the NBA Steve Kerr, Doc Rivers, Mark Jackson, Gregg Popovich etc never had any head coaching experience.

It's a crap shoot. Just think of the ACC alone - BC, Wake, Ga Tech, NC St, etc all have hired multiple coaches with head coaching experience just as most of the more successful programs in the ACC have - but with mixed results. It's hard to find the right fit regardless of conference and even when you do, hopefully you can keep them or worse don't switch from a decent program to a bad one like BC did- not being satisfied with Al Skinner .

 

[Cusefan0307]

Yeah, definitely sub standard. I don’t know. Granted I have only watched them twice but I see more skill exhibited on the floor than SU. The games I watched Crisp was really good. He’s quick too. He’s only turning it over 2.5 a game. They have THREE guys with over 50 assists. After Frank we have Marek at 33, lol. Tyus has 32. Part of the reason I think we ISO SO much is that our players don’t have a lot of skill. Passing, attackers off the bounce, ballhandling, etc., is lacking. That’s a talent issue, IMO.

Odd take for someone who complains about Howard more than anyone on the board. His stats are worse than Howard’s across the board.

 

[Alsacs]

Yeah we can do better than Buzz.
I just want the best coach available and not just an assistant on staff.

Hop was credited as a top 10 recruiting assistant when he got the HCIW designation.

I hope we do a national search and find the best coach.
JB/K/Roy’s are a dying breed. Loyalty is no longer what it was as money is 5x more than it used to be.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

For all the hype Buzz gets on this board JB beatshim 80 percent of the time. I think fans here like him because his teams push the pace, but they play absolutely no defense.

Buzz is a program builder, he pushes the pace and does quite a bit with more unheralded recruits, I believe with what Syracuse has to offer he could be very successful here and recruit better than he has at VT.

You either like Buzz or you don't, but I think he plays more of the game you see at the next level and will appeal to shooters, athletes etc.

Am I comparing Buzz to JB? no, that would be foolish.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Yeah we can do better than Buzz.
I just want the best coach available and not just an assistant on staff.

Hop was credited as a top 10 recruiting assistant when he got the HCIW designation.

I hope we do a national search and find the best coach.
JB/K/Roy’s are a dying breed. Loyalty is no longer what it was as money is 5x more than it used to be.

I don't think they will pay for better than a guy like Buzz, I just dont

 

[Alsacs]

I don't think they will pay for better than a guy like Buzz, I just dont

They paid market for Dino.
We were cheap on GRob, Marrone, Shafer.
JB has taken a hometown discount but Hop was making good assistant money as a result.
I think the administration has to pay the replacement. If we are going to be cheap they are risking their cash cow.
You can’t go cheap in basketball over 1 or 2 million dollars a year.

The administration has already spent on charter planes and stuff like that. JB fundraised the Melo Center though.

 

[TinyManInside]

Yeah, definitely sub standard. I don’t know. Granted I have only watched them twice but I see more skill exhibited on the floor than SU. The games I watched Crisp was really good. He’s quick too. He’s only turning it over 2.5 a game. They have THREE guys with over 50 assists. After Frank we have Marek at 33, lol. Tyus has 32. Part of the reason I think we ISO SO much is that our players don’t have a lot of skill. Passing, attackers off the bounce, ballhandling, etc., is lacking. That’s a talent issue, IMO.

I honestly think that most of what you're talking about is that the two teams are coached very differently on offense. I mean, the difference in how UW is playing on offense vs the early games is night and day. They started with a very similar ISO offense and alot of players taking forced shots outside the offense, a ton of turnovers, and not many assists. Hop has turned around the way they share the ball and pass the ball. He basically had to undo all the craptastic Romar teaching. The team passing has improved tremendously since the early games.

Crisp is not good. At all. Incredibly inefficient player. He's had a few good games here and there, but he is wildly erratic and inconsistent, and he's almost as bad at shooting as O'Shae Brisset (37% FG and 28.2% from 3). He's 6 for his last 41 from 3 point range. His shot selection is getting better, but it's still really bad. He is very, very quick like you point out, but he doesn't really create for anyone but himself when he gets in the lane (except for the Kansas game where he miraculously became a real true point guard and was setting up guys for dunks and layups - if you're basing your opinion of Crisp on that game then you should know that was a huge aberration). Hop has gotten him to take care of the ball better lately (only 4 turnovers in his last 4 game), but before that he was pretty much around 3 a game with a 1:1 ast to turnover ratio, and I think you also have to understand that in Hop's offense he's not required to dominate the ball and have it in his hands ALL the TIME the way a PG in JB's system does. So yeah, his turnover numbers don't look terrible, but they are somewhat mitigated because the ball usage is much more even distributed throughout the team.

I think having Michael Carter III come back from injury has forced Crisp to play a little bit more carefully since Hop has slowly re-integrating MCIII into the PG position and Crisp knows that if he makes mistakes he can be taken out of the game now. Before, they didn't have anyone to sub for him.

I'd take Frank Howard over Crisp 9 times out of 10. Much better passer and much, much better shooter.

 

[TinyManInside]

Odd take for someone who complains about Howard more than anyone on the board. His stats are worse than Howard’s across the board.

Yeah, Howard is waaaaayyy better than Crisp.

Crisp is basically a shorter, worse shooting DeShaun Williams playing PG. This board would absolutely HATE him if he were SU's point guard.

 

[TinyManInside]

For all the hype Buzz gets on this board JB beatshim 80 percent of the time. I think fans here like him because his teams push the pace, but they play absolutely no defense.

In fairness, JB usually has more talent, but you are right that Boeheim has dominated Buzz head to head.