Hopkins, the zone and the future

[Flacusian]

With Jimmy B making the comment, "The next time I come to Maui I'll be bringing my golf clubs" all the excitement of just having won the tournament was suddenly tempered by the "JB retirement thought". When JB does decide to step aside, and that could be as soon as the end of this season although most figure him to stay on through the next Olympics, does the death grip commitment to playing zone retire with it?

Is there a tacit understanding that Mike Hopkins maintains the Boeheim 3-2 zone defense once he takes over the reins? Or does Hopkins begin a de-zonification of the Syracuse program as he starts to populate the program with his own recruits who are recruited based on his vision of the program for the future?

I guess for myself it's hard to imagine Syracuse Basketball without it's total commitment to playing zone. I mean it wasn't always like that. Well, I guess what I'm saying was that we did have some squads which played M2M and zone and once upon a time we didn't recruit solely by trying to obtain personnel with a propensity to play zone. I think the last time we played M2M was Cleveland State. We all know how that turned out.

The fact of the matter is Zone and Syracuse have become synonymous. And nothing is more emblematic of the Syracuse program than the 2-3 zone, save of course Jim Boeheim himself. Which brings me back to my question, what do you think happens once Jimmy has coached his last game? Will we always be Syracuse and it's 2-3 zone much like Princeton is known for it's style of play? For me, I'd be fine with it.

 

[HakAttack]

Great question...I can't imagine a scenario where we wouldn't play zone. I also can't imagine a scenario where Jimmy would serve as an "advisor" to Hop in some capacity. Hell, we know how much JB loves Syracuse, it's not like he's going to retire and move to Maui! He'll stay right in the 315.

 

[stuckinbig11]

JB's comment did not throw me; we will probably not go to Maui again for another 6-8 years.
Hop is smart; he knows how the zone works and knows that without it, we would be thrown back in the mix with everyone else who plays mtm.

 

[rrlbees]

Hop will keep the zone but will mix in some m2m.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[HOFCeluck]

The zone is a means to an end. If Hopkins thinks he can win more games by playing more man, I'm all for it. But he's probably going to still do a lot of zone. I have to imagine that's his comfort zone (HA) right now.

 

[HOFCeluck]

JB's comment did not throw me; we will probably not go to Maui again for another 6-8 years.
Hop is smart; he knows how the zone works and knows that without it, we would be thrown back in the mix with everyone else who plays mtm.

Yeah it sure would suck to be cast among bourgeois programs like Kansas or Duke.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Yeah it sure would suck to be cast among bourgeois programs like Kansas or Duke.

who consistently get more of the top-ranked recruits than we do

 

[HoustonCuse]

JB's comment has to be looked at in context: teams can only play in the Maui tournament every 4 years so the immediate next chance isn't until 2017.

As to Hop, it will be interesting to see what he does.

 

[realorange]

Quite sure he'll be back next year as he promised McCullough he'd be there to coach him.

 

[dasher]

Yeah it sure would suck to be cast among bourgeois programs like Kansas or Duke.

and since they are the only teams in the country that play man to man, your post was spot on.

 

[bozophobe]

Quite sure he'll be back next year as he promised McCullough he'd be there to coach him.

But wouldn't Boeheim ultimately have to break such a promise to a particular recruiting class when he does go? I mean, he has suggested he'll retire when he simply no longer feels like coaching.

 

[richard levy]

With the current rules change, more teams likely to be zone

 

[realorange]

But wouldn't Boeheim ultimately have to break such a promise to a particular recruiting class when he does go? I mean, he has suggested he'll retire when he simply no longer feels like coaching.

I suppose, but I don't know of him ever making that promise before particularly to such a high level recruit.

 

[SmilinBob]

I hope Hop has some thick skin because if he doesn't go 34-0 he's going to hear it from the Boeheim would have done it like this crowd time and time again.

 

[dasher]

I hope Hop has some thick skin because if he doesn't go 34-0 he's going to hear it from the Boeheim would have done it like this crowd time and time again.

seems fair. Boeheim has to put up with the experts here who know how to do it better than he does.

 

[HOFCeluck]

and since they are the only teams in the country that play man to man, your post was spot on.

Of course it was. I don't get people who think there's something wrong with playing mtm. We haven't been an exclusive zone team for THAT long.

 

[alphaorange]

The zone is a nightmare to prepare for in a short time. Seems like that makes it more of a weapon in the tournament. I'll live with getting into the tournament and then raising hell with the teams who don't see it much.

 

[longtimefan]

Of course it was. I don't get people who think there's something wrong with playing mtm. We haven't been an exclusive zone team for THAT long.

The '96 FF team was the one that really turned the "zone" corner. (Before that, SU probably played more m2m than zone.)

Why the transition that year? Well, the coach said during that season that they were one of the slowest teams he had ever coached, especially with Z Sims and Cipolla at the guards.

 

[HOFCeluck]

For sure that was the turning point.

But even up until recently we would play some man...that seemed to be completely abandoned after 2009. But we've been such a good zone team the last four seasons it's not hard to see why.

 

[anomander]

Assistant coaches usually take things they learn from HC's. Hopkins has basically been a student the past 25 years with JB being the professor. Hop is a unique case where he will not have learned from anyone else other then JB by the time he gets his HC position. It would be crazy to think he would switch from a system that has obviously elevated this program to one of the nation's elite. He may mix in a few mtm sets, but I just can't see him making any drastic changes. If he does I know I won't be happy, and if for some reason we falter, his job will come under that much more pressure

 

[tbonezone]

I hope Hop has some thick skin because if he doesn't go 34-0 he's going to hear it from the Boeheim would have done it like this crowd time and time again.

well hop is now in his mid 40's and has never won a single game as a head basketball coach. and he's been with this program since 1995. best win pronto.
i would fully expect and will be disappointed if it's not a very short leash.

 

[DoctorBombay]

I'd hope that Hop would be his own man & not wedded to one particular system. I love the philosophy of the Cuse 2-3, but if Hop decides that a Pitino-like pressing system is more to his liking, I'd be all for it. Ultimately, it's about wins & losses. If he wins, he can do what he wants.

 

[HOFCeluck]

He may mix in a few mtm sets, but I just can't see him making any drastic changes. If he does I know I won't be happy, and if for some reason we falter, his job will come under that much more pressure

You wouldn't be happy? Even if we continue (or exceed) our current level of performance?

 

[SmilinBob]

seems fair. Boeheim has to put up with the experts here who know how to do it better than he does.

Well dasher, he's going to be hearing from that crowd as well...he's going to get quite the dose of orange extract.

 

[pfister1]

Assistant coaches usually take things they learn from HC's. Hopkins has basically been a student the past 25 years with JB being the professor. Hop is a unique case where he will not have learned from anyone else other then JB by the time he gets his HC position. It would be crazy to think he would switch from a system that has obviously elevated this program to one of the nation's elite. He may mix in a few mtm sets, but I just can't see him making any drastic changes. If he does I know I won't be happy, and if for some reason we falter, his job will come under that much more pressure

I think this is spot on. He has been training in JB's system for a long time, hell we give all of the credit for the current zone system to JB, but how much of it might Hop actually be responsible for?? Does anyone really believe that JB is some dictator and that the assistants don't have input. In anycase my point is to agree with you he has trained in the SU 2-3 zone system, so it is likely that he would continue to play that way with his own refinements (like maybe using some mtm).

I disagree with your statement that Hop hasn't learned from anyone other than JB. He has served a couple of tours with USA basketball where he has served under a head coach other than JB, so its not as though he hasn't had the opportunity to be involved with other coaching styles.