I haven't been on the board in a while but

[Gabjon]

What I saw out of Hop today has me scared for the future and furious at the same time! This was the worst in game coaching I have seen in a long time! Answer me this! How does the coach allow his senior leader go 7-11 from the field and his Freshmen (still trying to figure it out) go 4-20!

Hop made no adjustments to get Gbinije shots! How about play him off the ball and run him off screens? How about yanking Richardson and chewing him out for not moving the ball!

Somebody please name me the last a freshmen was allowed to shoot twice as much as our senior leader! Ridiculous!!!!!

 

[longtimefan]

What I saw out of Hop today has me scared for the future and furious at the same time! This was the worst in game coaching I have seen in a long time! Answer me this! How does the coach allow his senior leader go 7-11 from the field and his Freshmen (still trying to figure it out) go 4-20!

Hop made no adjustments to get Gbinije shots! How about play him off the ball and run him off screens? How about yanking Richardson and chewing him out for not moving the ball!

Somebody please name me the last a freshmen was allowed to shoot twice as much as our senior leader! Ridiculous!!!!!

I agree that was not a good tactic today by Hop. I hope he (and Richardson) learn from it.

 

[We Are Syracuse]

I agree. I have made no HUGE assumptions on Hop but he should not just get handed the keys to the program. Not saying he shouldn't be hired, but this is a TOP job and it would make no sense at all to not do a thorough search and weigh your options. Would you take Jay Wright or Mike Hopkins? I am taking Jay Wright.

 

[upperdeck]

i think people need to work harder at watching the game and not just the part that includes the shots.

 

[Gabjon]

I always thought Hop should have left 10 years to develop his own in-game coaching style, but now I wondering if he has even been paying attention at all! What I saw today was a man who looked like a dear in headlights! He has been on the staff for 20 years!!!

 

[Gabjon]

i think people need to work harder at watching the game and not just the part that includes the shots.

I was at the game saw the whole thing! Bad offense leads to easy shots and wide open 3s on the other end!

 

[upperdeck]

defense is inside out when playing zone.. cooney does a great job in rotation which is why he deflects so many and creates so many turnovers.. just because someone gets a 3 off is not always because he is playing bad D.. last i knew there were 4 other guys out there playing D too. they were also told to not guard certain people in spots on the floor if guys make those shots thats not a players fault.

 

[Gabjon]

defense is inside out when playing zone.. cooney does a great job in rotation which is why he deflects so many and creates so many turnovers.. just because someone gets a 3 off is not always because he is playing bad D.. last i knew there were 4 other guys out there playing D too. they were also told to not guard certain people in spots on the floor if guys make those shots thats not a players fault.

Agreed! But that didn't lose us the game! Many teams have shot well against the zone and we still won the game, but our bad offense lead to 10-12 easy points for them! There was a reason Richardson was open! It is the coaches job to get him best players shots, and it helps set up your defense!

 

[orangenirvana]

Would you take Jay Wright or Mike Hopkins? I am taking Jay Wright.

Come on. I hope this is just a hypothetical. Jay Wright is not leaving Villanova.

 

[Shark58]

I was at the game saw the whole thing! Bad offense leads to easy shots and wide open 3s on the other end!

I was also at the game, and agree somewhat.

g is pegged as a senior leader and also the pg. he's doing the right thing theoretically, but it really hurts the team.

as the lead guard, he is actively deferring his personal O and looking to distribute and get his team mates involved. again, the right thing to do expect he is the only one I really want to see with attacking the ball. Mal will get it. he's young and forced to play out of position. Robe should have about 2 plays a game run through him, the rest of his scoring should be putbacks. Coondawg is Coondawg and that aint changing.

If we had a competent 1, Mal/Coon could split 2 and g could be a pure generate offense 3, which we sorely need

 

[dasher]

I agree. I have made no HUGE assumptions on Hop but he should not just get handed the keys to the program. Not saying he shouldn't be hired, but this is a TOP job and it would make no sense at all to not do a thorough search and weigh your options. Would you take Jay Wright or Mike Hopkins? I am taking Jay Wright.

Have you followed Nova at the end of seasons. They collapse every year. Hop has coached two games. I can see where the boards future lies. Any time we lose, and yes this was a terrible loss, it will be Hop sucks as coach. How about we show just a bit of patience.

 

[Gabjon]

I was also at the game, and agree somewhat.

g is pegged as a senior leader and also the pg. he's doing the right thing theoretically, but it really hurts the team.

as the lead guard, he is actively deferring his personal O and looking to distribute and get his team mates involved. again, the right thing to do expect he is the only one I really want to see with attacking the ball. Mal will get it. he's young and forced to play out of position. Robe should have about 2 plays a game run through him, the rest of his scoring should be putbacks. Coondawg is Coondawg and that aint changing.

If we had a competent 1, Mal/Coon could split 2 and g could be a pure generate offense 3, which we sorely need

Gerry, MCW, and Johnny Flynn all were scoring point guards!

 

[mountaincuse]

I give you props for ending every sentence but one with an exclamation point, and that one still not with a period.

Agreed it's not ideal play the last few games, but let's let this play out a little

 

[Shark58]

Gerry, MCW, and Johnny Flynn all were scoring point guards!

G-Mac was a better 2 and Mickey Dubz wasn't a real outside threat

plus, all 3 you named had much better other team parts around them

 

[Gabjon]

I give you props for ending every sentence but one with an exclamation point, and that one still not with a period.

Agreed it's not ideal play the last few games, but let's let this play out a little

Well I thought all caps would be too much...I still like Hop, but he has big shoes to fill......

 

[orangecuse]

I think it's way too early to draw any real type conclusions on how Hop will do at the helm. It's not his team, and he is simple implementing the same strategy and style, rotation, etc. that JB instructed him and the assistants prior to his mandatory leave. Until he has total freedom and complete reigns, only then, imo, will we get a glimpse of his ability as a head coach. And, when it's his team, I expect there to be growing pains due to the fact that he has never been a head coach. Certainly the jury is out as he has no track record, and, I also believe due to same, that he will have a relatively short leash if he isn't successful early on. There will be a ton of pressure on him to succeed and I'm sure he'll feel the significant burden that comes with it.

 

[pfister1]

Mal had a lot of open shots today and took them...and ultimately didn't make enough of them.

I didn't see G pass up a lot of open shots. He was well defended the whole game.

The only guys that I thought passed up shots were Lydon a couple of times and Roberson. Lydon should probably take them, Roberson was probably right to pass them up.

A couple of big problems for us today, aside from the obvious rebounding and missed free throws....

Seemed like we couldn't finish anything around the basket. Coleman and Roberson were atrocious....they are both slow as all hell in taking the ball up and way too soft in their moves to the hoop.

Too many missed layups by guards also.

I was not a fan of the way the game was officiated. I felt the refs ate their whistles on some physical play around the basket both rebounding with Johnnies over our guys backs and fouls on our guys going to the hoop.

I am starting to feel like Roberson isn't going to get there as a player at this level. I feel like he should be doing a lot more, a lot more consistently than he is.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Biggest takeaway from this is just how unbearable this place is going to be once JB retires. It is going to be as bad worse than the football board and that is saying a lot.

 

[rrlbees]

Biggest takeaway from this is just how unbearable this place is going to be once JB retires. It is going to be as bad worse than the football board and that is saying a lot.

What's also funny is that some on the football board think this board is a wasteland and player bashing is a sport far more than seen on the football board.

 

[HoustonCuse]

What's also funny is that some on the football board think this board is a wasteland and player bashing is a sport far more than seen on the football board.

People will bash when there is a loss. Most find it much more preferable to bash the coach who is paid money vs the players if it is an option. It isn't much of a viable option on the bball side with an HOF coach so people go after the players here. Clearly the relative talent of the players is higher on the bball side but they get more flak than the football players because on that side it is low hanging fruit to blame the coach.

 

[We Are Syracuse]

Have you followed Nova at the end of seasons. They collapse every year. Hop has coached two games. I can see where the boards future lies. Any time we lose, and yes this was a terrible loss, it will be Hop sucks as coach. How about we show just a bit of patience.

I agree, I said you can't draw huge conclusions from this because it's his second game and not his team but I think you have to make sure you're making the right hire in a situation like they will be in. I like Hopkins and I hope he's learning from this, but you have to consider the other options.

 

[MadNY3]

What I saw out of Hop today has me scared for the future and furious at the same time! This was the worst in game coaching I have seen in a long time! Answer me this! How does the coach allow his senior leader go 7-11 from the field and his Freshmen (still trying to figure it out) go 4-20!

Hop made no adjustments to get Gbinije shots! How about play him off the ball and run him off screens? How about yanking Richardson and chewing him out for not moving the ball!

Somebody please name me the last a freshmen was allowed to shoot twice as much as our senior leader! Ridiculous!!!!!

The entire team save Silent G could not finish a sentence let alone a shot.

Richardson is going to have some awesome offensive explosions in his Syracuse career. I thought of the 20, he took two bad shots.

His shots didn't go down. No one else's did save Mike's and Lydon did not shoot enough. We need him more selfish.

It would be great to have Gbinije to play off the ball and that's why KJ or Howard stepping up could be huge for him and Cooney...who clearly is never coming out.

 

[Czar]

Have you followed Nova at the end of seasons. They collapse every year. Hop has coached two games. I can see where the boards future lies. Any time we lose, and yes this was a terrible loss, it will be Hop sucks as coach. How about we show just a bit of patience.

Late season collapses? Well damn where have I seen that before...

 

[jdubs30]

Mal's spurt to start the 2nd half was impressive. His handle is better than I thought ti would be and he's good at drawing contact. I agree that he shouldn't be taking 20 shots, but like other posters have said I can only remember a few bad shots.

 

[Col. Bleep]

St. John's played well.
But the reality is there's not one player on their team who would start for us.

Mike Hopkins - whatever his coaching ability - can't make shots for us.
We missed wide open looks.
It seems Boeheim had this team pegged exactly right.
If we don't make shots we can't beat anybody. ANYBODY.
It could be a very long season.

But...in the interest of trying to kid myself that there's real hope...this game reminded me of another debacle I attended.
In the Meadowlands one night we couldn't do anything.
Seton Hall destroyed us.
That was in 1996.
We wound up going to the NCAA Finals.