Is HCIW Hopkins Written In Stone?

[Ozcuse]

The point is JB is far from perfect. Far from it.

JB has equity, MH does not.

 

[Kowbelkat]

9 games? 4-5. wow. He isn't even free to coach his own "style" so we don't know what changes he would make. Want to see a quick fix? Go recruit a couple of 5 stars and the team will play great. Hop has a track record as a recruiter...he can do it again. Give the guy a chance before you Jerry Jones him.

Just like the '13 and '14 players he's recruited?

 

[patcuse]

Needs to call time outs during runs, which I'm pretty sure he didn't when Clemson went on a run in the 1st half to take a 9 point lead.

Was Franklin Howard out for last nights game too? Because if he wasn't that would be another problem since he didn't see the court at all.

So your talking crap and u didn't watch the game. That's funny

 

[OrangeXtreme]

If you don't see a difference between the #14 team losing to a well coached (pre-Ryan retirement) Wisconsin team in OT and an embarrassing loss to St. John's that is a tire fire of a program that has lost to St. Thomas Aquinas and Incarnate Word, both by 20+ then I don't know what to tell you.

Against Wiscy we shot 7-24 from outside (29%) and 11-20 from the FT line (55%).

Against St John's we shot 5-29 from outside (19%) and 19-31 from the line (61%).

I don't see a difference. Bad shooting is still bad shooting regardless of who coaches.

 

[Brooky03]

If a rally car driver hands the keys over to his partner who usually rides shotgun and just lets him know what turns are coming up, that guy is probably not going to drive the performance car too well. Give that dude some practice with the car and some time to get used to being the driver in non-competitive situations, and there's a good chance he'll drive it a lot better.

I'm not great with analogies but I feel like that sums up this situation pretty accurately.

 

[Ozcuse]

If a rally car driver hands the keys over to his partner who usually rides shotgun and just lets him know what turns are coming up, that guy is probably not going to drive the performance car too well. Give that dude some practice with the car and some time to get used to being the driver in non-competitive situations, and there's a good chance he'll drive it a lot better.

I'm not great with analogies but I feel like that sums up this situation pretty accurately.

I've seen a lot of times when at full speed the 2nd guy puts the car in the wall, hard.

JB's shoes are and will be very hard to fill.

Time will tell if Mike Hopkins is Kevin Ollie or Craig Esherick. Last 9 games make me lean more towards Esherick.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

JB was beaten badly at Clemson last year.

Our final 4 team from a few years ago was beaten badly at Georgetown.

We lost at home to St. John's last year.

Stop Making Sense.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Why? Boeheim just went 6-1 with two wins vs Top 25 teams just prior to this stretch. Same team, no real injuries, same scheme, just different head coaches. Hop's team shat the bed against anyone with a pulse (not sure St. John's should even be considered having a pulse losing by 20+ to Incarnate Word and St. Thomas Aquinas- are those even college programs???).

You are ignoring A LOT.
To start:
• that teams can play at different levels / momentum, spurts, slumps / during a season
• that opposing coaches scout us and made adjustments to both our play and our personnel. Do you mean to tell me that teams knew Lydon was going to be good early in the season, or that they don't now know that they have to plan for him?
• Lydon was decent at center early. Now he's being exploited. The novelty wore off and was exposed as a liability.
• our freshman shooter is not consistent. Surprised?
• Howard missing entire games and perhaps not being whole when he last played, on an already thin team... on a team on which he appeared to have displaced the incumbent, more experienced PG — that should be considered a "real injury"
• I don't think calling those two teams "top 25" is statistically significant. They were at the 'bottom' of the top 25, in a season that hadn't yet told us anything. Them being top 25 is not much different than us being #16 the week after we won.

Yes, we have sucked under Hop. But comparing JB's record to Hop's this year is silly. You need to find other ways to evaluate them.

 

[Ozcuse]

You are ignoring A LOT.
To start:
• that teams can play at different levels / momentum, spurts, slumps / during a season
• that opposing coaches . . . . . us and made adjustments to both our play and our personnel. Do you mean to tell me that teams knew Lydon was going to be good early in the season, or that they don't now know that they have to plan for him?
• Lydon was decent at center early. Now he's being exploited. The novelty wore off and was exposed as a liability.
• our freshman shooter is not consistent. Surprised?
• Howard missing entire games and perhaps not being whole when he last played, on an already thin team... on a team on which he appeared to have displaced the incumbent, more experienced PG — that should be considered a "real injury"
• I don't think calling those two teams "top 25" is statistically significant. They were at the 'bottom' of the top 25, in a season that hadn't yet told us anything. Them being top 25 is not much different than us being #16 the week after we won.

Yes, we have sucked under Hop. But comparing JB's record to Hop's this year is silly. You need to find other ways to evaluate them.

Then please enlighten me and tell us the other ways to evaluate them. Smiles per minute? Claps per second?

Don't forget to run it through the sunshine, kittens and rainbows translator first.

 

[Ozcuse]

Could anyone please answer the following two questions:

1. What has Hop shown over the last nine games to convince you he can sustain this program at an elite level?

2. Which major programs in the past have shown an interest in hiring Hopkins away from Syracuse?

I'll hang up and listen.

 

[Kowbelkat]

If a rally car driver hands the keys over to his partner who usually rides shotgun and just lets him know what turns are coming up, that guy is probably not going to drive the performance car too well. Give that dude some practice with the car and some time to get used to being the driver in non-competitive situations, and there's a good chance he'll drive it a lot better.

I'm not great with analogies but I feel like that sums up this situation pretty accurately.

Problem is we have a Yugo not a Porsche

 

[Brooky03]

Problem is we have a Yugo not a Porsche

That too

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Then please enlighten me and tell us the other ways to evaluate them. Smiles per minute? Claps per second?

Don't forget to run it through the sunshine, kittens and rainbows translator first.

You're the one who seems to need to believe it's a simple matter. I don't. If there were a simple method, I would have mentioned it.

Secondly, your next post suggests that people who don't agree with your analysis are necessarily in the 'pro Hop' club. Not a logical conclusion. For instance, I'm not. You're saying 2 and 2 equal 4. I'm saying the answer MAY be 4, but it isn't empirically true that we are adding 2 and 2 to get there.

Hop has NOT shown that he is CURRENTLY worthy of the position. But, that doesn't mean JB wins any of those games either. Hop is operating in JB emulation mode, with a team designed by JB, running JB OS. And he's never done it before. I'd wager JB had some roughness to file away in his first ten games. And h wasn't under the same microscope. We are not going to know what we have in Hop for YEARS. The mistakes he's making now are correctable and can be attributed to inexperience. The game slows down for players with time. Why not the same for coaches? He's no idiot. And it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to coach basketball. Hop passes all the other tests. That's why he got the job. I'm betting he learns/remembers/gets the feel of when to call a timeout. Motivating players? Never a JB strong suit. I think hop will be alright there, too. WILL BE. It's a work in progress. We won't know much until he recruits on his own and installs his own system. And even then, it will be wrong to compare him to JB's last 40, because the program is in an entirely new situation. We are in someone else's pond.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Could anyone please answer the following two questions:

1. What has Hop shown over the last nine games to convince you he can sustain this program at an elite level?

2. Which major programs in the past have shown an interest in hiring Hopkins away from Syracuse?

I'll hang up and listen.

Re: 2
Didn't he interview for USC or UCLA recently? If not, either way, he was Top Secret Provisionally named HCIW a long time ago. Way before the "official" designation. Why would anyone waste time trying to pry him away? How many major programs ANYWHERE have looked to foreign assistant coaches to fill HC positions? Dude. Your questions don't even sniff logic...

Sorry, bruh. But you brought this upon yourself with that Kittens remark... I LOVE kittens.

 

[Ozcuse]

You're the one who seems to need to believe it's a simple matter. I don't. If there were a simple method, I would have mentioned it.

Secondly, your next post suggests that people who don't agree with your analysis are necessarily in the 'pro Hop' club. Not a logical conclusion. For instance, I'm not. You're saying 2 and 2 equal 4. I'm saying the answer MAY be 4, but it isn't empirically true that we are adding 2 and 2 to get there.

Hop has NOT shown that he is CURRENTLY worthy of the position. But, that doesn't mean JB wins any of those games either. Hop is operating in JB emulation mode, with a team designed by JB, running JB OS. And he's never done it before. I'd wager JB had some roughness to file away in his first ten games. And h wasn't under the same microscope. We are not going to know what we have in Hop for YEARS. The mistakes he's making now are correctable and can be attributed to inexperience. The game slows down for players with time. Why not the same for coaches? He's no idiot. And it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to coach basketball. Hop passes all the other tests. That's why he got the job. I'm betting he learns/remembers/gets the feel of when to call a timeout. Motivating players? Never a JB strong suit. I think hop will be alright there, too. WILL BE. It's a work in progress. We won't know much until he recruits on his own and installs his own system. And even then, it will be wrong to compare him to JB's last 40, because the program is in an entirely new situation. We are in someone else's pond.

All I want is the AD to do an actual coaching search when it comes time to replace JB. Mike can definitely be in that search but I think it's crazy to just hand the keys of an elite program no questions asked to a guy who went 4-5 in his only head coaching experience.

If we do a legitimate search and the results come up with Coach Hopkins as the best solution then I will support it. Blind allegiance because he is "Boeheim's Guy" is crazy. You know who else was once Boeheim's guy? Bernie Fine.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

If only JB had been suspended two years ago, Hop would have been 9-0.

 

[Ozcuse]

Re: 2
Didn't he interview for USC or UCLA recently? If not, either way, he was Top Secret Provisionally named HCIW a long time ago. Way before the "official" designation. Why would anyone waste time trying to pry him away? How many major programs ANYWHERE have looked to foreign assistant coaches to fill HC positions? Dude. Your questions don't even sniff logic...

Sorry, bruh. But you brought this upon yourself with that Kittens remark... I LOVE kittens.

I knew the answer to this question I just wanted to see how people approached it. He interviewed for USC (2013), Oregon State (2014), and Charlotte (2010). Didn't get any of them (maybe by choice, maybe not). I find it odd that no major teams on the East Coast where he is supposed to be a super recruiter inquired about him. An unofficial HCIW tag wouldn't stop someone from interviewing him, it didn't stop USC or OrSt.

Maybe he works out, maybe he doesn't. I'm not going to convince you otherwise and you won't convince me.

 

[PhatOrange]

Understandable. But I think Hop's approach, once it's his team, will be much different over time.

over time is what scares me. we're not a developmental program. Hop need to go coach somewhere else. a few .500 seasons (or worse) will mean an empty dome, and no recruits, means our status evaporates.

 

[Bayside44]

Could anyone please answer the following two questions:

1. What has Hop shown over the last nine games to convince you he can sustain this program at an elite level?

2. Which major programs in the past have shown an interest in hiring Hopkins away from Syracuse?

I'll hang up and listen.

USC, BC, Oregon State...

 

[orangenirvana]

Hopkins isn't going to be ultimately judged on these games alone. Nor should he be.

 

[Ozcuse]

USC, BC, Oregon State...

I forgot Boston College. Why did they remove him from consideration?

Also, what have you seen the last nine games to say yep, that's our guy?

 

[CuseHulk]

USC, BC, Oregon State...

Ah. Hopkins didn't want any of those jobs. If he did he would have been there.

 

[Ozcuse]

Hopkins isn't going to be ultimately judged on these games alone. Nor should he be.

But it should be in the equation since it's our only indication of what the guy will do as a head coach.

 

[orangenirvana]

But it should be in the equation since it's our only indication of what the guy will do as a head coach.

In the end it won't matter. He was thrown into a tough spot.

Boeheim is as good a bench coach as there has ever been - anyone who expected Hop on his level in that regard immediately is delusional.

 

[Jasoncuse]

9 games...

But yes, there were signs and they probably weren't good ones (lack of timeouts, the foul fiasco last night, set plays, etc).

I'm just wondering if Hop will have JB's ability to turn mediocre/decent teams into good ones. Up until these past 2 years, that was always his specialty.