Washington vs Kansas

[310Pigpen]

It takes looking but there are a few out there. Quite honestly, on the occasions that I search for other schools' message boards I appreciate this place more upon my return. You guys have created something special...

I agree, whenever I go to another schools' message board it feels so cheap and unorganized. This is definitely one of the nicest fan forums I've been on.

 

[two3zone]

It really grinds my gears to see some of the comments on here from so called 'fans'.

I was watching the game last night and I teared up for him...because I know what Mike Hopkins puts into everything he does. He gave everything he ever had to this university and he conducted himself like a gentleman every step of the way. He took this job because it made sense, not out of spite. He will always love SU and I will always love him.

Should we be concerned if he recruits the east coast? YES! Because he is charismatic, he is a winner, he is humble and his passion/fire/honesty is refreshing!

I bleed Orange but I will always root for SU family when the leave, especially when they are as classy as Mike Hopkins.

I'll root for Cuse head to head and in recruiting against Hop but that's the only time I'll root against him. Dude gave almost his entire adult life to the program and did a pretty damn good job at it too.

There's been a lot of sour grapes thrown his way since he left and even more after last night. Hop made adjustments, his lesser talented team was prepared, and he still speaks highly of the program here mentioning us at every opportunity. If you don't like the guy and aren't proud of him you're an idiot.

 

[Doc5120]

Hop spoke to the SU staff and made adjustments. He told his guys not to give up any threes or lobs, and allowed the shots in the lane. It was essentially a 4-1 zone at times. And they put their lankiest athlete at the top of the zone in Graham's face. It would have been like us putting Brissett up there. Plus, his guys were scoring.

I'm very happy for Hop & I'm also glad the SU staff helped him out. My question is - was it really a secret to "not give up threes"? KU is one of the best 3 pt shooting teams in the country. We should have known that before our game and defended the perimeter better than we did. Graham was sensational against us, but we let him step right into his shots.

 

[Dawg]

That's one that really perked up on the basketball side with the Kansas victory. It's great to see how Hopkins has excited a fan base that was expecting to be blown out. I think they'll have a mixed season but this was a huge program achievement for so early on in hop's tenure. Unprecedented really. They'll lose their share but he's got his team focused and motivated. Kudos to all of them...including the AD that has to be feeling pretty darn good this morning...

She's outgrown her former moniker with this hire. She's done an incredible job got Petersen and now Hopkins. If Hopkins gets it rolling, like he has shown the be capable of, we might have the best CFB and CBB coaching tandem in the country.

 

[Dawg]

He's been recruiting quite well too got a kid out of Bishop Gorman that looks awesome, Roberts, Ed Chang at Garfield in Seattle is a stud, Elijah Hardy is a great one, and we are currently in on a top 30 recruit 7 fter from Utah, heard we lead for him, and a top 50 recruit from Garfield up here that's a stretch four.

 

[SU94]

Also doesn’t inspire confidence in JB’s ability to make in-game adjustments to the 2-3.

If JAB only knew how to make halftime adjustments ... he'd have 1000+ wins, a NC and a spot in the Hoops HOF. Dang. So close.

 

[Sherman20]

Kansas beats us on a neutral court and Washington beats them at Phog Allen field house.

It wasn’t at the Phog.

 

[cuseinseattle]

The difference is Hop is more open to new ideas. Even if Washington had first dibs on Kansas and got torched by one shooter I doubt JB would just concede the post. The SU zone will extend or contract at times but not to the extent that we saw with Washington.

I completely disagree with this. Boeheim makes adjustments with the zone all the time. Players lost Graham and didn't get out to him on multiple occasions but the reality is that he may have scored but we held Kansas down for a good portion of the game. We lost because we couldn't shoot and couldn't score. Washington had Crisp go 2 for 5 from deep and Thybulle go 5 of 8. We had Battle go 2 for 11 and OB go 2 for 8. That was the difference.

 

[cuseinseattle]

I'll root for Cuse head to head and in recruiting against Hop but that's the only time I'll root against him. Dude gave almost his entire adult life to the program and did a pretty damn good job at it too.

There's been a lot of sour grapes thrown his way since he left and even more after last night. Hop made adjustments, his lesser talented team was prepared, and he still speaks highly of the program here mentioning us at every opportunity. If you don't like the guy and aren't proud of him you're an idiot.

Agreed. It's funny that after the game he said this is a great win for and no matter what it would have been a good gauge of where we are. Kansas is one of the premier programs in the country. We want to get to that level. The level of the top programs like Kansas, Syracuse and Kentucky.

 

[two3zone]

Kansas beats us on a neutral court and Washington beats them at Phog Allen field house.

Was technically a neutral court, never would've guessed by the crowd and that massive Jayhawk in the center of the court.

 

[cuseinseattle]

My favorite part of the interview was when John Anderson says, "Hop this is year 1 and going to Kansas City to play Kansas is quite a game. Why did you schedule it." Hop said, "It was already scheduled when I go the job, they told me and I was like oh we are going to play Kansas. Great." You could see David Crisp laughing next to him.

 

[TinyManInside]

Hey Hop, y'all got anymore of those David Crisp's?

Crisp was great last night, but he's been pretty bad all year. I've watched every minute of every UW game and he drives me absolutely crazy. Last night was the first time all year that he played like a point guard. The rest of the season he's been a gunner who takes A TON of bad shots, lots of off-balanced and fadeaway 3s that have little chance of going in. In aggregate Frank Howard has been much, much better than Crisp. It just so happens that Howard's worst game and Crisp's best came right after one another.

Hop spoke to the SU staff and made adjustments. He told his guys not to give up any threes or lobs, and allowed the shots in the lane. It was essentially a 4-1 zone at times. And they put their lankiest athlete at the top of the zone in Graham's face. It would have been like us putting Brissett up there. Plus, his guys were scoring.

Matisse Thybulle playing at the top of the zone is not an adjustment for Hop. Every minute he's played this year he's been at the top of the zone. That kid is an incredible defensive player. I mean, one of the top defenders I've seen in college hoops over the last 10 years. Great hands, great lateral quickness, incredible nose for the ball, and super anticipation. He's a lot like MCW was defensively, but better. He hasn't been a very good offensive player this year until last night. Nice to see him finally make some shots.

---------
Some of my thoughts:

1) Super happy for Hop. This guy is a tireless worker, has a great basketball mind, and is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. As Jake said, the question was never whether he could recruit, teach, gameplan, or get kids to buy into his system... the question has always been would he be a good 'in game' coach. Last night was a huge step in the right direction. The VaTech game last month was a debacle and Hop didn't do a very good job of adjusting the zone or taking appropriate timeouts, but last night he called all the right shots. Great to see.

As I said before, I've watched every minute of every UW game this year - it is amazing how much they've improved since their opener against Belmont.

2) Last night UW basically played their A+++ game. I mean, if they play this game against Kansas in KC 10 times I honestly think they win once.

UW is not a very gifted offensive team, but they put it all together last night. Their PG play this year has been bad (Crisp was great last night though), they don't shoot the ball well from the perimeter (they shot it great last night), and they turn the ball over a lot and are not a very good passing team (last night 17 assists to 12 turnovers). So everything came together all at the right time.

Thybulle entered the game under 30% from three and made 5-8 from beyond the arc. Dickerson has been in foul trouble almost every game, and last night he only picked up 2 fouls. Dickerson only had 6 assists total coming into the game, but last night had 5 (great job reading double teams, which is something he's never shown before). Crisp had a season high in assists. A lot of this is a result of good coaching and good gameplanning, but a lot of it was just about every one of their players having their best game on the same night.

3) I like Hop's freshman class. Can't believe what he was able to pull together in such short time.

Jaylen Nowell is fantastic - great offensive feel (and improving defender) - knows how to get to spots where he can be effective is deadly from 15 feet and in. Reminds me somewhat of Lawrence Moten to be honest. Just has a knack for knowing how to score.

Hameir Wright - long, lanky, 6'9" - has been asked to play a lot of C and PF this year but he's probably better suited for the wing. Was totally lost in the early games but has made significant contributions in their last 3 games. Has really improved, can shoot it a little from the perimeter, and is starting to put the ball on the floor more and look for other ways to score. He also looks like he could turn into a pretty good passer.

Nahz Carter - terrific athlete, long 6'6" - has been pretty good in the zone and can jump out of the gym. He's got a long way to go (and he can get out of control on drives), but he's also shown consistent improvement.

Michael Carter III is hurt but was showing some nice signs as a pass-first PG earlier in the year. He's the farthest from being a consistent contributor though.

4) For people comparing SU and UW, I don't think this is a case where transitive property applies. I'd guess SU would win 7 out of 10 on a neutral court. UW isn't going to shoot like that on most nights, SU would kill them on the offensive glass, and I don't think UW would be able to take care of the ball well enough. I think SU's size at the forwards position would pose a huge problem for UW. I'm much more comfortable with the idea that SU can make a run at an NCAA tourney bid than I am that UW will.

Mason

 

[Sherman20]

Watching Hops squad now on the replay, they just took the three point shot out of the game for Kansas.

I forgot the poster who posted it, but Washington is just allowing Kansas to try and beat them by the foul line shot and taking away everything else.

That’s what I thought we should have done. Force them to take 10-15 2-pt shots rather than taking open threes or getting alley oops. I think that was the game plan but our guys didn’t always execute it correctly. No one else got much of anything besides Graham in our game. He was just on fire.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Was technically a neutral court, never would've guessed by the crowd and that massive Jayhawk in the center of the court.

The funny thing is they called it a road game the whole interview time and there was a giant KU logo on center court. It was less than an hour from their campus so I have a hard time calling it a neutral site game.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Crisp was great last night, but he's been pretty bad all year. I've watched every minute of every UW game and he drives me absolutely crazy. Last night was the first time all year that he played like a point guard. The rest of the season he's been a gunner who takes A TON of bad shots, lots of off-balanced and fadeaway 3s that have little chance of going in. In aggregate Frank Howard has been much, much better than Crisp. It just so happens that Howard's worst game and Crisp's best came right after one another.



Matisse Thybulle playing at the top of the zone is not an adjustment for Hop. Every minute he's played this year he's been at the top of the zone. That kid is an incredible defensive player. I mean, one of the top defenders I've seen in college hoops over the last 10 years. Great hands, great lateral quickness, incredible nose for the ball, and super anticipation. He's a lot like MCW was defensively, but better. He hasn't been a very good offensive player this year until last night. Nice to see him finally make some shots.

---------
Some of my thoughts:

1) Super happy for Hop. This guy is a tireless worker, has a great basketball mind, and is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. As Jake said, the question was never whether he could recruit, teach, gameplan, or get kids to buy into his system... the question has always been would he be a good 'in game' coach. Last night was a huge step in the right direction. The VaTech game last month was a debacle and Hop didn't do a very good job of adjusting the zone or taking appropriate timeouts, but last night he called all the right shots. Great to see.

As I said before, I've watched every minute of every UW game this year - it is amazing how much they've improved since their opener at Belmont.

2) Last night UW basically played their A+++ game. I mean, if they play this game against Kansas in KC 10 times I honestly think they win once.

UW is not a very gifted offensive team, but they put it all together last night. Their PG play this year has been bad (Crisp was great last night though), they don't shoot the ball well from the perimeter (they shot it great last night), and they turn the ball over a lot and are not a very good passing team (last night 17 assists to 12 turnovers). So everything came together all at the right time.

Thybulle entered the game under 30% from three and made 5-8 from beyond the arc. Dickerson has been in foul trouble almost every game, and last night he only picked up 2 fouls. Dickerson only had 6 assists total coming into the game, but last night had 5 (great job reading double teams, which is something he's never shown before). Crisp had a season high in assists. A lot of this is a result of good coaching and good gameplanning, but a lot of it was just about every one of their players having their best game on the same night.

3) I like Hop's freshman class. Can't believe what he was able to pull together in such short time.

Jaylen Nowell is fantastic - great offensive feel (and improving defender) - knows how to get to spots where he can be effective is deadly from 15 feet and in. Reminds me somewhat of Lawrence Moten to be honest. Just has a knack for knowing how to score.

Hameir Wright - long, lanky, 6'9" - has been asked to play a lot of C and PF this year but he's probably better suited for the wing. Was totally lost in the early games but has made significant contributions in their last 3 games. Has really improved, can shoot it a little from the perimeter, and is starting to put the ball on the floor more and look for other ways to score. He also looks like he could turn into a pretty good passer.

Nahz Carter - terrific athlete, long 6'6" - has been pretty good in the zone and can jump out of the gym. He's got a long way to go (and he can get out of control on drives), but he's also shown consistent improvement.

Michael Carter III is hurt but was showing some nice signs as a pass-first PG earlier in the year. He's the farthest from being a consistent contributor though.

4) For people comparing SU and UW, I don't think this is a case where transitive property applies. I'd guess SU would win 7 out of 10 on a neutral court. UW isn't going to shoot like that on most nights, SU would kill them on the offensive glass, and I don't think UW would be able to take care of the ball well enough. I think SU's size at the position would pose a huge problem for UW. I'm much more comfortable with the idea that SU can make a run at an NCAA tourney bid than I am that UW will.

Mason

Agree on everything. Great post. I have watched every UW game from start to finish and this was the best they have played and shot by a substantial margin.

 

[Dawg]

Crisp was great last night, but he's been pretty bad all year. I've watched every minute of every UW game and he drives me absolutely crazy. Last night was the first time all year that he played like a point guard. The rest of the season he's been a gunner who takes A TON of bad shots, lots of off-balanced and fadeaway 3s that have little chance of going in. In aggregate Frank Howard has been much, much better than Crisp. It just so happens that Howard's worst game and Crisp's best came right after one another.



Matisse Thybulle playing at the top of the zone is not an adjustment for Hop. Every minute he's played this year he's been at the top of the zone. That kid is an incredible defensive player. I mean, one of the top defenders I've seen in college hoops over the last 10 years. Great hands, great lateral quickness, incredible nose for the ball, and super anticipation. He's a lot like MCW was defensively, but better. He hasn't been a very good offensive player this year until last night. Nice to see him finally make some shots.

---------
Some of my thoughts:

1) Super happy for Hop. This guy is a tireless worker, has a great basketball mind, and is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. As Jake said, the question was never whether he could recruit, teach, gameplan, or get kids to buy into his system... the question has always been would he be a good 'in game' coach. Last night was a huge step in the right direction. The VaTech game last month was a debacle and Hop didn't do a very good job of adjusting the zone or taking appropriate timeouts, but last night he called all the right shots. Great to see.

As I said before, I've watched every minute of every UW game this year - it is amazing how much they've improved since their opener at Belmont.

2) Last night UW basically played their A+++ game. I mean, if they play this game against Kansas in KC 10 times I honestly think they win once.

UW is not a very gifted offensive team, but they put it all together last night. Their PG play this year has been bad (Crisp was great last night though), they don't shoot the ball well from the perimeter (they shot it great last night), and they turn the ball over a lot and are not a very good passing team (last night 17 assists to 12 turnovers). So everything came together all at the right time.

Thybulle entered the game under 30% from three and made 5-8 from beyond the arc. Dickerson has been in foul trouble almost every game, and last night he only picked up 2 fouls. Dickerson only had 6 assists total coming into the game, but last night had 5 (great job reading double teams, which is something he's never shown before). Crisp had a season high in assists. A lot of this is a result of good coaching and good gameplanning, but a lot of it was just about every one of their players having their best game on the same night.

3) I like Hop's freshman class. Can't believe what he was able to pull together in such short time.

Jaylen Nowell is fantastic - great offensive feel (and improving defender) - knows how to get to spots where he can be effective is deadly from 15 feet and in. Reminds me somewhat of Lawrence Moten to be honest. Just has a knack for knowing how to score.

Hameir Wright - long, lanky, 6'9" - has been asked to play a lot of C and PF this year but he's probably better suited for the wing. Was totally lost in the early games but has made significant contributions in their last 3 games. Has really improved, can shoot it a little from the perimeter, and is starting to put the ball on the floor more and look for other ways to score. He also looks like he could turn into a pretty good passer.

Nahz Carter - terrific athlete, long 6'6" - has been pretty good in the zone and can jump out of the gym. He's got a long way to go (and he can get out of control on drives), but he's also shown consistent improvement.

Michael Carter III is hurt but was showing some nice signs as a pass-first PG earlier in the year. He's the farthest from being a consistent contributor though.

4) For people comparing SU and UW, I don't think this is a case where transitive property applies. I'd guess SU would win 7 out of 10 on a neutral court. UW isn't going to shoot like that on most nights, SU would kill them on the offensive glass, and I don't think UW would be able to take care of the ball well enough. I think SU's size at the position would pose a huge problem for UW. I'm much more comfortable with the idea that SU can make a run at an NCAA tourney bid than I am that UW will.

Mason

Crisp has been pretty awful throughout his entire career here, though he has had some good games. It's crazy, it's almost like coaching matters?!?!!?

 

[Sherman20]

Crisp was great last night, but he's been pretty bad all year. I've watched every minute of every UW game and he drives me absolutely crazy. Last night was the first time all year that he played like a point guard. The rest of the season he's been a gunner who takes A TON of bad shots, lots of off-balanced and fadeaway 3s that have little chance of going in. In aggregate Frank Howard has been much, much better than Crisp. It just so happens that Howard's worst game and Crisp's best came right after one another.



Matisse Thybulle playing at the top of the zone is not an adjustment for Hop. Every minute he's played this year he's been at the top of the zone. That kid is an incredible defensive player. I mean, one of the top defenders I've seen in college hoops over the last 10 years. Great hands, great lateral quickness, incredible nose for the ball, and super anticipation. He's a lot like MCW was defensively, but better. He hasn't been a very good offensive player this year until last night. Nice to see him finally make some shots.

---------
Some of my thoughts:

1) Super happy for Hop. This guy is a tireless worker, has a great basketball mind, and is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. As Jake said, the question was never whether he could recruit, teach, gameplan, or get kids to buy into his system... the question has always been would he be a good 'in game' coach. Last night was a huge step in the right direction. The VaTech game last month was a debacle and Hop didn't do a very good job of adjusting the zone or taking appropriate timeouts, but last night he called all the right shots. Great to see.

As I said before, I've watched every minute of every UW game this year - it is amazing how much they've improved since their opener at Belmont.

2) Last night UW basically played their A+++ game. I mean, if they play this game against Kansas in KC 10 times I honestly think they win once.

UW is not a very gifted offensive team, but they put it all together last night. Their PG play this year has been bad (Crisp was great last night though), they don't shoot the ball well from the perimeter (they shot it great last night), and they turn the ball over a lot and are not a very good passing team (last night 17 assists to 12 turnovers). So everything came together all at the right time.

Thybulle entered the game under 30% from three and made 5-8 from beyond the arc. Dickerson has been in foul trouble almost every game, and last night he only picked up 2 fouls. Dickerson only had 6 assists total coming into the game, but last night had 5 (great job reading double teams, which is something he's never shown before). Crisp had a season high in assists. A lot of this is a result of good coaching and good gameplanning, but a lot of it was just about every one of their players having their best game on the same night.

3) I like Hop's freshman class. Can't believe what he was able to pull together in such short time.

Jaylen Nowell is fantastic - great offensive feel (and improving defender) - knows how to get to spots where he can be effective is deadly from 15 feet and in. Reminds me somewhat of Lawrence Moten to be honest. Just has a knack for knowing how to score.

Hameir Wright - long, lanky, 6'9" - has been asked to play a lot of C and PF this year but he's probably better suited for the wing. Was totally lost in the early games but has made significant contributions in their last 3 games. Has really improved, can shoot it a little from the perimeter, and is starting to put the ball on the floor more and look for other ways to score. He also looks like he could turn into a pretty good passer.

Nahz Carter - terrific athlete, long 6'6" - has been pretty good in the zone and can jump out of the gym. He's got a long way to go (and he can get out of control on drives), but he's also shown consistent improvement.

Michael Carter III is hurt but was showing some nice signs as a pass-first PG earlier in the year. He's the farthest from being a consistent contributor though.

4) For people comparing SU and UW, I don't think this is a case where transitive property applies. I'd guess SU would win 7 out of 10 on a neutral court. UW isn't going to shoot like that on most nights, SU would kill them on the offensive glass, and I don't think UW would be able to take care of the ball well enough. I think SU's size at the position would pose a huge problem for UW. I'm much more comfortable with the idea that SU can make a run at an NCAA tourney bid than I am that UW will.

Mason

Great post. Thanks for the insight.

 

[JoeySimz]

I completely disagree with this. Boeheim makes adjustments with the zone all the time. Players lost Graham and didn't get out to him on multiple occasions but the reality is that he may have scored but we held Kansas down for a good portion of the game. We lost because we couldn't shoot and couldn't score. Washington had Crisp go 2 for 5 from deep and Thybulle go 5 of 8. We had Battle go 2 for 11 and OB go 2 for 8. That was the difference.

Yes x10000000. We need to shoot better. Thank you.

 

[Dawg]

Jaylen Nowell has been nicknamed the "Baby Mamba" up here since his HS days for his mid-range game and closing ability.


I love Hameir Wright he is going to be a stud. Can really shot, long, ball handling needs to be improved but he can handle it a bit, good defender, and moves really well off ball.

I love Coach Hop, he is a total stud of a coach. In his 18th (counting his syracuse stretch) game as a head coach, he has done something this program has never done, beat a top 2 team on the road.

 

[TinyManInside]

Crisp has been pretty awful throughout his entire career here, though he has had some good games. It's crazy, it's almost like coaching matters?!?!!?

He was really good last night. He had several dribble-drive passes that weren't a part of his offensive repertoire at the beginning of this season.

 

[Dawg]

Agree on everything. Great post. I have watched every UW game from start to finish and this was the best they have played and shot by a substantial margin.

He was really good last night. He had several dribble-drive passes that weren't a part of his offensive repertoire at the beginning of this season.

He was awesome last night. He didn't take any of his usual off-balance fadeaway NBA range threes.

 

[Dawg]

What's the deal with Khalif Battle by the way? I hear we are recruiting battle against SU for him.

 

[TinyManInside]

What's the deal with Khalif Battle by the way? I hear we are recruiting battle against SU for him.

I have heard that UW is in good position for Battle but it is still pretty early on. SU is targeting both Khalil Whitney and Battle for SG but will likely only take one of them from what I hear.

 

[Dawg]

I have heard that UW is in good position for Battle but it is still pretty early on. SU is targeting both Khalil Whitney and Battle for SG but will likely only take one of them from what I hear.

Ahh okay. Any other UW- Syracuse battles?

 

[nyucuse]

I have heard that UW is in good position for Battle but it is still pretty early on. SU is targeting both Khalil Whitney and Battle for SG but will likely only take one of them from what I hear.

Any idea what happened to Quincy Guerrier, the 6'6' kid from Montreal? Seemed we were well positioned with him and that he was blowing up. Been quiet on that front.