The Syracuse basketball squad is in the midst of Jim Boeheim’s nine game suspension. Mike Hopkins has been the interim coach for the past two games and will lead them for the next seven.
I know two games is a small sample size, but it never hurts to evaluate performance. With Coach Hopkins in charge of the Syracuse basketball team, they have gone 1-1 thus far. I have to admit, I think Hopkins got a raw deal to have to step in and play Georgetown on the road in his very first game with just two days to prepare. Thankfully, he got a bit of a breather last night against Colgate and was able to get his first win as a college coach.
In those two games, we saw a lot of the same that we see when Boeheim is at the helm, but we also saw a few differences. In the “same” category, Hopkins still relied incredibly heavily on his two veteran guards, Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney. Gbinije played 79 minutes over the two games (39.5 per contest) and Cooney played 74 (37 per contest).
I’m not really surprised by that, as Gbinije is by far the team’s best overall player, and Cooney is one of the best defenders on the team. He’s also second on the team in scoring and can be counted on to make some big shots late in the game.
More from Inside the Loud House
- Syracuse Football: Cuse boils Purdue, turns attention to Army on Saturday
- Syracuse football only team in country with top-5 scoring offense, defense
- Syracuse Basketball: 4-star Elijah Moore not in top 100, and I don’t get that
- Syracuse basketball 4-star west-coast recruit, in new rankings, into top 20
- Syracuse basketball is hitting D.C. market hard in pursuit of 4-stars, 5-stars
Another similarity is the most obvious one, the zone. Hopkins has played nothing but zone (with a couple possessions of full court press against Georgetown). The zone has been the staple of the Syracuse defense for the past several decades and it looks like Hopkins will keep it that way, at least while the team is still Boeheim’s.
One of the key differences from Boeheim to Hop seems to be the substitution pattern. Hopkins went to the bench much sooner than Boeheim normally does, getting early playing time for Franklin Howard against Georgetown. He also wasn’t afraid to sit Malachi Richardson when he just wasn’t playing well, and did so in the second half of that game for long stretches.
Another difference is some of the lineup combinations that Hopkins employed. We actually saw a bit more of Gbinije at the 3 down in the bottom of the zone in both games, while allowing Joseph and Howard to play at the top. He mixed up the lineups quite a bit to try and get the most out of each player, which was nice to see.
"“I just want to get these guys better. This has never been about me. I’m happy for the guys that we won after losing two in a row. I’m happy that I get an opportunity to represent this great university and those kids. As a teacher, educator, coach, all we are trying to do is to get them better.” -Mike Hopkins, Press Conference after Colgate game"
He also played Dajuan Coleman more, which was a smart decision in my opinion. I think it was absolutely crazy that Coleman saw only 4 minutes against Wisconsin. They were destroying us on the interior with Lydon in at center, yet Boeheim refused to make a change. Hopkins on the other hand, was willing to give Coleman some minutes in both games and didn’t pull him immediately if he made one bad play.
It was actually rather refreshing to see the way he handled himself on the sideline. He looked like a natural out there, barking out orders to the team and waving his hands in his best Jim Boeheim imitation. There was also a lot less yelling at players in these two games. Hopkins is definitely known as more of a player’s coach, and that was very apparent with the way he reacted in both games.
Next: SU defeats Colgate 78-51
My only qualm with his coaching was his inability to make the necessary adjustments in the Georgetown game and his fear of sticking with the press. We got beat on one possession in the press and we immediately came out of it, even though we were down double digits. I’d much rather see us give it a chance to force some turnovers over an extended period. Maybe Hop was being cautious because he respected their ball handling, but I wish he had taken the risk a little bit more.
Otherwise, I was very happy with Hopkins on the sideline. I think he has done a very admirable job in his first two games of getting the team prepared and coaching. Even though he’s only 1-1, he’s shown that he is absolutely capable of leading this team and I fully expect him to excel when he finally takes over permanently.
The next test for Coach Hopkins and the Syracuse basketball team comes on Sunday against St. John’s in Madison Square Garden. Check back later in the week for full coverage of that game.