Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball head coach Mike Hopkins held his weekly press conference today on Montlake, to talk about their close loss to Gonzaga and their narrow win against Seattle University. He also talked about their upcoming matchup with the 13th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday afternoon.
Here are things of note that he said…..
Coach Hopkins said he felt they played great for 32 minutes but didn’t finish the game.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said you have to play well when playing ranked teams.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said they have familiarity with Virginia Tech because they played them last season.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said it comes down to neutralizing other teams strengths and styles. He said you have to play your A game.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Coach Hop said you play these tough games to strengthen your team for when conference play rolls around.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said cream rises to the top and you always learn from playing against the best!@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said you grow by challenges and getting outside of your comfort zone.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Coach Hop said that Coach Dollar is in charge of scheduling but they make the decision as a staff.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said this game against Virginia Tech is not a must win game but its a tremendous opportunity.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said he is a huge west coast basketball advocate. @DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Coach Hop said the key to winning in the NCAA Tournament is seeding.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said they just want to be a great example of good West Coast basketball.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Coach Hop said he likes a balance when playing geographically across the nation. It helps visibility and recruiting.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said they are willing to go anywhere and play anybody!@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Coach Hopkins said Virginia Tech is an attack, attack, attack type of ballclub! He hopes the Auburn game experience will help them.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said Virginia Tech gets a lot of three’s in transition from being aggressive and they get to the free throw line.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said they need to prove it and go out and finish!!@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said the Auburn game was a tough environment and the speed of that game was much faster in person.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said hopefully playing well at Gonzaga will help them at the Atlantic City Boardwalk Classic Tournament.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said he tells his team all the time that there are no short cuts and it’s all about hard work.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said when you play good teams you start to learn how to battle speed, etc. It’s all about experience.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Coach Hop said Virginia Tech is a hell of a team. He called it a “brain tattoo” when they got beat by them last year! Blowout.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said people who watched the Gonzaga game know that they were a great team.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
He said by watching film of prior games, they can see what they did wrong and rep the correct way to fix it in practice.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Hopkins said he believes in simplicity because the game simple and he doesn’t want his players to overthink.@DubLifeUW #PurpleReign#TougherTogether#DubLife
— Jeff Wright (@jdub2379) December 12, 2018
Below is the actual video of Mike Hopkin’s press conference today…..
