Washington Huskies Men’s Basketball head coach Mike Hopkins held his start of the season press conference today on Montlake, to talk about everything related to his team for the upcoming season. He shared his thoughts on the program and talked about the talent on the roster.
Here are things of note that he said…..
– Hopkins said “we’re not in the ‘one-and-done’ model. We’re in the right guy model!”
– Hopkins was really impressed with forward Nate Roberts and guard Jamal Bey during the Italy Tour.
– Speaking of Nate Roberts, Hopkins said, “He might be our best rebounder and he looks like Dwight Howard when he gets out of the weight room.”
– Hopkins said this year parallels year one with the Huskies because they lost 5 of its top 6 scorers, which includes 4 starters.
– Hopkins said, “We’ve lost a lot of experience, that’s always going to be an issue..but we have a system.”
– Hopkins on the reality of losing guard Matisse Thybulle…”They might not be at the same level but systematically, they had the best teacher in Matisse. No one will be Matisse Thybulle but in other areas, these guys will be just as good and impact the game.”
– Hopkins said their “front line” has so much length that they could literally hold hands and extend sideline to sideline.
– Hopkins said about guard Nahziah Carter, “He’s an elite player. I can see him taking a dramatic leap forward. Taking a big jump in his leadership.”
– Hopkins said there is a possibility that the team may play some man-to-man defense this season…”It would be nice to have an off-speed pitch that we can go to.”
– Hopkins said that the Huskies ranked 211th last year in three-point shooting. He said they do have some shooters this season but they won’t know to what extent until the season actually starts.
– Hopkins said, “We’ve got a lot of unknowns but the energy’s there, the mindset’s there, the type of kid is there.”
– Hopkins said, “We’ve got kids that come to work everyday. The culture is a lot stronger going into year three than it was in year one. We’ve got a lot of kids that are excited to prove themselves.”
– Hopkins said they are still waiting to hear from the NCAA on the status of transfer guard Quade Green’s waiver and if he will have to sit out some games or will be available immediately at the start of the season.
Below is the actual video of Mike Hopkins press conference today…..
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