Hopkins will wait until Thursday to decide who starts between Nowell, UW's leading scorer, and Green, the team's long-range sharp-shooter.
Washington’s Mike Hopkins met with the media to review last Saturday’s 82-59 win over Colorado and preview Thursday’s game at Stanford.
Here’s everything he had to say.
(On if he has a movie picked out this week) “Oh boy. No. Not yet.”
(On if UW is looser this week than last week) “To be honest I haven’t seen them. Today will be the first time I’ve seen them. Sunday was a day off, yesterday was individuals and lift, school. Actually there was no school yesterday. Today will be the first day I see them.”
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(On Dominic Green’s game against Colorado) “He’s been shooting the ball at a high level and he’s been really good in terms of communication on the defensive end. Dom is one of those guys, when he’s making shots he’s a difference-maker. Sometimes you need to kick scoring off the bench so you have a legit scorer, but anything can happen. The biggest thing is that we were looking for answers. That’s why we went to a movie and didn’t practice.”
(On if Green will continue to start) “That hasn’t been determined. We’ll see how practice goes these next couple of days. Moving ahead we’ll make that decision in terms of where we think we are.”
(On if finishing five is more important than starting five) “You’re always just in there trying to find the right combination. It’s been like that all year, different guys have stepped up and have had big games. The unpredictability sometimes – I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing for some guys. Some guys, they think they are playing 20 minutes a game and all of a sudden they are playing three minutes a game. We’ve had some minute changes but I watch practice and I see who is confident and who isn’t. You see energy levels. It’s constantly evolving. There’s a lot of teams where you have four or five guys and they think they are the ones who can make those plays and they can’t. Sometimes teams double-team Noah and sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they put a bigger guy on Jaylen, sometimes they don’t. You have to look at the matchups in the game. At the end of the game it might be completely different based on how they are defending. Noah should buy Dominic a Rolex watch like how offensive linemen have been given things by the quarterback. He spaces the floor for a lot of guys and he gives openings and spaces and that’s what you want, especially as a big guy. If they double, then you can make them pay. That will be determined based on how the game is going and what position are we in. So yes, the guys at the end of the game do determine, but it’s really how the game is going and not already kind of set.”
(On Jaylen Nowell’s reaction to not starting) “Everybody wants to start, but he’s a team guy and he wants to win. At the end of the day he’s going to do what’s best for the team.”
(On Nowell coming off the bench) “Sometimes, based on how they are defending I like Jaylen with the ball. Jaylen played a lot of backup point in that game too. When David came out I put him in there and based on if teams are pressuring, everything is different. Different lineups during this time…I think we have to figure out ways in which we can evolve and move forward, especially in this league. When you’re playing teams that you’re playing twice, it changes a little bit.”
(On Sam Timmins dunking aggressively and getting more out of him) “Have to get him pissed more. (laughs) Sam, it’s a confidence thing. He was getting a lot more touches earlier in the year and sometimes you have to touch it a little bit more. Sometimes John Chaney used to say the best pass you’re going to get comes off the rim. So go get it. Sam’s a really good passer. You can see us trying to get him the ball more. Sam can really change the game on the defensive end too and you can’t really allow that to affect that end of the floor, because when he gets it deep he pivots strong. He gives us a different dynamic. The play that he made, it was so physical, and that’s the difference. You saw the activity, you saw the multiple efforts and you saw that they felt us. You felt the length, you felt them flying around all over the place. You felt our interior. As we move forward, it was the defense that got us going more than anything.”
(On the so-called freshman wall. Real or unreal) “I don’t know. Some guys talk about a sophomore slump. I don’t believe in that stuff. Certain players…Carmelo Anthony, Gerry McNamara – they had unbelievable freshmen years. Jaylen’s an elite athlete and talent. He’s 18, 19, going on 45. He’s reminds me of that guy who comes in with flip-flops, he takes the flip-flops off, puts his shoes on and gets 50. He’s got that mindset. We’re asking him to do a lot. If you look at what’s happening with Trae Young, defenses change. Defenses take certain things away, and that’s why it’s the importance of one through five – six, seven, eight, nine, ten. You’ve got guys who come off the bench and win. You watch the old (Chicago) Bulls. Obviously everybody goes to Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen, but how many times did Steve Kerr make the winning shot? Or Robert Horry for the (Lakers)…it’s a different guy. The game has changed. They are trying to shut down Jaylen. Now Jaylen has to trust passing it out. Now Matisse has 25, 26 points. That’s what great teams do. Slump, wall…I think the game is just constantly evolving and changing.”
(On UW’s freshmen and their evolution) “It goes back to, they’re not freshmen anymore. They’ve got to be able to be…I’m watching activity. I’m watching energy. I’m watching execution. The only way to get better at it is being on the court, and they’ve got to impact the game because the best players play. The best combination of players, I should say. Hameir, when we had played Stanford before, he had four or five blocks, he was active. Some days you look and it’s like, are you here? We’re playing right now, there’s a game. That’s always the progression. That’s why Dom, Carlos (Johnson)…you’ve got so many guys that can be inserted that can impact in a different way.”
(On the looming FBI probe and his place in the college basketball world) “Obviously I’m thankful, grateful. I’m always trying to figure out, these are our systems, recruiting, offense, defense – how can we become better? How do we evolve? Do we look back? I saw we’re not satisfied until we’re undefeated. As a coach you’re trying…how can we be better, how can we improve, how can we win the next game? Maybe April 5th I’ll be able to sit back and reflect a little bit, but now you focus on how can we get better, how can we beat Stanford? What did we learn from the last game? How can we move forward? Can we be a little bit more unpredictable? What player in these matchups can help us? That’s how I think. I hope I answered your question.”
(On how to beat Stanford this time) “That was 48-28 rebounding in the first game. They had 14 offensive rebounds. You’ve got to be able to rebound the ball. Coach Haase played for Coach (Roy) Williams at Kansas, and that’s the Carolina way, the system. They’re built on big guys that crash the glass and they kick your butt in transition. So those are two things we’re going to have to do where they hurt us. There were some real good opportunities. We didn’t have our best offensive night. I think it’ll help us that we played them the first time in terms of how they attacked. They were one of the first teams that didn’t have four shooters on the court at once. They really attacked on the inside, so we’re a different team – they’re a different team. Should be a great contest. I think they have one of the most, if you look at it from a talent perspective, they have one of the top-three talented teams in the league. He’s done a heck of a job. They were a team, they played a really tough schedule and they were playing without Dorian Pickens, who is one of their veteran players, best shooter on the team. Okpala wasn’t playing and he’s one of the most talented freshmen in the league. So this is a team that was playing a little handicapped not having two of their top players right now. They’ve got good chemistry, they’ve got good momentum. You saw what they did to Oregon at home was one of the most impressive wins of the season of any team in our league. It’s going to be a heck of a contest for us. Cream rises, so we’ll see what we can do.”
(On Louisville having to vacate their NCAA Championship) “They had to vacate their title? Really? It’s scary for a lot of these programs. There’s three things that always come out: the Moon, the Sun, and the Truth. At the end of the day it is what it is. It’s unfortunate, you don’t wish it on anybody. Those types of things come out. I think you’ll see a big transition or shift in terms of college basketball within a year with all the federal indictments, stuff like that. A lot of it is speculation, stuff you see. None of the stuff has really come out other than what we know. Everybody is saying there’s going to be more, going to be more. We’ll just wait and see if that stuff comes out. Hopefully it’s not as bad as they say but if it is I’m sure the right laws are what you want in terms of federal, NCAA will give them the right punishments.”
(On the impact Isaiah Thomas’ weekend had on the team) “We didn’t get a lot of time with him. I wish he would have been able to give us a talk and stuff, motivation. But I think the cool…and I wish I would have been able to see the ceremony. Unfortunately we were at halftime, trying to get the ship right. Any time you get a guy like Isaiah and any time you get a crowd, and you can feel the energy…you walk in there and it’s like, it kind of pierces you. I had a friend who watched it on television, and they said you could feel it. And you’ve got some of our ex-greats walking through the building, it’s pretty special. I know they saw him in the layup lines and you see Marquese Chriss and Quincy (Pondexter) and Jon Brockman, there’s so many great players, Markelle (Fultz). It’s what you’re playing for. To make those fans proud, those ex-players proud – don’t want to disappoint them. And our players really played with their hearts. And I have to give our guys a lot of credit. There was a lot of fight, a lot of activity, a lot of togetherness. That’s what we love to see.”