Hopson

#1
VOLinthaNATI

VOLinthaNATI

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Dec 5, 2006
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#1
All we heard about this kid were great things and we all expected great things this year. Obviously we have all been let down.

My question is, has Coach Pearl hurt his development at all during his time here and will it affect his efforts to bring in big time players in the future?
 
#2
#2
I don't know if it will hurt or not.

The things I see out of Hopson are things only he can control... effort, hustle and attitude.
 
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#3
#3
How have we been let down? we expected him to come in here and average double digits and he nearly has so far.. we all knew when we signed him that his effort and attitude would need some work under pearl
 
#4
#4
VOLinthaATL said:
All we heard about this kid were great things and we all expected great things this year. Obviously we have all been let down.

My question is, has Coach Pearl hurt his development at all during his time here and will it affect his efforts to bring in big time players in the future?
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you have to remember that this kid is a true freshman. there is a learning curve from hs to college game. it's a huge leap, the game is a lot more physical, a lot faster pace, etc. however i do think he is trying to hard to impress on the offensive end. once he learns his role and grasps the college game he'll be fine
 
#6
#6
Vol Mania 21 said:
you have to remember that this kid is a true freshman. there is a learning curve from hs to college game. it's a huge leap, the game is a lot more physical, a lot faster pace, etc. however i do think he is trying to hard to impress on the offensive end. once he learns his role and grasps the college game he'll be fine
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I am in total agreement. However, I guess I just expected alot more from all the hype surrounding his recruiting.
 
#9
#9
VOLinthaATL said:
I am in total agreement. However, I guess I just expected alot more from all the hype surrounding his recruiting.
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I agree but it seems most of the people claiming he was one and done were from the Hopson entourage and uniformed media people in Knoxville.

Elliot Williams would have been expected to do a lot in Knoxville and he's only averaging 2.6 ppg.
 
#10
#10
I honestly thought he looked good last night. Maybe he should be sick or come off the bench more often.

I think it is too early to call him a bust. He is a young kid on an average team and is possibly carrying too much pressure.
 
#11
#11
VOLinthaATL said:
I am in total agreement. However, I guess I just expected alot more from all the hype surrounding his recruiting.
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that's why i'm not a fan of mcdonald's all american games. sure its great for the kid to get his name out in the public, but it also makes the public think this kid is going to be great from the get go.
 
#12
#12
I agree, way to early to call him a bust. Not the point I was trying to make at all. Just so we are clear.
 
#13
#13
no i understand, i just don't put a lot of stock into incoming freshman. personally i thought when i'd get to college i'd be playing a lot from the get go, due to all the things i did in hs. it didn't work that way. i spent the first half of the season sitting the bench, and working my butt off in the weight room. by the second half of the season i started coming on. i feel the struggles of incoming frsh haha
 
#14
#14
We're beating up a kid who is clearly a very good basketball player. I think he has tremendous ability and will become a great player for us. He appears today to be poorly coached. He should be taking it to the hole and then dropping Js as people have to respect his explosiveness.

He's clearly a defensive liability today but why has he yet to learn that his opportunities at offense or PT will only come when he focuses on the defensive end?

He was being vilified last night, when he made everything he took, didn't turn it over an only played very few minutes due to illness.

If we want to vilify someone on this team, let's go after Tyler Smith, who has underachieved far more than Hopson.
 
#15
#15
BigPapaVol said:
We're beating up a kid who is clearly a very good basketball player. I think he has tremendous ability and will become a great player for us. He appears today to be poorly coached. He should be taking it to the hole and then dropping Js as people have to respect his explosiveness.

He's clearly a defensive liability today but why has he yet to learn that his opportunities at offense or PT will only come when he focuses on the defensive end?

He was being vilified last night, when he made everything he took, didn't turn it over an only played very few minutes due to illness.

If we want to vilify someone on this team, let's go after Tyler Smith, who has underachieved far more than Hopson.
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not hard to underachieve when his teammates aren't pulling their fair share. he can't do everything
 
#16
#16
Hopefully Hopson will be a great player...after all he is a freshman. I guess I was guilty of believing all of the recruitment and preseason stuff that he would be one and done to the pros next season. Well, that's not going to happen...and I'm glad. Let's give him time to develop. Hope he and the rest of the team learns to play defense.
 
#18
#18
Like it was mentioned earlier, there is a learning curve for freshmen. It's pretty rare for a true freshman to come in and dominate right away. Look at Derrick Rose last year. Yea he still had the numbers and was making some good plays early in the year, but you could really see that things started to click with him during the second half of the TN/Mem game. It just takes some time for them to find their role.
 
#19
#19
BigPapaVol said:
We're beating up a kid who is clearly a very good basketball player. I think he has tremendous ability and will become a great player for us. He appears today to be poorly coached. He should be taking it to the hole and then dropping Js as people have to respect his explosiveness.

He's clearly a defensive liability today but why has he yet to learn that his opportunities at offense or PT will only come when he focuses on the defensive end?

He was being vilified last night, when he made everything he took, didn't turn it over an only played very few minutes due to illness.

If we want to vilify someone on this team, let's go after Tyler Smith, who has underachieved far more than Hopson.
Click to expand...

Very true.

After hearing how Smith worked on his shot all summer it sure hasn't showed up.
 
#20
#20
BigPapaVol said:
I think he has tremendous ability and will become a great player for us. He appears today to be poorly coached. He should be taking it to the hole and then dropping Js as people have to respect his explosiveness.
Click to expand...

100% agree. That was the purpose of this thread. Not so much to beat up on him. Really I was just curious if others thought his development under Pearl would hurt Pearl down the road when trying to bring in big time recruits.
 
#21
#21
Vol Mania 21 said:
not hard to underachieve when his teammates aren't pulling their fair share. he can't do everything
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that's lame. His offense has reverted to some silly looking driving HORSE contest. It looks like he's in the game for degree of difficulty points rather than knocking down the shots he can create for himself.

He is the guy to ruin a 2-3 for anyone. He flashes to the center, gets the rock, game over. He hasn't done it much and when he has, he has gone into his triple axle routine.
 
#22
#22
BigPapaVol said:
that's lame. His offense has reverted to some silly looking driving HORSE contest. It looks like he's in the game for degree of difficulty points rather than knocking down the shots he can create for himself.

He is the guy to ruin a 2-3 for anyone. He flashes to the center, gets the rock, game over. He hasn't done it much and when he has, he has gone into his triple axle routine.
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i agree about him flashing to the middle and breaking the 2-3. thing is would u rather him take a shot or would u rather have jp take some garbage, or someone else. i agree with you on the fact that he's taken some HORRIBLE shots this year. but thing is when your teammates are good, it makes you look good. when ur teammates are mediocre, and ur a good player, well you gotta pull some crap out your arse
 
#23
#23
BigPapaVol said:
We're beating up a kid who is clearly a very good basketball player. I think he has tremendous ability and will become a great player for us. He appears today to be poorly coached. He should be taking it to the hole and then dropping Js as people have to respect his explosiveness.

He's clearly a defensive liability today but why has he yet to learn that his opportunities at offense or PT will only come when he focuses on the defensive end?

He was being vilified last night, when he made everything he took, didn't turn it over an only played very few minutes due to illness.

If we want to vilify someone on this team, let's go after Tyler Smith, who has underachieved far more than Hopson.
Click to expand...

Tyler Smith hasnt underacheieved either, i really dont think he is doing anything we didnt expect him to
 
#24
#24
getyopopcornready said:
Tyler Smith hasnt underacheieved either, i really dont think he is doing anything we didnt expect him to
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I'm not sure I can figure this part out.

However, Tyler has disappeared for huge stretches this season. Young, undisciplined teams can't afford for their go to guy to simply go away. The uptick in the number of ridiculous looking quadruple pump heaves toward the basket has also been a huge problem for me, especially from a guy with a great midrange game.
 
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