Post by mhbruin on Apr 28, 2023 13:52:40 GMT -8
CHANGES
Added transfer Nate Calmese
June 15: Added transfer Wilhelm Breidenbach from Nebraska.
July 5: Paul Mulcahy transfers from Rutgers
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Next are the 8th-9th place Washington Huskies. The Mike Hopkins death march continues.
Here is Mike Hopkins' record in Seattle.
As you can see Mike Hopkins' teams are the picture of consistency. They are consistently not very good on offense. And every seson, they get a little worse.
At least they had a decent defense last season, ranking #75 in KenPom and #26 in Torvick.
Last season, the Huskies had a few good wins. They beat St. Mary's, Colorado, and Oregon. They also lost had bad losses, losing to Cal Baptist and Oregon State.
I didn't think Mike Hopkins would survive last season, but somehow he did. While Hopkins remains in Seattle, a good chunk of his team is leaving.
NINE scholarship players are leaving. You may wonder "who are these guys?" next season.
GRADUATING
Jamal Bey is not a huge loss. He was their 7th leading scorer. It says something about how bad their offense was that a 37% / 29% shooter got 27 minutes per game.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
Washington State has two guys in the draft. The Huskies have none.
TRANSFERRING OUT
We need a lot of room in this table, since Mike Hopkins managed to outdo Bobby Hurley with EIGHT outgoing transfers. This included 6 of their top 9 scorers, their 3 leaders in assists, and 5 of their top guys in minutes played.
2 of 3 members of last year's recruiting class are transferring out.
4 of these guys were important parts of the rotation. Including Bey, who is graduating, they lose 98 starts from last season. That's 58% of their total starts.
The other four may not have produced that much, but you would have thought they would be stepping in to fill the void. However, they are leaving, too.
It's not a good sign when 4 players want to transfer out, but no one else seems to want them.
RETURNING
Mike Hoplins only returns 4 players who played much last season, and that included Franck Kepnang, who only played in 8 games due to injury. It is a bit odd that all of these returning players were in their finst season at Washington, with three transfers and a freshman. There is no one left who played on Montlake in the 2020-2021 season.
So the Huskies return a grand total of FOUR players from their 16-16 team.
If Kepnang has recovered from his inlury, they have two quality centers. Of course that means that there are only two non-centers returning.
Keion Brooks led the team ni scoring, but with crappy shooting percentages. He took a lot of shots.
Meah led them in rebounds and blocks. The Fresno State transfer turned out to be a a very good center. On a team that wasn't very good on offense, he was a good shooter, but Brooks took almost three times as many shots as Meah. Maybe Meah should have shot more and Brooks a little less.
Koren Johnson looked like a decent freshman, and he led them in steals. However, his shooting wasn't very good.
RECRUITS
(#63 Class, #8 in Pac-12)
Yates looks like a good get for Washtington.
The "SF" after Christian King's name could stand for "skinny forward".
I guess Washington has opened up transfer pipelines. After getting Braxton Meah from Fresno, they followed that up with Anthony Holland, and after getting Keion Brooks from Kentucky they followed up with Sahvir Wheeler For good measure (whatever that means), they threw in Moses Wood.
The transfers provide a lot of experience, since there are 3 fifth-year seniors. Sahvir Wheeler has an excellent 3.0 A/TO ratio, which should halp on a team that was lacking a real point guard. Unfortunately his shooting hasn't been very good. He should fit right in for Mike Hopkins.
The late addition of Paul Mulcahy provides real quality depth at PG. He started for Rutgers who finished in the middle of the B1G, and had an excellent 2.8 A/TO ratio. The two of them should help with the Huskies' chronic problems with PG play.
Moses Wood looks like a good shooter, if he can make the jump from the WAC as well as Meah did.
Nate Calmese has an A/TO ratio of 0.8, so I guess he is not a PG. He led Lamar in scoring. Lamar finished last in the Southland Conference. Lamar did have wins over Our Lady and Huston-Tillotson. I am not sure that prepared Nate for the Pac-12.
Wilhelm Breidenbach played for one of the worst teams in the B1G. He was one of the worst shooters on the team. Is this really what the offensively challenged Huskies need?
CONCLUSION
Added transfer Nate Calmese
June 15: Added transfer Wilhelm Breidenbach from Nebraska.
July 5: Paul Mulcahy transfers from Rutgers
--------------------------
Next are the 8th-9th place Washington Huskies. The Mike Hopkins death march continues.
Here is Mike Hopkins' record in Seattle.
| Record | Conference Finish | Post Season | KenPom Offensive Efficiency | |
| 2017-18 | 21-13 | T-6th | NIT | 140 |
| 2018-19 | 27-9 | 1st | NCAA Round of 32 | 110 |
| 2019-20 | 15-17 | 12th | 112 | |
| 2020-21 | 5-21 | 11th | 135 | |
| 2021-22 | 17-15 | T-5th | 158 | |
| 2022-23 | 16-16 | T-8th | 165 |
As you can see Mike Hopkins' teams are the picture of consistency. They are consistently not very good on offense. And every seson, they get a little worse.
At least they had a decent defense last season, ranking #75 in KenPom and #26 in Torvick.
Last season, the Huskies had a few good wins. They beat St. Mary's, Colorado, and Oregon. They also lost had bad losses, losing to Cal Baptist and Oregon State.
I didn't think Mike Hopkins would survive last season, but somehow he did. While Hopkins remains in Seattle, a good chunk of his team is leaving.
NINE scholarship players are leaving. You may wonder "who are these guys?" next season.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Jamal Bey | 31 | 20 | 27 | 7 | 3.5 | 1.4 |
Jamal Bey is not a huge loss. He was their 7th leading scorer. It says something about how bad their offense was that a 37% / 29% shooter got 27 minutes per game.
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
| None |
Washington State has two guys in the draft. The Huskies have none.
TRANSFERRING OUT
We need a lot of room in this table, since Mike Hopkins managed to outdo Bobby Hurley with EIGHT outgoing transfers. This included 6 of their top 9 scorers, their 3 leaders in assists, and 5 of their top guys in minutes played.
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Destination |
| Keyon Menifield | 32 | 21 | 29 | 10.0 | 3 | 3.1 | Arkansas |
| Noah William | 14 | 10 | 35 | 8.7 | 3 | 1.9 | |
| Cole Bajema | 31 | 30 | 30 | 8.8 | 4 | 1.5 | Utah |
| PJ Fuller | 26 | 17 | 23 | 6.2 | 2 | 2.5 | Detroit Mercy |
| Tyler Linhardt | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | Idaho |
| Jackson Grant | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.1 | Utah State |
| Langston Wilson | 18 | 0 | 6 | 1.7 | 2 | 0.1 | Milwaukee |
| Kyle Luttinen | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 | |
2 of 3 members of last year's recruiting class are transferring out.
4 of these guys were important parts of the rotation. Including Bey, who is graduating, they lose 98 starts from last season. That's 58% of their total starts.
The other four may not have produced that much, but you would have thought they would be stepping in to fill the void. However, they are leaving, too.
It's not a good sign when 4 players want to transfer out, but no one else seems to want them.
RETURNING
Mike Hoplins only returns 4 players who played much last season, and that included Franck Kepnang, who only played in 8 games due to injury. It is a bit odd that all of these returning players were in their finst season at Washington, with three transfers and a freshman. There is no one left who played on Montlake in the 2020-2021 season.
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3Pt% | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Keion Brooks | 30 | 30 | 35 | 18 | 7 | 1.4 | 43% | 29% | 0.4 | Sr 5 | 5 | 24 |
| Franck Kepnang | 8 | 1 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 0.3 | 53% | -- | 0.2 | Jr | 4 | 36 |
| Braxton Meah | 31 | 31 | 27 | 9 | 7 | 0.6 | 71% | -- | 0.4 | Sr | 3 | 224 |
| Koren Johnson | 29 | 0 | 20 | 7 | 1 | 1.8 | 40% | 32% | 1.1 | So | 3 | 121 |
| . | ||||||||||||
So the Huskies return a grand total of FOUR players from their 16-16 team.
If Kepnang has recovered from his inlury, they have two quality centers. Of course that means that there are only two non-centers returning.
Keion Brooks led the team ni scoring, but with crappy shooting percentages. He took a lot of shots.
Meah led them in rebounds and blocks. The Fresno State transfer turned out to be a a very good center. On a team that wasn't very good on offense, he was a good shooter, but Brooks took almost three times as many shots as Meah. Maybe Meah should have shot more and Brooks a little less.
Koren Johnson looked like a decent freshman, and he led them in steals. However, his shooting wasn't very good.
RECRUITS
(#63 Class, #8 in Pac-12)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Wesley Yates | 6-4 200 | SG | 4 | 42 | Auburn, LSU, Texas |
| Christian King | 6-7 190 | SF | Unranked | Lehigh, Pepperdine, Rice | |
Yates looks like a good get for Washtington.
The "SF" after Christian King's name could stand for "skinny forward".
TRANSFERRING IN
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG % | 3-Pt % | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Anthony Holland | 6-5 225 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 7 | 4 | 1.0 | 42% | 39% | Fresno State | Sr 5 | 3 | |
| Sahvir Wheeler | 5-9 180 | 21 | 14 | 29 | 8 | 2 | 5.6 | 42% | 37% | Kentucky | Sr 5 | 4 | 100 |
| Moses Wood | 6-8 210 | 29 | 29 | 33 | 15 | 6 | 1.8 | 45% | 40% | Portland | Sr 5 | 3 | 258 |
| Nate Calmese | 6-2 164 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 18 | 3 | 2.0 | 48% | 37% | Lamar | So | Unranked | |
| Wilhelm Breidenbach | 6-10 231 | 32 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 39% | 24% | Nebraska | Jr | 4 | 105 |
| Paul Mulcahy | 6-7 213 | 30 | 28 | 32 | 8 | 4 | 4.9 | 42% | 37% | Rutgers | Sr5 | 3 | 190 |
I guess Washington has opened up transfer pipelines. After getting Braxton Meah from Fresno, they followed that up with Anthony Holland, and after getting Keion Brooks from Kentucky they followed up with Sahvir Wheeler For good measure (whatever that means), they threw in Moses Wood.
The transfers provide a lot of experience, since there are 3 fifth-year seniors. Sahvir Wheeler has an excellent 3.0 A/TO ratio, which should halp on a team that was lacking a real point guard. Unfortunately his shooting hasn't been very good. He should fit right in for Mike Hopkins.
The late addition of Paul Mulcahy provides real quality depth at PG. He started for Rutgers who finished in the middle of the B1G, and had an excellent 2.8 A/TO ratio. The two of them should help with the Huskies' chronic problems with PG play.
Moses Wood looks like a good shooter, if he can make the jump from the WAC as well as Meah did.
Nate Calmese has an A/TO ratio of 0.8, so I guess he is not a PG. He led Lamar in scoring. Lamar finished last in the Southland Conference. Lamar did have wins over Our Lady and Huston-Tillotson. I am not sure that prepared Nate for the Pac-12.
Wilhelm Breidenbach played for one of the worst teams in the B1G. He was one of the worst shooters on the team. Is this really what the offensively challenged Huskies need?
CONCLUSION
If you are counting, UW has 4 players returning, 2 incoming freshman, and 4 incoming transfers. I'm no math major (note the fake humility), but that sure seems like 10 scholarship players.
At least 5 of them are seniors, but there is nothing to indicate their bad offense will improve. Expect another long, painful season at UW.
Jon Wilner picks them to finish 8th. I think that is too high. I would go for 10th.
If they are as bad as I think they will be, they need to put the Mike Hopkins era our of it's misery, and end the miserry for UW basketball fans.
From 247:
Washington is quietly turning into a Kentucky hub. For the second year in a row, Washington is the haven for a Kentucky transfer. This time it's Wheeler looking to revitalize his career alongside Brooks. But losing Menifield to Arkansas is a crushing blow for UW. The Huskies certainly need to keep swinging for shot-makers in the transfer portal because the backcourt is looking very thin.
Wilner:
8. Washington
The pied-piper nature of the transfer portal was in action this offseason as the Huskies landed a transfer from Kentucky for the second-consecutive season: Last spring, it was forward Keion Brooks; this spring, guard Sahvir Wheeler arrived from Lexington. If Wheeler matches Brooks’ impact, UW might improve its position in the standings. That said, we see limited upside. There’s good reason to doubt coach Mike Hopkins’ ability to conjure a well-functioning offense, regardless of the personnel. Too often, UW is too easy to defend. Previous: 8
At least 5 of them are seniors, but there is nothing to indicate their bad offense will improve. Expect another long, painful season at UW.
Jon Wilner picks them to finish 8th. I think that is too high. I would go for 10th.
If they are as bad as I think they will be, they need to put the Mike Hopkins era our of it's misery, and end the miserry for UW basketball fans.
From 247:
Washington is quietly turning into a Kentucky hub. For the second year in a row, Washington is the haven for a Kentucky transfer. This time it's Wheeler looking to revitalize his career alongside Brooks. But losing Menifield to Arkansas is a crushing blow for UW. The Huskies certainly need to keep swinging for shot-makers in the transfer portal because the backcourt is looking very thin.
Wilner:
8. Washington
The pied-piper nature of the transfer portal was in action this offseason as the Huskies landed a transfer from Kentucky for the second-consecutive season: Last spring, it was forward Keion Brooks; this spring, guard Sahvir Wheeler arrived from Lexington. If Wheeler matches Brooks’ impact, UW might improve its position in the standings. That said, we see limited upside. There’s good reason to doubt coach Mike Hopkins’ ability to conjure a well-functioning offense, regardless of the personnel. Too often, UW is too easy to defend. Previous: 8