by The XtC » Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:55 pm
[quote="SoCal_Pony"]
The people who should respond to this thread are LA Mustang, Hoop Fan and XtC.[/quote]
No, Hopkins hasnt matured as a player, and physically he's actually taken a step backward. My opinion may differ from most, but from my perspective the main reason he hasnt progressed is that for 2 years, no one pushed him to make progress.
When he injured his foot in high school he was sedentary for several months. He gained weight and got out of shape. When practice started his freshman year he was still out of shape, and that lead to the groin pull that hampered his mobility the entire season.
Coach Dement never pushed Bryan. He was so scared of Hop transferring, he barely coached him at all. Basically he handed Hop the ball and told him to go out and take over the game.
His teammates have never really pushed him. Bryan was pencilled into the starting lineup the day he signed his letter of intent. He didnt have to beat anyone out to earn the position, and there wasnt anyone behind him challenging for playing time. In practice he mostly worked against the 2 walk-ons, Aitkenhead and Dement. There has never been a point in Bryans career here that he had to earn the starters job, or earn playing time by competing against someone else. If he was healthy enough to get on the court, he started. End of story.
The competition we've played against hasnt pushed him. Even playing injured all season, he was still the WAC Freshman of the Year. He's always been amongst the leading scorers in the WAC, and it wasnt until recently that anyone has suggested to him that that wasnt enough.
Before Christmas there was an article in the paper about Coach Tubbs sitting Bryan down and talking to him about what was expected of him. That running the team was more important than just scoring. That chat was probably the hardest "push" Bryan has had since he's beeen here. His freshman and sophomore years he never got yanked from a game for making a bad decision, he wasnt even told those decisions were bad. So, he started his junior year with a stack of bad habits that most players at a good program get broken of when they are freshmen.
Since the Baylor game and into the start of conference play, I think most of us saw an improvement in Bryan, although the wrist injury has been a setback. I think Coach Tubbs is pushing him in the right direction now. I dont expect to see 3 years of maturity occur in 6 months, but I do think I see progress.
I dont know what else to tell you. I watched a bit of practice yesterday, and he had a pretty big brace on his wrist. I imagine he will play, but the wrist still looks like a problem. Despite that, he's still one of our best players.
Try not to choke on the Kool-Aid.