TERRY MOSHER
MIKE HOPKINS
TOP OF THE TOWN – It’s difficult to focus when I’m thinking about the Coronavirus and the Divided States of America bought on by the hateful and divisive Antichrist traitor Trump, who even made fun of the virus today saying he loves to touch his face, which is something that health people say you should not do. He has no business being the President of our country. None. Nada. I don’t know what happened to former Washington basketball coach Lorenzo Romar in his final seasons with the Huskies. In his final five seasons with Washington, Romar went 18-16, 17-15, 16-15, 19-15 and then fell completely apart in his last year with a 9-22 mark and was fired. He had four 20-plus win seasons before it started to fall apart. But the amazing thing is that Mike Hopkins came in and immediately turned the Washington program around with two 20-win seasons, including 27-9, and being named Pac-12 Coach of the Year both seasons. He did it with Romar’s players. Now with his own players (with the exception of 6-11 senior Sam Timmins), Hopkins is losing. The Huskies go into Arizona State Thursday (March 5) with a 13-16 record, 3-13 Pac-12) and guaranteed to finish alone at the bottom of the conference unless Oregon State loses both of its games and the Huskies win at ASU and Arizona, which in that case the two would tie for the cellar. That’s probably not going to happen. At this point, I would have to blame Hopkins for the failure of the Huskies this season. He’s playing with his guys (Timmins plays sparingly) and if he can’t win with his guys then this is mainly on him. Two of his players – Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart – are predicted to go in the first round of the June NBA draft, probably within the top 20 players taken. A third, 6-6 junior Nahziah Carter can be a dynamite player at times, and still the Huskies lose. Yes, Quade Green, a 6-0 sophomore point guard from Philadelphia made a big difference when he was eligible, so maybe that is part of the reason for the stunning drop off for the Huskies. The Huskies were 11-4 when he was ruled academically ineligible. But after watching this maddening ineptitude on the court, I believe the biggest reason is Hopkins. He’s a great guy (so is Romar), but great guys don’t always win. His substitute patterns and what I have seen as an inability to make proper game adjustments is a problem. Hopkins sticks to that zone he learned in his long association at Syracuse with Jim Boeheim and he stubbornly sticks with it even when opponents shred it like a knife through soft butter. Hopkins never figured out a way to free up Stewart, who was doubled and tripled teamed by conference opponents, slowing down to a trickle the Husky offense. Their half-court sets were clogged up by the attraction Stewart was getting and because the Huskies shooting from the perimeter was inconsistent at best, the offense fell flat. Trouble is lying ahead, too, because Hopkins has not recruited a 2021 class, so what you see is what you are going to get, with the one addition of 6-9 sophomore J’Raan Brooks, who sat out this year after transferring in from USC. Green will also be available. But that is it. If Hopkins has another bad season he may be like Romar bound elsewhere. … You know, there is a lot of speculation that Tom Brady is going to wind up with the San Francisco 49ers. Man, I think it would be stupid for him to leave New England, if indeed coach Bill Belichick still wants him. Belichick has a way of taking guys others don’t want and turn them into solid offensive lineman that always seem to grant safe protection for their QB, in this case Brady. Unless there is something I don’t know about the Brady-Belichick relationship, if I was Brady I would stay with Belichick. Brady doesn’t need the money, so stick with what you know and what has been successful. That is my advice. … It looks real good that the Mariners will again bring up the bottom of the American League West. They need pitching, pitching, pitching, and what good ones they have are very young. Maybe it would help if the Houston Astros would tutor them on how to steal signs. I think banging on a garbage can lid isn’t the way to go, though. Hey, I’m just kidding. A-Rod has it right when he said: “You cheat, you win a championship, there is no suspension, and then there’s no remorse. The last one is probably the worst one. From a guy who has made as many mistakes as anybody on the biggest stage — I served the longest suspension in MLB history, it cost me well over $35 million — and you know what? I deserved that. I came back. I owned it after acting like a buffoon for a long time. I had my apologies, and then I went dark. I wanted my next move to be contrite and change my narrative. You have to be accountable. … I felt the hatred from the people, and I earned it.” Take it from me who had a meeting with A-Rod over an error I called on him that I changed almost immediately that at one time he was about as phony as possible. He has changed and is as good a baseball commentator as there is. So you can change, even if it is a $35 million hurt you have to go through. The Astros are taking their hits now, and will for the rest of the season because their apologies are as phony as A-Rod once was. Having said that, I still insist sign-stealing has been going on since the invention of baseball. Teams don’t go to the lengths the Astros did, but they still do it. And you can bet on it. No, take that back. Don’t be a Pete Rose. That’s enough for today
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.