SEATTLE — In the weeks that followed Washington’s firing of coach Lorenzo Romar last March, standout Husky forward Noah Dickerson visited LSU and considered a trip to Florida.
Mike Hopkins made a beeline for Atlanta.
There, the new UW coach tried to shelve Dickerson’s plans in a meeting with his mother.
Initially, it didn’t go well.
“We were talking and she says, ‘You know, coach, I really like your presentation. But I really want my son to experience the NCAA Tournament,’” Hopkins said. “I go, ‘Well, I do too.’ I said, ‘I don’t know … I can tell you I envision it, yes. Yes. That’s why I came here.’”
Mom’s skepticism and Hopkins’ hesitation were both understandable. The Huskies won just two Pac-12 games last season and were 9-22 overall despite having the No. 1 NBA Draft pick in guard Markelle Fultz. That resulted in the firing of Romar, who is now Arizona’s associate head coach, and the near-destruction of a 2017 recruiting class that included another future lottery pick in Michael Porter Jr.
The Huskies were picked to finish just 10th in the Pac-12 this season, expected to make a modest improvement, if at all.
But 10 months later, thanks in part to Dickerson’s return and Hopkins’ installation of a disruptive 2-3 zone defense, the Huskies might get there sooner than anybody thought.
Especially if they can figure a way to wrap that zone around Deandre Ayton and Allonzo Trier when Arizona visits Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Saturday.
“They do an excellent job of trying to take away the other team’s strengths,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “They’re the best defensive team in our conference and when you’re the best defensive team in the conference and you’re playing at home, it’s a heck of a challenge.”
ASU found that out on Wednesday, even with Hec Ed less than 70 percent full. Before a rowdy student crowd, the Huskies shut down the perimeter, holding the Sun Devils to just 1-of-10 3-point shooting in the first half and forcing eight ASU turnovers before halftime.
Considering Hopkins’ decades of service under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, Miller wouldn’t be surprised to see Hopkins shape the zone differently for the Wildcats.
“Their zone can change,” he said. “I think Mike has great experience — 22 years of watching one of the game’s best coaches and that zone. I think he would probably have a lot to do with the success of that and he’s brought all of that knowledge here to Washington.”
But Hopkins still had to convince the Huskies to buy in, after they were conditioned to play a pressure man-to-man defense under Romar.
That initially didn’t go over well, either.
“If you saw our first (exhibition) game against Saint Martin’s, they made 15 3s,” Hopkins said. “It’s almost like they couldn’t play defense one lick.”
Even Dickerson, who opted to remain at Washington as a junior this season, struggled with the adjustment from Romar’s philosophy and terminology.
“It was hard at first,” Dickerson said. “We have different rules for different things, and naturally sometimes I want to do something because that’s what we did for two years.
“But we’re far into the season and coach Hop’s system is second nature to me. That’s all I think about. I know where he wants me to go and what he wants me to do and things like that. I know where I can be effective.”
Washington’s win over ASU on Wednesday was proof. Dickerson collected 21 points and 16 rebounds while wing Matisse Thybulle — referred to as “Spider-Man” by Hopkins — grabbed six steals. Then there was guard David Crisp, who finished it off with two gusty drives to the basket.
All three are juniors, the core of Romar’s 2015 recruiting class, and Miller says that makes a difference.
“It’s kind of like — I don’t want to say a perfect storm — but it’s a great blend of coach who’s really doing a good job and a talented group of players who have gotten older,” Miller said. “We know their team well, especially though Lorenzo (who’s now UA’s associate head coach). They’re a little bit older and it’s that combination of experience and talent.”
And, Miller said, buy-in from all that experience and talent.
You could tell that by the way Dickerson spoke after Thursday’s game. ASU found some offense inside the arc, hitting 52.6 percent of its two-pointers after halftime, and Dickerson was fine with that … because he knew how the math worked.
“They were getting some scoring from the high post with (Kodi) Justice but it wasn’t killing us,” Dickerson said. It’s “have them hit that little floater, have them shoot that midrange jump shot. But that’s just jabs — jab after jab after jab. But when you look up and they’ve made 10 twos instead of 10 threes, that’s a big difference. You know what I mean?
“That’s one of the things they preach to us. It hurt at first but so far in the season I get it. I understand why we’re doing it.”
Hopkins said it all hit a turning point on Dec. 6 in Kansas City, Missouri. There, Washington held Kansas to just 5-for-20 3-point shooting and scored 16 points on 13 Jayhawks turnovers in a shocking 74-65 win.
Suddenly, Hopkins’ job — installing the 2-3 through all those lectures and drills — became easier.
“We executed the game plan and put away one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country,” Hopkins said. “It was one of those things where it was, ‘Oh, what coaches tell us really works.’”
Hopkins said the Huskies have kept getting better in the zone, and the stats back that up.
UW is the conference’s most efficient defensive team, allowing just 96.9 points per 100 possessions in league play, while the Huskies also hold league opponents to just 27 percent shooting from 3-point range. They are second to USC in steals with 7.8 per game and are tied with Arizona for the lead in blocks (4.7).
Oh, and there’s also this number: Washington’s RPI is now 44, putting the Huskies in range of an NCAA Tournament berth.
Mom may be happy with the decision after all. Certainly, Dickerson is.
“Of course,” he said. “One thing (Hopkins) told me was that ‘We can do something now.’ That’s one of the main things that got me to stay.”
