Hopkins

jamiche

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Don't ask me why, but I ended up at Hopkins last night to watch parts of the Mtka-North and the Hopkins-St.L.PK games.

It's unfair to make an assessment of Hopkins because I've seen so little high school ball in the last few years and St. Louis Park looked like a 9th grade team in comparison. But that never stopped me before!

I don't know how Hopkins would fare against top level national high school competition but I think they would come within 10-12 points of the gophers. They are the biggest, fastest and strongest HS team I've ever seen, by far. All five of their starters could play for the gophers. I would guess (and it's only a guess) that Broghammer is farther along than Sampson III or Iverson last year. Royce, when he's not bored--and he was really bored last night, shows flashes of real talent. Tubby is going to have to work very hard with him because he has picked up a lot of bad habits because he is so much bigger and faster than his opponents. As one of many examples, he reaches around on defense to poke the ball away instead of getting into position and the college refs will call it every time. He's a talent, for sure, and it will be interesting to see how he responds when he's not the best player on the floor or his coach demands a lot of effort.

All in all, I can see why the other coaches are so envious. Even the Hopkins second and third stringers were impressive. They have a ninth grade guard, Chambers, who will be an elite player in a year or two. An interesting evening.
 

There is only one team that is going to beat Hopkins this year, and that is Hopkins. We've also seen this regular season dominance before, only for them to fold like a cheap suit when finally taken to the wall in the playoffs.

The four seniors are all signed to play D1 ball (Royce to the Gophers, Broghammer to Notre Dame, and the others to Santa Clara and another I can't remember offhand).
 

Raymond Cowels, #42, to Santa Clara, and #34 Trent Lockett to Arizona State.

I hope Hopkins meets up with Rodney Williams and Cooper in the playoffs, I know Hopkins killed them in the regular season, but I'd like to get a chance to watch it again.

Hopkins has been ranked highly in national high school polls, (which seem kind of arbitrary, but some how they rank them) as high as in the top 5-10 nationally.
 

Raymond Cowels, #42, to Santa Clara, and #34 Trent Lockett to Arizona State.

I hope Hopkins meets up with Rodney Williams and Cooper in the playoffs, I know Hopkins killed them in the regular season, but I'd like to get a chance to watch it again.

Hopkins has been ranked highly in national high school polls, (which seem kind of arbitrary, but some how they rank them) as high as in the top 5-10 nationally.


I read yesterday in the Fish wrap East side that they have moved up to # 4 in the national rankings..
 

Humphries Team was better

The Hopkins team with Humphries, Coleman, Darrin Clarke, and Henke was much better in my opinion. The current team may end up with more D1 players but the Humphries squad had more talent.

White is going to be good but not an NBA lottery pick and Coleman and Clarke are better than Broghammer and Lockett in my opinion.
 


The Hopkins team with Humphries, Coleman, Darrin Clarke, and Henke was much better in my opinion. The current team may end up with more D1 players but the Humphries squad had more talent.

White is going to be good but not an NBA lottery pick and Coleman and Clarke are better than Broghammer and Lockett in my opinion.

This is an interesting question. The Humphries/Dan Coleman/Darren Clarke team was very good. They did lose at least one game when Humphries was a senior, I think to Lawrence McKenzie's team? This year's team is arguably more dominant and I think they have better depth. Their second group of five could compete in the state tournament. They have extremely talented younger players like Singleton, Chambers, D.J. Peterson, and even Coleman's little brother Joe.

If Dan Monson was as good a recruiter as Ken Novak we might have had a good run in the early 2000s.
 

The Hopkins team with Coleman, Clarke, Humphries, and Henke lost to Kammron Taylor and North in the State semifinals I do believe. Tough to say that they are better than this team if this team wins it all and my memory is correct.
 

This is an interesting question. The Humphries/Dan Coleman/Darren Clarke team was very good. They did lose at least one game when Humphries was a senior, I think to Lawrence McKenzie's team? This year's team is arguably more dominant and I think they have better depth. Their second group of five could compete in the state tournament. They have extremely talented younger players like Singleton, Chambers, D.J. Peterson, and even Coleman's little brother Joe.

If Dan Monson was as good a recruiter as Ken Novak we might have had a good run in the early 2000s.

:drink:

So true.
 

The Hopkins team with Coleman, Clarke, Humphries, and Henke lost to Kammron Taylor and North in the State semifinals I do believe. Tough to say that they are better than this team if this team wins it all and my memory is correct.
They won the state title the year before though, if memory serves me correctly (2002).
 



The Hopkins team with Humphries, Coleman, Darrin Clarke, and Henke was much better in my opinion. The current team may end up with more D1 players but the Humphries squad had more talent.

White is going to be good but not an NBA lottery pick and Coleman and Clarke are better than Broghammer and Lockett in my opinion.

I thought that Coleman and Clarke (I only saw two games that year) weren't very impressive. Broghammer and Lockett are stronger, bigger (Coleman and Clarke were bean poles) and more aggressive.
 

That Humphries/Coleman/Clarke/Henke team was not that gaudy. Clarke/Henke were pretty solid, nothing special and Humphries/Coleman didn't even try. No heart at all. Ken Novak is a joke.
 





Ken Novak is one of the best coaches in the state and a heck of a nice guy.
 

Ken Novak is one of the best coaches in the state and a heck of a nice guy.
Agreed Johnny.

Most people are uninformed about the Novaks and base their opinions of them on something they don't know much about. Jared Nuness' editorial in the Star Trib last week was a great piece on what the Novaks contribute to the Hopkins program and community.

Ask anyone who has ever met Novak or any of his former/current players and you'll get a sense of what he means to the program and his players' lives.
 

This team is very underrated nationally. They have it all IMO. They have at least 6 D1 guys on the roster and it could end up being 8 or 9.
 

The Hopkins team with Humphries, Coleman, Darrin Clarke, and Henke was much better in my opinion. The current team may end up with more D1 players but the Humphries squad had more talent.

White is going to be good but not an NBA lottery pick and Coleman and Clarke are better than Broghammer and Lockett in my opinion.

That Hopkins team didn't even win it all. My beloved Mounds View Mustangs, led by a single DII recruit (Bobby Harris), almost knocked them out in the state quarterfinals that year. Then they lost to North in the semis. This year's Hopkins team will not lose and you could easily argue that the competition they are facing this year is more difficult then the 2003 Hopkins team ever face.
 

I am sure he is a nice guy and a great coach, but he is a scumbag for recruiting. I dont care what Nuness said.
 




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