jgisland
Club Member
Then I hope Boyle is master psychologist. Hopkins starts the game, then sits after the second whistle and never sees the court again (working from memory, but I think I got that right). That's not going to help build confidence: especially when done in front of 9k people and on TV (factors that I believe do impact college kids). Don't get me wrong, to win the game, I believe it was the right move. I'm just saying that restoring a kid's confidence after that won't be easy. But then, I don't know anything about #23's mental character -- maybe he's the type who can shake off a benching and move on; hope so.
Boyle is very cognizant of a kids mental state. I've said this before but it's worth repeating after a rough game from Hopkins. At an event last year Tad told this story - Last year when Ski was struggling Tad called Carlon for advice on what to do. The year before Carlon had gone through a similar mid-season slump, Tad asked him if he should have done anything differently. Carlon said it did a lot for him mentally that Tad stuck with him and didn't have him come off the bench or decrease his minutes, he told him to stick with Ski and have trust in him. Tad ultimately decided to stick with Ski because he didn't want to ruin his confidence.
Hopkins isn't exactly in the same position, being a freshman thrown into the fire when the best player went down, but Tad has anointed him as the next big PG for the Buffs. It'll be interesting how this plays out.