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The Syracuse basketball program is in good hands. How do we know here at TNIAAM? On Thursday night, Orange's assistant coach Mike Hopkins joined us in a chat on Twitter and boy was it a lot of fun.
#HopTalks, which was setup by Hopkins and SU junior Ben Glidden was actually coach's idea and we played along nicely -- sort of.
Below is a transcript of what went down. In it you will see a few questions about Hop's favorite band Pearl Jam, that weird GIF of him, his thoughts on CJ Fair's awesomeness, the awesomeness of the Baye Mouse Keita video of him doing coach Jim Boeheim and asked him to predict the Syracuse at Duke game later this year.
There was a cameo by former SU player Michael Carter-Williams and a lot of questions we did not get to in the hour-long chat. Hopefully, this will not be the last one we do but if it was it sure was fun.
Thanks again to all of those involved. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Q1: @Coach_Hopkins How exciting is this time of year with Orange Madness tomorrow night & start of season 2 weeks away? #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A1 I get really excited about Orange Madness, because it tells me the season is near!!! I love seeing all the fan excitement #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q2: @Coach_Hopkins What is your favorite part of Orange Madness? Who is going to win the dunk competition?
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A2 I love the player introductions where each player picks their song. I'm going with Jerami Grant as Dunk Champion. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
@Coach_Hopkins who's in it?
— Michael Carter-Willi (@MCW1) October 17, 2013
@MCW1 definitely not you. Miss you
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q3: @Coach_Hopkins If you were Czar of Orange Madness and could land any musical guest who would you invite? #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A3 Obviously the best band in the world @PearlJam. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
I can assure those following along that this will not be the last time @Coach_Hopkins mentions Pearl Jam tonight. #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
Q4: From @Shreveness, if you and Coach Boeheim played 1-on-1 at Orange Madness who would win? (You're letting him win aren't you?) #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A4 If the game was to 11, I would try to go up 10-0 and then let him come back to win. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Zing! @Coach_Hopkins A4 If the game was to 11, I would try to go up 10-0 and then let him come back to win. #hoptalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
Q5: From @Mbeau21, What do you think the strength of this years team will be? #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A5 Our frontcourt is one of the most experienced and talented frontcourts in the country. Watch out for @CJFair and @MooMoo25
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q6: Speaking of Mr. @CJFair, how was it to see him named ACC Preseason Player of the Year? #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A6 Its validation for him staying in school when he could've left to go pro. @CJFair will work harder & not let it go to his head #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q7: @Coach_Hopkins This question came from a TNIAAM reader E Scott: What the heck is going on in this GIF? http://t.co/jy06YAaiXm #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A7 its not THAT creepy! I was saying it's not 1, its not 2, its 3. But I don't know what that was for. lol #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q8: Rapid fire @PearlJam for @Coach_Hopkins: Stone Gossard or Mike McCready? Favorite PJ song? Best concert of PJ youve attended? #HOPTALKS
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
We got a lot of @PearlJam questions for @Coach_Hopkins after his first response. #HOPTALKS
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A8 Mike McCready. Release gives me the goosebumps. 2003 Madison Square Garden, the stage shook. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q9: @Coach_Hopkins on a scale of awesome to very awesome how awesome is this video of BMK doing Boeheim? http://t.co/OgPbFeZhDX #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A9 Extraordinarily Awesome! BMK is one of the greatest student athlete's we've ever had at the @Cuse. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q10: @Coach_Hopkins How excited are you to travel to Maui and wear a Hawaiian shirt? Do you have plans for the trip or just hoops? #HOPTALKS
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A10 It's a business trip, but I'll always find a way to catch a few waves. It's the California in me. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q11: @Coach_Hopkins What ACC arena are you most excited to play at? If you answer Duke, you need to give a winning score for SU. #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A11 I'm really excited to play at Cameron Indoor. It will be a defensive battle, but we will prevail at the end 2 to 0. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Just think of all those poor SU fans that are forking over $600 for SU at Duke Tix and the game is going to be 2 to 0. #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
Q12: Practice is soon, so @Coach_Hopkins what are we working on tonight? Any of it dedicated to man-2-man D? (Sorry, too easy). #HopTalk
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A12 We cover everything in practice. We work on man to man all the time, but our staple is the 2-3. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
Q13: Maybe our final Q, @Coach_Hopkins Mr. @ChrisESPNCNY wants to know if you weren't a coach, or Eddie Vedder, what would you be? #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
A13 MMA fighter! No ifs, ands or buts about it. #hoptalks
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
With that answer, what would happen if locked @Coach_Hopkins and @Coach_Shafer in the Carrier Dome? #HopTalks
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
Thanks all for participating in tonight's #HopTalks. Had lots of Qs sorry we didn't get to all of them. Hope you enjoyed @Coach_Hopkins.
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013
Thank you all for stopping by #hoptalks and to @NunesMagician for hosting. Look for more of these in the future. See you at Orange Madness!
— Coach Mike Hopkins (@Coach_Hopkins) October 17, 2013
No problem @Coach_Hopkins! Anytime! #GoOrange
— Sean Keeley (@NunesMagician) October 17, 2013