The Colorado basketball team will see the loss of both Jaron Hopkins (23) and Dustin Thomas (13) after the challenging 2015 season that left the Buffs with an overall record of 16-18. (Gray Bender/CU Independent)
Jaron Hopkins and Dustin Thomas will not be returning to Colorado basketball next season. Writers Tommy Wood and Cannon Casey debate who will be a bigger loss for Colorado basketball.
Cannon: Colorado basketball lost two role players in sophomore guards, Jaron Hopkins and Dustin Thomas. The question is, who are the Buffs going to miss more? I think that Hopkins’ play will be missed more.
Tommy: As weird as it may sound, Cannon, I don’t think that Colorado will feel either of their losses particularly hard. Thomas and Hopkins had their moments — remember this dunk? — but neither of them improved between their freshman and sophomore years, and this season they would have found themselves squeezed out of a deep wing rotation.
Cannon: That’s true Tommy. Both had potential. Thomas’ level of play seemed to be rising toward the end of the season, but Hopkins ate up more minutes for the Buffs, had better stats and showed hints of great play in a few games. Hopkins played a total of 670 minutes this season – sixth most out of Colorado – averaging 20.9 per game. The guys ahead of him? Askia Booker, Wesley Gordon, Josh Scott, Xavier Talton and Xavier Johnson. That’s a sixth man that Colorado needs for next year, with Booker gone and Dominique Collier presumably stepping in.
Tommy: People are going to miss the idea of what Hopkins could have been more than they’ll miss the player himself. He is one of the most athletic players to ever come through the Buffs’ program, and the consensus around the team was that he could have been at least All-Pac 12 if he put in the work. But he didn’t.
Cannon: Hopkins showed what could have been in a stretch of January Pac-12 games against the likes of UCLA, USC, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Washington State. In this stretch, Hopkins averaged 56.5 percent from the field and 11.4 points per game. Hopkins had a 12-point game at Utah, an 8-point game at Arizona and a 20-point game at Arizona State. He showed up to play in hostile environments against two elite teams in Arizona and Utah. Those two teams went to the elite eight and sweet sixteen, respectively, and were the top two teams in the Pac-12.
Tommy: Instead, all we saw were those tantalizing glimpses that you mentioned, interspersed with over-dribbling and hitchy jumpers. Hopkins led Colorado in turnover rate last season and he shot just 52 percent from the free-throw line for his career. Of the Buffs who played more than 500 minutes, only Dom Collier and Xavier Talton had a worse offensive rating than Hopkins’ 93.2.
Cannon: Those are good points, but I think we need to look at upside. In the same stretch of Pac-12 play, Thomas averaged only six points per game on 47.5 percent shooting. Thomas’ production against Arizona and Utah was close to nothing. He didn’t show up for the big games and wasn’t much of a factor in the others.
Tommy: Thomas is a good charge-taker and can be disruptive when he plays angry, but that’s about it. His jumper is silky-smooth but it never goes in—he air-balled at least four corner threes this season before he buried one. Every time he touched the ball I thought he would turn it over. Thomas cut down on his giveaways this season, but he still committed a turnover nearly a quarter of the time that he possessed the ball in his career. On top of that, he was a minus defender and he shot just 23 percent from deep.
Cannon: Last season, Hopkins ranked in the top five (and ahead of Thomas) for almost every category for Colorado. Hopkins’ .447 field goal percentage ranked third. A .333 percentage from three puts him at third as well. Hopkins’ 5.8 points per game ranked fifth for Colorado, while his 3.3 rebounds per game ranked fourth. His 1.3 assists per game ranked fourth as well and his 1.0 steals per game ranked second behind only Booker. Stats don’t lie. Hopkins is a more well-rounded player. I’ll pick the guy with better numbers that shows up in big games and gives me more minutes.
Tommy: If Hopkins or Thomas had consistently improved — or improved at all — I’d give more than a “meh” about their leaving. Even so, they’d have a difficult time finding minutes in Colorado’s rotation next year. Xavier Johnson, Tre’Shaun Fletcher and George King will take the bulk of the playing time at small forward. King, Josh Fortune and freshman Thomas Akyazili will hog minutes at shooting guard. There’s no room for Hopkins or Thomas there.
Contact CU Independent staff writer Cannon Casey at Cannon.casey@colorado.edu
Contact CU Independent staff writer Tommy Wood at Tommy.c.wood@colorado.edu
