NCAA Basketball: 5 most unwatchable teams for 2019-20 season

No.1 – Washington

What’s the only thing worse than a successful Jim Boeheim squad? A successful squad lead by one of his protegé. After spending 22 years as an assistant on Boeheim’s staff, former Syracuse guard Mike Hopkins decided to jump ship and take a job across the country at Washington. After a mildly successful first season as head coach, Hopkins’ squad settled in as serious contenders in the Pac 12, going 15-3 in the conference to capture the regular-season title and earning Hopkins the conference Coach of the Year recognition.

With this string of success, Hopkins was able to steal two highly touted recruits from the 2019 class, 5-star Rochester native Isiah Stewart and former Syracuse star Tyus Battle‘s younger brother, Raequan, right from under the nose of his former teacher, Boeheim. Those two will join the number one PF in the nation, Jaden McDaniels, and former 4-star Kentucky guard Quade Green to wrap up what was a rockstar offseason for coach Hopkins.

But even with all that talent coming in, this squad won’t even be close to watchable. Ranking in the bottom 50 in Assists Per Field Goals Made and Pace of Play and finishing in the bottom half of the league in the other three Watchability stats, Washington finished as the fourth least watchable team in the nation in my rankings last season.

Exactly like Boeheim, Hopkins runs the gimmick 2-3 zone the majority of every game and relies on turning defense to offense in order for his team to score. But, on possessions when the zone doesn’t create a turnover or a bad shot leading to a transition bucket, Hopkins offense is basically a free-for-all, with the players on his team showing no continuity and the majority of the possessions ending in isolation.

With the amount of star power coming in, Washington will no doubt compete for a National Championship. But, like every great Syracuse team of years past, they will be one of if not the least watchable team in the nation.