Males’s faculty basketball coaches break down Houston’s excessive ceiling

Final offseason, Kelvin Sampson did not have a lot time to consider Houston’s transfer from the American to the Massive 12. The Cougars’ head coach was extra involved with changing three starters off a staff that had earned a 1-seed within the NCAA event.

All-American guard Marcus Sasser? Gone. Lottery choose ahead Jarace Walker? Gone. Double-figure scorer Tramon Mark and veteran reserve Reggie Chaney? Each gone.

Leaving one convention for an additional wasn’t precisely on the forefront of Sampson’s preseason pondering.

“It was only a completely different schedule in some methods,” Sampson advised ESPN on Monday.

“We did not change something. We imagine in what we’re doing right here. I did not change into a special coach. I did not exit and get some magical gamers or change our tradition. We do what we do and we attempt to do the very best we are able to each evening.”

Houston rose to No. 1 within the AP ballot this week, the second season in a row during which the Cougars have been atop the rankings. They’re additionally on monitor to obtain a 1-seed within the NCAA event for the second consecutive season and are favorites to advance to not less than the Candy 16 for the fifth straight NCAA event. Regardless of this being their first season in the very best convention in males’s faculty basketball, the Cougars are poised to win yet one more league title.

How good, actually, is that this iteration of Houston? Wins over Iowa State and Baylor final week vaulted the Cougars alongside UConn and Purdue as nationwide championship favorites. We reached out to opposing coaches to evaluate their ceiling.

“You may’t simulate it”

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Jamal Shead will get the steal and dishes to J’wan Roberts for a slam

Jamal Shead will get the steal from Cincinnati and passes behind to J’wan Roberts for a giant slam dunk.

There are two nonnegotiables in the case of Houston’s program: bodily, aggressive protection and bodily, aggressive offensive rebounding. These have been the tenets of the staff’s success below Sampson, rating within the prime 25 nationally in adjusted defensive effectivity in seven straight seasons (prime 10 in every of the previous 4 seasons) and within the prime 10 in offensive rebounding share in every of the previous 5 seasons.

“We do not change a complete lot yr to yr,” Sampson mentioned on a name with reporters earlier this week. “The toughness factor, you bought to be constructed on one thing. Each staff’s going to be recognized for one thing. … I select to be recognized for what our id is, how exhausting we play, our toughness. That stuff issues.”

This season’s protection is Houston’s greatest below Sampson. The Cougars are ranked No. 1 in adjusted defensive effectivity at KenPom and inside the highest 5 in turnover share, 2-point protection, block share and steal share. They’ve allowed simply six opponents all season to attain multiple level per possession, and solely three have scored greater than 70 factors in a recreation.

“They play with a function. There’s lots of effort, however they’ve lots of function to what they do,” one opposing Massive 12 coach mentioned. “You speak about it along with your staff. They are going to ship two to the ball, so attempt to throw the ball forward on ball screens. However they’ve energetic palms, they’re leaping in passing lanes. You may’t simulate it. It takes 10, quarter-hour to get adjusted, and you have your self in just a little little bit of a gap. They’re bodily with their our bodies, they’re bodily within the paint. Different groups attempt to do the identical factor, however the on-ball protection on the perimeter takes you again just a little bit.”

One other coach added, “They’re actually related. You may simply inform it is ingrained in them that protection issues. [Jamal] Shead and [J’Wan] Roberts are clearly nice, however [Emanuel] Sharp is a monster on the defensive finish. He is bodily, he is into the ball, and he is 6-5. He can guard your greatest perimeter participant, and that is on prime of Shead, on prime of Roberts.”

The protection has translated from not simply the AAC to the Massive 12 but additionally within the NCAA event. After his staff misplaced to Houston within the Candy 16 in 2022, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd mentioned the brief turnaround between video games and the unfamiliarity along with your opponent makes making ready for the Cougars an nearly unattainable job.

“You are higher served for those who play them a pair instances,” Lloyd mentioned on the time. “They do the issues they’re good at, at such a excessive degree. It is exhausting to get comfy the primary time round. You may attempt to inform your guys what’s coming, however they really have quite a bit higher really feel for it having skilled it.”

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Emanuel Sharp makes the robust layup

Houston’s Emanuel Sharp drives previous Iowa State defenders for a layup.

On the different finish, the physicality and aggressiveness that enable Houston to be so elite defensively additionally make it dominant on the offensive glass. It has been a staple below Sampson, with the Cougars rebounding greater than one-third of their misses in 9 of his 10 seasons. This season, they’re ninth nationally in offensive rebounding share in keeping with KenPom, ninth amongst power-conference packages in second-chance factors per recreation and third in second-chance factors per 100 possessions, in keeping with CBB Analytics.

“Their stuff is elite,” one opposing coach mentioned. “It is often 4 guys. It is often simply [L.J.] Cryer not going. Shead is in there, Sharp goes, [Ja’Vier] Francis and Roberts. Abruptly, it is 4 athletes and all they’re making an attempt to do is get a hand on it, make further possessions. I am certain there’s approach to it, nevertheless it’s actually only a multiple-effort deal.”

All of Houston’s frontcourt gamers are terrific offensive rebounders. Roberts led the AAC in offensive rebounding share final season and ranks within the prime 10 within the Massive 12 this season; Francis is true behind Roberts within the Massive 12 pecking order; and freshman Joseph Tugler has been higher than each this season in restricted minutes.

One coach mentioned you may harp on Houston’s strengths as usually as you may, however the Cougars are merely higher at each than most groups.

“It is not a reasonably model of basketball,” he mentioned. “They throw it up there and get the offensive rebound after which they cease you.”

“He is the very best participant within the league”

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Kelvin Sampson credit toughness for Houston’s win over Iowa State

Houston coach Kelvin Sampson explains why Houston’s toughness fueled the staff to a win over Iowa State.

After Shead had 26 factors and 6 assists to guide Houston to a 73-65 win over Iowa State final week — avenging the Cougars’ first lack of the season — Sampson went on “SportsCenter” with Scott Van Pelt to sing his praises.

“I hear lots of people speak about who the very best level guard is, I by no means hear them point out Jamal Shead,” Sampson mentioned. “I would not commerce Jamal Shead for any level guard in America. I believe we’ve got the very best level guard. He is a winner, he is been on this program for 4 years, he is what we stand for.”

Shead has steadily made strides throughout his four-year Houston profession and, as a senior, is averaging profession highs in factors (13.1 PPG), rebounds (3.8 RPG), assists (6.1 APG) and steals (2.3 SPG), whereas additionally taking pictures a career-best 33.7% from 3-point vary. He is the Cougars’ catalyst on the defensive finish of the ground and is their nearer offensively, the participant his teammates look to for a giant basket late in video games.

“He is the very best participant within the league,” a Massive 12 coach mentioned. “Every part he does is about profitable. How he guards, the photographs he takes, how he communicates with guys on the ground. To me, that is what we wish our level guard to seem like. He can take over a recreation. Watch the Iowa State recreation, they lower the result in 5 3 times, he scored a basket each time. He dictates the sport, then simply goes and makes a play.”

Shead can be enjoying himself onto NBA draft radars, as ESPN’s Jonathan Givony outlined earlier this week.

“They are going to undergo a lull sooner or later”

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L.J. Cryer flushes trey for Houston

L.J. Cryer flushes a 3-point jumper vs. Cincinnati.

Whereas Houston will enter the NCAA event as one of many favorites to chop down the nets, it is not an ideal staff. Many of the Cougars’ weaknesses come on the offensive finish, despite the fact that they’ve had essentially the most environment friendly assault within the Massive 12 in convention play.

They care for the ball exceptionally nicely — and their offensive rebounding prowess has already been mentioned above — however they hardly ever get to the free throw line and may wrestle to make photographs from the perimeter. Houston ranks twelfth out of 14 Massive 12 groups in efficient area aim share, 2-point share and free throw charge, whereas sitting in the midst of the pack in 3-point share.

Within the Cougars’ three losses this season, they shot a mixed 20-for-73 (27.4%) from 3-point vary.

“You understand they will undergo a lull sooner or later,” one coach mentioned. “I do not know if they’ve like, 85 factors in them.”

The important thing offensively is perhaps Cryer. The previous Baylor Bears switch was lights-out through the first half of the season, averaging 17.1 factors and taking pictures 40.7% from 3-point vary over the primary 14 video games. Since then, his numbers have dipped to 13.4 factors and 35.2% from 3. He had 5 factors in every of Houston’s first two losses, taking pictures 2-for-9 in opposition to Iowa State and 2-for-14 in opposition to TCU within the back-to-back video games.

However Cryer can be a difference-maker on the offensive finish for Houston, somebody with NCAA event expertise who scored 30 factors in Baylor’s second-round loss to Creighton final season.

“He is acquired to be the man that is constantly making photographs,” a Massive 12 coach mentioned. “Shead and Sharp are fairly constant and may do a number of issues, whereas Cryer must make 3s. That is a giant X issue for them. … I believe they’ve the potential to be a Closing 4 staff and nationwide title contender, nevertheless it has to return on the offensive finish.”

“You need to soar on them early”

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Iowa State hits ridiculous fadeaway late handy Houston its first loss

Milan Momcilovic hits a tricky jumper with two defenders on him to offer Iowa State the late lead vs. Houston.

Sampson mentioned earlier this week that the most important hurdle in the case of event success goes to be the staff’s well being, which is a well-known theme for the Cougars. Two seasons in the past, they misplaced star Marcus Sasser after 12 video games. Final season, Sasser suffered a groin damage within the AAC event semifinal, forcing him to overlook the title-game loss to Memphis and limiting him within the first spherical of the NCAA event.

This season, sophomore wing Terrance Arceneaux tore his proper Achilles in December and was misplaced for the season, whereas junior reserve Ramon Walker Jr. tore his meniscus final week and is out for the season.

“Ramon was the tradition man on that white staff, which is our second unit,” Sampson advised reporters this week. “Power man. He held guys accountable that he was guarding. You did not get a break if Ramon’s guarding you.”

With out the versatile 6-foot-4 ahead, who helped present inside depth regardless of his measurement, Sampson should lean extra closely on Temple switch Damian Dunn and senior Mylik Wilson, who has seen an uptick in minutes just lately.

“Walker was a bodily presence, he was a man that would are available and play the three and the 4,” an opposing coach mentioned. “Wilson’s trajectory appears to be going upward. He was taking minutes from Dunn, we moved him up the scouting report.”

One remaining key talked about by a number of Massive 12 coaches was weathering the early runs from Houston and making an attempt to get a lead initially of the sport. Of their two wins final week over Iowa State and Baylor, the Cougars jumped out to 19-6 and 27-10 leads, respectively. Conversely, in two of their losses this season, they began out down 14-0 to Iowa State and 23-11 to Kansas.

In response to EvanMiya.com, which tracks what number of 10-0 runs a staff has scored and conceded, Houston leads the nation in “kill photographs,” averaging 1.07 per recreation and totaling 30 this season.

“It is simply so exhausting to get again into the sport for those who get down,” one coach mentioned. “They’re elite defensively, they make it so exhausting to attain within the paint, they’re so bodily. I believe you need to soar on them early. They’re so used to profitable and being forward. You may have to have the ability to rating early, put just a little little bit of doubt of their thoughts. Every part we talked about was getting off to begin, as a result of that is your alternative.

“In case you get down, good luck on the market.”