Kelvin Sampson’s pregame comments on Iowa State, Gameday and their program are nice. He’s so complimentary of ISU, our players, coaches and fans. Hard not to like the guy these days and be impressed with what he’s built at Houston. Here are his comments from earlier today:
Kelvin Sampson Pregame Presser with Iowa State
- Thread starter Chitowncy
- Start date
Find out what we got. We don't defend like last year. Better hit shots.
Kind of nitpicking here.. but we went from the #1 defensive team to #11. Offensively, we've gone from #52 to #18. So you're right, we're not as good defensively as we were last year, but we didn't drop off that much. Offensively we've gotten a lot better though.
I like him. I think he is a good guy and a great coach.0
Weren’t we top 10 offensively before Milan got hurt?
With you there, but his voice/speaking just puts me to sleep. Soft, low and slow. Just lolls you to sleep.
Any idea what these rankings have been in the stretch that Milan's been back?
I feel like the defense has been better recently so it's a little surprising that it went down since iirc it was like #7-8 two weeks ago. They seem to generally get stops when it's needed.
The impatience imo is what hurts the offense the most.
TJ and Kelvin have an immense amount of respect for each other because they realize better than anyone how hard the players on each other's team play. The first time they faced each other last year, Kelvin was stunned by the effort our guys put forth.
I'm not expecting us to beat one of the best teams in the nation on their home floor this Saturday, but I am expecting a great effort. This game is gonna be a street fight and we've got a puncher's chance.
I'm not expecting us to beat one of the best teams in the nation on their home floor this Saturday, but I am expecting a great effort. This game is gonna be a street fight and we've got a puncher's chance.
Our offense on Torvik is 21st since he’s been back, it’s 24th overall. Can’t mess with dates in kenpom without a subscription. D is 8th overall now, and 7th since he’s been back.
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You can tell that's not fake respect/coach speak. He clearly admires our team and staff, and what TJ has built here. I've had a lot of reservations about him in the past due to the NCAA violations, but those really seem overblown with the recent changes to NIL, etc. He's a heck of a coach and has built a great program.
For a guy who could coach anywhere he wants in college basketball, I doubt a former employer who fired him is in the top 50 of desirable places to jump to.
I unfortunately don’t have a subscription to check the dates but we were rated higher in both areas if I remember correctly. And yeah, only issue we’ve had has been guys doing too much. Funny enough I believe you and I discussed this a few weeks ago and I mentioned the turnover plague wasn’t that frequent and I think since I said that they’ve been horrible lol.
I jinxed it so if anyone wants to blame someone, blame me. The only positive spin I can put on it would be that the turnovers gotta be 90% dead ball and the reason behind them seems to be that we’re being too unselfish. That’s about it. We need to get it cleaned up.
I'm repeating but while the turnovers weren't as numerous they still have been weird/from hurried possessions about all season and at crucial times.
I think it's worth noting that Houston has actually played better on the road than at home recently.
I think my biggest concern in this one is Gilbert's recent TO issues. If he's pressing or trying to force the issue we will get rolled. You don't want live ball TO's against the Cougs.
I really do not see Milan as someone who would improve our defense - might be more about who we played.
