#23 Houston loses to Memphis

[Maverick008]

First off, this isnt about houston or even sampson at all. Its more about those that are looking for anything to bash OU about at this point and thinking no team ever suffers breakdowns or has bad nights.

Memphis was a team that came into this season with at least 7 new players with their two best transferring to KU in the off season. They were expected to be near the bottom of the conference. The way Houston has played this season and the way sampson has been talked about on this board lately, you would for sure have thought this would be an easy win even at memphis last night.

It seemed to be headed that way by half with Houston up 43-37. Again, with all the talk about how great sampsons teams are on defense you would think the 2nd half would be a drag out fight and the game would end somewhere in the 70s with houston coming out on top... after giving up 54 in the 2nd half, houston lost 91-85.

We ALL know that had that score been 91-85 Memphis over OU this board would be tearing the staff/team apart right now. Again, this isnt about houston or sampson. Its more about the idea being that EVERYTHING would be fixed like some make it sound like it would be by just grabbing a new coach or new assistants is laughable. Believe me, im in the majority that this isnt acceptable and needs to be fixed but im also in the group that as of now believes that we still have the right staff to get this team back on the right track.

Its on this team to dig down and find some real fight on defense and wanting to DO the dirty things it takes to win games not just talk about them. We have 3 winnable games left to jumpstart this team and get us re-focused on the post season. Lets hope they get that done starting Saturday....

 

[DenverSooner]

The coaching staff deserves just as much criticism as the players. Maybe more. I would instantly advocate for the players and coaches with this identical record if the losses were spread throughout the season and I saw effort. I see OU doing the same thing over and over while losing. That bothers me. I am still a fan. I will always be a fan but I am not happy with this season.

 

[Maverick008]

The coaching staff deserves just as much criticism as the players. Maybe more. I would instantly advocate for the players and coaches with this identical record if the losses were spread throughout the season and I saw effort. I see OU doing the same thing over and over while losing. That bothers me. I am still a fan. I will always be a fan but I am not happy with this season.

I don't disagree at ALL that this is on the coaching staff AND the players but feel it's for different reasons. All that needs to be and can be fixed in my opinion this season. The coaches need to work on game planning better. Offensively and defensively. Making better changes throughout games. Etc. But things they can't bring to the table are attitude, hustle, fire, willingness to do what it takes to get the win etc.

In order for this season to flip and finish in the tourney like we all expected 3-4 weeks ago, BOTH sides need to pull more of the weight or we'll have to accept an NIT bid soon.....

 

[stormspencer]

Boy, I love one-game sample sizes.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Boy, I love one-game sample sizes.

Lol same. Post is desperate. All i took from it was Sampson took an average team and got them ranked.. we have the best player in America putting up historic stats and aren't ranked and hadn't even won a game in god knows when...

 

[sheepdogs1]

And it pulls Tulsa closer to 3rd place (which is nice).

 

[Maverick008]

Lol same. Post is desperate. All i took from it was Sampson took an average team and got them ranked.. we have the best player in America putting up historic stats and aren't ranked and hadn't even won a game in god knows when...

Houston also lost to Drexel and Tulane this season. Again, it wasn't about Houston/Sampson. There are a lot of coaches that have taken average programs and gotten them ranked. If the debate is that we need a new coach to get back to where we all want to be then we can debate about that. My point is no matter who the coach is, there will be let down games and always things that fans (and the coaches) feel that the team needs to be better at.

Until this recent implosion, last year seemed like an anomaly instead of the norm under Kruger. Now all of the sudden it seems like the team was overachieving this year and that they don't have any good players or that Lon and staff forgot how to coach. Whichever the reason, we all agree it needs to be fixed soon.

IF Kruger left (I don't think that's going to happen this offseason) there are more than a handful of guys I would love for OU to go after that put an emphasis on offense and defense. I may be in the minority but I really don't want to find a coach that only cares about defense and we win (or lose) games in the 50's/60's night in and night out

 

[Chiefdaddy]

Did you watch the game last night?? Memphis played their best game of the year and was hitting everything. One of their forwards had a career night, 4-5 from 3 point land. My buddy and I were talking at work the other day about OU's troubles and I told him to watch Houston play. I texted him last night to watch a little bit. He was like....dude...it's night and day on defense. I was like yep. They play hard, in your face D. When they do get beat, someone helps, and someone helps the helper. Defensive fundamentals. He also mentioned how hard they crash the boards. The Bubble Drill!! Haha.

 

[SKSooner]

Houston is actually one of the better rebounding teams in college basketball, despite being 318th in D-1 in height.

Over the season, Houston has improved drastically on defense. They are very, very physical. This actually gets them into foul trouble on occasion, and that’s where they have struggled (like last night and Tulane). It almost comes down to how the officials call the game.

Lon has a completely different approach than CKS. Both are very successful. I think part of the problem is that Lon has recruited some guys who aren’t very coachable. Lon’s a HOF Coach, so he knows exactly what he’s doing. Sometimes, you don’t recruit the right guys. I am afraid that is part of our problem.

 

[sperry]

Houston winning 62-13 at the half right now.

 

[mardaddy51]

Houston won by 51 today & scored 109 points & they played defense.

 

[Maverick008]

Houston won by 51 today & scored 109 points & they played defense.

Before you guys try to make this sound like too big of a deal you should probably check who else East Carolina has lost to this year…

Radford, Central Connecticut State and North Carolina A&T just to name a few they might be quite possibly be the worst or at least in the bottom five of worst teams this year in the NCAA basketball that mean anything.

 

[152219]

Houston won by 51 today & scored 109 points & they played defense.

Congrats on your Cougs beating an awful team!

 

[mardaddy51]

Before you guys try to make this sound like too big of a deal you should probably check who else East Carolina has lost to this year…

Radford, Central Connecticut State and North Carolina A&T just to name a few they might be quite possibly be the worst or at least in the bottom five of worst teams this year in the NCAA basketball that mean anything.

I was mainly responding to the idiotic notion that KS’s teams only played defense.

 

[mardaddy51]

Congrats on your Cougs beating an awful team!

They’d also beat OU right now.

 

[152219]

They’d also beat OU right now.

https://247sports.com/college/houston/Board/UH-Basketball-104040

 

[mardaddy51]

Haha!! Some just can’t take the truth. ��

 

[152219]

Haha!! Some just can’t take the truth. ��

I don't understand the obsession with Houston/Sampson. If you want to cheer them on, they have plenty of message boards and space on their bandwagon.

 

[mardaddy51]

Haha! You’re gettin awfully butt hurt by this.

I don’t have an obsession with HOU. I just know that this OU team would play a ton more inspired, actually play D, and have a much better record if KS was the coach.

 

[skyvue]

Haha! You’re gettin awfully butt hurt by this.

I don’t have an obsession with HOU. I just know that this OU team would play a ton more inspired, actually play D, and have a much better record if KS was the coach.

We might be better with Bill Self, Coach K and John Wooden, too, but none of those coaches were at OU, got the school in trouble, cut and ran to avoid dealing with that trouble, got in trouble at the new school too and had to spend time in the NBA before they could even return to the college ranks.

You're acting like OU arrogantly cut Coach Sampson loose and he has gained his revenge by making us look foolish. I liked (and defended) Coach Sampson very much and still feel fondly toward him, but OU didn't behave like fools -- he did, and for several years running. And it took him a long time to recover from his foolish actions. He has his redemption now, and good for him -- but let's not forget, he abandoned OU, not vice-versa.