It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem. It’s me.
You see, I should have known better. By now, I should have learned that this is just what Kelvin Sampson and his staff do year after year. It happens every year, and I fell for it again. It’s like Charlie Brown trying to kick a ball.
the daily #136 | 12/14/2023 | Archives
After losing two first-round draft picks and another starter to the transfer portal off last season’s team, I expected to see this team take time to gel. In my mind, they’d need time to learn to play together on the fly. I was trying to be reasonable because so many core pieces needed to be replaced. Replacing half your scoring is no small task. But I should have known better.
In this program, new guys step in, and returners step up.
LJ Cryer, Damian Dunn, and Jojo Tugler step in. Emanuel Sharp, Terrance Arceneaux, Mylik Wilson, and Ja’Vier Francis step up. And the furniture – the guys there every year and never change – Jamal Shead and J’Wan Roberts – are the program’s backbone.
Some things never change: Houston was #1 in scoring defense at 49.4 ppg a year ago today. Today? #1 at 49.7. Houston was #4 in scoring margin at 24.5 ppg a year ago today. Now, they’re #4 in that stat at 26.7 ppg. They are statistically similar to last year, but there are differences defensively: in steals (up 3.7 from last year), turnover margin (up 3.2 a game), and turnovers (from 30th last year to #1 this season).
Besides turnovers and steals, what is different? It is hard to quantify, but let’s start with expectations. This team is unburdened by the weight of expectations that last year’s team carried. The stage was set for a storybook run. Sasser and Mark returned from injury, and Jamal Shead, the team’s leader, was bolstered by elite recruits Jarace Walker and Terrance Arceneaux. Oh, and that small detail: the Final Four was in Houston. Those guys weren’t looking to have just a great season. They were expecting to be cutting down nets in March….in Houston.
This team’s expectations are nothing like that. They are expected to be good, but they are also expected to take a step back. Losing that much talent and production and heading into the meat grinder of the best basketball conference in the country has held expectations in check. This team can be better than last year and can be better than other teams in the past. They just aren’t expected to be that team walking into the season. At 10-0, I don’t think that’s changed.
Another change: this squad has returned to their roots, playing gritty, no-nonsense hoops. They’re dawgs that will lock on and won’t let you breathe. They are prepping for the Big 12, where they won’t have the luxury of out-talenting the opposition.
This team, of course, has a ton of talent, but they have to beat you in a different way. Through ten games, we’re seeing that play out. This team has to kill for every loose ball and grind teams down game after game. They don’t have the luxury of waiting for one of their killers to pull them out of the fire. They all have to be dialed in every second.
The last difference is that this team looks more comfortable playing together. This is helped by relying on veteran transfers, Cryer and Dunn, who have been through the battles at this level. Adding a freshman in Tugler who has made a difference from day one. There is legitimate depth, and won’t be depending on two guys to carry the bulk of the minutes. Last year, Sasser and Shead had dead legs by the middle of February, and UH was not playing their best in March – the first time in this run that it happened (and they still made the Sweet 16).
Sharp, Arceneaux, and Francis now have an entire season of on-the-court experience and know what they are doing and where they are supposed to be on the floor. The Australia trip – and the July and August practices that came with it – were an immense advantage. Add to it, the four games: that was invaluable for a new team to get extended action against someone other than themselves for the first time.
The hallmarks of a Kelvin Sampson program are here, but there are nuanced changes. He’s preparing this bunch for a brutal 18-game run through the Big 12, the Big 12 Tournament, and then a run in March. Ryan Monceaux reports that coaches keep telling him how much they like this team.
I can see why: this team is going to be fun. And dangerous.
