Houston and Sampson. Doing it his way.

[DrH. Lecter]

Interesting info. Is this the template. Nearly no reliance on portal to replace turnover. Several redshirt players convinced to stay rather than portal out to a better opportunity. Not sure how he keeps them happy. My hat is off to Coach Sampson.

Breaking down Houston men's basketball 2024-25 roster - The Cougar

With a total of 14 hungry Cougars, including four returning starters and a fiery head coach, Houston is on the hunt for its elusive national title.

thedailycougar.com

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

Interesting info. Is this the template. Nearly no reliance on portal to replace turnover. Several redshirt players convinced to stay rather than portal out to a better opportunity. Not sure how he keeps them happy. My hat is off to Coach Sampson.

Breaking down Houston men's basketball 2024-25 roster - The Cougar

With a total of 14 hungry Cougars, including four returning starters and a fiery head coach, Houston is on the hunt for its elusive national title.

thedailycougar.com

Tilman Fertitta - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

This is why

 

[Ron Mehico]

Continuity is key, and harder and harder to achieve in this environment

 

[DraftCat]

I'm not sold on Sampson model... by and large it hasn't been successful. If we are being honest last night was a choke job more than anything Houston did.

 

[kydmb99]

I'm not sold on Sampson model... by and large it hasn't been successful. If we are being honest last night was a choke job more than anything Houston did.

They’ve been to 2 Final Fours in the last 5 years. What do you mean it “hasn’t been successful”?

 

[UKBB4Ever]

They’ve been to 2 Final Fours in the last 5 years. What do you mean it “hasn’t been successful”?

And the second school he’s taken to a FF.

Guy can coach.

 

[DraftCat]

They’ve been to 2 Final Fours in the last 5 years. What do you mean it “hasn’t been successful”?

32 years of coaching and his style of play hasn't led to a championship? Not to mention he's been in easy conferences throughout history giving him higher seedings than his team may deserve.

Obviously kudos for the two final 4's in the last 5 years but how much was that predicated on covid? I don't know I'm sure you can tell me.

Preface I'm not saying he can't coach proof is in the pudding. I just wouldn't want him on UK sideline.

 

[ImTheVillageIdiot]

And the second school he’s taken to a FF.

Guy can coach.

Agree with you. I think Sampson gets it done on Monday.

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

32 years of coaching and his style of play hasn't led to a championship? Not to mention he's been in easy conferences throughout history giving him higher seedings than his team may deserve.

Obviously kudos for the two final 4's in the last 5 years but how much was that predicated on covid? I don't know I'm sure you can tell me.

This is a question I thought of last night.

Say a guy goes to a lot of Final Fours but never wins one. Is he still a great coach? What defines a “great coach” anyway.

At this point I’m 100% certain Mark Few is never going to win a national championship. But is he not a great coach?

To bring it back to Houston…Guy Lewis went to five final fours. Had generational players. Never won it. Was he a bad coach?

 

[DraftCat]

This is a question I thought of last night.

Say a guy goes to a lot of Final Fours but never wins one. Is he still a great coach? What defines a “great coach” anyway.

At this point I’m 100% certain Mark Few is never going to win a national championship. But is he not a great coach?

To bring it back to Houston…Guy Lewis went to five final fours. Had generational players. Never won it. Was he a bad coach?

I'm not sure anyone is calling him a bad coach. That certainly wasn't my intent.. I edited my post before you quoted this one.

Vast majority of the time the power schools win the tournament. Which is why a Houston or a Gonzaga get close but can't overcome the talent level. Clearly they had good/great teams to make the final 4. By and large the tournament is luck and the best team doesn't win it.

For me I throw it back on the coaches. Why don't these guys take a shot at a bigger school mostly calling out Few here. We know the story with Sampson and IU.

Coach Cal certainly had taken advantage of UK needing a coach and turned us back into a powerhouse over night. It was the "perfect marriage" the news called it. Cal kept going up the ranks till he got to a Blue Blood. Some coaches prefer their small pond.

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

I'm not sure anyone is calling him a bad coach. That certainly wasn't my intent.. I edited my post before you quoted this one.

Vast majority of the time the power schools win the tournament. Which is why a Houston or a Gonzaga get close but can't overcome the talent level. Clearly they had good/great teams to make the final 4. By and large the tournament is luck and the best team doesn't win it.

For me I throw it back on the coaches. Why don't these guys take a shot at a bigger school mostly calling out Few here. We know the story with Sampson and IU.

Guy Lewis coached Elgin Baylor and The Dream. Houston’s talent level was never the issue

 

[DraftCat]

Guy Lewis coached Elgin Baylor and The Dream. Houston’s talent level was never the issue

I'm not that old

 

[GoNoles111]

Gators are gonna tax that ass on Monday

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

I'm not that old

Let me ask you this:

If I told you a coach would dominate high school recruiting for great periods of time and would go to the Final Four 11 times but only win 2 of them how would you view them as a coach?

Would you say they were one of the greatest coaches to ever coach or would you say “he should have won far more. Not that great of a coach”

 

[bthaunert]

Guy Lewis coached Elgin Baylor and The Dream. Houston’s talent level was never the issue

Elgin Baylor went to Seattle. ElvinnHayes maybe?

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

Elgin Baylor went to Seattle. Alvin Hayes maybe?

lol my bad. You’re right!

 

[IbnSaran]

Thank God Indiana fired him.

 

[65pacecar]

I hope Houston wins it. The IU fans will be sick if he does.

 

[DraftCat]

Let me ask you this:

If I told you a coach would dominate high school recruiting for great periods of time and would go to the Final Four 11 times but only win 2 of them how would you view them as a coach?

Would you say they were one of the greatest coaches to ever coach or would you say “he should have won far more. Not that great of a coach”

Pretty sure UNC views Dean Smith as a failure do they not?

 

[Someguywhodoesntlikeyou]

Pretty sure UNC views Dean Smith as a failure do they not?

I think that would not be accurate sir.

It’s pretty much consensus that Dean Smith is viewed as one of the top 5 greatest college basketball of all time.

Whether you or I agree with that is what I’m trying to get at.

Dean Smith was a great basketball coach but he failed a LOT when he had the edge. So does that detract from his legacy or does everyone just chalk it up to “shit happens”

 

[kydmb99]

32 years of coaching and his style of play hasn't led to a championship? Not to mention he's been in easy conferences throughout history giving him higher seedings than his team may deserve.

Obviously kudos for the two final 4's in the last 5 years but how much was that predicated on covid? I don't know I'm sure you can tell me.

Preface I'm not saying he can't coach proof is in the pudding. I just wouldn't want him on UK sideline.

If his approach isn’t successful then neither is Pope’s.

 

[UK90]

I'm not sold on Sampson model... by and large it hasn't been successful. If we are being honest last night was a choke job more than anything Houston did.

This is an utterly nonsensical statement.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

This is a question I thought of last night.

Say a guy goes to a lot of Final Fours but never wins one. Is he still a great coach? What defines a “great coach” anyway.

At this point I’m 100% certain Mark Few is never going to win a national championship. But is he not a great coach?

To bring it back to Houston…Guy Lewis went to five final fours. Had generational players. Never won it. Was he a bad coach?

I never thought Guy Lewis was a great coach.

I always put him and Tark in the same group just under the great coaches of their time.

It’s really hard to get yo the FF though in a one and done tournament.

So they were doing something right to get there multiple times.

Many coaches have hit lighting in a bottle and got 1 FF.

 

[DrH. Lecter]

32 years of coaching and his style of play hasn't led to a championship? Not to mention he's been in easy conferences throughout history giving him higher seedings than his team may deserve.

Obviously kudos for the two final 4's in the last 5 years but how much was that predicated on covid? I don't know I'm sure you can tell me.

Preface I'm not saying he can't coach proof is in the pudding. I just wouldn't want him on UK sideline.

We have not had the portal turnover and NIL for the 32 years of his career.

We have the new era...basically the last 5 years. He has 2 F4s. He is doing something right developing a program and not a turnstile.

 

[FtWorthCat]

Tilman Fertitta - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

This is why

Mark Cuban could do the same thing for Indiana. But he quit giving them money after Knight was fired, unless he has changed his mind.

Obviously Joe Craft is bank rolling UK, and trying to use UK for political gain. But there is a lot of very old money in the Lexington area. They just aren't necessarily famous names, unless you are in the horse and/or bourbon business.

 

[bnewt]

And the second school he’s taken to a FF.

Guy can coach.

Yes he can

 

[bnewt]

Mark Cuban could do the same thing for Indiana. But he quit giving them money after Knight was fired, unless he has changed his mind.

Obviously Joe Craft is bank rolling UK, and trying to use UK for political gain. But there is a lot of very old money in the Lexington area. They just aren't necessarily famous names, unless you are in the horse and/or bourbon business.

Then why can't uk take advantage of it

 

[ace on the river]

I'm not sold on Sampson model... by and large it hasn't been successful. If we are being honest last night was a choke job more than anything Houston did.

LMAO! Good Lord, what a opinion...

 

[wobycat]

I don’t want to be that guy but you need a T in your title

 

[bucsrule8872]

Player retention and player development. That’s the key.

Houston, Florida, Auburn, and Duke all had key guys that have been in their program for multiple years.

Doesn’t matter whether you get the talent from HS or the portal, just got to keep it more than one year, if you want to build a consistent program.

 

[ukcatz12]

32 years of coaching and his style of play hasn't led to a championship? Not to mention he's been in easy conferences throughout history giving him higher seedings than his team may deserve.

Obviously kudos for the two final 4's in the last 5 years but how much was that predicated on covid? I don't know I'm sure you can tell me.

Preface I'm not saying he can't coach proof is in the pudding. I just wouldn't want him on UK sideline.

Championships are damn hard to win. Remember when Jay Wright couldn’t win one and then all of a sudden he won two in three years?

Don’t discount some of the tournament changing injuries Houston has had too. Pretty sure they lost their best player to injury in the tournament last year.

But there’s no secret formula to winning a title that Sampson doesn’t have. Have a top seed enough times and you’ll break through eventually. That’s really the name of the game. Just because him or a guy like Few don’t have a title doesn’t mean they’re systems don’t have what it takes to win one.

 

[LmdCat]

I'm not sold on Sampson model... by and large it hasn't been successful. If we are being honest last night was a choke job more than anything Houston did.

Huston won because their great defense eventually wore down Duke. Flagg's shot was short because his legs were gone. When a defense holds a team to one made field goal for the final 10 minutes of the game, you have to give the defense their props.

 

[BBNinSC]

Houston has another bad shooting night and Florida routs them. Houston won their title Saturday night, this is the perfect storm for a non-competitive championship game.
The Gators and it won’t be a close game.

 

[FltDoc]

Agree with you. I think Sampson gets it done on Monday.

UF's Clayton has been on fire for their last several games -- asking a lot of the kid to continue such a high output.... so I'm giving a slight edge to Houston!

 

[FltDoc]

Player retention and player development. That’s the key.

Houston, Florida, Auburn, and Duke all had key guys that have been in their program for multiple years.

Doesn’t matter whether you get the talent from HS or the portal, just got to keep it more than one year, if you want to build a consistent program.

Agreed....asking a lot to have high turnover numbers year after year (i.e.Cal or UK Football staff). Too much to expect to learn "the culture expectations" with constant newbies...

 

[Eccain01]

I'm not sold on Sampson model... by and large it hasn't been successful. If we are being honest last night was a choke job more than anything Houston did.

How has it not been successful??? They’ve because an. Elite program

 

[tf4fun]

They’ve been to 2 Final Fours in the last 5 years. What do you mean it “hasn’t been successful”?

They have very little ball moment. Seems they go ball screen til they get the matchup they want, then go iso! I count 5 possession in a row that they didn't pass the ball at all! Having said that they probably win Monday night so who can argue. right!

 

[LmdCat]

Houston has another bad shooting night and Florida routs them. Houston won their title Saturday night, this is the perfect storm for a non-competitive championship game.
The Gators and it won’t be a close game.

You post as if Duke just mysteriously had a bad shooting night. Huston only lost 4 games for the entire season and none of the losses were greater 5 points because of their defense. As much as I want Florida to win, I am afraid they can't handle Huston's physicality. Florida will look good in the first half and will likely run out of gas just like Duke. If Duke and friendly whistles didn't beat Huston, I don't see Florida without the whistle beating Huston.

 

[noncomposmentis]

Listening to Sampson after the game talk about his offense (which is top 10 in the country), he said the way they play is to hit the offensive glass and convert, that they don’t run a pretty offense or pretty plays so people don’t like it too much, but 2 points is 2 points.

Could have been John Calipari talking up there

 

[UKBB4Ever]

Listening to Sampson after the game talk about his offense (which is top 10 in the country), he said the way they play is to hit the offensive glass and convert, that they don’t run a pretty offense or pretty plays so people don’t like it too much, but 2 points is 2 points.

Could have been John Calipari talking up there

It's pretty much the same thing.