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Is this Houston Cougars Team a Final 4 / National Champ Contender?
73 Plays4 days ago
Welcome to Episode #65 of the No Conference for Old Men Podcast.
2 convincing wins over FSU & Jackson St, but are the Houston Cougars a Final 4 / National Championship contender this season? Our Coogs are now 9-1 and ranked #7 in the AP & #10 in the KenPom rankings. But lots of Twitter/X postings this week around how every National Champion since 2004 has been in the Top 12 of the Week 6 AP Poll. Does this Cougar Team fit the bill as bona fide contenders compared with the last 2 seasons?
Please have a listen as the 3 Old Men break down the games from the past week, as well as provide some thoughts on next week's UNO game. We then go deep with our perspectives on whether this year's iteration of the Cougars are national title contenders (and if not, can they can bridge the gap to get there)?
- No Conference for Old Men is available for free via Spotify / Apple Podcast / SoundCloud & the GoCoogs.com website; we're also available via the Republic of Football Podcast feed from the folks at Dave Campbell's Texas Football as their only basketball-centric offering
- Intro / Exit music: Ground Zero provided by FreeBeats.io
- Please follow us on gocoogs.com/old-men/
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Welcome folks to episode number 65 of the No Conference for Old Men podcast, a podcast where three old guys are talking Houston Cougars basketball with a bit of Big 12 coverage added in as well, and proud members of the Gokus.com network, the undisputed number one Houston Cougars content provider. And we're back with all three old men, Bill Walker, former player, Tom Lidiak, former coach, and myself, Steve Chang, analytics guy for this episode. And welcome Just like last year, guys, the kids clearly got the message after what must have been a tough 10 days of practice after the Vegas games.
00:00:39
@NoConfForOldMen
And what we got was, I'd say, a more gritty and connected group, especially on defense these past two games. First win was an 82-67 beatdown of ACC Florida that State team at the Toyota Center.
00:00:52
@NoConfForOldMen
And then we followed up with an 80-38 thrashing of Jackson State last night. Both games were noticeably... improvements, I'd say, especially defensively, but we continue to see, I guess the you can call it a bit of sloppy play with turnovers on offense.
00:01:08
@NoConfForOldMen
So we'll get into that shortly, as well as highlighting some minor adjustments we saw that Coach Sampson deployed.
00:01:12
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:01:13
@NoConfForOldMen
We'll also include a topic of discussion that's, I'd say, special topic as our third segment today. As folks have probably seen a bunch of posts on social media this week, where every national champion since 2004 has been in the top 12 of the sixth AP poll each season.
00:01:31
@NoConfForOldMen
And with the Cougars at number seven in this week's AP poll, the old men will discuss what that means or doesn't mean for our Cougars team based on what we've seen so far this season.
00:01:41
@NoConfForOldMen
as well as some of the other early contenders across the country for the national championship. So let's get started. In looking at our two games this week, let's look at both the FSU game and the Jackson State game together.
00:01:54
@NoConfForOldMen
And why don't you both provide your thoughts on both games holistically in this segment, starting with you first, Tom. What were some of the recurring themes you saw from a coach's perspective in both the FSU as well as the Jackson State games?
00:02:06
Tom Lidiak
Well, first off, the game was played in Toyota Center, a place that's not known for defense. So Florida State probably felt Florida State probably felt right at home in the NBA arena because they had just given up what, 95 to A&M and then 107 to Georgia.
00:02:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:02:20
Tom Lidiak
We scored 82. But, you know, the way we play offense, that's probably worth 100 points, you know, for for for other teams.
00:02:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:02:28
Tom Lidiak
Uh, Jojo got in foul trouble again, limited, uh, to 18 minutes. I think he picked up his first file with like 1837 left in the first half. And then, then he picked up his second with like 11, 19 or so in the half. So, uh, that was one recurring theme was, you know, Jojo's foul trouble, uh, sharp and, Kingston provided lot points, uh, 48 points, uh,
00:02:55
Tom Lidiak
We didn't get much from the bench. I saw box score. Seiko played 15 minutes. Harwell played 15. Not a whole lot from that. Ramona, think, played four minutes. Mercy might have played six. And there was another player who played who played four. i think it was Isaiah Harwell played four. So not much from the bench. I think we got six six of our 82 points came came from the bench.
00:03:21
Tom Lidiak
Steve, like you mentioned, a little bit of sloppy play. Uh, you know, we've been double digits and in turnovers.
00:03:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
00:03:28
Tom Lidiak
so a lot to work on, uh, you know, for the Cougs and, you know, we're a young team, uh, going on to Jackson state, held them to 38 points.
00:03:38
Tom Lidiak
I think their first, I think their first 18 points might've came on, on, on threes, you know, it wasn't going to last very long.
00:03:44
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:03:46
Tom Lidiak
But got very good bench production. Isaiah had 20 points, I think. Mercy gave us good minutes. It seemed like McCarty came in and did some things too. Sed came in.
00:04:01
Tom Lidiak
However, Seiko, I'm not sure what his injury is. I haven't heard. i don't know if you guys have heard anything about his injury.
00:04:08
@NoConfForOldMen
I have it, but looked pretty serious though.
00:04:10
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, another big story was the return. Well, actually the debut of, uh, Jacob McFarland came in and he played, he played a few minutes, uh, up and down the court kind of looks like he's still favoring the leg, but, uh, he looks the part of a, of a NCAA division one center.
00:04:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, he was smooth, right?
00:04:30
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:04:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:31
Tom Lidiak
It's just very smooth in his movements. I'm sure he was nervous on that free throw cause he kind of bricked, uh, brick the free throw. But yeah, overall, it was it was a the Jackson State game was a game to get the bench. And and you know if we have any designs on winning the Big 12, we have to have some consistent performance, you know not only from the starters, but we we need some consistent bench production. you know In the past, we could rely on guys like Malik Wilson to come in, and you pretty much knew what you were going to get. But right now,
00:05:04
Tom Lidiak
You know, it's kind of like what Forrest Gump said, do you never know you know what you're going to get from our from our bench.
00:05:08
@NoConfForOldMen
ha
00:05:11
Tom Lidiak
But Hartwell getting 20, he looked very relaxed.
00:05:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Finally, yeah.
00:05:17
Tom Lidiak
Didn't look like he had bench eye, you know, where where you miss a shot or you make a mistake and you kind of look over look over the coach. so And I saw where Kellen had mentioned to Ryan Monso on on go Cougs that he, uh, between the Florida state game and Jackson state game, he says, uh, he goes, I think it's gonna, it's finally clicking with Isaiah and, and, uh, yeah, it, it, it did.
00:05:43
@NoConfForOldMen
hey Hey, Tom, did you notice any, you know, after the break, did you notice any changes in terms of schemes? i've made I mean, to my untrained eye, we started seeing this even a couple of games ago where we had Uzan not settling as much for the three and driving a bit more than these last two games. What I noticed was that Senac,
00:06:06
.0Bill Walker
I definitely did.
00:06:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Uh, they placed them. Yeah. In the high post stripe by the free throw line for turnarounds.
00:06:08
Tom Lidiak
yeah Yeah, we didn't post with anybody.
00:06:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Right.
00:06:10
.0Bill Walker
That's exactly what I was talking, what I was saying I was hoping to see during the last podcast.
00:06:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:06:16
.0Bill Walker
And I was thrilled to see it right off the bat in the Florida State game.
00:06:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:06:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. Yeah.
00:06:21
.0Bill Walker
And it happened consistently.
00:06:21
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, I didn't see us purposely, you know, dump the ball down down into the post.
00:06:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, it's high post.
00:06:29
Tom Lidiak
I'm talking about high points.
00:06:30
@NoConfForOldMen
I think, or at least what I, yeah.
00:06:31
.0Bill Walker
Free throw line, free throw line, free throw line
00:06:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Free throw line, free throw line.
00:06:32
Tom Lidiak
I'm talking about low block.
00:06:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:33
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. Yeah. I'm talking about, low you know, low block. I didn't see us really purposely go, go there whole lot.
00:06:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:06:40
Tom Lidiak
Uh, in the Jackson state game, Milo struggled with his outside shooting a little bit, but he's too good of a shooter for that to continue.
00:06:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:06:46
Tom Lidiak
You know, you you know, eventually he's going to get his shooting stroke back and, uh,
00:06:50
@NoConfForOldMen
I hope.
00:06:52
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, I don't think he'll last you know a season-long struggle, but he's probably still adapting to playing with you know with Kingston.
00:06:52
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:07:00
Tom Lidiak
and you know That's a big change in his role.
00:07:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:03
Tom Lidiak
you know yeah That's what I got for for those two games.
00:07:09
@NoConfForOldMen
All right, Bill, how about your perspective from a player's view?
00:07:12
.0Bill Walker
Okay, I'm going to reiterate a lot of what was just said. was a much closer game. Florida State was a much closer game than I thought it would be. we And a little bit surprising because we shot 49% from the field, assisted on an amazing 23 of 32 made field goals, stole the ball 15 times, forced 19 Florida State turnovers,
00:07:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:35
.0Bill Walker
As you mentioned, Tom Sharp was exceptional. He shot 10 of 17 from the field, 6 of 12 from 3, scored 27. Kingston shot 8 of 13, 3 of 4 from 3 for 21. Sinaak was 7 of 11 for 15 points with 10 boards. And Yuzan didn't do much scoring-wise, but he did dish out 8 assists.
00:07:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:59
.0Bill Walker
We also held them to 39% shooting, 31% from three. The the issues, as Kelvin has stressed, were turnovers. We committed 13, four each by the freshmen, Flemings and Senac. Tugler, again, as you mentioned, foul trouble.
00:08:18
.0Bill Walker
And we got, again, as you mentioned, Tom, almost nothing from the bench. Maybe, Socko aside, this was really a five-man game previously.
00:08:30
.0Bill Walker
yeah i'd I'd highlighted McCray for FSU, and he did shoot well, led them in assists, and as predicted, led them with five turnovers. yeah We had several opportunities while up 15, 16 points to to really extend this into the blowout that I thought it would be.
00:08:50
.0Bill Walker
But yeah the turnovers and and the defensive lapses kept the game closer than than I really thought it would be. In terms of Jackson State, you guys saw I predicted 83-44, so i'm I'm almost there.
00:09:07
.0Bill Walker
The exact scorers' predictions will likely come during conference play, as I'm sure you've expect. Quite honestly, had Jackson State not started out four of four from three, we might have held them to about five points in the first half and maybe 25 for the game.
00:09:21
@NoConfForOldMen
I know. It's crazy.
00:09:26
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:09:29
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, I think Jackson State probably needed of former players Walter Payton and and And the late, great Aaron Sellers, who was drafted with Elvin Hayes to the San Diego Rockets back in 67-68 to help this keep this outcome within 40.
00:09:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:09:53
.0Bill Walker
Sharp was was unreal. 23 points in minutes, the first half. yeah i wasn't paying attention to statistics because I was at the game, so I couldn't really look stuff up.
00:10:10
.0Bill Walker
But I'm not sure that he missed a shot in the first half. Maybe he did, but he was unreal.
00:10:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. yeah
00:10:17
.0Bill Walker
And then, and and Tom, you mentioned Harwell making his really his first entire game appearance, 20 points, eight of 14 shooting, four boards. That was absolutely great to see because we do need the bench help. Flemings and Yuzan were pretty much absent offensively, but but did dish out six and four assists respectively.
00:10:43
.0Bill Walker
you know While our big men, Sinek and Tugler, were really, i mean, they were not really, they were completely shut out until five minutes into the second half.
00:10:54
.0Bill Walker
Obviously, Tugler had that that monster dunk.
00:10:57
@NoConfForOldMen
That's your dunk. Yeah.
00:10:59
.0Bill Walker
But offensively, those two were were extremely limited. yeah Team-wise, what I was really paying attention to was whether Jackson State would commit twice as many turnovers than made baskets.
00:11:16
.0Bill Walker
And in the end, they committed 25 turnovers and hit 13 baskets for the game. So they were they were close.
00:11:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. Close. Yeah.
00:11:26
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, their shooting, aside from that that hot start with the threes, was horrendous. And they just had no absolutely no chance. yeah Where I was...
00:11:38
.0Bill Walker
A little unhappy was that we committed getting back to this point again, nine turnovers in the first half.
00:11:45
@NoConfForOldMen
First half. Yeah.
00:11:47
.0Bill Walker
And fortunately that, that got turned around and was only 11 for the game. Although that 10th one came immediately in the, into the second half, three apiece for Flemings and use on, you know, both of whom made really sloppy passes early.
00:12:02
.0Bill Walker
So that obviously needs to, to,
00:12:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:12:05
.0Bill Walker
be corrected, particularly with the freshmen, as we're a team that that always protects the ball. and Lastly, i will say that as opposed to to Florida state, the entire bench played well, but I was being there.
00:12:22
.0Bill Walker
I was absolutely thrilled to see Jacob McFarlane play and yeah equally thrilled to see and participate in the standing ovation he received when he got into the game.
00:12:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:12:36
.0Bill Walker
That, that was awesome. Uh, yeah I was kind of shocked when I saw him warming up pregame. I had no idea what was going on. But but yeah, just just as happy as can be to when I saw him enter the game. and And yeah, that is about it. I couldn't have been happier to see that. And that's it for Jackson State.
00:12:59
Tom Lidiak
Hey, guys, can I add one more thing about Florida State game?
00:12:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Hey, yeah. Yep.
00:13:04
Tom Lidiak
We almost went through the two-game review here and didn't mention about JoJo think he's left-handed.
00:13:12
@NoConfForOldMen
it's Yeah.
00:13:12
Tom Lidiak
Anybody know what was up with that, that FSU game? I think he missed three three shots. He shot left-handed and he didn't need to. He could have shot him with his right hand. I don't know what was up with that.
00:13:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I mean, he's done it in the other games too, right? He'll do the little jump hook, both right-handed and left-handed. And yeah, I don't know. I don't know if they're teaching him.
00:13:31
.0Bill Walker
that that's something that that the big men have been doing for a while.
00:13:32
@NoConfForOldMen
right Yeah.
00:13:35
.0Bill Walker
Obviously, Roberts is left-handed, but Francis went to the left hand a lot last year.
00:13:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep.
00:13:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. it's it Exactly.
00:13:42
.0Bill Walker
So, you know, I don't know if that's something something they work on.
00:13:43
Tom Lidiak
But in those those cases in those cases, they had to because they they took this right they took their right hand away.
00:13:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:13:49
Tom Lidiak
JoJo was like on the little short roll, and he and he could have just put it up with his right hand, but he decided he was going to go, I don't know, left-handed.
00:13:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I don't know.
00:13:57
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, but my point is Francis was ready to go to the left hand and and it was comfortable doing it. So I've got to imagine that's something that that they work on.
00:14:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:14:06
.0Bill Walker
you know if If you have no left hand, you're you're going to force up maybe a more miserable and and easily defended and or blocked right-handed shot.
00:14:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:17
.0Bill Walker
But if you're you're a little more comfortable, if you've been working on your left hand, then it becomes more natural.
00:14:18
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:14:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Hey, Bill, i was going to ask you, and we're 10 games in now as you've watched the players play and we're getting closer to conference play at this point and the bench, right? The bench is going to be key.
00:14:39
@NoConfForOldMen
And at least this last game, right? We saw Harwell and Miller play more and play effectively.
00:14:45
.0Bill Walker
ready
00:14:45
@NoConfForOldMen
I'd say both of them. Are you expecting that to be a trend moving forward? Are those the two guys or do you still... Do you still believe McCarty plays a role? And Sacco, if he's healthy, obviously will play a role, but that's a big if.
00:14:57
.0Bill Walker
what Sacco for sure, based on health.
00:14:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:02
.0Bill Walker
Harwell is is absolutely going to be part of the the rotation.
00:15:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:09
.0Bill Walker
we'll We'll see with Mercy. I'm
00:15:13
.0Bill Walker
not 100% sure that... he He certainly won't get the minutes that that Hartwell and Saka would get if they're healthy, but but I think he'll i think he'll he'll be playing.
00:15:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, definitely not. Sure.
00:15:25
.0Bill Walker
McCarty... and i you know mccarty
00:15:32
.0Bill Walker
if he got off the bench in the first half, it was, it was late. It was well after all the other bench players got in.
00:15:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yes.
00:15:39
.0Bill Walker
he played much more in the second half.
00:15:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Second and half, yeah.
00:15:42
.0Bill Walker
Uh, but, uh, but he, he did, he did grab some nice boards when he was in and, and he, you know, he he still works hard on defense. The thing is his shooting is what he is kind of known for. And and that that's,
00:15:59
.0Bill Walker
that's not quite presented itself yet. So we'll you know we'll see.
00:16:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:04
.0Bill Walker
it And the thing is, we've got Kingston who shoots threes very effectively. We've got Sharp who obviously shoots threes extremely effectively and and use on, you know, so if if they're shooting, it's good.
00:16:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:23
.0Bill Walker
I think it's going to be tougher for McCarty to get minutes, but, know, If Sacco's hurt long-term or even short-term, you know you you've got to have someone to come in on the front line when Tuggler starts getting into foul trouble and when Kelvin gets mad at Senac for his defense and for the turnover.
00:16:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:48
.0Bill Walker
So, yeah, I think McCarty's still going to be part of the rotation.
00:16:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Really? Yeah. I, and we will get into it in the next segment.
00:16:56
.0Bill Walker
I think he's gotta be.
00:16:58
@NoConfForOldMen
I don't, I don't think we can afford to, i mean, he's a liability, uh, both offensively and defensively. I don't even think he's contributing on the defensive side.
00:17:06
Tom Lidiak
you
00:17:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Cause. multiple times you know where we see Tuckler get a foul, it's because he's making up for a mistake or a missed assignment at the forward position. And that's whether it's Sanak or McCarty.
00:17:21
@NoConfForOldMen
But yeah, we'll see.
00:17:22
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, but who who who else is gonna play?
00:17:24
@NoConfForOldMen
At this point, I think I'd i'd even i'd even play a lot but before McCarty.
00:17:27
.0Bill Walker
Go.
00:17:31
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:17:33
@NoConfForOldMen
So I don't know. yeah Or I'm hoping that you know, McFarland is healthy enough to contribute, you know, five to 10 minutes. We'll see, but it's way too early to tell. Yeah.
00:17:45
@NoConfForOldMen
But anyways, I mean, from an analytics perspective, these last two games were, you know, huge improved game efficiencies from an analytics perspective for Cougs.
00:17:55
@NoConfForOldMen
On offense, these were by far our most efficient games of the season from an effective field goal percentage perspective where we shot a blistering. It was actually over 56% effective field goal percentage on offense for both games, well above the 51.7% standard set from last season.
00:18:14
@NoConfForOldMen
We're still struggling from three point range, but did improve for the season shooting 37% from three point versus FSU and then 33% versus Jackson state.
00:18:24
@NoConfForOldMen
And that's actually with Uzan and McCarty going 0 for eight from three point range. So yeah.
00:18:30
.0Bill Walker
and Sorry to interrupt you, Steve, but we were shooting 50% from three until it got you know into the well into the second half when the game was out of reach.
00:18:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:41
.0Bill Walker
So that that's a little misleading, although it was against Jackson State.
00:18:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:18:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I mean, it's it's misleading, but you know after 10 games, right we've had one good shooting. i mean These were like our two best three-point shooting at nights so far were these last two games.
00:18:59
@NoConfForOldMen
And again, I'm highlighting it somewhat slanted because Uzan's been miserable from three all season long. McCarty's been miserable. Yeah, it will cover that off as well.
00:19:06
.0Bill Walker
Mm-hmm.
00:19:08
@NoConfForOldMen
And and I'm hopeful that Uzan can get out of the funk. I'm not confident that McCarty will get out of out of his phone. So, but we'll see. We've actually been stellar from two from two point range all season. Our guards have been driving at will to the hoop. Love the little tweaks and wrinkles deployed after the break by the coaching staff. Our biggest issues on offense is exactly as you highlighted, Bill, turnovers. We're over 70% turnover rate in both games. And then three point percentage as as we've kind of highlighted before.
00:19:42
@NoConfForOldMen
My belief is that it's going to iron itself out by conference play. Azuzan hopefully gets into a better groove. And I think we're going to limit McCarty's opportunities to shoot moving forward. Uh, on defense, we seem to be better connected and started to get up close and bodying up the ball handler more in these two games, at least, uh, with my eyes, it it appeared to be the case.
00:20:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Still saw instances where Sanak and McCarty got beat by their man. And if you look at the three fouls that Tugler had, I guess the FSU game, first three fouls, every single time it was covering for someone that got beat.
00:20:17
@NoConfForOldMen
First time it was Senac, next one was McCarty, third one it was actually Sharp that got beat on his man. Ed, you end up wasting fouls because people aren't aren' staying true to their assignments. But overall, our raw numbers on D have actually been on par with last season, even though the the rankings may have slipped a little bit. So great to see the continuous improvement as we've experienced in seasons past. And it's great that we finally saw a bit more effort and grittiness this season on D. That's been missing a bit, right, up until this point.
00:20:47
@NoConfForOldMen
I'm expecting the tweaks on offense will continue to up the efficiency on that side of the ball for this team as we head into conference play. And really the Arkansas game in another week or so is going to be a key measuring point. Now let's get to the one game scheduled for this coming week, a home game versus University of New Orleans with Mercy's dad actually coming to town.
00:21:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Bill, why don't you kick things off with kind of your players take on the matchup with New Orleans.
00:21:13
.0Bill Walker
Saturday at 2 o'clock, for those of you that obviously everyone in town is going to this game, but for those of you out of town, yeah ESPN Plus.
00:21:23
.0Bill Walker
New Orleans currently three and seven with a win to open the season over TCU at TCU.
00:21:32
@NoConfForOldMen
I know nuts.
00:21:35
.0Bill Walker
But they've had recent losses to Tech by thirty two Houston Christian by nine and lost to conference rival incarnate word.
00:21:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:50
.0Bill Walker
Ouch.
00:21:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:51
.0Bill Walker
I've seen new Orleans picked as high as seventh, as low as ninth in the 13 team. I believe it's 13 teams. One bid Southland conference.
00:22:04
.0Bill Walker
This season, This team, if you remember him from the eighty s this team needs Liddell Eccles back.
00:22:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:11
.0Bill Walker
Their coach in his second year, Stacy Hollowell, was a robust 4-27 in his first year last year and only has one starter back and only two players back from that team, which may be a blessing in the end.
00:22:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:32
.0Bill Walker
This team, i believe, 200 in Ken pom like or so.
00:22:39
@NoConfForOldMen
213, yeah. Yeah.
00:22:40
.0Bill Walker
tooth okay and i think they're two sixty in d i'll I'll simply mention three players who could who could do any sort of damage, maybe get to double figures against us. The lone starter is MJ Thomas, six eight sophomore forward. He's actually a pretty good player.
00:23:01
.0Bill Walker
10.2 points so far this season, seven and a half boards, and he's shooting 62% from the Two transfers.
00:23:08
.0Bill Walker
two transfers Colton Benson, he's a 6'2 senior guard. He's coming in from Texas State. He actually started his career at Army. He is leading them at 15 points per game, 38% from the field, but 40% from three. He is their perimeter shooter.
00:23:28
.0Bill Walker
And then maybe their best player, his name is Jakavian Buckley. He's another 6'2 guard. So their starting guards are both six two Transfer from... UNO's big rival, the University of Louisiana, and he's at 14.5 points per game, about 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2 steals, and a whopping 5 turnovers per game.
00:23:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:23:57
.0Bill Walker
you know Those are really their only threats. And quite honestly, I don't see them threatening us much. UNO is a reasonably balanced team, but kind of a little bit guard heavy, but a balanced team.
00:24:16
.0Bill Walker
And Really, their only chance, as you mentioned, Steve, I think is for Master P, the rapper, UNO president of basketball operations to somehow funnel millions to mercy to give to the rest of the team to bribe and play dead.
00:24:23
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:24:37
.0Bill Walker
Sadly, I'm not even sure that would help.
00:24:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:40
.0Bill Walker
UNO does have an upgraded roster after the four and twenty seven season last year.
00:24:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:47
.0Bill Walker
But it's not going to help against us. UNL is going to get a paycheck for coming here, and that's the best thing that's going to happen to them this weekend.
00:24:54
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:24:57
.0Bill Walker
I say we get a pretty solid win, 86-47.
00:25:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. Predicting an even bigger win than I'm going to predict. Tom, how about your coach's perspective on the game?
00:25:09
Tom Lidiak
You know, to be honest, not like I'm always honest, but I think their only chance of winning is if the whole team and the whole staff got food poisoning.
00:25:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:25:21
Tom Lidiak
Otherwise, you know, it's it's going to be, know, where can we improve? You know, let's get a consistent, you know, effort from the bench. All those things we talked about earlier.
00:25:32
Tom Lidiak
Bill, you mentioned they're coached by a guy named Stacy Hollowell. That sounds like one of my prom dates.
00:25:40
Tom Lidiak
That's the first thing that came up to Stacy Hollowell. Don't I know her? Anyway.
00:25:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Ha
00:25:43
.0Bill Walker
he
00:25:44
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:25:44
.0Bill Walker
he's he's He's been in coaching for a while, albeit the like NAIA or something.
00:25:45
Tom Lidiak
nothing Yeah. I saw he coached overseas, like in Qatar.
00:25:51
@NoConfForOldMen
ha ha ha
00:25:51
.0Bill Walker
But so since he's since he's been around for quite a while, maybe he was your prom date.
00:25:51
Tom Lidiak
coached. And
00:25:57
Tom Lidiak
wow then, Bill, you mentioned
00:26:00
Tom Lidiak
Bill, you mentioned that... They lost to that powerhouse. Houston Christian University used to be, you know, a HBU. Interesting thing about Houston Christian University, they're coached by a guy named Craig Doty.
00:26:13
Tom Lidiak
He started his basketball coaching career at one of the schools, one of the small class A schools in our conference that I coach in.
00:26:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:26:23
Tom Lidiak
So he started in the boondocks at Akron Westfield. So good for Craig Doty making
00:26:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow.
00:26:31
Tom Lidiak
making it to the division one ranks, but anyway, make a long story short, you know, let's roll these guys. Let's, let's be crisp on off, you know, an offense and defense with the starters. So let's get to the bench and let's get some production from the bench.
00:26:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice. I mean, if you look at from an analytics view, UNO's 213th, as we talked about, Ken Palm. So it's actually quite a bit better than their 341st ranking from last season. They were 179th in adjusted offensive efficiency and a lowly 261st in adjusted defensive efficiency.
00:27:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, after 10 games, their stats are terrible, yet they've somehow been able to beat TCU and Tulane, actually, this season. UNO is an okay three-point shooting team, ranked 119th, but pretty much everything else on both offense and defense is an issue being ranked beyond our one hundred and seventy fifth threshold for being minimally acceptable. So it should be an ugly game.
00:27:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Based on the metrics, this is projected to be a 24-point win for the Cougs at home by Ken Palm. The way we're playing at this point, I think it's going to be an even bigger win as well, just like you were saying, Bill. I look for us to clean things up on our turnover front, hopefully, as we get closer to conference play. so I've projected an 86-54 32.1.
00:27:53
@NoConfForOldMen
So now let's get to our special topic of discussion for today. It was actually all over Twitter, X, whatever you want to call it now, this week about how every national champion in men's college basketball since 2004 has has been ranked in the top 12 in the sixth AP poll of each season. And that was this past week.
00:28:14
@NoConfForOldMen
And as we publish it, the teams in the top 12 in order were Arizona 1, Michigan 2, Duke 3, Iowa State 4, UConn 5, Purdue 6. We were coming in number 7.
00:28:30
@NoConfForOldMen
The Zags are coming in at 8. Michigan State. After that, then we close out with BYU, Louisville, and Alabama. Just as a reference point,
00:28:42
@NoConfForOldMen
UH, at the same point last season, came in at number 15th in the AP poll. And we actually made it to the finals and arguably should have won it. Now, what do you guys think about this season as well as the teams listed here? Also, what do each of you think in terms of what your stance is on UH's chance to make either, I'd say, both the Final Four as well as a national championship run at this point? And Tom, why don't you kick things off here?
00:29:12
Tom Lidiak
Well, if the brackets came out today, you know we wouldn't be in the final four. good The good news is the brackets come out in a little over three months.
00:29:22
Tom Lidiak
You know, I think some teams, some teams peak, uh, let's see, let's see if some teams can keep up the consistency.
00:29:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:29:28
Tom Lidiak
You know, we talked about off, off air here, how Michigan's playing really good. You know, let's see how, you know, they go through the rest of the season. But if there's one person who can get the Cougs into the final four with the squad we have, and that's Kelvin Sampson,
00:29:43
Tom Lidiak
A lot of growth left for this team. we do need to We do need to have some you know some guys step up coming off the bench. It's one thing to put up 20 points against Jackson State.
00:29:55
Tom Lidiak
It'll be another thing to go into Ames, you know go go downen field house go into go into Lubach, Texas, and
00:29:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:30:04
Tom Lidiak
you know, do the do the same thing. So we, some of our bench players need to really, really step up and then just get, you know, we all mentioned this, the turnovers, the defensive lapses.
00:30:17
Tom Lidiak
Those are things that got to be cleaned up. But like I said, you know, we, there's a man on the sideline, you know, if you can trust one guy to do it. and that's, that's, that's Kelvin Sampson.
00:30:29
Tom Lidiak
Harwell's got to really, you know really come into his own. well We don't know about Seiko now with this injury. It'll be interesting to see what what what comes with that because then you'll have a situation where we either go small or we bring in Jacob McFarlane or Sedlott.
00:30:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:30:48
Tom Lidiak
So it'll be interesting to see how this this situation progresses. I do think Milos is going to get a shot back. I think he's just too good of a shooter to keep – and these are wide-open shots.
00:31:00
Tom Lidiak
I mean, they're like wide open.
00:31:00
@NoConfForOldMen
They are
00:31:03
Tom Lidiak
Yeah.
00:31:04
@NoConfForOldMen
but But let me ask you this, Tom, because I keep saying the same thing and then he keeps shooting terribly. And if you look at historically speaking, he's been in college three years. His freshman year, he was a freshman All-American, shot over 40 percent from three-point range at OU.
00:31:21
@NoConfForOldMen
The very next season as a sophomore, he shot under 30 percent for the whole season. He came here for us for the first season. he's He's back up to his freshman levels of over 40% from three-point range.
00:31:34
@NoConfForOldMen
This season, he's down at 25% right now. Yeah. Score more. Yeah.
00:31:37
Tom Lidiak
And, you know, who who knows, he could be he could be pressing because that's why he came back, you know, that's why he came back was they said, you know, you need to be more of a scorer, so maybe maybe he's just pressing a little bit, you know, in that and that area.
00:31:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:31:46
@NoConfForOldMen
score more yeah her
00:31:52
Tom Lidiak
But, you know, Kingston's
00:31:54
.0Bill Walker
Hey, let me ask you guys like a question.
00:31:56
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:31:57
.0Bill Walker
A couple years ago, one shortly after we'd started the podcast, I had mentioned as a negative in one of U of H's early games, the shooting.
00:32:10
.0Bill Walker
And i if I'm not mistaken, it was both of you that jumped on me and said, look, we're a defensive and rebounding team.
00:32:10
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:32:20
.0Bill Walker
you know Talking about the the shooting, is is yeah mean you got on me for that. and I believe the metaphor was a restaurant that has too many things on the menu. If that's the case, then they're all going to suffer and and and be mediocre. but I do like to hear that you guys are now on board with me. so Thank you for coming around, finally.
00:32:46
@NoConfForOldMen
i Well, this year is a little bit a little bit different, right? And we'll get into it. I'll get into it a little bit as well. I mean, there's a few areas on offense that are and we got to get right. Otherwise, our overall efficiency isn't like it's been.
00:33:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, if you even look back the last five years, right? So if if you're starting to talk about right national championship contender levels, where where I'd say our last five years, we have been, right? We've been right there. Yeah.
00:33:16
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, and getting getting back to, and I'll let you guys so carry on after this, but, you know, Kingston's going to just keep getting better and better, and I think Chris Sanak is the same thing.
00:33:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:33:26
Tom Lidiak
And JoJo, I have faith, he's going to figure it out. If not, we're not goingnna we're not going to go to the Final Four, you know?
00:33:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:33:33
Tom Lidiak
that's It's just, you got to have faith, you know?
00:33:37
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:33:37
Tom Lidiak
You got to have faith. You know, no problem with worrying about Emmanuel, you know, Emmanuel's going to be Emmanuel.
00:33:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. He's been great.
00:33:47
Tom Lidiak
But like i said, got to get something from the bench. You know, I just don't see going into, going into Ames or going into Allen Fieldhouse and, and having like Mercy or McCarty knocking down tough shots.
00:34:04
Tom Lidiak
I just, I just don't see it. I mean, i hope it does happen, but like right now, what, you know, where's, where's the proof? Mercy, Mercy hasn't made a shot in the big 12 yet.
00:34:14
@NoConfForOldMen
He hasn't.
00:34:15
Tom Lidiak
No, he was 0-4.
00:34:15
@NoConfForOldMen
He's
00:34:19
Tom Lidiak
he didn't He didn't make a shot in Big 12 play last year.
00:34:22
@NoConfForOldMen
a true freshman, though. He was true freshman last year.
00:34:23
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, he wasn't playing much at all last year. So, yeah.
00:34:28
Tom Lidiak
But guys, that that was 20 games plus three the tournament.
00:34:28
@NoConfForOldMen
I'm probably a higher...
00:34:29
.0Bill Walker
yeah the
00:34:32
Tom Lidiak
That's 23 freaking games.
00:34:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I'm probably higher just by the sound of it. I'm probably the highest on Mercy Miller of the three of us. I actually like what I see so far. He actually reminds me, if you look at his stat, stat wise, I mean, it's not a great comp, but very similar to, to Sasser in his, in his, in Sasser's freshman year. Right. So in, in, uh,
00:34:57
@NoConfForOldMen
In Miller's second year with the program, his stats are very similar to Sassers in his first year with us, which is decent, decent for freshmen.
00:35:07
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. and And Mercy, I think somebody mentioned on Goku's his, his man scored eight points on three possessions, three straight possessions.
00:35:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Uh, yeah.
00:35:17
Tom Lidiak
You know, so and it's a team defense.
00:35:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:20
Tom Lidiak
i I understand that. You know, it's when somebody scores, you score on the team. You don't necessarily score on the individual. I get that. But somebody pointed that out.
00:35:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:28
Tom Lidiak
But that's that's what that's where I see us. Yeah, we can make the final four, but we've got we've got a lot of work to do.
00:35:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. How about you, Bill, from a player's perspective, where this team stands?
00:35:43
.0Bill Walker
Are we a Final Four team? Right now, I have written down no with two exclamation points.
00:35:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:35:51
.0Bill Walker
Absolutely not. As you mentioned, we're seven in the AP, but I think we're probably around the 11th or 12th best team in the country. Like last week, I still say Arizona, ISU,
00:36:10
.0Bill Walker
And even though they're not in the top dozen, with a healthy Peterson, i think Kansas are probably better than us right now. And I think we're neck and neck with BYU.
00:36:25
.0Bill Walker
yeah Again, that's right now.
00:36:28
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:36:30
.0Bill Walker
Nationally, I'll take Michigan to to win it all right now. They just look absolutely dominant. I'd take Arizona. I'd take ISU. I'd take Duke.
00:36:42
.0Bill Walker
I know Purdue's been up and down, but I would still take them right now. UConn's been a little up and down. I'd take them. I like Gonzaga. I like Louisville. And the others that I think we'd be competing with at the moment are Michigan State, BYU, Alabama, Michigan.
00:37:02
.0Bill Walker
Illinois and a healthy Kansas. And I think that's where we are. The issue right now, or the issues right now, quite honestly, are the freshmen and Tugler.
00:37:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:37:15
.0Bill Walker
know, Flemings, Flemings has been at times just sensational, but his defense and his propensity to turn the ball over at the moment are problematic. But again, he's a freshman. So I,
00:37:30
.0Bill Walker
no No doubt that those are going to improve. Senac, lack of D and the disappearing act on offense where he stands on the baseline.
00:37:36
@NoConfForOldMen
agree.
00:37:42
.0Bill Walker
Although, as mentioned, I really liked what I saw in the first half of the Florida State game when he was flashing to the free throw line and and getting off shots.
00:37:52
@NoConfForOldMen
great
00:37:52
.0Bill Walker
And I think that'll help Tugler down low going forward. But at the moment, his... his sometimes disappearing act on offense, i think is also problematic.
00:38:05
.0Bill Walker
And then of course we have Tuggler who, who simply cannot avoid committing quite honestly, some dumb fouls, uh, albeit due to his aggressive play and and due to his, playing strong team defense.
00:38:23
.0Bill Walker
And as you mentioned, Steve helping out, but he's, he's the, the, the,
00:38:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:27
.0Bill Walker
The dumb fouls, the reaching, the those those have to stop.
00:38:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I agree. Those have to go.
00:38:34
.0Bill Walker
you know Combine that with our, as I've mentioned, over and over and over and over, our lack of balance on offense, the the the lack of an inside game. And I think that, in large part, is also contributing to Yuuzhan's inability to hit threes right now because we're so perimeter focused.
00:38:59
.0Bill Walker
yeah i think I think we're just not even close to being a Final Four team at the moment.
00:39:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:39:05
.0Bill Walker
The good news, and, you know, well, the fact is all of this is through the present, as I mentioned.
00:39:14
.0Bill Walker
It's all... I think the offense will ultimately become bit more balanced.
00:39:20
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:39:22
.0Bill Walker
the freshmen especially including harwell are going to improve significantly i think the offense well ultimately become a bit more balanced Again, as demonstrated by Senac, flashing to the free throw line versus FSU and and creating some better offensive opportunities for the big men. I do think the bench will improve and help support the starters.
00:39:51
.0Bill Walker
I just see Sharp really embracing the role as a leader, and I think he's going to continue his exceptional start to the season.
00:40:01
.0Bill Walker
you know we're We're currently... 10 in Ken Palm.
00:40:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:40:06
.0Bill Walker
I think we're 29 in offense, five in defense.
00:40:09
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:40:11
.0Bill Walker
And as I mentioned to you, Steve, offline, I think we're in the 300s in turnover margin, which is...
00:40:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, turnover margin. I mean, turnover percentage were 61st, which is bad, right? Cause we've always been 20, right? Uh, Hmm.
00:40:28
.0Bill Walker
Okay. Yeah, Ken Palm had us at like 350-something in turnover margin. I mean, that's that's insane. and And that's obviously going to improve.
00:40:40
.0Bill Walker
that that's That's a focus.
00:40:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yep. Yep.
00:40:43
.0Bill Walker
Calvin's mentioned it before. It's a focus. That's that's going to get better. So, yeah, some of the numbers are not nearly where they've been in the past, but...
00:40:55
.0Bill Walker
They're going to get better. And the fact of the matter is we're we're relying on freshmen this year, which we you know we really haven't done in the past yet. you know Jaris, but Jaris had a veteran team around him, and and he was the only freshman. you Calvin's going to get us where we need to be by March, and and I'm absolutely convinced of that.
00:41:16
.0Bill Walker
But right now, we're not there.
00:41:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay, but, but you are still feeling confident that by tourney time that we can bridge the gap to be a a contender.
00:41:26
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:41:28
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, well, the other thing is Michigan looks incredible right now, virtually unbeatable. Arizona looks extremely good.
00:41:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:41:39
.0Bill Walker
But after that, I think every team is is somewhat flawed. they they every Every team's got errors.
00:41:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah,
00:41:50
.0Bill Walker
Some of the teams I think are are playing quite well right now, but I don't know that I see them improving a whole lot over the season. I think this team has, meaning the Cougs, have more room for growth than then anybody out there.
00:42:07
Tom Lidiak
Okay.
00:42:08
.0Bill Walker
and And so I see that happening.
00:42:08
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah I would agree.
00:42:10
.0Bill Walker
And yeah, ultimately, do we beat Michigan? Do we beat Arizona in the tournament the way they're playing right now?
00:42:25
.0Bill Walker
You know, questionable, but that's two teams. Everyone else right now I just i see being flawed. they've Sometimes they've looked phenomenal, sometimes not at all.
00:42:38
.0Bill Walker
and well And I might even put Iowa State there as well it it in the top three.
00:42:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I would. Yeah, I would.
00:42:46
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, by the end of the season, if – If we improve, like I feel very confident we will. i could see three Big 12 teams in the Final Four, yeah Arizona, Iowa State, us, and Michigan.
00:43:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Tough to argue with. with kind of your perspective. So, you know, me being the analytics guy, just like last year, I think my perspective is that whole AP top 12 now, uh, is kind of an interesting factoid for the last 20 national championships. But to me, it's still somewhat meaningless.
00:43:24
@NoConfForOldMen
cause it's, I, I'm not sure it's really hard data based. There's another another database stat based on Ken Palm that come January 1, if you're in the top 10 overall, you're likely a major player for the national championship.
00:43:38
@NoConfForOldMen
And then come tourney time, if you're in the top 20 in both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency, it kind of confirms that you've got a great chance to to win a national championship.
00:43:49
@NoConfForOldMen
So that's probably one that...
00:43:50
.0Bill Walker
Right.
00:43:51
@NoConfForOldMen
that I zero in on a lot more, kind of hang my hat on. And, you know, right now we're 10th in Ken Palm, so we're still strong. and we've got three more games left in December. So I think we're on the right track. So even though we've slipped a bit, but we're still kind of in that range of, uh, where you're close enough to, to getting to that point of being a national championship contender.
00:44:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, you know back to the AP poll, if you look at this week's poll, for me, actually, there's actually three teams that I'm not sure are going to end up being contenders.
00:44:26
@NoConfForOldMen
and And I'm actually putting Purdue in that list. I'm putting Louisville in that list and then Alabama as well. So, i mean, if you look at Purdue, yeah, they've improved their defense quite a bit this season.
00:44:38
@NoConfForOldMen
They're up to 26th in Ken Palm for adjusted defensive efficiency. But they've also struggled with some marginal teams in Oakland and Memphis and were crushed by our own conference made in ISU at home.
00:44:42
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:44:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Plus, quite honestly, I hate the Purdue fans. They're kind of, you know, the the most pompous fans from a team that has not really achieved anything historically in hoops.
00:45:00
.0Bill Walker
Kaufman-Wren has also been hurt to start the season.
00:45:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, a great a agreed.
00:45:04
.0Bill Walker
So, you know, that that's another reason not to, just like with us and and with the freshmen who who are clearly going to get better, know, I'm not going to overreact to much of anything that's that's gone on to start the season.
00:45:05
@NoConfForOldMen
Agreed. Yeah.
00:45:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:45:19
.0Bill Walker
Like I said, I do see flaws in in a bunch of teams, and I do think some of them will materialize.
00:45:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:26
.0Bill Walker
even more as the season progresses. but But at the same time, you know, you see some of the Purdue games early and, and you know, they're not playing with with a full lineup and a first team Big Ten player.
00:45:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah, agreed.
00:45:41
.0Bill Walker
So they take it for what it's worth.
00:45:42
Tom Lidiak
Thank
00:45:42
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah agreed yeah Yeah. I mean, if you just zero in on us, right, we're seventh in the AP, as we know, and 10th in Ken Palm currently. So it hits both benchmarks for now for historical national championship winners.
00:45:57
@NoConfForOldMen
I also still believe that this team has got the highest ceiling compared with any of the past five Cougar teams, kind of given our three five-star freshmen. But I'll also be very honest with you guys, right?
00:46:08
@NoConfForOldMen
We've been doing this for a few years. And I will fully admit that I have far less confidence in convincing myself at this point that we're going to bridge the cap the the gap to get to national championship contenders.
00:46:20
@NoConfForOldMen
I would say... I would fully admit the last two seasons, I was far more confident when we were doing kind of this, this episode in December, but, how but we'll see.
00:46:30
.0Bill Walker
i agree
00:46:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:32
Tom Lidiak
We were veteran team. That's, you know.
00:46:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. We are better team. Exactly. I always feel uneasy depending so much on the youngsters, right. Especially as, as tough of a defensive scheme as we have. Right.
00:46:44
.0Bill Walker
Well, we were a veteran team, but we also, and again, to harp on this, we we had better offensive balance. We protected the ball.
00:46:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:54
.0Bill Walker
And yeah, we just had areas where we were extremely proficient, where at the moment we're not.
00:47:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. i mean, it's, it's interesting though, right? So if you, if you dig into the numbers, right, defensively in general, we're comparable with even last year's phenomenal team. We're seeing some missed assignments, primarily from the four position that have caused some breakdowns and some unnecessary fouls on Tugler trying to recover. recover You know, one of the key stats on D that were noticeably weaker this season is, interestingly enough, if you can believe it, defensive rebounding.
00:47:31
@NoConfForOldMen
And that's a bit of a surprise given how well Senac has been rebounding the ball on D. And it's interesting. I dug in deeper. Our starters are all performing similar to last year. The issue is with our bench.
00:47:43
@NoConfForOldMen
We have not been able to make up for Malik and Javier from last year on the defensive rebounding front. So that that needs to be figured out somehow.
00:47:54
@NoConfForOldMen
But even that part's somewhat nitpicking. Our biggest area needing improvement is not D, it's actually on offense. I mean, three key stats to focus on where we're deficient so far. Turnovers, we've all kind of highlighted that.
00:48:08
@NoConfForOldMen
We've been top 30, top 20 in the country the last three seasons. We're currently 61st. It's terrible, right? Three-point shooting, we were number three in the country last season at almost 40% from three-point range.
00:48:21
@NoConfForOldMen
We're currently at 33% and ranked a lowly 187th. And this is with Fleming's, mind you, shooting blistering 54% from three-point range. Main culprits are Uzan, who's at 25% three points, and McCarty, 19% three-point range.
00:48:40
@NoConfForOldMen
And it's really Uzan's numbers that are particularly perplexing at this point. I mean, he's gone, as I highlighted a little bit earlier, right? He was 40%, over 40% as a freshman, dropped under 30% as a sophomore.
00:48:52
@NoConfForOldMen
Last year with us, he jumped again back up to over 40%. And right now, I'm just hoping he can get it back to around 35% and I'll be a happy camper at this point.
00:49:04
.0Bill Walker
that The teams playing against us are also pressuring the perimeter a lot more, at least from what I've seen, than than they have in the past.
00:49:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:13
.0Bill Walker
Even Jackson State last night was was out and and all over our perimeter players yeah just because we're we're not producing inside.
00:49:18
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:49:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Guards driving. Yeah, I agree.
00:49:31
.0Bill Walker
you know, why not focus your defense on them? and that's, I think what teams are doing right now.
00:49:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:38
.0Bill Walker
So it's, it's, it's going to add a little, little, uh, pressure, I guess, to, to use and the, the shots you, you mentioned that, that he is missing some open shots, but I, you know, it's, if it's in your head and, and it may be due to the pressure that the other teams are putting on us, uh,
00:49:38
@NoConfForOldMen
but
00:49:44
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:49:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:50:01
.0Bill Walker
you know sharp Sharp just seems to be oblivious to everything and shoots...
00:50:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. I mean, he's shooting better than last year from three at this point.
00:50:07
.0Bill Walker
yeah
00:50:09
@NoConfForOldMen
So, but yeah, I agree. i mean, especially with the time off during the break or the fewer games we have leading up to conference play, if I'm hopeful that it'll get straightened out. We've got some great coaches. Now, obviously, i still believe UH is going to be well positioned for a national championship run. I just need to see the offensive tweaks result in numbers, kind of similar to the last two games heading into conference play. Turnovers got to come down. But I expect that to rectify itself with Kingston playing more under control, handling the ball. And at this point, actually don't.
00:50:46
@NoConfForOldMen
do not think we're going to win the big 12 with how well Arizona and ISU are playing. But I'm okay with that as well. Cause I think the conference has got three legitimate title contenders.
00:50:55
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:50:56
@NoConfForOldMen
And I think we're actually going to possibly get two teams in the final four and, you know We're playing the long game this year. the The focus has got to be on the national championship and peaking come tourney time.
00:51:07
@NoConfForOldMen
So key is going to be continuous improvement and no further injuries to key players for us. Fingers crossed. and I'm really hoping Sacco is not done for the season.
00:51:18
.0Bill Walker
Me too.
00:51:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Anything else, guys, before we call it?
00:51:24
Tom Lidiak
Not for me. I love it. it's is set you know this is
00:51:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:29
Tom Lidiak
you know We look forward to this like in June, July, and August.
00:51:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, we do.
00:51:33
Tom Lidiak
It's like it's never going to here, and now now we're here. so My advice to everybody is anytime our kooks take the floor, you know you know just take it all in, man.
00:51:43
Tom Lidiak
Take it all in.
00:51:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. No, you're right. It's all about the journey, right? This is, this is what we love to do is just watch the team grow, right? As the season progresses.
00:51:51
Tom Lidiak
you know I don't care if they're i don't care if they're playing St. Mary's of the woods or whatever it is, you know, uh, uh, you know, go out and enjoy our Houston Cougars play.
00:52:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:02
.0Bill Walker
Show up to the games.
00:52:03
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:04
.0Bill Walker
that it I mean, everyone will once, I think, Big 12 season starts. But last last night was a little bit sparse.
00:52:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, was it?
00:52:15
.0Bill Walker
Although there was one person who made sure to attend the game, and he was very well received, and that was Jamal Shedd.
00:52:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, absolutely. The goat. The goat.
00:52:27
Tom Lidiak
Yep. Mr. uno
00:52:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:52:29
.0Bill Walker
Yep.
00:52:30
@NoConfForOldMen
All right, so that's it for our 65th episode of the No Conference for World Men podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it. And again, we'd really appreciate it if folks would follow, subscribe, or collect our podcast, depending on your podcast platform of choice.
00:52:43
@NoConfForOldMen
We're also available via Dave Campbell's college podcast feed as their only basketball-centric podcast. We're at the Gokus.com website for those that prefer to digest the content that way. We appreciate the continued support from all. Also, please give us a follow our Twitter account, NoConferenceForAllBen.
00:52:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Thank you all again for listening and be on the lookout next week with our Arkansas preview to download and listen as our next episode drops. Take care, you everyone.