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The Cougars Go 2-0 to Open the Season & Return to #1 in the AP Poll
0 Playsin 5 hours
Welcome to Episode #62 of the No Conference for Old Men Podcast.
Our Houston Cougars start the '25-'26 season 2-0 after beating Lehigh 75-57 to open the season, and then pull away from a pesky Towson late 65-48. An Oakland team that stayed within 10 with Purdue is up next, and then the 1st big challenge of the season awaits in Auburn.
Please have a listen as the 3 Old Men weigh in and discuss what to look out for with this Houston Cougar team early in the season, as well as provide some quick-hit game summaries and previews.
- 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
Introduction to Episode 62
00:00:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Welcome folks to episode number 62 of the No Conference for Old Men podcast, podcast where three old guys are talking Houston Cougars basketball with just a little bit of Big 12 coverage added in it as well, and proud members of the gocougars.com network, the undisputed number one Houston Cougars content provider.
00:00:24
@NoConfForOldMen
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.
Houston Cougars' Season Start
00:00:32
@NoConfForOldMen
So it's been a pretty quick turnaround from our last episode since we've got another game in a few days on Wednesday after getting two wins to open the season over Lehigh and then a Tufthausen team to end week one.
00:00:43
@NoConfForOldMen
And surprise, surprise, when the new AP rankings came out today, we were in our rightful place at number one over Purdue after they had a very sluggish win over the very Oakland team that we've got up next.
00:00:57
@NoConfForOldMen
So given how early in the season we are, we're going to provide maybe I guess what I'll call a quick summary of the two games that we won and we'll just do it together. Share some additional thoughts and perspectives on the team so far, and then really finally getting into the preview the next two games versus Oakland and Auburn.
00:01:16
@NoConfForOldMen
So Tom, why don't you get us started with your overall view from the two wins, the 75-57 win over Lehigh as well as the sixty five forty eight went over tas and
00:01:28
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, in the Lehigh game, first game of the year, band was into it. Students were into it. at you know Fertitta filled in nicely, unfurled the banner, the Final Four banner.
00:01:38
Tom Lidiak
So you know a lot of hoopla before the game.
00:01:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:01:42
Tom Lidiak
Same starters that started against Lehigh started against Mississippi State in the exhibition. I guess I was more interested in who of the first guys off the bench were. Seiko came off the bench first. You had Hardwell.
00:01:55
Tom Lidiak
And I believe you had, uh, McCarty, uh, with the first guys off the bench. So that kind answers some of my questions, uh, Lehigh game, you know, Lehigh was scrappy. I kind of was sitting there. i think all of us were kind of sitting there waiting for the knockout punch to come and, and, uh, you know, it never, never, to come against them. They were, uh, they were scrappy.
00:02:17
Tom Lidiak
Uh, it was obvious, uh, uh, the newbies, the newcomers need a lot of work on the defensive end. But those first couple first couple of minutes we're were pretty exciting.
00:02:28
Tom Lidiak
Steve and I were sitting sitting close together.
00:02:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, they were.
00:02:31
Tom Lidiak
Kingston hits the three. Sanak hits two threes and gets a dunk. And it was like, holy buckets.
00:02:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:02:38
Tom Lidiak
Haven't seen this kind of athleticism since Faisalama Jamma.
00:02:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:02:42
Tom Lidiak
Kind of brought back some some memories from those days. But good credit to Lehigh. They're well coached. They had 11 guys coming back. they did get the ball and in the paint quite quite a bit off the dribble.
00:02:57
Tom Lidiak
So I'm sure after for the Lehigh game, i I'm sure Kelvin and staff looked at you know looked at the film and and just hammered in on some so some stuff. we're working We're a work in progress.
00:03:08
Tom Lidiak
you know
00:03:08
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:03:09
Tom Lidiak
So I think you'll see incremental steps you know just about every game the the rest of the year.
00:03:16
@NoConfForOldMen
And how about the Towson game? Let's just highlight the kind of summaries from both.
00:03:19
Tom Lidiak
Uh, yeah. You know, Towson, the good squad, once again, well-coached, uh, scrappy. I think at one time the score was like 49, 44. And we ended the game, I think on a, what about 16, 16 to 16, four run. I think in that game, Emmanuel got a couple of, uh, a quick fouls.
00:03:42
Tom Lidiak
Kelvin had mentioned in, uh, uh, in a meeting with the, with some reporters that he was going to start rewarding some guys that, that have practiced really hard. And the first half he saw said, get some time. He saw mercy get some time earlier than they did the other day. so
00:04:00
Tom Lidiak
it was It was kind of obvious that those those two were the ones that were working hard at practice and Coach Sampson wanted to reward them. Kingston, he's the real deal. Steve, you've been saying it for a long, long time since he was in high school.
00:04:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:14
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:04:14
Tom Lidiak
I should never doubted you, even though I i mean, not that not that I was, but real deal. So Senac kind of had a little problem getting a shot to go down, but I think he had 13 rebounds and Kelvin had Kingston and Senac at the podium at the press conference.
00:04:29
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:04:32
Tom Lidiak
So that says something of what he thinks about these these two freshmen. Yeah, just a scrappy, scrappy Towson team and and, you know, getting ready for Oakland.
00:04:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Nice. How about you, Bill? What's kind of your players take from the two games?
Coach Kelvin Sampson's Milestone
00:04:52
.0Bill Walker
Before getting into any game talk, I think priority number one is to congratulate Coach Sampson on 800 wins, which occurred during the Lehigh game.
00:05:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, you're here.
00:05:04
.0Bill Walker
Incredible achievement, and I hope I'm around to see number 900.
00:05:10
@NoConfForOldMen
I hope so too.
00:05:10
.0Bill Walker
On to the games. Yeah, we all are. Debatable, but really.
00:05:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Well, I'm hoping he stays, right?
00:05:18
.0Bill Walker
and For three old men.
00:05:19
@NoConfForOldMen
At least he stays.
00:05:20
.0Bill Walker
Well, that that too.
00:05:20
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:05:21
.0Bill Walker
That too. On to the games. I think Calvin said it best when at the celebration following the Lehigh win, he said he loves making his teams better, so he's really going to have a lot of love for this team.
00:05:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, no kidding.
00:05:37
.0Bill Walker
And that was pretty evident. and game one, there were there were some definite highlights. Sharp, for sure, with his 24 points.
00:05:48
.0Bill Walker
especially, and Cenac looked really good on the offensive end in the first half. He also pulled down 10 boards to lead us. Tugler blocked four shots.
00:06:00
.0Bill Walker
Harwell came off the bench and had four steals. McCarty looked good defensively up until he he put up his hand and was exhausted and said, take me out, which I've never seen with with any Kelvin players.
00:06:10
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:06:15
.0Bill Walker
And Yuuzhan had his moments as well. yeah The negatives were the shooting, the turnovers, and in some cases, well, the turnovers in some cases, and especially with Tuggler, who had five.
00:06:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:06:30
.0Bill Walker
And I think Tuggler's maybe being, and it looked this way in both games, a little too eager to do a little little more as you know if he he's taking over for Roberts.
00:06:42
.0Bill Walker
to an extent and his, his roles changing a bit. So you know, it looked like he was just, just trying to do a little too much and and adjust his new, new roles and and responsibilities. And, and I think that may have been the case for a lot of the players now that Wilson, Francis, Cryer, and especially Roberts are gone.
00:06:59
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:07:00
.0Bill Walker
Towson, Towson, different story. We played 10 players, but not, you know, Tom, you mentioned, you mentioned, the couple guys that came off the bench, but, but really not an overwhelming number of bench minutes were played.
00:07:19
.0Bill Walker
And I think that had a lot to do with the fact that we just couldn't put Towson away.
00:07:23
@NoConfForOldMen
exactly
00:07:23
.0Bill Walker
and We, we held them to only 48 points, but, but the issue in that game was clearly offense where we took, and I've never seen this with it, with a Calvin team, 32 of our 62 shots were from behind the arc and we only hit eight.
00:07:37
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:07:38
.0Bill Walker
You know, if, if, There was ever a time where not having Roberts was evident. It was this game. and I'm sure the staff's working on establishing more of an inside presence, but looks like this will be a pretty heavily primer-oriented team this year, which I think we all expected.
00:07:59
.0Bill Walker
And I'll mention three players from Saturday. Flemings, obviously, he he was he was the star.
00:08:04
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:08:07
.0Bill Walker
points, of shooting. A lot of dribble penetration, which which was great to see. couple of dunks. And tuggr Tuggler did have 15 points, eight boards, and he had five steals,
00:08:22
.0Bill Walker
you know which which was great. he He was more of a force inside, and I think he's clearly working toward becoming our our you know our our primary inside threat. and And lastly, the guy i want to mention is Senac, or Senac, sorry.
00:08:38
.0Bill Walker
He led us with 13 boards, which was which was solid, but only four points on two of eight shooting.
00:08:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:08:44
.0Bill Walker
And, you know, I was at the game, sat and watched it. And, you know a lot of those shots came late when he was getting the ball and he just instantly shot.
00:08:54
.0Bill Walker
It was almost a bit of a black hole. And he he he looked a little frustrated. I think he... he
00:09:00
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:09:01
.0Bill Walker
wanted to be a little bit more involved in the offense and and get up some more shots. and So you can you could kind of see his frustration. Bottom line, these were two pretty ugly games.
00:09:11
.0Bill Walker
A ton of outside shooting that that wasn't particularly successful.
00:09:12
@NoConfForOldMen
Thank you.
00:09:15
.0Bill Walker
25 turnovers. And just not a real positive flow other than maybe the first half versus Lehigh. but And I know I've beaten this this horse to death.
00:09:28
.0Bill Walker
it's It's games one two of a new season with a new new roles, new young players. you know Everyone's learning curve is is a little bit more than it's been in the past.
00:09:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Thank you.
00:09:43
.0Bill Walker
you know Calvin and staff will ensure that the the players navigate what they need to navigate, that that they fit into their roles and they're comfortable when they need to be comfortable.
00:09:55
.0Bill Walker
It's early. It's early.
Team Performance Insights
00:09:57
.0Bill Walker
It's early. We'll be okay.
00:09:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, we'll get into a little bit of that with some of our initial thoughts in the next segment too, as we kind of elaborate a little bit more. But for me, it was just great to actually get games started and the freshmen's kind of feet wet to kick off our season.
00:10:14
@NoConfForOldMen
As you guys both highlighted, started two freshmen in Kingston Fleming Chris Senac, along with Tugler Sharpenuzan. And we also saw a third freshman Isaiah Harwell play significant minutes in game one too.
00:10:25
@NoConfForOldMen
before kind of sitting out game two for precautionary reasons with his name. Not sure Samson has ever relied on so many freshmen in his whole coaching career, because as we know, he likes his experienced players, especially with the demands of his complex defensive schemes.
00:10:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Obviously, won both games handily, as you guys had mentioned, though the Towson one was really very tricky and sticky late into the second half. But as expected, and hopefully most of our fans have this mindset as well this season, it's going to be a bit sloppy early on when you've got three freshmen playing so many minutes.
00:11:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, as the analytics guy, I'm not going to go into details for this because in in either game because it's pretty meaningless this early on with refreshment plus lots of bench players logging lots of minutes.
00:11:14
@NoConfForOldMen
And we're still just trying to build some chemistry as well. But at a high level, we're still playing hard-nosed deep, even with the newcomers. So even though we're a bit late in some of our defensive rotations for now, we're still making it tough for our opponents to make shots. We're still forcing turnovers at a pretty high rate.
00:11:30
@NoConfForOldMen
And in game one, at least, we're still blocking a lot of shots with Tugler and now Senac making it tough inside. But the two things that clearly our coaching staff will be zeroing in on with the kids to correct going into Wednesday's game or a high turnover rate, as you had you'd kind of highlighted, Bill, and we were at almost 19% turnovers, where we've always been exceptional at protecting the ball historically.
00:11:55
@NoConfForOldMen
and taking good shots on offense, especially from three-point range, where we're currently 10 points below our kind of our our standard last season averages after two games. But again, it's early on.
00:12:09
@NoConfForOldMen
But what do you guys kind of like or dislike with this team so far? Or maybe just any interesting observations you guys may have from either a coach's or player's perspective?
00:12:21
@NoConfForOldMen
And Bill, why don't you start? I know you started talking a little bit about it, but what are you seeing with this team so far that you want to highlight for listeners?
00:12:30
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, nothing definitive from me because it's it's two early games. it's It's young players, as you alluded to.
00:12:42
.0Bill Walker
People are are getting used to their roles. People are are getting used to new responsibilities.
00:12:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:12:48
.0Bill Walker
use and Yuzan was was the the point guard last year.
00:12:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Very much so.
00:12:52
.0Bill Walker
Now he's sharing that with Flemings.
00:12:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:12:55
.0Bill Walker
He's playing some two-femines. a fair amount of two. So, you know, it's different, just different roles.
00:12:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:13:02
.0Bill Walker
Sharp's role is going to be different. Tuggler's role is clearly different.
00:13:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:13:07
.0Bill Walker
So it's it's, you know, it's it's a learning process. Like I said, there's a learning curve and and people are trying to navigate that. The players are trying to navigate that. The coaches are going to navigate that for the players. And, you know, it's just going to take some time. So,
00:13:23
.0Bill Walker
yeah I'm fine with everything. ever They're playing hard. They only gave up 48 points in in the second game against Towson. The defense is there.
00:13:34
.0Bill Walker
I was surprised, like I said, that 32 of our 62 shots were were from behind the arc.
00:13:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:13:40
.0Bill Walker
That that
00:13:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. That's a good observation.
00:13:42
.0Bill Walker
you know, that was a big number and, you know, unfortunately we only hit eight of them. Uh, that's, that's going to improve. Uh, I did like the fact that, that, uh, we were moving the ball.
00:13:53
.0Bill Walker
Well, uh, Flemings, Flemings took the ball to the hoop, uh, because we, we were having some difficulties offensively, but, uh, but he, he's looking to get the ball to the shooters and, and to the, to Tugler, to, to Sharp, to Usan, uh,
00:14:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:14:12
.0Bill Walker
to CNAC, you know, it it's, it's still an unselfish team. We're going we're going to be okay. Every, everything's fine. It's just, it's just going to take some time. And, uh, you know, we may not, uh, we may not win all the preseason or pre-conference games that, that, that maybe people are hoping we, we would, we didn't do that last year and and look where we ended up.
00:14:37
.0Bill Walker
Uh, we're almost national champions. So I'm, I'm okay with everything right now. We'll we you know we'll see we'll see how things progress, but but I think but we will progress and and we'll be okay.
00:14:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. Yeah, I agree.
Player Analysis and Surprises
00:14:51
@NoConfForOldMen
i was curious from a player's perspective, now that you've seen all the new new kids as well, two games in, anyone surprised you at all now that you've seen them actually play playing in games?
00:15:05
.0Bill Walker
Well, I'd seen Flemings prior to coming here. So what what he's doing isn't, isn't particularly surprising me at all. And, and you and I've talked about him previously.
00:15:16
.0Bill Walker
I, I liked him a lot coming in.
00:15:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:19
.0Bill Walker
Uh, yeah, Harwell, Harwell, they're, they're, they're, I think limiting his minutes. He didn't play at all against Taos. And so, so it's, it's, you know, we'll see,
00:15:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Game two. Yeah.
00:15:34
.0Bill Walker
You know, McCarty is getting minutes, which I like to see.
00:15:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:37
.0Bill Walker
And I like the fact that he's playing, you know, his reputation is is for being a shooter, but he's he's actually played very well on the defensive end so far.
00:15:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:15:46
.0Bill Walker
And I like i like seeing that. Sanak is getting boards, and you can see that he's he's going to have a good year. he
00:15:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, definitely.
00:15:55
.0Bill Walker
He's going to be one and done. Towson didn't go particularly well offensively. and And you could see he was a little frustrated with that, as I mentioned. But but yeah, i I like what I see there.
00:16:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Cool.
00:16:11
.0Bill Walker
i thought I thought after he came out and hit a three right away and then hit that
00:16:17
.0Bill Walker
kind of the crazy left-handed drive to the hoop and and put up five quick points that Mercy might play a little more. And then he never got off the bench in the second half. So, you know, I, i you know, you know, we'll, I guess we'll, we'll continue to see going forward, but yeah, that's,
00:16:27
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:36
.0Bill Walker
that's about it for me so far. know, Tuggler, you can see that Tuggler is, is really trying to establish himself inside. And, and I think that's why he, he's had eight turnovers in the first two games, which is, which is quite a bit, but I, I think, I think those are in large part turnovers due to aggression as opposed to, you know, making dumb passes, just, just,
00:16:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:16:49
@NoConfForOldMen
I know.
00:17:05
.0Bill Walker
quite honestly, stupid turnovers. I think his are a byproduct of of really being aggressive and trying to do a lot right now. And and and that's fine.
00:17:16
.0Bill Walker
you you know No problem. he's He's going to fit into everything and into his role and it well we'll be okay.
00:17:22
@NoConfForOldMen
Okay. How about you, Tom, from your coach's perspective with
Defensive Strategies Discussion
00:17:27
@NoConfForOldMen
the team so far?
00:17:27
Tom Lidiak
Well, and in Tuggler's defense, I just think he's rusty, kind of like JVA last year who missed like 19 practices and looked like he was playing with two ping pong paddles. You know, JoJo wasn't cleared for like five-on-five play until like right before the Mississippi State exhibition.
00:17:42
@NoConfForOldMen
Very late.
00:17:46
Tom Lidiak
So I just think he's kind rusty. kind of rusty And I, and I believe the, you know, the, the, the post moves, he has them, he has post moves, uh, a couple of those, he kind of rushed.
00:18:01
Tom Lidiak
I thought, you know, kind of, kind of just threw up there, uh, offensively,
00:18:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, agree.
00:18:09
Tom Lidiak
offensively, I've seen, a lot of ball movement. I don't know what that was.
00:18:13
@NoConfForOldMen
ha Was it me?
00:18:13
Tom Lidiak
Uh, don't know.
00:18:16
.0Bill Walker
That might've been me.
00:18:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh.
00:18:17
Tom Lidiak
Defcon, Defcon one or what, uh, But, no, ball movement has been really, really nice. In the Towson game, Kingston set up Uzon and Sharp with some nice passes, and they they just didn't knock the shots down, you know, shots that they they normally hit. They didn't knock them down.
00:18:38
Tom Lidiak
Defensively, you know, like I said, it's it's a work in progress, too, with so many, you know, with so many young guys out there.
00:18:46
Tom Lidiak
four of our, what is it? Three of our, four of our top eight are, are freshmen. And when you consider Senac or Senac, Harwell, Kingston, and then you got McCarty's red shirt, uh, freshmen.
00:18:57
Tom Lidiak
So, uh, that's, you know, Kelvin hasn't had a team like this.
00:18:58
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:19:03
Tom Lidiak
I don't know.
00:19:03
@NoConfForOldMen
I know.
00:19:04
Tom Lidiak
Uh, I don't think in this whole, whole tenure where we had so many, you know, inexperienced, uh, uh, young guys. So, you know, it,
00:19:14
@NoConfForOldMen
I thought he was pretty patient with them too when I watched the games that
00:19:16
Tom Lidiak
well Well, you know, yeah you got to remember, Kingston had, I think he had like three turnovers early and in the Towson game.
00:19:23
@NoConfForOldMen
I know.
00:19:25
Tom Lidiak
And if that had been Shed or Giroux or Galen, they probably wouldn't have any hide left.
00:19:28
@NoConfForOldMen
I know, right?
00:19:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:19:36
Tom Lidiak
So it's obvious Kelvin Trust
00:19:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:19:41
Tom Lidiak
Those two, you know, he trusts them a lot. He trusts Sinek and he trusts especially Kingston.
00:19:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:19:48
.0Bill Walker
Oh, he got on both of them at the game.
00:19:51
@NoConfForOldMen
Did it? Yeah.
00:19:52
.0Bill Walker
Oh, yeah.
00:19:53
@NoConfForOldMen
I just thought for right for some of those turnovers, he just didn't seem to light up but like he has historically with some of kids.
00:19:57
Tom Lidiak
but he But he, you know, Yeah, and in the past, some of those young guys probably would have been pulled, you know, a shed, you know.
00:20:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, exactly.
00:20:09
Tom Lidiak
But, you know, for the top...
00:20:11
.0Bill Walker
Yeah. He did pull Yeah. us an act
00:20:14
Tom Lidiak
Did he?
00:20:16
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, at one point during the first half, yeah, I can't i can't remember what the what the
00:20:18
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:19
Tom Lidiak
I know he ripped...
00:20:22
.0Bill Walker
what the issue was. But i I turned to my friend. You guys know Rob. I turned to Rob and I said, Sinax, on his way out.
00:20:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:31
@NoConfForOldMen
Getting pulled.
00:20:32
.0Bill Walker
and And two seconds later, he was –
00:20:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:33
Tom Lidiak
Well, I know Kelvin in that first game against Lehigh, he ripped Harwell a good one for quick shot.
00:20:34
.0Bill Walker
was
00:20:41
Tom Lidiak
you know
00:20:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:42
Tom Lidiak
and In Kelvin's kind of system, you know if if you push the ball and it's not there, one of the worst shots you can shoot is with like 10 seconds into the shot clock. you know he won you know he won you just it just kind like complimentary football.
00:20:52
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:20:56
Tom Lidiak
He's got strong defense, strong running game.
00:20:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:20:59
Tom Lidiak
you know, the way Kelvin coaches, you know, offense goes hand in hand with the, with the defense. And you just don't want to get in the habit of going down and, you know, chucking, you know, make one, one pass and chucking it up.
00:21:12
Tom Lidiak
I, somebody used to call that the vomit offense, you know, one pass and throw it up. but to get back to your question, you know, Steve, I just think better ball movement, uh,
00:21:17
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:21:24
Tom Lidiak
And those shots eventually will go down but with Milos and and and Eman.
00:21:27
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:21:29
Tom Lidiak
And then just, you know, it's just going to work in progress every game, every practice to get better on the defensive end. Bill, you mentioned McCarty. i'm I'm a McCarty fan.
00:21:40
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, me too now.
00:21:42
Tom Lidiak
You know, he's he goes in there and he's really focused on the defensive end. So I really like what we've seen him in these in these first two games.
00:21:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, completely agree. He's been active, right? Really active, which, uh, which I appreciate.
00:21:58
Tom Lidiak
Mm-hmm.
00:21:59
.0Bill Walker
Yes.
00:22:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Anything you see from a a coaching perspective, any a you know, with some of these new kids, I thought you had highlighted maybe some changes on the offensive sets as well versus historically.
00:22:09
Tom Lidiak
Oh,
00:22:15
Tom Lidiak
it, I don't think so pretty much, you know, the, uh, you know, Kelvin's not going to reinvent a wheel, you know, uh, you know, don't fix what's not broken. i did notice on the defense and especially in our first game, boy, our, our monster needs a lot of work.
00:22:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
00:22:31
Tom Lidiak
You know, it, it's, it's not the suffocating Reggie Chaney,
00:22:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:37
Tom Lidiak
I can't remember who the other one for Fabian White, Reggie Chaney, Bryson Grisham, you know, those guys when they, when they monstered, Sinek did get a foul called on a, on a monster.
00:22:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:22:50
Tom Lidiak
They called him for, you know, cylinder violation, but you know, that, and I thought,
00:22:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:22:57
Tom Lidiak
probably one of our best lineups is when Sennac went to the bench and we had McCarty in there. We kind of went small. We had Tugler, McCarty.
00:23:06
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:23:06
Tom Lidiak
We had, Uzon, Fleming's and, and Sharp in there. I thought that was, I thought that, uh, lineup really, really clicked in the Towson game, but overall, like schematically, haven't really looked at any kind of sets that, that Kelvin's been running. Um, running.
00:23:23
Tom Lidiak
He did run what they call floppy sets in that first game at Lehigh where you have Sharp and Uzon kind of coming off some pin-down screens, but that's nothing new and you know in in Kelvin's repertoire. you know he's he's got a million things and you know He's got a million things in his mind that he can do.
00:23:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:23:42
Tom Lidiak
That's what 40 years of coaching or 45 years of coaching does to you.
00:23:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:23:47
Tom Lidiak
know as to yeah
00:23:49
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. There you go. I mean, for me, there's nothing to really take away from an analytics perspective. Again, it's still early on. But with my eye, I'd say we can actually see some patterns that I believe are interesting for fans to pay attention to as the season go on.
00:24:08
@NoConfForOldMen
And, you know, first off, I think we all acknowledge concerns around inside scoring with Robert's graduation. i know, Bill, that's probably been your biggest worry up to this point.
00:24:19
@NoConfForOldMen
But if you look at the stats, our shooting's actually been better from two-point range so far, and we're seeing a concerted effort to ensure Tugler gets his touches down low frequently on offense.
00:24:30
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, not going to claim that his low post game is anywhere near as polished as Roberts' this was, but he's shooting at a reasonable clip early on and will only get better as he gets more comfortable.
00:24:41
@NoConfForOldMen
And quite honestly, more importantly, more patient before he makes his move. He's got a good...
00:24:46
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, I agree. I totally agree.
00:24:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Right. Yeah. Right. He's, just i mean, he's got a good feel. I think you highlighted that. I think, I think Tom highlighted that as well, when he's got his back to the basket, he's got a good feel for the defender when he's posting up.
00:25:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Another change that I think folks should pay attention to is you're going to see a different way for us to get inside the paint scoring.
00:25:10
@NoConfForOldMen
And run me what I mean by that, it may not be just Tuggler Senac low post. With Fleming's capability to basically break down right? Whoever's guarding him up front, I think we're just going to see him just take it to the hoop.
00:25:24
@NoConfForOldMen
And it's it's going to be layups, easy layups or dump dump-offs for for a dump with both Tugler and Senac moving forward. It'll be a kind of speed to the basket that we just haven't seen historically with our program.
00:25:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, the second point I'll highlight is, it you guys had kind of spoken to this as well, the high turnover rate so far. And I think that works itself out as well pretty quickly in my mind. Early on, if you look at the numbers, it's primarily Tugler and Fleming's needing to be a little bit more careful with the ball.
00:25:56
@NoConfForOldMen
We're playing a whole lot through Tuggler, way more than even I expected. So as you had really mentioned a few times, Bill, it's new for him because he's gone from – you know secondary front court player next to Robertson now, the guy. And it seems like, it feels like at least, it's like 80% of the time we're going down, the ball, he gets to touch it.
00:26:22
@NoConfForOldMen
And that's going to be new and an adjustment for him to make plays. And Fleming's who is just a freshman and still trying to get used to the speed of the defense in college. Both will work their way through and I'm pretty confident by Thanksgiving.
00:26:37
@NoConfForOldMen
And so we'll see how that that plays out. And then the third thing I'll highlight is Finally, our three-point shooting woes so far. We still have Sharp, Uzan, two of our three Sharp shooters from last season, plus Harwell, McCarty, and Senac from the four.
00:26:52
@NoConfForOldMen
So I believe the shooting will get better, and we'll certainly have more players able to shoot the three as the chemistry gets better and we're more patient on offense, especially with a freshman.
00:27:03
@NoConfForOldMen
I think... Tom, you had highlighted, right? Some of the freshmen, I think they're used to playing high school ball, AAU ball, and the trigger to take a shot is happening way too early in the offensive sets sometimes. And so, but I think the youngsters will learn during this pre-conference slate and we're going to see...
00:27:23
@NoConfForOldMen
better shot selection and and folks getting a better understanding of where people like to get their shots as well as we move forward. So that chemistry thing is going to be critically important.
00:27:35
@NoConfForOldMen
So now we move on to the two games this coming week for Houston, Oakland at home, and then our first big challenge at SEC, Bellwether Auburn.
Upcoming Games Preview
00:27:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Tom, why don't you take the Oakland game, kind of your coach's view on the Oakland game first?
00:27:51
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to this one. Oakland's coached Greg Campy. I think he's getting close to 50 years as far as coaching. I'm not sure. think he's been at Oakland, you know, the whole time.
00:28:01
@NoConfForOldMen
oh
00:28:04
Tom Lidiak
they you know, they were division two and then he oversaw them going into division one rank. So really, really good coach. I'm really looking forward to this one because Campy runs primarily zone. Very, very interesting zone. Matter of fact, I have the the video of it.
00:28:22
Tom Lidiak
Bought that one a couple of years ago. Never used it though, but I watched it yesterday. Kind of refreshed my memory. it's It's a unique zone with some unique slides. And Camp even mentions on the on the video that, you know, one of the weaknesses is rebounding.
00:28:37
Tom Lidiak
So we got to really we got to really get some offensive rebounds. I'm sure our goal is going to get is to get 50 percent of our our misses, especially if we continue to shoot the three like we do.
00:28:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:28:49
Tom Lidiak
You know, we'll we'll need to really hammer the glass.
00:28:50
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:28:54
Tom Lidiak
There'll be opportunities for Kingston, I think, to to dribble, penetrate against his own and set up Uzon and Sharp for some threes. Having Senac out there, probably in the high post area, i call it the logo area. It's that free throw elbow kind of area.
00:29:12
Tom Lidiak
Having Senac in that area is going to be good for us in Wednesday night's game. because Senac's kind guy that can catch the ball in the middle and be and be a playmaker, whether it's shooting or or passing, you know, and JoJo down low.
00:29:24
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:29
Tom Lidiak
So, look, I'm really looking forward to this. I just want to see how we attack this zone, and I'm sure that's probably one of the reasons why Kelvin scheduled this game is, you know, i mean, he –
00:29:37
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:29:43
Tom Lidiak
He schedules for a reason, and I'm sure this Oakland game, he knows Greg plays, you know, zone, and, you know, you don't want to go into conference play and haven't really played against any zone yet, and all sudden you see one.
00:29:58
Tom Lidiak
So we'll see.
00:30:00
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:30:01
Tom Lidiak
Just ham hammer hammer the weak side board. You know, shot goes up. Get at least two guys on a weak side board. Don't make the shot. Get second opportunities. And don't fall in love with the three. You know, it's fool's gold.
00:30:14
Tom Lidiak
lot A lot, you know, a lot of times, a lot of times, so you know, people think, well, you know, to beat a zone, you have to really shoot well from the outside. Well, that's, that's kind of true. You know, you can, you can get the ball inside against a zone.
00:30:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. All right. How about you, Bill, from a player's perspective on the Oakland game?
00:30:34
.0Bill Walker
Well, from what I've seen, Oakland has unanimously been predicted to come in fourth in the horizon. So not the, uh, not the, you know, typically top of the horizon, like they're often predicted.
00:30:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Hmm.
00:30:51
.0Bill Walker
And they were only 16 and 18 last year, uh, with a lot of new players coming in and a lot of those players are back. And, uh, I agree with you, Tom. I think Campy's a really, really good coach.
00:31:04
.0Bill Walker
So, you know, they'll they'll be competitive. they're They're 0-2 so far, but they're two team their two games have been against top 10 opponents. They were at Michigan.
00:31:13
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:31:14
.0Bill Walker
They lost one twenty one to seventy eight And then they were at Purdue, where they were tied at halftime, but lost 87-77.
00:31:23
.0Bill Walker
They are, and this this I'm sure will change, but at the moment, and I don't want to step on your toes, Steve, getting into this, but I believe they're 277 in Ken Palm in defense.
00:31:32
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:31:38
.0Bill Walker
hor Horrific so far.
00:31:40
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:31:41
.0Bill Walker
So, you know, that's that's that's that. They gave up, I think, to... I think it was Michigan.
00:31:50
.0Bill Walker
sixty
00:31:50
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, it was Michigan, game one.
00:31:51
.0Bill Walker
Michigan, it was 64% from the field and 54% they gave up from three.
00:31:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah.
00:31:59
.0Bill Walker
So, I mean, it was it was just shoot and score at will. They gave up, I want to say maybe... was it 52 points, I think in the second half to Purdue.
00:32:13
.0Bill Walker
So they've really been horrific defensively.
00:32:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:32:17
.0Bill Walker
and And that's, and that's good because our offense hasn't been especially fluid so far.
00:32:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:32:23
.0Bill Walker
So this, this is a game where we can really get some things corrected.
00:32:27
.0Bill Walker
i I'll rattle off a few of their players. Uh, uh, there' They've got one, actually, NBA prospect. His name is Buru Naiva Lerua.
00:32:42
.0Bill Walker
He's 6'6", small forward. He can do everything. he's number His uniform numbers number is number 12, so watch for number 12. He had 18-5.
00:32:53
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:32:53
.0Bill Walker
eighteen and five uh, 18 points, five boards against Michigan. He had 11.7 boards, four assists against Purdue.
00:33:06
.0Bill Walker
Uh, he is, he is their best player. Uh, their second best players probably kid named Brody Robinson,
00:33:16
.0Bill Walker
11. I think he may be from UT Arlington. He just came in. He had 11 points, 5 assists, 5-11 point guard, 11 points, 5 assists against Michigan, 11 points, 4 assists.
00:33:30
.0Bill Walker
against Purdue. They've got a forward named Isaac Garrett. He had 20 points against Michigan. had 10, 5, and 3 assists against Purdue. And then the other one I'll mention is Zaire Wells, another 6'6 small forward. He had 14 and 6, 6 boards against Michigan. And he had 21 and 12 against Purdue. So they've got some players that can – that can put up some stats and, uh, and, and they obviously can score. But again, they were, they were in relatively high scoring games so far where they scored 78 and 77. Uh, uh, yeah, this team really is essentially five deep, uh, not a lot, not at least in the first two games, not a lot off the bench, uh,
00:34:22
.0Bill Walker
they They shoot okay if they're open, but they have absolutely no real inside presence.
00:34:29
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:34:30
.0Bill Walker
And like I said, they've they've played zero defense in their first two games. Buru, again, is a legitimate and NBA prospect. So hill he'll likely, I imagine, be a handful for Sharp.
00:34:42
.0Bill Walker
And Robinson is a pretty quick point guard who can create and score. But I think this is going to be a game where our offense is going to right the ship and begin its ascension heading into Auburn and and yeah the other the other stronger non-conference games.
00:35:03
.0Bill Walker
I see us winning this one eighty four sixty eight
00:35:07
@NoConfForOldMen
Oh, wow. Nice. So from an analytics perspective, when you look at Oakland so far, they have not been graded anything, right?
00:35:17
@NoConfForOldMen
They're 222nd currently in Ken Palm after destruction at the hands of Michigan. However, as noted earlier, they kept within 10 points in their most recent loss to Purdue.
00:35:28
@NoConfForOldMen
And that's really the main reason why we ascended to number one in this week's poll.
00:35:33
.0Bill Walker
The other thing, sorry, Steve, the other thing is that Purdue didn't have all their players in that game.
00:35:34
@NoConfForOldMen
Oakland. Yeah.
00:35:38
.0Bill Walker
You know, Kaufman-Rab didn't play.
00:35:38
@NoConfForOldMen
Right.
00:35:39
.0Bill Walker
And and so take take that for what it's worth.
00:35:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Yeah. theyre theyre Their most athletic player, right, basically was not in the game. So yeah, you're absolutely right. Now, as you'd highlighted it as well, Oakland's been terrible at shooting.
00:35:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Offense rebounding. And they're one of the worst defensive teams in the country so far this season. So this is a perfect game for our Houston Cougars to continue to work out the kinks.
00:36:06
@NoConfForOldMen
But again, we can't get overconfident given how well they did actually against Purdue. Expect coach and UH to focus on quicker rotations on D. emphasize offensive rebounding, especially with our guards, because I'd say that's the difference so far. i think our bigs have rebounded fine, but our guards are not rebounding at the rate that they were last season.
00:36:29
@NoConfForOldMen
and then really being more patient in getting the right three-point shot with each possession. While on D, I expect both Sako and Senak to focus more on their timing in blocking shots as well, because really our only shot blocker so far has been Tuggler, and he's a great one, but we need some help as well.
00:36:46
@NoConfForOldMen
Now, based on the metrics, this is actually projected to be a 25-point win at home for the Cougs based on Ken Palm. In my opinion, we're just going to continue to focus on working on different lineups, ironing out our sets on both defense and offense, and playing lots of kids until we figure things out. So I'm actually projecting this to be closer than the metrics with all the new kids, and I'm expecting an 18-point win, maybe 78 to at home.
00:37:12
@NoConfForOldMen
And now finally, we talk about Auburn, our very first big challenge for this season after three warmup games.
Auburn Game Analysis
00:37:21
@NoConfForOldMen
Bills, what's your kind of player's take on the Auburn game?
00:37:36
.0Bill Walker
his coach his excuse me His son is now the coach who he was grooming to take over ultimately.
00:37:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep.
00:37:43
.0Bill Walker
Not entirely unlike with the situation at U of H.
00:37:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:37:48
.0Bill Walker
but But a lot of speculation as to why Pearl left and and I'm not
00:37:48
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:37:54
.0Bill Walker
no point getting into any of that. Auburn coming into this year, yeah they had a great year last year, Final Four. This year, they're I've seen them picked either fifth or sixth preseason in the SEC. They've got zero starters back. and Their first two games have been really interesting.
00:38:16
.0Bill Walker
They scored 95 in both games.
00:38:16
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:38:18
.0Bill Walker
The first one against Bethune-Cookman, who is supposed to be actually very good in their conference this year. They beat 95, 90 in overtime, but Thune Cookman, by the way, if, if you guys don't know, is coached by a former great player at UNLV and an, and a, and a great point guard in the NBA, largely for the Chicago Bulls, all-star Reggie Theus.
00:38:45
.0Bill Walker
And he's, he's done a, a very good job at Bethune Cookman. Uh,
00:38:50
@NoConfForOldMen
I didn't know he was coaching there.
00:38:52
.0Bill Walker
Yes, he is their head coach.
00:38:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Wow. Okay.
00:38:54
.0Bill Walker
Yep. a Second game, they scored 95. Again, they beat Merrimack, powerhouse Merrimack, 95-57.
00:39:01
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:39:01
.0Bill Walker
The interesting thing in these two games is that – and listen to these stats. First of all, Bethune-Cookman committed 24 fouls against Auburn.
00:39:14
.0Bill Walker
Merrimack committed 27. So that that'll tell you what – that Not so much about those two teams, but about the way Auburn's playing offense, their their offensive strategy.
00:39:25
.0Bill Walker
But here here's some really interesting stats. Bethune-Cookman, Auburn was 27 of 38 at the free throw Merrimack, 27 of 37 at the free throw line. Three-pointers, Bethune-Cookman, 6 of 23.
00:39:39
.0Bill Walker
three pointers butune cookman six of twenty three Merrimack, 6 of 24. So not not especially good outside shooting, and I think that's going to be the case for Auburn throughout the year, but a ton of free throws.
00:39:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:39:57
.0Bill Walker
They've got, I'll mention four four players. Well, I'll mention five. One one guy who who not particularly... outstanding at anything is a guy named Philippe Jovic, and he's he's from Serbia, 6'8 forward.
00:40:15
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:40:16
.0Bill Walker
We'll get into the the four that that are going to put up the most statistics and are the most... the four best players, Tahad Pettiford, 6'1 point guard, sophomore.
00:40:25
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:40:29
.0Bill Walker
Most will remember him. He was a five-star coming in, came off the bench last year, torched us in the Toyota Center.
00:40:35
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. killed us
00:40:37
.0Bill Walker
So he he's back. Shooting guard, six five Kevin Overton. He is a transfer from Tech where he played last year. Prior to that, he was at Drake.
00:40:50
.0Bill Walker
he he's He's actually a very good player. He came off the bench for Tech last year, wasn't happy with his minutes, and now he's starting at Auburn.
00:40:53
@NoConfForOldMen
Yep. right.
00:40:58
.0Bill Walker
He's an inconsistent shooter. he's he's He's highly rated in terms of his shooting, but he but he's been largely inconsistent. But but that may that may change when he's playing starters minutes and playing more minutes at Auburn, and he's a good defensive player.
00:41:15
.0Bill Walker
The next one, and I wasn't even going to mention him, but but people will be interested, Sebastian Williams Adams. He is from St. John's High School in Houston.
00:41:28
.0Bill Walker
He is a freshman. He was the number 10 freshman rated forward in the nation last year. And I think he was maybe the number 45 or 48 overall player coming out.
00:41:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:41:43
.0Bill Walker
He's a point forward, 6'8", 230, extraordinarily talented. he can He can guard point guards. He can guard centers. He can handle the ball really well.
00:41:55
.0Bill Walker
He is not a shooter, but he can he can score his points. And the final guy that I will mention, who I will talk a little bit about the most, Keyshawn Hall.
00:42:06
.0Bill Walker
He's number seven when we play them. Transfer from Central Florida.
00:42:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:42:12
.0Bill Walker
And prior to Central Florida, he was at he started UNLV, then went to George Mason, Central Florida, and now Auburn. 6'7 forward in the first two games.
00:42:24
.0Bill Walker
He scored 28 against, led led Auburn with 28 against Bethune-Cookman, 25 against Merrimack, and had, what did he have?
00:42:26
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah
00:42:32
.0Bill Walker
He had 14 boards, I believe, against Merrimack as well in only 26 minutes. he takes a ton of shots. He is essentially a black hole.
00:42:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Mm-hmm.
00:42:45
.0Bill Walker
But he also hits the boards, as I mentioned, the 14 in 26 minutes against Merrimack. He led the Big 12 in scoring last year.
00:42:56
.0Bill Walker
he is also a turnover machine. So he he shoots, he scores, and he turns the ball over. Versus u of H, if anyone's interested, because he's played us once and previously in the 69-68 game where Roberts hit the the game winner virtually at the buzzer.
00:43:09
Tom Lidiak
Thank you.
00:43:14
.0Bill Walker
He played 35 minutes against us, two of 12 from the field, two of six from the line. He, his stat line was 11, uh, 11 points.
00:43:25
.0Bill Walker
Uh, let's see 11 points. Uh, uh, I think he had three boards and five turnovers against us.
00:43:31
@NoConfForOldMen
a Nice.
00:43:32
.0Bill Walker
He, he will probably come into this game with a chip on his shoulder. I would imagine having played so poorly last year and having been completely shut down by us, but, uh,
00:43:36
@NoConfForOldMen
Cut.
00:43:40
.0Bill Walker
yeah, the first two games, 53 points. And, uh, he is, he is their leading scorer and he will be by far their leading shot taker.
00:43:49
@NoConfForOldMen
yeah yeah
00:43:50
.0Bill Walker
So that's, that's their players. Uh, not there's not a ton of height on this team, but as I mentioned, Auburn goes to the rack.
00:44:00
.0Bill Walker
They draw fouls, as I mentioned, they are, and they're going to do that against us and against everybody. Uh, U of H needs to be solid defensively. We need to keep the ball in front of us as much as possible and just not commit dumb fouls. No reaching, no no just just no dumb fouls because the whistle is going to blow a lot.
00:44:24
.0Bill Walker
And that's that's just because Auburn creates fouls.
00:44:28
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:44:29
.0Bill Walker
Offensively, we need to move the ball. We need to hit more of our open shots. Obviously we need to draw fouls from them. We need to make them work their butts off defensively and and snack and Tugler need to, uh, be effective, both scoring and offensive rebounding, because this, once again, this is not a big team that we're playing against.
00:44:52
.0Bill Walker
Uh, you know, it's early in the season. So it, it, you know, who knows if it's a good or, or, or a not so good matchup. It, you know, it's, it's,
00:45:03
.0Bill Walker
You know, we're it's not going to predicate anything going forward. it's it's It's early. You know, whatever happens, happens. We may win. We may lose. no It's not a big deal.
00:45:17
.0Bill Walker
But in this one, even though we're playing this on the road, I think ultimately coaching will prevail. And I think we win this game 79-76.
00:45:27
@NoConfForOldMen
All right. How about you, Tom, from a coach's perspective on the Auburn game?
00:45:31
Tom Lidiak
Well, I had something to what Bill said about Keyshawn Hall. He scores, he rebounds, he loses.
00:45:37
@NoConfForOldMen
I love it. Yeah.
00:45:39
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, loses the ball.
00:45:41
Tom Lidiak
Everywhere he's been, you know, he he hasn't played for for for a winner. You know, stats look good and all that.
00:45:51
Tom Lidiak
But Bill went over personnel. Yeah. personnel You know, Auburn's, you mentioned they played Merrimack. Merrimack's a team that plays nothing but 2-3 zone. I studied their zone, too, a guy named Joe Gallo.
00:46:06
Tom Lidiak
Anyway, first game on the road for our young guys. It's at Birmingham. So that'll be interesting, I think, you know, first game.
00:46:16
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, nice test.
00:46:18
Tom Lidiak
You know, it's not exactly, you know, technically it's not a home court, but hey, it's Birmingham.
00:46:21
@NoConfForOldMen
But it is, yeah.
00:46:22
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, right, right. it's gonna be It's going to be almost, you know, 100% Auburn fan. So, you know, first first road game, you know, you'll probably tell us a lot about our our our young guys.
00:46:29
.0Bill Walker
ye
00:46:33
@NoConfForOldMen
That's right, yeah.
00:46:37
Tom Lidiak
Yeah. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not going to bother Kingston Flemings, uh, you know, uh, or, or, or Sennac.
00:46:43
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, probably not.
00:46:47
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:46:48
Tom Lidiak
And then our other guys are experienced. Uh, then you got McCarty and you got a Harwell, uh, who I think sat out because of, uh, some knee stiffness maybe in the Towson game.
00:46:57
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. Precautionary though.
00:46:58
.0Bill Walker
ye
00:46:58
Tom Lidiak
And, and court Cordell didn't warm up either.
00:46:59
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:47:01
Tom Lidiak
So he had, he had something going, going on too.
00:47:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:47:05
Tom Lidiak
No, another another good matchup on Sunday for for us after the Oakland game is, you know, to see what see what Auburn has. But you take a look at their there the roster, probably not as talented as Auburn's been, you know, last last several years.
00:47:23
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:47:24
Tom Lidiak
I don't know if that was a factor in Bruce Pearl stepping down, but I'm sure he did the old – think that Dean Smith back in the day, you know, you, you step down right before the season starts. So you can pretty much name your successor.
00:47:39
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:47:39
Tom Lidiak
The difference between Stephen Pearl and Kellen is Kellen has it in writing. And I don't think Stephen Pearl had, had that, had that in writing, but you know, we'll see.
00:47:45
@NoConfForOldMen
Right.
00:47:48
.0Bill Walker
No, but they named him. that He's not an interim. He's he's their coach.
00:47:54
Tom Lidiak
steve Yeah, but was it in writing that when Bruce Pearl, I guess what I'm saying is, was it in Bruce Pearl or Stephen Pearl's contract that when Bruce stepped down that Stephen will be the coach?
00:47:55
@NoConfForOldMen
Not sure.
00:48:06
Tom Lidiak
i don't know if that was in writing or or not. You know, Kellan's, yeah, yeah, Kellan's is.
00:48:10
.0Bill Walker
i've Yeah, I have no idea.
00:48:11
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah.
00:48:12
.0Bill Walker
no clue.
00:48:15
Tom Lidiak
But anyway, so yeah, those are my thoughts on on Auburn.
Final Predictions and Closing Remarks
00:48:19
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, I mean, it's a big early season challenge with Auburn coming in at number 36 in Ken Palm. Big name team from the SEC that really will help cement how the P4 conferences will be perceived this season with all these pre-conference games.
00:48:34
@NoConfForOldMen
But this is a different Auburn team, as you guys had both highlighted, with Coach Bruce Pearl retiring before the start of the season and his son taking over. Now, if you look at the advanced analytics, Auburn's currently 31st in adjusted offensive efficiency and number 59 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
00:48:52
@NoConfForOldMen
But again, small sample size and skewed by their surprisingly tough win over Bethune-Cookman in overtime in game one. But they did right the ship in game two to kind of win over Merrimack.
00:49:04
@NoConfForOldMen
Auburn is obviously very familiar with how we play now, this being the third time in four years having played us. So they should be better prepared on offense against our relentless D than any other...
00:49:16
@NoConfForOldMen
you know, usual typical team, but they also don't shoot the ball very well. 149th in effective field goal percentage. And they've been even worse than us from three point range ranking 284th.
00:49:27
.0Bill Walker
Yeah.
00:49:28
@NoConfForOldMen
eighty fourth is that shocking? I didn't think you get much worse than us, but Auburn's worse, but like I say, yeah, go ahead.
00:49:34
.0Bill Walker
Yeah, well. Oh, sorry. Yeah, like I said, six of 23 game one, it's six in game two.
00:49:41
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah, terrible. But they're also like us in making up for that type of missing through their offensive rebounding where they're seventh in Ken Palm.
00:49:52
@NoConfForOldMen
On D, this is where Auburn's been actually pretty i impressive of the last few years, kind of top 10-ish. But they've dropped their levels this season, as and and especially if you zero in at turning the ball, turning people over on D because their turnover rate on defense is 222nd in Kempong.
00:50:12
@NoConfForOldMen
And defending the three-point line, where they've historically been really good, they're down at 240th in three-point percentage field goal D. So expect us to test the three-point shooting on D and continue to move the ball with a balanced inside-out distribution of shots to hunt for three-point shots on offense this game.
00:50:33
@NoConfForOldMen
Based on the metrics, this is projected to be a six-point win for the Cougs on the road by Ken Palm. Based on what I've outlined and... that coach Bruce Pearl is no longer a head coach. And I think that does matter.
00:50:45
@NoConfForOldMen
I'm now predicting a slightly bigger win in this one. I'm also expecting it to be a much tighter rotation in that game versus the first three games. And we'll come out with an 8.75 to 67 win on the road.
00:50:59
Tom Lidiak
Yeah, Seth's probably not playing this game.
00:51:00
.0Bill Walker
Nice.
00:51:02
@NoConfForOldMen
Yeah. but Yeah. I don't think he's going to play either. So but But we'll see. This is exciting. It'll be our first test, and fingers crossed that we come out with a W.
00:51:13
@NoConfForOldMen
So that's it for this 62nd episode of No Conference for Old Men podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it. And again, would really appreciate it folks would follow, subscribe, or collect our podcast, depending on your podcast platform of choice.
00:51:26
@NoConfForOldMen
We are also available via the Republican Football podcast feed from the folks at Dave Campbell's Texas Football as the only basketball-centric podcast. We're at the gocooks.com website for those that prefer to digest the content that way.
00:51:38
@NoConfForOldMen
We appreciate the continued support from all. Also, please give us a follow on our Twitter account, No Conference for Old Men. Thank you all again for listening. And be on the lookout next week, where we'll also start to cover a few other Big 12 games.
00:51:52
@NoConfForOldMen
So you can download and listen as our next episode drops. Take care, everyone.