Houston Pregame Analysis

[Niastri]

I have not seen Houston play this year except the Rutgers game. They're certainly physical, but not intimidating in size. They should've lost to Rutgers, if not for Rutgers well... being Rutgers (choke job). If we can penetrate and Quincy brings his A game, I think we can beat this team. We do rely a lot on the 3 point shot, and Houston does a good job of taking that away... but Buddy can hit the mid range shot. Quincy can do damage down low. Marek can generate offense, and has been like a point/center. We're going to have to pound the boards like there's no tomorrow. Anyhow, let's just play our best ball and work our 2-3 zone magic, and we can win. The guys know that the after Houston, the higher seeds are gone. It's a dream setup for a return to the Final Four! Let's Go Orange!!!

Buddy's probably going to need to receive the ball, pump fake and attempt to drive, either for pull-up or to draw fouls.

 

[two3zone]

I think we see little of Jesse Edwards in this game. They are heavily Guard oriented team and unless Marek gets into Foul Trouble (Capital F Capital T) we will stay 6-7 deep. Griffin and Brazwell are going to be key for us. If they have high production in terms of scoring this game we win. We need rebounding against this team and Jesse Edwards does not really help our cause in this case. However, we all have been wrong about every player on this roster at least once. LOL. Go CUSE.

We stay 6 deep we lose big.

 

[two3zone]

Well, Syracuse lost to Rutgers, so...

No Buddy.

 

[UpstateSM]

Just by the numbers their three point defense is good but the AAC was 25th in overall 3P%. They didn't play many teams that can shoot like we can.

Rebounding is interesting. Rutgers struggles on the defensive boards (not as much as we do) and Houston actually rebounded a higher % of their misses than they usually do. But Rutgers still should have won that game.

Houston's offensive rebounding numbers are very good and I am nervous about it but not as much as I was going into either UNC game. We tend to struggle with bullies on the offensive glass like UNC or even West Virginia. Houston's offensive rebounding is 99% effort. If our forwards want to rebound and if Joe keeps crashing the defensive glass we should be able to hold them under their average of 39.9% of their misses.

They really struggled offensively against Rutgers and while our defense isn't great compared to SUNJ it's different than anything their players have ever seen and we're playing it as well as we have in a long time. Throw in Deeky Jarreau's injury, who is by far their best passer and playmaker, and its not far-fetched to think they struggle to get open shots within 25 feet.

They're a beatable team and there is far too much time in-between games for me not to convince myself that we should win.

 

[AlaskaSU]

being lazy with the ball doesnt automatically mean turnovers. but against a team like houston its more likely to.

JG's A/T = 1.7 Kadary has a better handle but all point guards make mistakes. JG is relatively solid with the ball. I hold my breadth when he drives. Houston's star point guard is 1.8

 

[TexanMark]

They are uber athletic, quick and can run. Dont let their lack of height fool you. They are very strong on the boards. Louisville is the team in the ACC they are similar to. I think we need to go big on them.
Bras Q Gumby Edwards Buddy.

Here is a video of the team at practice
They will challenge you with great defensive intensity. The refs will be huge in the game how close they call it.

Edwards better be ready...I expect we'll see him play 15+ mins.

Ht: coogfans.com forum

 

[Cusefan0307]

So Houston is a nice team, but I can't get past the fact they lost to Tulsa and East Carolina this season. That would be like Syracuse losing to Northeastern and BC. I will be very disappointed if we lose. I get their KP ranking, but I would be more worried facing Loyola.

 

[TexanMark]

So Houston is a nice team, but I can't get past the fact they lost to Tulsa and East Carolina this season. That would be like Syracuse losing to Northeastern and BC. I will be very disappointed if we lose. I get their KP ranking, but I would be more worried facing Loyola.

We had to come from behind to beat Bryant by one point...crap happens in season

 

[Cusefan0307]

We had to come from behind to beat Bryant by one point...crap happens in season

Agreed. The East Carolina loss was by 9 points though and when I read about it they were down one starter and one key reserve. I don’t think we blow them out, but I do think their schedule was incredibly weak.

 

[Niastri]

Agreed. The East Carolina loss was by 9 points though and when I read about it they were down one starter and one key reserve. I don’t think we blow them out, but I do think their schedule was incredibly weak.

You know who else had a weak strength of schedule? Gonzaga.

We aren't playing Houston's schedule, we are playing them. Being far and away the best team in a bad conference doesn't make you bad. If they had this kind of record in any power conference, they would be number 1 overall.

 

[Cusefan0307]

You know who else had a weak strength of schedule? Gonzaga.

We aren't playing Houston's schedule, we are playing them. Being far and away the best team in a bad conference doesn't make you bad. If they had this kind of record in any power conference, they would be number 1 overall.

Houston is not even close to Gonzaga’s level. Gonzaga destroyed Virginia/Iowa/Kansas and beat West Virginia. I don’t see anything remotely similar about the 2 teams.

 

[cuseincincy]

It is apparent that some of you have watched Houston play and not just read their clippings. I have watched this Houston team play a ton over the past few years and probably 10 times this season as they are in the AAC with UC and we get almost all their games. Bottom line is...Houston gets after it. Grimes may be the leading scorer while Gorham is their leading rebounder but make no mistake...Jarreau is this teams best and most important player and the "straw that stirs the drink." The whole roster is aggressive and athletic and strong but Jarreau amps everything and everyone up.

It will shock you how they are able to rebound but that's what the forwards are there for and Grimes and Jarreau are the 2nd & 3rd leading rebounders. You will also find yourself asking "which one was that?" as the waves of guards come at us. Houston will play 6 guards against us. They are not a great shooting team.

Now here's the important part, and we know teams like this. Houston is so aggressive on defense that the refs cannot possibly call every foul they commit. To put it another way, this guy would fit right in on this team...

I like our chances a lot better if Jarreau is limited but we will have to earn this win regardless.

 

[skurey]

Houston was 77 in SOS
Syracuse was 50

 

[Niastri]

It is apparent that some of you have watched Houston play and not just read their clippings. I have watched this Houston team play a ton over the past few years and probably 10 times this season as they are in the AAC with UC and we get almost all their games. Bottom line is...Houston gets after it. Grimes may be the leading scorer while Gorham is their leading rebounder but make no mistake...Jarreau is this teams best and most important player and the "straw that stirs the drink." The whole roster is aggressive and athletic and strong but Jarreau amps everything and everyone up.

It will shock you how they are able to rebound but that's what the forwards are there for and Grimes and Jarreau are the 2nd & 3rd leading rebounders. You will also find yourself asking "which one was that?" as the waves of guards come at us. Houston will play 6 guards against us. They are not a great shooting team.

Now here's the important part, and we know teams like this. Houston is so aggressive on defense that the refs cannot possibly call every foul they commit. To put it another way, this guy would fit right in on this team...
View attachment 198752

I like our chances a lot better if Jarreau is limited but we will have to earn this win regardless.

I'll happily accept 5 bad charge calls in exchange for them to call the handcheck properly.

I wonder if that is why they get so many fouls called, their propensity for "tough defense."

 

[Niastri]

We stay 6 deep we lose big.

Losing two of Braswell, Richmond and Edwards to a short rotation would be killer. They have really sparked the improved play.

 

[syrBossHogg]

Hopefully we stay out of foul trouble ourselves. Was looking pretty scary at one point during Sunday's game

 

[syrBossHogg]

 

[Doc5120]

You know who else had a weak strength of schedule? Gonzaga.

We aren't playing Houston's schedule, we are playing them. Being far and away the best team in a bad conference doesn't make you bad. If they had this kind of record in any power conference, they would be number 1 overall.

Gonzaga had a stronger schedule than us, 37th overall. The Gonzaga "plays a weak schedule" narrative is simply wrong.

Agree with you on Houston. I don't care who they played. We are playing them and they are legit. And more importantly, they play hard. We need to be ready with our "A" game if we're going to win.

 

[721Comstock]

Houston has played a bunch of mid-major scrubs in March.

And Rutgers.

Ok, so I probably didn’t need to parse them out.

They’ve played:
Memphis
Tulane
Memphis
Cincy
Cleveland St 15 seed
SUNJ 10 seed.

Memphis x2 and Rutty were all 1 possession wins

Meanwhile, our stats came against:
UNC
Clemson
NC State
UVA
SDSU 6 seed.
WVU 3 seed

There’s just a sliiiiiiiiiight difference in difficulty of schedule between these 2 teams in March.

 

[Orangezoo]

You know who else had a weak strength of schedule? Gonzaga.

We aren't playing Houston's schedule, we are playing them. Being far and away the best team in a bad conference doesn't make you bad. If they had this kind of record in any power conference, they would be number 1 overall.

Gonzaga went 8-0 vs Q1. Houston went 2-1.

 

[Orangezoo]

At the end of the day here is the thing with teams like Houston who are Top 15-25 teams with weak schedules but who also are good teams. It's the second round and sweet 16 that are the telltale for how good these teams really are. They usually end up getting beat in one of those two rounds if their rating is inflated. So Houston is going to find out as will we just how good that team actually is. Are they better than WVU? Their seed is, their schedule isn't considering WVU took Baylor to OT and Gonzaga to the wire for example.

There are no gimmes or teams you are going to beat with an off night or poor effort now. So both teams know if they don't show up they are going home.

 

[Niastri]

My Gonzaga comment wasn't exactly backed up by reality, I guess.

I just picked the first really good team from a weak conference that came to mind.

Mea culpa

 

[cuseincincy]

My Gonzaga comment wasn't exactly backed up by reality, I guess.

I just picked the first really good team from a weak conference that came to mind.

Mea culpa

Don't beat yourself up too bad. Their conference stinks. To Few's credit he went out and scheduled the best he could nonconf. I have a hard time believing they would be undefeated playing in the ACC but they did beat the ACC's first place team by 23 points on the road, so there's that. Kansas, WVU, Auburn, Virginia, Iowa and BYU 3 times is good competition. My problem is they had to put forth little effort in any of their other games. This year it appears irrelevant because they are really really good. I so wanted to talk about how overrated Timme is but have been nothing but impressed by him.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Houston is not spectacular, but they are solid. As has been stated above, they have a handful of athletic and high motor players that make plenty of effort plays. The game could get physical and ugly, which favors them. Low scoring type game. In past years it's favored us (see 2018), but our team this year should prefer a more fluid, higher scoring game.

 

[Orangefan1]

We really can't rely on using the season any more as a metric. Only ones that matter are the last few games. Houston is a good team but I think we will be up for the challenge. They were lucky to get out of the second round honestly.