Houston Cougars are a Threat to Win the National Championship

It’s getting to that time of the year when college basketball becomes the center of attention in the sports world. March Madness is still a few weeks out, but the top teams in the country are doing their best to get into “playoff mode” as they prepare for making a run in The Big Dance.

The Houston Cougars are one of those teams trying to position themselves as a possible top seed in the NCAA Tournament. Houston is currently ranked #5 in both the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 Poll.

I’ve seen the Cougars on television several times and have been impressed with the overall talent on the team. The defensive prowess of this current Kelvin Sampson team is impressive. However, I got the opportunity to see this Cougar team up close and personal when they visited Arizona State recently.

Houston beat the Sun Devils by 15 points. It was a fairly resounding 80-65 win for the Cougars. Right from the beginning of the game Houston was imposing their will on Arizona State. The Cougars were trapping the Sun Devils guards and were doubling ASU down in the post area. The other aspect to the Cougars defensive tenacity was that with all the trapping they were not committing a ton of fouls and they were getting deflections which created fast break points or caused the Sun Devils to turn the ball over. The Cougars also beat the Sun Devils on the boards. The bigs for Houston were bigger, stronger, quicker than what Bobby Hurley could throw out there to try and stem the tide for his team.

Sun Devil big man, Jayden Quaintance, was a non-factor after Coach Hurley pulled him in the first half. Quaintance got two quick fouls and didn’t seem to have the explosiveness that Hurley said he was having in practice. Jayden was coming off a two game absence because of a sprained ankle. He ended up playing only 14 minutes for the Sun Devils.

Houston is trying to do something that the school has never done and that’s win a National Championship in basketball. The Cougars have not been been to the National Championship Game since the days of Phi Slama Jama which included Hall of Famers, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, and head coach Guy Lewis. This is a team that can get back to the title game and win the championship.

This Cougar team has veteran senior leadership with L.J. Cryer and big man J’Wan Roberts. Watching Roberts up close against Arizona State and the physicality he brings is one of the reasons that this team can be special. Roberts is 6’8″, 235 and nimble. He not only goes and gets the needed rebounds, but he creates space down in the post with his wide frame. He’s averaging almost 12 points a game, 6.7 rebounds per game, and shoots 54% from the field. When the Cougars need a high percentage shot down in the post, Roberts is their man.

L.J. Cryer is another reason this team can be a threat to win the National Championship. Cryer went for 18 points, six assists, and four rebounds against the Sun Devils. His steady play would calm things down for the Cougars when the play on the court got a little hectic. He’s want you want in a guard. The fifth-year guard averages 14.5 points per game, shoots 40% from the field and the 3-point line, and is a 91% free throw shooter. In essence, he’s the player that you want in at the end of the game because he can close out games with free throws and helps keep the team organized out on the floor.

Now, Houston is just not a two man team. I was also impressed with Emanuel Sharp and Mylik Wilson. Sharp is a 6’3″, 210lb guard who will give 12 points per game and will play solid defense. His game against the Sun Devils showed me how much of a disruptor he can be. He got up into the Sun Devil guards body and made life rough for the Devils. He managed to also get deflections on balls as well. He finished the game against ASU with 17 points and four rebounds.

The other player that caught my eye is Mylik Wilson. This guy doubled his season average of six points per game to give his Cougar team 12 points in 23 minutes. Wilson was active in his minutes on the floor. Malik had seven rebounds, a blocked shot, and a couple of steals. He’s the type of role player you need when it comes time to win a National Championship. Wilson will come in and give you a very solid effort on both ends of the floor and make life tough for the opponent while making life easy for his Cougar teammates.

The last piece of this puzzle for the Houston Cougars is their head coach, Kelvin Sampson. Coach Sampson has been around the game of basketball since 1981 and has been either a head coach or an assistant on the college or professional level since then. Sampson has seen it all. He’s tough, demanding, and wants his players to be on top of things regardless of the situation.

One aspect from the Arizona State game that resonated with me about Coach Sampson was the following. The Cougars had a 20 point lead and were in control of the game. One of the Cougar players was called for traveling and Sampson looked at the player, gave him a piece of his mind, pointed to his head to say “Use your head” to that player. It didn’t matter to Sampson that his team was in control of the game, but to Coach Sampson it’s always the right time to play smart basketball. He’s always coaching no matter the score or situation. He wants his players to always be aware of the situation in a game. To me, that is kind of thing that pays off during tournament time.

Houston is going to go as far their defense takes them. They can certainly score in any kind of scenario, but the defense that they play is aggressive and swarming which creates easy points and extra possessions. I’m looking forward to the Cougars making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Michael J. Wilson-The Daily Waiver

Email: [email protected] Instagram: @dailywaiver Tik-Tok: @dailywaiver