30-4; 15-3, Big 12 Conference regular season champions
They say that defense wins championships. Well, Houston’s defense has already won them a Big 12 title which lots of people didn’t see coming, along with a #1 seed. What more can it accomplish?
In sports, the word ‘dominant’ gets thrown around a lot. The Cougars are one of the few teams which truly deserves to be called dominant. Their defense has not just been the best in all of college basketball this year: it’s been the best by significant, measurable margins. And that’s not all: Houston is also home to a consummate leader, the type of local hero whose ascent to stardom has mirrored his team’s rise to new heights. It’s a team coached by a burgeoning icon who has succeeded at different stops and across a period of decades. The Cougars have a deadly marksman who can win games virtually by himself. And there’s the tough-as-nails veteran big man…
Yep, if you’re looking for all the classic trappings of a legendary college hoops squad, Houston fits the bill. All that remains is to get out there and win it all – but there are some other legendary teams out there, hoping to stand in the Cougars’ way.
Jamal Shead is the heartbeat of the Cougs, and he has proven to be as consistent and as clutch as any player in the country. Really, he is everything that a fan base hopes for when an experienced star decides to return for their senior season. Back in the American Athletic Conference, Shead was named all-conference and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year last winter. Moving up to the Big 12 – widely accepted as the best and most competitive conference in America – was seen as quite a challenge for Houston and its fourth-year star.
Not only has the team acquitted itself as champs: Shead has been named all-conference, Defensive Player of the Year, and the Big 12’s Player of the Year. Outside of the trophy case, you’ll find Shead all over YouTube. Head on over, type in ‘Shead game-winner’, and scroll for awhile. Appreciate the different approaches and tough angles from which he has launched buzzer-beating shots. This article will still be here after you’ve become acquainted with the level of clutch which Shead has established. His jump shot can come and go, but Shead has improved its consistency and range each season – and his sliders take a jump on late-game attempts, as you’ve undoubtedly just witnessed. He finished Houston’s first Big 12 season ranked third in assists and second in steals, and Shead led the league in assist percentage.
After arriving as a transfer from Baylor this spring, LJ Cryer picked right up where he left off as one of the Big 12’s most feared shooters. His fit as a floor-stretching counterpoint to Shead in head coach Kelvin Sampson’s backcourt has made sweet, sweet music all season. Cryer provides another proven shot-maker when the Cougars matched against top competition. Neither he or Shead is an overly large player, but their handles and smarts count for more than any measurables. Cryer is a reliable secondary ballhandler, and has become accustomed to seeing plenty of defensive attention as he works around screens and fights for open space on the perimeter. Comparatively new to the scene is Emanuel Sharp. A redshirt sophomore who began last year as a bench contributor, Sharp has grown onto a key scoring option and a second serious deep threat this winter. Sharp has hit at least three triples in a game 11 times this year, showing a talent for swinging momentum by hitting shots in clusters. A bigger, physically stronger shooter who can cruise the lane more effectively than can Cryer, Sharp is a score-first charger and will clearly be a focal point of the team forward.
Up front, Houston has one of the country’s most voracious rebounders; and it is in the paint that the true greatness of their defense comes into focus. Houston plays ‘monster’ pick-and-roll defense like no other team, often locking down the middle of the floor and forcing even the highest-quality opponents to settle for contested jump shots – when they can get a shot off, at all. Not only does Houston guard people closely and abrasively: they force lots and lots of turnovers, and block lots and lots of shots. During the regular season, the Cougars forced a turnover on 24.8% of their opponents’ possessions, per Bart Torvik. Houston finished first in Torvik’s Adjusted Defensive Efficiency. They also led the nation in points against per game, average score margin, field goals per game allowed, and opponent shooting percentage.
The voracious rebounder is named J’Wan Roberts, and every bit as much as does Shead, Roberts sets the tone for Houston. Like some warrior king of old, Roberts leads his teammates by example: and since Sampson demands grit & physicality in the post, that means Roberts is the roughest, toughest dude around. He’s also one of the best offensive rebounders in the nation. Despite the jump up in competition – and attrition around him as the season has gone on – Roberts finished third in the Big 12 in offensive boards, and has converted 23 putback attempts, per Hoop-Math. He also ranked third in the Cougars rowdy new league in player efficiency rating: and Roberts is the top-ranked individual player in the nation by College Basketball Reference’s Defensive Rating statistic.
With all of the pieces Houston has, the biggest roadblock between the Cougars and a natty may in fact be the trainer’s room. Three of the team’s top reserves – #3 big man JoJo Tugler, veteran guard Ramon Walker, and high-flying wing Terrance Arceneaux have all been lost for the season due to a variety of injuries, knocking bigger and bigger holes in Sampson’s rotation. Combined, the trio averaged more than 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 45 minutes played per game. Thus, the pressure on Houston’s other players has ratcheted up continually throughout the season; and now, Sampson must hope that they are not overly taxed at the finish line. Young forward Ja’Vier Francis – who has started all of the Cougars’ games – and veteran wing Damian Dunn in particular will be counted on to keep providing quality minutes.
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