I think he meant lately under Penny.
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Memphis has definitely underachieved since Cal left. That really isn’t a debate because even their fans will tell you that.
As for whether or not UH has ever had dominance over Memphis, I dont think you can just look at two programs H2H to determine that. Sure the H2H skews in favor of Memphis (although you have the numbers way off, its actually 20-33 UH-Memphis), but that’s primarily because of the Cal era, where at one point they beat us like 18 times in 21 tries. That run included an 11 game winning streak as well. If you isolate the Sampson era, we’re 7-4 against Memphis. We’ve also had more success within the league (i.e championships), nationally (i.e rankings), and in the postseason (i.e tournament success) during CKS stint as well. You could also dig back in time to find other periods where our program has eclipsed Memphis.
Nevertheless, I think your point stands that overall Memphis has been a tough team for us and that the current outlook says things won’t be getting any easier anytime soon.
Oh also our current winning streak is 3 games against Memphis, just fyi.
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Yes, I did a search for “UH vs Memphis all-time basketball records” and found the data I noted above on uhcougars.com. However the data on uhcougars was not our “all-time” but rather “from 2000 thru 2021” - the last 20 years during which we mostly shared a conference. And the reported 2 game UH win streak apparently did not include our last AAC tourney win up in Fort Worth.
That AAC tourney game was a very tough match-up for UH, and I can report that the Memphis fans sitting near us are not accustomed to losing to UH. They would have ridiculed me if I had tried to claim that we were “dominating” them. When our recent games have gone down to the last few seconds or were decided by the last shot, that’s clearly not “dominating” by or to anyone.
Look I’m on record as saying Memphis was really good last year and probably the 2nd best team we played, after Baylor obviously. And I also think they’re going to be really good this coming year. That said, we’re currently 5-1 against Memphis in the Penny era, with the one loss being a 1 point loss on the road. We’ve also had T-25 finishes the last three seasons, with a S16 and F4 appearance to boot (and possibly could’ve had a third deep run had it not been for covid). The Tigers for their part haven’t sniffed the tourney so far under Penny. We’ve also won 2 regular season league titles and a tourney title in that span (probably should’ve been 3 regular season titles). The Tiger’s on the other hand have finished 3rd, T-5th, and outright 5th the last three years. So while I fully recognize its a small sample size, the reality is we’ve dominated Memphis during the Penny era. Memphis fans can laugh and ridicule us all they want for saying that, but it doesn’t make it not true. And that’s hardly the only window where we’ve out performed their program. We were a better program for the entirety of the Guy V. era. Memphis had a great run in the early days of C-USA, while we were in the dumpster. I’m sure its given some of their fans big brother syndrome, but big brother to us they definitely aren’t. We’re very much on their level historically and right now (which is what matters the absolute most), we outpacing them.
Also side note: Anytime you want to look at our H2H’s or any other team for that matter, just head to basketball reference. They have a tab on each teams page that links you to every H2H series they have. Super useful resource for these kind of conversations.
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JP destroyed their program but it was more like a slow death because they had talent and could still recruit at a solid level.
Eventually the pieces at the level they are recruiting will fall into place. Could be this season, but the real measure will be consistency.
I think Penny can coach individuals but I think he’s lost strategizing team ball on the fly. Part of it is that he’s so emotionally invested. I’ve seen him get frustrated several times and turn the huddle over to his assistants.
Great head coaches are as focused in the final minute as they are in the film room. You have to have a core philosophy that you trust and revert to every time.
When Sampson is against the wall he calls a TO and re-asserts his defense…every time.
Its because he’s bred defense into his players’ DNA. When things get tough go straight to what you do best.
Penny just seems to yell at his guys to shoot straighter.
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He’s taught them defense. They have had elite defense the last two years, but for some reason he doesn’t coach offense even decently. Brown will most likely fix that.
They should be good if team chemistry is even adequate
Part of me wonders how much their elite defense has to do with sheer athleticism as opposed to good coaching though. I’m not offering an answer as much as just wondering.
With the kind of athletes Memphis has, their full-court press reminds me of watching UH run (what Coach Guy V called) the 100ZA (full-court) press in the early years of Hofheinz Pavilion. IIRC, there were times that we were up 10-0 before our opponent was able to advance the ball past mid-court.
[NOTE: I entered UH when Hofheinz Pavilion was first opened for the 1969-70 season and I attended most, if not all, of the home games for the next 4-5 years. During the first four (4) years, I think we lost only one (1) home game in there - to Arizona State in 1972 by 1 point, although we came right back to beat them by ~12 points the next night. Some kind of odd scheduling quirk.]
Exactly. Every year Memphis has long, athletic guards who are able to disrupt passing lanes with those long arms and ability to move their feet. There is obviously some coaching on technique, but I have to think a lot of that is sheer ability as well. Meanwhile, every year, Sampson has elite defensive guards in the 6’0" - 6’2" range.
I guess I’m referring to in-game coaching. He loses it.
Sounds like Emoni may go to Oregon or Memphis if he goes the college route. Has two visits coming up–
Wed. Memphis
Fri. Oregon
Emoni = show me the money - NIL - Memphis (Fed Ex) vs Oregon (Nike)
Deeply and Q are like 6’5” so that was not the case last year. Also, team defense definitely take coaching or you screw up your assignments and get torched.
Rasheed Wallace is joining Memphis’ coaching staff. He will be reunited with Larry brown.
Kind of flattering what Memphis is having to do to try and beat us.
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I for one love what they’re doing.
I say BRING IT ON!!!
Helps us get more battle tested and good for our conference.
We all know 5* athletes doesn’t guarantee anything.
We’re certainly not backing down from anyone.
As for our history compared to theirs. It’s NO comparison!!
Six Final Fours.
Three of the Greatest NBA players of all-time.
And oh yeah we beat them in the NCAA tournament as well.
Look forward to this rivalry getting amped up!!
Still remember beating Keith Lee in the tournament
Clyde had a popular dunk against Andre Turner when he flew over the top of him. AT was a solid change-of-pace PG for the Rockets later in his career.
a bit self centered to assume they are doing all this to be only us.
one would have to assume, they are doing this to be EVERYONE.
I mean it was a joke but there’s definitely some truth to what I said. Go ask Penny who he’s most concerned about beating next year. I guarantee you it ain’t USF or ECU.