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With all the NBA talent we werenāt the tough Blue collar CKS teams. This was CKS softest team in years inside play
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I kinda look at it like this. We are comparing great diamonds to each other. One has a better cut, another clarity, etcā¦ if I had to rank best teams over the last ~10 years most people default to how far a team went.
Last years team was better than the team that got to the E8 in San Antonio, IMO. That 23? team definitely felt more āSampsonā. That team is likely out in the S16 vs last years Illinois who was 4x better than that fraud AZ team we played.
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100% disagree.
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The 2025-26 team that lost to Illinois in the S16 was better than the 21-22 team that beat/exposed Kerr Kriisa & Zona and then only put up 44 points against Nova (believe thatās the team Hill is referencingā¦) imo as wellā¦
Look at Ramon Walkerās minutes against Zona in 22, 27 minutesā¦ compared to this past season against the Illini, 0 minutesā¦
Roster compare from those games with the player identified that was better when comparing those respective seasonsā¦
Shead (soph) vs Flemdawg - Flemdawg
Edwards vs Uzan - Uzan (basically a draw here)
Moore vs $harp - $harp
Carlton vs Jojo - Jojo
Fabs vs Cenac - Cenac (another draw here)
Bench players
JāWan, Walker Jr., Reggie vs. Sakho, Mercy, Cha$e - 21-22 team had the better bench
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Could not disagree with anything anyone has ever said more
iowa had a complete paper tiger draw. Could NOT have gotten luckier. They struggled BAD in big ten play. They were literally 1 win off the bubble.
I watched them get dogged by Minnesotaā¦ freakinā MINNESOTA! @ehog
iowa isnt scoring 50 on UH, even if squirtz went off. Total confidence you beat the drake hokeyes like a rented mule.
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If we couldnāt beat Iowa, I would have eaten my shoe. Ridiculous. Not a team that could have matched up against us at all.
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The 21-22 team is one of our greatest āwhat ifā stories. Mark and Sasser donāt go down, who knows where the depth could have taken us.
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i disagree with alot of these
-
senior fabian was better than freshmen cenacā¦ i dont even think that is close
-
at sg (not pg) edwwards was vastly betterā¦ vastlyā¦ edwards was a way better defender, rebounders and shooterā¦ (pg uzan and sg edwads is where the draw is, not at sg)
the rest all almost all offense defense swaps
- our best offensive center, vs our best defensive center
- shead even as a sophmore was vastly better defensively than flemingsā¦ Fleming was vastly better on offense
this was sophmore sheadā¦ yall migght eat me up for saying thisā¦ assuming theres any other offensive threat on the starting lineup, im taking sophomore shead over flemmings ā¦ only flemmings if the team needs scoring bad
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If you want to know if we will be tougher than last season just look at the rebounding.
Miller and Chase getting bulk min can be elite positional rebounders.
Gillespie and East both have that reputation to go with Jojo and our new space eating 7-footer. Now add weaver and Jackson and we are going to be consistently cleaning the misses on the offensive end regardless of lineups.
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Classic Cloneā¦
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Yeahā¦ that one was tough but thatās why I said probably a draw, but even then Fabs is probably clearly better for those years compared.
But Flemings was WAY better on offense and rebounding than sophomore Shead and their defensive stats were basically evenā¦ Flemings was a 2nd team All-American and did his thing in the B12 as compared to the AACā¦ Flemings frosh > $headās soph.
Edwards vs Uzan is hard to compare scoring numbers because Uzan was so much lower on the scoring option list than Edwards was on that 21-22 team
Carlton vs Jojo is a swap as you saidā¦ but if Jojo played the entire season like he did the last 10 games + postseason itās a lot closer comparison.
All in all those 2 teams are very closeā¦ if only Fabs hadnāt fallen off against Nova and Cenac against Illinois who knows for both of themā¦
Revised comparisonā¦
Shead (soph) vs Flemdawg - Flemdawg
Edwards vs Uzan - Uzan (I still think this is a draw here)
Moore vs $harp - $harp
Carlton vs Jojo - Carltonās offensive efficiency and production has me revising this to favor him
Fabs vs Cenac - Fabs
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Individual stats donāt make a team ā¦
and insinuating Shead and Flemings were remotely similar in defense with āsimilar defensive statsā is wildā¦ Shead was 5x better in defense than Fleming it is not even remotely close ā¦ itās heaven and earth difference
Shead was also a drastically better play makerā¦ if the team had no offensive scoring talent what so ever, Iād take Flemingā¦ in any other scenerio in sophomore Shead ā¦ Shead was just tougher and way more of a team piece
ā for Edwards and Uzanā¦ you are thinking Iām leaning on scoringā¦ my comment noted everything but scoring ā¦ Edwards was a vastly better defender, rebounder and shooter ā¦ at the sg guard spot, you take Edwards over Uzan everytimeā¦
- also your comment makes no sense ā¦ Uzan came into the season as the #1 scoring option ā¦ he let people jump him . Uzan was the predicted all-American preseasonā¦
This is why people say that you are condescendingā¦ because you are.
And made up stats aka 5x better doesnāt mean sh!t!
Fact is that Flemings had one of the best, if not the best, freshman seasons ever at UH and his season was way better than Shead"s soph season other than distributing the rock.
But I guess 3rd team All AAC is > than second team All-Americanā¦
I wonāt expect you to understand that because you canāt even understand that Jojo is playing the 4 this season because Recc is a better fit at center than Jojo is according to coachā¦ so why would you understand that a second team All-American season is way better than 3rd team All-AACā¦
Yeahā¦ youāre right steals and blocks averages over a season donāt indicate anything even though youāve been trying to use the same average blocks stat against Reccās ability to play defense at center in previous postsā¦
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OKā¦pesikā¦I hope you are sitting down. I agree on most of your takes on this one. Mal was DPOYā¦NATIONALLY! Edwards was a more effective SG than Uzan. Uzan clearly sacrificed for Kingston to Milosā detriment. I admire Uzan for how unselfish he was this past year but he was not as good as Edwards as a true off guard. Edwards was a better defender and rebounder. The fact that MU has a real good chance making the Celticās roster this year as a UDFA says it all. Kingston was probably the most physically talented PG since Rob but he only played one year. Flemings was good in the passing lanes with very quick hands but could not hold a candle to Shead as a on the ball defender.
For those that think this past years team underachieved, I disagree. He were very weak down low. The weakest of any Sampson team. While KF was immensely talented he showed his youth towards the end of the year. Illinois was able to defend him so well because Cenac could not hit a 15 foot jumper. Illinois was not going to change defensively until CC proved he hit that shot. he never did so Illinios never came out of it.
The off season discussion with the staff was that we will NEVER be that young again and NEVER be caught without a low post game. That is the reason you saw Sampson address the roster the way he did.
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He actually had some nice points with some comparisons, but just canāt help to go off on the deep end defending the ridiculous.
Many fans were want to bring in transfers to start ahead of Shead and that was Sr Shead. Yes that was from the uniformed, but donāt try putting sophomore ahead of Kingston.
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I realize Jamal was DPOY his senior year but soph Shead was still significantly better on the ball.
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This isnāt even a discussion imo. Comparing Sophomore Shead to KF is a disservice to Shead. Because you almost have to be negative towards him, when itās an unnecessary conversation. KF was light years ahead of Shead overall. Now Junior/Senior Shead is a different convo. But as a Sophomore, youāre taking KF every single time. Itās not like he was a defensive liability.
Also, in no world was Milos ever thought to be the leading scorer this past season. That was always EMan imo, and anyone who thought different was being daft.
To wrap this all up, I agree that this team did NOT underachieve. Too many people are judging them based on overall talent and not necessarily what it takes to win championships. If it was all about NBA talent, Kentucky and Duke would trade off rings every year. This yearās team may have less NBA talent, but better fits and better pieces like the 2024-25 team.
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@75ZA I think you mean Rob Gray, but us young at heart Coogs also remember Rob Williams.
It kind of reminds me when people refer to Brett Yormark as BY. My brain immediately thinks former Head Football Coach Bill Yeoman.
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