Cougars Host No. 19/23 SMU (L 76-66)

Sad, sad, sad. Really bad refereeing but our bigs didn’t even show up. I’ll be so glad when Chicken graduates. I wish him much success in life, much more than he’s had on the basketball court. Maybe he can hang around European basketball. . I don’t know how much more I can stand seeing him drop another inside pass.

SMU has a very good basketball team, and they deserved to win. Still - it is also true that the refs won this game!

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Foul trouble and free throw misses were our undoing in the second half.

A lot of no shows but glad we sold out. Very entertaining but refs made it frustrating at the end.

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Oh god! Fabian White is only 6-7. Is he really consider a BIG. I hope CKS doesn’t play him at Center.

Chris Harris is a long shot. He is only listed as a freshman at San Jac. Galen Robinson would make a great back up pg,

I saw a lot of empty seats also.

Best case scenario for next year. Valentine is a quality back up at 5 for Brady. Rob Gray returns for his senior year, and Corey Davis signs with UH.

Tough loss for our Coogs.

But, how about our swimming team. They won their first ever conference championship.

Can you believe it!!!

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02.18.17 Houston vs SMU Press Conference

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This game is yet another example of why we need not just bigs, but SKILLED bigs. Meyer and Chicken just take up space. Why did Nkali only play 6 minutes? He’s our best rim protector. I can see why Davis averaged just 3 minutes a game at Indiana a few years ago. Hopefully he can be developed.

One stat from one of the ESPN announcers simply amazed me. SMU commits the least fouls in the nation. Now you know why they get away with bumps when they get called on us. Because they have a reputation when our guys drove the lane and got bumped nothing was called, yet the exact same thing happened when we played on defense our guys got called for it. How many times did fouls get called on Rob or Chicken with their hands STRAIGHT up in the air while standing still? Un-freaking-believable.

Don’t get me wrong, SMU is simply better than we are right now. It’s a damn shame they need help from the refs however.

Nkali probably didn’t play much because he fouls a ton. With the refs calling what they were in the 2nd half, Nkali would have been out of there quickly.

I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but I thought Meyer played well. He provided energy early and was getting a hand on the ball a ton in the first half. SMU started hitting shots in the 2nd which made Meyer obsolete. He’s not great, but he did what he could.

Chicken never does well against length and athleticism. Team never really tried to get him involved in the offense and he’s not one to crash the boards. He played solid D when he was in, but the refs started calling every touch a foul which hurt Chicken the most.

Davis was great early, and was good late. Remember, he’s not in game shape yet and the excessive fouls on Chicken (as well as the cut above Chicken’s eye) forced him into playing more minutes. He’s not great on defense, but he’s solid offensively and does provide toughness on the boards. Fouls hurt him as well.

COOGS were fighting hard until the 4 fouls in 46 seconds and the 4th foul on Gray at the end of that sequence. Gray was beginning to take over and suddenly had to sit. Completely changed the complexion and the COOGS couldn’t respond fast enough. By the time they did (when Gray came back in) it was too late.

Are the refs at fault? Yes and no. Tourney teams fight through adversity and our guys haven’t done that this year. CKS has been harping on that all year, and they’ve shown signs of life at times, but last night it took them too long. Still, they battled a top 15 team to the wire even with the refs screwing them. Season isn’t over yet; let’s see how they respond against UCONN.

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This is a great analysis for one game and a terrible analysis on the season. You think between Chicken and Nkali, that Chicken is the waste of space? What a joke.

Lastly, we don’t know what this team will look like next year at this point, but CKS will get this team to be up among the leaders in the conference. He has done that throughout his career.

I wasn’t comparing them on the season. Chicken is definitely proof though that the star ranking system is a joke. He hasn’t played anything close to what he was ranked coming out of HS. What was it a high 4-star?? As far as Nkali, I thought he should have played more than 6 minutes. Meyer contributes little unfortunately he’s got something our few other bigs don’t have, size. Sampson needs to start recruiting on a much better level regarding our bigs. Of course if I was a highly skilled big playing in Houston I wouldn’t want to play for UH. It’s not like those kids dreamed of playing at the Hof. The PSJ days might as well never have existed to them.

We’re at where we’re at and I don’t see us getting any better honestly. We can contend to win 20 games a year, and maybe an NIT bid. Why would greater Houston area kids want to play in front of 500 people at home? I mean it takes a ranked opponent to sell out? Houston doesn’t deserve ONE division 1 basketball program, much less the three it has.

I’m just venting here. Everyone who comments here are diehards I know.

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Yeah because a skinny power forward being the entire front court for 30 minutes a game is the best way to show why he was rated 4 stars in high school. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why his numbers were better as a sophomore than they are as a senior.

Frustrating loss, but an illustration of how far this program has come in less than 3 years under CKS.

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So 9.9 points on 40 percent shooting and 5 boards (his soph numbers) a game are 4 star worthy? Even Coach is always on him about his effort. Sometimes he doesn’t show up, sometimes he does. He just never should have been rated that high and these unreal expectations wouldn’t have been placed on him.

Danrad is a marginal D1 player.

Google Search Link: SMU rallies to defeat UH - Google Search

Eight consecutive points as the University of Houston junior guard single-handedly fought off a comeback from No. 19 SMU.

Then a 46-second span changed everything.

Gray was called for two quick fouls - his third and fourth of the game - and the Mustangs took advantage of him being on the bench to rally for a 76-66 victory Saturday at Hofheinz Pavilion to snap the Cougars’ five-game winning streak.