From a Tech Hoops Guy

I appreciate the take from a Raider fan! And, I also will be pulling for the Red Raiders the rest of the season.

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We really wanted Peavy. Now I can see why. He’s a future All-American.

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They are really good friends.

I don’t know if this was publicized much, but I think this is the 3rd straight year that UH/Tech have played in DFW. The first two were closed door scrimmages. It’s my understanding that Tech was beaten soundly last year (by 20 or so), and that Tech’s Final 4 team beat UH by a similar margin two years ago.

Beard tells a story about Coach Sampson coming into Tech’s locker room after the first scrimmage and essentially telling our team they were a national championship type team. Beard indicated it really instilled a lot of confidence in everyone
 kind of like, this Coach Sampson might knows what he’s talking about, and he apparently thinks we have might something going on here.

Have been a big Coach Sampson fan after hearing that story.

Beard speaks really highly of Sampson’s son, too. You can tell he thinks he’s got a bright future. Idk how far away he is from getting a HC job, but I’m hoping maybe he’s far enough away to come be an assistant for a year or two at Tech before taking one.

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UH placed the coveted (or cursed) “head coach-in-waiting” label on Kellen when they extended Kelvin.

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The problem with this (from Tech’s perspective)
 is that’s what we are supposed to do to teams. We are usually putting teams in a bind with small ball lineups that make it hard for them to play bigs.

Obviously, that wasn’t our plan against UH because yall’s roster is constructed very similarly. But still, it was concerning to see someone giving us our own medicine with such ease in that regard.

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I think one thing missing from your team this year is a really athletic, bouncy big. On your team that made the championship game you had Tariq Owens. He was the perfect big for the system to go along with Culver.

Its still early and you have an elite coach who will get it rolling so I wouldn’t worry about it. Both teams should get better off the film.

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One thing that doesn’t get discussed much here but is a factor is the UH bigs , while not 6’ 10, seem to be guys with very long arms/wingspans. Like Sampson said about our 6’ 8" recent signee
 he can scratch his knee without bending over. We have athletic 6’ 8ish guys with 7 foot plus wingspans.

Kevin McHale was that way for Boston. Played longer than his athletic ability because of those arms.

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Exactly and our bigs don’t need to be a force on offense for us to be elite. What they to do is be able to defend the other bigs of elite programs.

Our bigs are rarely going to have big RPG numbers because their primary responsibility when our opponent puts a shot up is to block-out. That’s why our wings have ridiculous numbers on the boards

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I was surprised that Houston only leads the series 29-27 in men’s basketball over Texas Tech. That just shows how bad Cougar basketball had gotten.
I know TT has had a lot of good basketball teams over the years but I thought UH would have a better record over TT.
But then again the Pittsburgh Pirates have won more Major League Baseball games than the New York Yankees. It’s because the Pirates began playing 21 years before the Yankees.

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I seem to remember a few times at TT where a extra time was added at the end of the game, in their old arena, yielding Tech wins in the SWC.

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Because the timekeeping was part of the officiating crew lol. Tech was right up there with Arkansas in having a loyal officiating crew

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It was such an instance with a game against Tech that led to Guy’s decision to retire

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Randy Randel, I was just getting ready to say the exact same thing. I wasn’t at that game in Lubbock but knew it really upset coach Lewis to lose that way when the winning basket came well after the game buzzer sounded.
Some of us old timers remember the same thing happening in the 1970s at Jacksonville. I remember how livid UH radio announcers were (may have been Art Casper) when Jacksonville made a shot that clearly came well after the buzzer as well.
UH and Jacksonville had a four-game series and every game was heated and hotly contested. Neither team wanted to continue playing each other. Bad blood all the way around. Even though beating Jacksonville at the Hof with Artis Gilmore was most exciting basketball game I’ve attended.

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My dad has always talked about the games vs Jacksonville and the play of Jerry Bonney vs their twin towers

Yup. Missing a Tariq Owens this year.

Was jerry related to Jewdon Bonney?

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No,

I agree with you. The Jacksonville game was the loudest I have ever heard Hofheinz. My ears were still ringing 30 minutes after it was over. I remember Dwight Davis got 4 fouls in the first half, and I was sure we were finished - but Guy moved him out on the wing and he never fouled out. He kept hitting 15’ jumpers. The Jacksonville game and the semi-final game with Louisville in '83 were the most exciting Cougar games I have witnessed.

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One of the most fun times I ever had in Hofheinz. Lined up early with friends to get in and had great seats. Here is an old SI article about the game.

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