Kelvin Sampson Best Team Ever?

Basketball
385

This was CKS answer to my question to him when he was doing coaches road tour through Dallas.

Question: How is the team looking?
CKS: This is my best team ever

As UH fans we would think he is talking about all time UH teams, but he said my best team ever. With over 700 wins, I think he has seen a few college teams play.

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386

I wish to express and convey my gratitude and thanks for introducing to the words of my vocabulary a cool new word.

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387

This might be the best and deepest “team” ever, maybe.

But the best talent ever, was the 82/82 Phi Slama Jama team, that I watch numerous times. Olajuwon, Drexler, Young, Micheaux, Franklin. ALL 5 WERE DRAFTED BY NBA TEAMS. ALL 5. That will never happen again.

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388

Yeah but we’re talking Sampson teams. But also I’m pretty sure they default to greatest team ever if they reach where we hope they reach

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389

i think you mean rob williams., instead of franklin

but it wasn’t drafted in the same year
 1 in 82, 2 in 83, 2 in 84

next years team could beat that

Milos - draftable prospect in 26
Harwell - projected 1st rd in 26
Arcenueax / Sharp - both can play their way into the draft in 26
Cenac - projected lottery pick in 26
Tugler- projected early 2nd in 25 and 26

Fleming - projected draft pick in 27

not counting that mercy, mccarthy and mcfarland have NBA measurables

our team next year could have more than 7 picks when its all said and done

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390

Interesting potential debate brewing over which team is better, this year’s team or Phi Slama Jama. Its way to early to have that debate until the end of the season.

391

I just don’t see it for Arcenaux, I know he is still recovering but I’m just not impressed

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1.) No, Rob Williams turned pro the year before. He was also drafted in NBA. See list below. The 5 I listed were all on same team and all drafted by NBA.

2.) You’re crazy. You are betting on Harwell, Cenac, Fleming, guys who haven’t even played one minute in college, along with Arcenueax and Tuglar, who right now, would definitely not be drafted by NBA. You are saying they could beat Phi Slama Jama, ALL who were drafted by the NBA? ROFLMAO. Crazy.

Roster

  • Glossary
Player Class Pos Height Summary
Michael Young JR F 6-7 17.3 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 2.4 Ast
Clyde Drexler JR F 6-7 15.9 Pts, 8.8 Reb, 3.8 Ast
Hakeem Olajuwon SO C 7-0 13.9 Pts, 11.4 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Larry Micheaux SR F 6-9 13.8 Pts, 6.8 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Benny Anders SO F 6-5 5.9 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Alvin Franklin FR G 6-2 4.8 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 2.6 Ast
Reid Gettys SO G 6-7 3.4 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 6.1 Ast
Dave Rose SR G 6-4 3.5 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Eric Dickens SO G 6-0 2.6 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 2.4 Ast
Derek Giles JR G 6-2 1.5 Pts, 0.6 Reb, 2.4 Ast
Bryan Williams SR F 6-7 1.2 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Renaldo Thomas FR G 6-2 1.4 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Gary Orsak SO F 6-7 0.9 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.0 Ast
David Bunce SR C 6-10 0.5 Pts, 0.7 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Dan Bunce SO C 7-0 1.0 Pts,
393

he has all the tools
 he just a mix of better confidence (aggressive) and a bit more tighter on the handles and their is literally few things he can’t do.
defense is already elite, 40% from 3
drives too

he is so close and so far at the same time
what he is puting on the floor now isnt close to nba (so far) but what he needs to fix to get there isnt much (so close)

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394

the lowest cenac is one any early NBA draft mocks is 8, as high as 3
 Cenac is definitely getting drafted and a 1 and done

Harwell isn’t a lock but i feel pretty good about him


“Tuglar, who right now, would definitely not be drafted by NBA” - Tugler at this very moment is projected 2nd round by every draft site
ESPN’s main draft guy just last week were bragging about his hakeem percentage (combined block and steal %) being #1 in the nation
 tugler as is 2nd if he came back and added any legit offense he could ne 1st round next year

“You are saying they could beat Phi Slama Jama” this was never the conversation
 the conversation wasmost talented, and you are using the number of players drafted as the criteria
5 was the number and you said that couldn’t be beat

any reasonable person would list these 3 as likely picks

  • cenac
  • harwell
  • tugler

i have confidence in but more projection:

  • milos - currently only on a few top 100 big boards, and mostly outside the top 60 (not drafted), but i think he can play his way in
 his stock took a big jump the last week, it could get boost to get him drafted this year
  • Kingston- i dont think he gets drafted in 2026 but i do feel confident that sometime over the next 4 years he will be

that’s 5

maybes within the realm of possibilities

  • Arceanueax - at 6’7 -7ft wingspan and 2.5 years of eligibility - was a projected 1st/early 2nd round 1.5 years ago
 1st round dreams are likely dead, but with 2.5 years left, and his measurables, he can play his way into the 2nd round
 he has the measurables
  • Sharp - is on a few top 100 big boards

NBA measurables but too early to tell

  • Miller - 6’4 top 50 recruit, elite scorer in HS
  • McCarty 6’6 top 70 recruit, 7ft wingspan elite shooter
  • Mcfarland 6’11- top 100 4star center - toughted for guard like agility (with 4 years to work on a shot)

dont write off this tier
 reminder sasser and shead came in as 6’1/6’2 3star guards

  • obvious note is tugler and milos could leave this year

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395

You can’t compare Phi Slama Jama with almost any other team. You had an all time NBA top 5 player (Hakeem), and another all time NBA top 50 player (Drexler), and another first round draft pick (Michael Young). They had the misfortune of playing the college championship game at high altitude, which cancelled their athleticism advantage.
Now the current Sampson teams could play them well in a college game because our current players are good college players, but they can’t sniff phi slama jama’s NBA performance.

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396

next year’s team will have plenty of blue chip 5 stars but less experience and experience is crucial in this system.

we lose: Roberts, Cryer, Wilson, Walker.

Possible returning players with significant experience (We could lose 1-2 of these guys to NBA)

Uzan - PG
Sharp - W
Francis - C/PF
Arceneaux - SG
Tugler C/PF

return with a little experience
Miller - SG
Laith C/PF
Jefferson - PG/SG

practiced
McCarty SG/W
McFarland C/PF

New Freshmen

Cenac - PF
Harwell - SG/W
Flemings - PG
Jackson - SG/W

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397

Two different games, two different styles of play . . . . . Only way to even consider if current team is the best ever - win the natti . . . . .

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398

im 95% sure we are trying to get ramon a medical redshirt

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399

Yeah, I either heard Sampson say something to that effect or the info came from conversations with the coaches.

Having him around next year’s crew of newbies would be a great asset.

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400

Francis still has eligibility after this year??

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402

It was a different game in 1983. No shot clock and no 3 point line.

If Dream had had the luxury of defenses having to guard the perimeter, he would have been unstoppable. Everything back then was zone and big man oriented. A shot from 30 feet was the same as 2 feet


It was all about pounding the ball down low or have guys who could dribble drive and elevate.

Michael Young was the guy that would have been a super duper star with a 3 point line.

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403

Francis I think is out of eligibility

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404

Nope