For me, this season just got a lot less stressful. Expectations are obviously lower and some young guys who weren’t going to get a ton of minutes are now going to get a lot. My expectations for next year (assuming Sasser comes back) have shot through the roof. Looking forward to sitting in my Section 115 seats for every home game and cheering on this team. Go Coogs!
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Like I said before, losing two starters, and Mark would have started, for complete seasons is something I am not aware of ever happening at UH in one season.
Both are huge losses, no doubt, two kids who can play defense and score, not to mention being really good free throw shooters.
In my mind we certainly need for other players to step up.
While Carleton doesn’t have the greatest hands in the world he has proven that he can score around the basket and he will be a key going into AAC play.
We need senior Fabian to really step up. I have actually been pleasantly surprised at his ability to hit the trey and his ability to drive the lane and get off that little hook shot.
Like Pesik said earlier the one thing Fabian has to do is stay out of foul trouble.
Edwards can be lights out on some nights but those lights can be burned out at other times. But he is a super key component to this team. Let him keep shooting…
With the loss of Mark and Sasser we lose some of our ability to beat a press,. and everyone knows Memphis is going to throw a mean one at us…and with our lack of ball handlers I am sure others will try to exploit us in that area.
To me, we have a lot riding on the development of former three star Ramon Walker.
He seems to fit our culture and coach loves him, so that is good enough for me. He has been compared to Armoni and I think he will be that type of shooter/player in time.
Walker is also an above average free throw shooter, and with Mark and Sass gone, we are going to need all the good free throw shooters we can muster.
My expectations have certainly lowered for this team, but my enthusiasm hasn’t.
We are still going to be a good team with a great coach. Sampson will put what is left of the puzzle together and we will all be proud when all the smoke clears.
I am not thinking Sharp will play this year, but the even better news is that coach knows a lot more than me.
Looking forward to the rest of the season…go Coogs
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Jamal Shead is going to have to step up.
He’s going to have to take the reins and score and playmake.
Tough task, but I think he can do it. He just needs to be aggressive.
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Shead has already stepped up beyond expectations. He is going to need help as he captains the ship
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I have been beyond bummed after seeing the news of Sasser last night. I’m upset for him and the dream our team had of what they could accomplish in March. I’m glad that both Tramon and Marcus put their health first and made the right decisions for them. Hope they both have speedy recoveries and come back even stronger.
We’ve been fortunate to not have had season defining injuries so I hope that with Fabian last year and now 2 core guys going down this year that we’ve had more than our share for the next few years. CKS will pull the team together this year and they will exceed expectations I’m sure. Great opportunity for young guys to step in and grow. It’ll be fun to see how this goes.
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Jamal and Kyler need to step up their games. They do that, and we’ll be fine.
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This season…
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I thought there was no chance he was coming back next year now he could come back if he doesn’t like what the NBA tells him when he sends out feelers.
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Wow that’s a real bummer for Marcus! He was primed to make serious noise in conference play.
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We still have 10 guys on scholarship plus Ryan.
I think Taze Moore is the key. Height wise he is a Guard but leaping wise he is a Forward.
Seems logical that shooting 3’s becomes less of an objective. Playing more of an Inside Game might be a necessary change.
We have White, Chaney, Carlton, Roberts, and Francis as Bigs. Serious talent.
Guy V. played 3 Bigs and 2 Guards. But his Bigs could be versatile. Michael Young and Clyde Drexler could hit outside shots and could dribble. Previous players such as Louis Dunbar could also do that.
Might see a High-Low post with Fabian at top and Carlton down low.
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Opportunity time for Ramon Walker. I expect he will surprise and impress the fans.
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the issue is that the inside game is the one thing our conference is good at t defending… half the aac teams will zone, the other half has elite shot blockers
cincy’s only noteable strength is that it has 4 top tier rim protectors, as an example
These are high character players CKS recruits. I expect this team to surprise us all. Best of luck to Sasser and Mark and all of our players.
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sharp is an espn100 6’4 4star, absolutely none of them have intentions of playing 4 years their freshmen year, so in regards to his desire i think thatll be obvious. theres a recent interview where he notes he is underrated at 80, and its a reflectant on him not playing aau and that he should be atleast top 30
also there is an extremely small sample size of early enrollees in basketball becuase it hurts the player and the team… the team losses a ship for a year they cant use, and for it to be worth it the kids would need to be extremely good… kids that are normally worth it dont want to kill their senior year, as it would remove them from McDonalds all american consideration and other awards
but note its about to be a lot more common, because of covid and NIL… money means more than awards to alot of these players, covid is cancelling most of the allstar games … memphis had 1 last year who played, James Graham from maryland last season…
and most noteable Shaedon Sharpe at kentucky for the upcoming season
my gut feeling is that he plays, but misses the next few games…its almost a guarantee that we lose a player for atleast 1 game, (covid or injury)… we are going to need bodies
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Apparently we just lost The Cincy game.
And probably the Temple game too.
Next season…… 
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bigmccoog–
In the late 70s we lost Cedric Fears and Darnell Roper two front court players to knee injuries for the season. Fears was set to be our “go to” big man. We had a chance to be a good team that year, and it really handicapped us. We had lost Birdsong, Ciolli, Walker, etc to graduation and it was a transitional time that still had potential.
So the last time this happened was 40 years ago.
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