Here's to the Cougars
Joel Blank: A tournament to remember, and another play to forget for UH
Mar 19, 2018, 5:28 am
Kelvin Sampson did what he said he would do when he took the UH job. UHCougars.com
If you are University of Houston basketball fan you know that your memories are filled with more heartbreak than they are celebration. Of course there was the Lorenzo Charles put back that prevented the legendary Phi Slama Jama team from winning the national championship, and in the process vaulted Jim Valvano and his NC State Wolfpack to one of the most memorable championship game finishes in NCAA tournament history. There was the loss to Georgetown in the title game in 1984 and the Final Four loss to Michael Jordan and the North Carolina Tar Heels in 1982. So Saturday night's loss to the University of Michigan at the buzzer can now officially be added the legacy of heartbreaking defeats for the Coogs in the NCAA tournament. But with that said, it should not be lost on fans of the program that Coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff did what they said they were going to do when they came to the university, and put Cougar basketball back on the map.
When Sampson left his job as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets to take over the University of Houston basketball program, he said his goal was to return the team to prominence. He knew the history of the program, from Elvin Hayes to Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler; legends that made their mark while bringing the program and university media attention and publicity. Sampson knew that was then and this was now and now was pretty much night and day different from the successes of the past. He also knew it had been quite some time since the Cougars had won an NCAA tournament game, let alone made a tournament appearance. That's what makes this season so special. The Cougars did what Sampson promised to do and they did so with class and an exciting brand of basketball that energized not only the campus but the entire city of Houston. (At least in the postseason).
Sampson took a team that was predicted to finish in the middle of the pack in the American Athletic Conference and guided them to a third-place finish in the regular season standings and a runner up finish in the Conference tournament. Along the way the team posted several upsets of top 25 teams and impressed critics and experts across the nation. His senior-laden roster was led by the scoring of Rob Gray and the inside presence of Devin Davis. Gray scored 39 against San Diego State, en route to giving the university its first tournament win since 1984. He also scored 62 points in his first two NCAA tournament games, the most since Steph Curry tallied 70 for Davidson. Without Gray's ability to score against Michigan Saturday night, the Cougars wouldn't have been in the game, let alone have a chance to win it. Saturday night the Coogs also would not have been in the game without Davis, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds and made eight straight free throws down the stretch to keep Houston in the lead. Unfortunately he missed three of his final four from the charity stripe in the final minute of the game and that gave Michigan the glimmer of hope they needed to be able to win it at the buzzer.
In the end, you can scrutinize and criticize just like all of the Sunday morning point guards did in looking back at the way the Cougars lost the game. Sure you can point to missed free throws as well as lapses in the defense in the final seconds of the heartbreaking loss. The Cougars almost got burned by a last-second shot against San Diego State because they allowed a three-quarter court pass to connect and give the Aztecs a clean look at a game winning 3-pointer that luckily bounced off the rim to the left. Saturday night similar defense and a lack of pressure on the in-bounds pass allowed a half-court heave to be completed, as well as the outlet pass that led to the buzzer-beating game-winner from Michigan freshman Jordan Poole. Mistakes that they will surely see on film and wish they had to do over again. But what's done is done. The more important thing is to forget focusing on negatives and concentrate on the fact that this team wasn't given a chance against Michigan and would be headed to the Sweet 16 if not for a miracle finish. U of H came in as underdogs to one of the hottest teams in the bracket, a team that most predicted would be a lock for the sweet 16. The Cougars not only gave them a game and covered the spread, they made a statement that this team and this coach were not only worthy of advancing in the tourney, they were damn good, period..
The fact is, this team was an underdog the entire season and they weren't expected to finish in the top three of the conference let alone qualify for the NCAA tournament. When you factor in that the university hadn't won a game in the tournament since Drexler and Olajuwon led the famous Phi Slama Jama appearances of the early 80s, fans of the Cougars need to tip their cap and be appreciative of this team and this coach and this effort that put the program back on the map. Here's to you coach Sampson and to all of this season's team that contributed to a resurgence in Houston Cougars basketball. With a new arena on the horizon, the new basketball practice facility and a new class of recruits coming in, let's hope the future is bright and the best is yet to come.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or nine games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after a 4-8 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez (though not Breggy Bad). A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.