Obviously, there are big differences:
- there is more parity nationally now
- there are multiple teams getting a lot of attention instead of only 2
- they are in a tougher conference
- they have a few losses- no pandemic
etc.

But they are similarities:
- Houston has been pretty dominant in most of their games this year
- they have multiple great players
- regular season conference champs
- CoY
- defensive PoY Is Shead their Davion Mitchell?
- huge wins over Kansas & Texas
etc

What do you think?

You forgot what they had the most in common: Cryer.

Great point. However, as great as Cryer was for us it seems to me that he played limited minutes during the tournament & he wasn't as important as Flagler or EJ in those games.

I see a lot of similarities. I don't think this Houston team is quite as good as that team was, but they're constructed similarly.

Shead, Sharp and Cryer give them one of the best guard corps in the country. And Roberts and Francis are really good dirty-work guys a la Vital and EJ.

I don't like Kelvin Sampson at all, but he's built a really good, complete team.

Sounds reasonable. The 2021 Baylor squad was truly special.

ImABearToo said:

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Houston is gritty and a bunch of grown a$$ men.

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And they commit tons of obvious fouls that go uncalled... well more than what is typical in college ball.

TinFoilHatPreacherBear said:

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ImABearToo said:

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Houston is gritty and a bunch of grown a$$ men.

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And they commit tons of obvious fouls that go uncalled... well more than what is typical in college ball.

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So did we in 2021. So there's another similarity.

Defensive intensity/effort gets rewarded in the college game.

And what kind of conspiracy explains that?

I think they play really hard, and they do remind me of our NC team. But they still have a lot to prove.

They're very top heavy with a lot of their key players being seniors. Not sure they'll be doing this next year.

Bearfan21 said:

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They're very top heavy with a lot of their key players being seniors. Not sure they'll be doing this next year.

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I'm sure they'll take a step back. But Sampson's done a really good job of reloading there in a way that's allowed them to sustain success. Their last three seasons have featured a Final Four appearance, an Elite Eight appearance and a Sweet 16 appearance. If they do what they're capable of in this year's tournament, they'll have a better four-year run than just about any team in the country can boast.

They're not very talented offensively, and the overall conference is down this year compared to prior years.

Big wins over KU are good, but this is not an impressive KU team so it does mean less to beat them.

Houston's defense is right there with the 2021 team's defense. That will take Houston far.

BUT their offense is not nearly as dynamic as our 2021 offense. In 2021, against Villanova, our shot wasn't falling and CSD came out of halftime telling the team "no outside shots." We flipped to option two and killed Nova by getting the ball to the basket. We erased the deficit and cruise to a comfortable victory.

I don't think Houston has a potent second offensive punch. If a team gets Houston out of their primary offense like Nova did to us, I don't think Houston can win that type of game because Houston can't turn to
Option 2.

That's a function of how Sampson builds his rosters. He wants Uber physical, big guys who will play super physical D and clean up the glass. Those types of dudes aren't typically gifted offensive players.

IvanBear said:

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They're not very talented offensively, and the overall conference is down this year compared to prior years.

Big wins over KU are good, but this is not an impressive KU team so it does mean less to beat them.

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They're 14-3 in QUAD 1 games and 11-3 away from their home court with ranked road wins at BYU and Baylor.

They're a really good team. Every objective measure reinforces that conclusion.

bear2be2 said:

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IvanBear said:

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They're not very talented offensively, and the overall conference is down this year compared to prior years.

Big wins over KU are good, but this is not an impressive KU team so it does mean less to beat them.

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They're 14-3 in QUAD 1 games and 11-3 away from their home court with ranked road wins at BYU and Baylor.

They're a really good team. Every objective measure reinforces that conclusion.

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Relative to this field they have nice wins. Doesn't change they're not that talented offensively. Their only top ten win is over an overrated Iowa state who also sucks offensively. Their only other marquee win is over us which again, isn't that impressive.

They play hard nose defense but they really don't do much else. They haven't been well challenged. They look like a lesser version of their final four team we crushed in 2021.

That's still a good team but nothing about Houston screams it even belongs in a discussion of all time greats

The offensive skill and talent are miles apart. The systems are totally different. Gonzaga and Baylor 21' are way better than any team this year.

Toughness and rebounding emphasis, sure. That and a leader at pg although Mitchell was better on both ends.

I am thinking they are more like 2021 Gonzaga. Ranked #1 in the home stretch. They had better stay hungry. We were one missed free throw away from beating them in our last meeting.

Offense isn't nearly what ours was in 2021 which could be their undoing in the tournament once they get into foul trouble.

Defensively, my personal take is they're up there with our 2021 team (technically the efficiency metrics have them quite a bit better).

OkieBear12 said:

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Offense isn't nearly what ours was in 2021 which could be their undoing in the tournament once they get into foul trouble.

Defensively, my personal take is they're up there with our 2021 team (technically the efficiency metrics have them quite a bit better).

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I think they are better than we were defensively, and we were very good.

We were better offensively, but they do a lot of the same things Scott Drew teams do to earn extra possessions/field goal attempts with offensive rebounds.

This Houston team is objectively good. People have been trying to pick them apart for months, and all they've done is gotten better.

bear2be2 said:

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OkieBear12 said:

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Offense isn't nearly what ours was in 2021 which could be their undoing in the tournament once they get into foul trouble.

Defensively, my personal take is they're up there with our 2021 team (technically the efficiency metrics have them quite a bit better).

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I think they are better than we were defensively, and we were very good.

We were better offensively, but they do a lot of the same things Scott Drew teams do to earn extra possessions/field goal attempts with offensive rebounds.

This Houston team is objectively good. People have been trying to pick them apart for months, and all they've done is gotten better.

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This is an insane take, they're easy to pick apart, it starts with a bad offense. They should have beat TCU by 40 today, but they couldn't score. They're very thin on the bench after injuries. They won't be favored if they play UConn or Purdue.

This Houston team is far from even a unanimous pick to win this big 12 tourney. No one sees them in any kind of transcendent category. They're a good defensive team in a down year for college basketball, that can get you places in the regular season, but will likely get you blown up in the tournament.

I still maintain the Houston team in 2021 was better than this one, and that team couldn't even compete with Baylor.

both 19/20 and 20/21 Baylor squads would beat this year's Houston team, as well as anyone they would play in the NCAA tournament this year

its a shame the postseason was cancelled in 19/20

we may have won 2 titles in a row if all the guys with eligibility decided to come back

IvanBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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OkieBear12 said:

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Offense isn't nearly what ours was in 2021 which could be their undoing in the tournament once they get into foul trouble.

Defensively, my personal take is they're up there with our 2021 team (technically the efficiency metrics have them quite a bit better).

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I think they are better than we were defensively, and we were very good.

We were better offensively, but they do a lot of the same things Scott Drew teams do to earn extra possessions/field goal attempts with offensive rebounds.

This Houston team is objectively good. People have been trying to pick them apart for months, and all they've done is gotten better.

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This is an insane take, they're easy to pick apart, it starts with a bad offense. They should have beat TCU by 40 today, but they couldn't score. They're very thin on the bench after injuries. They won't be favored if they play UConn or Purdue.

This Houston team is far from even a unanimous pick to win this big 12 tourney. No one sees them in any kind of transcendent category. They're a good defensive team in a down year for college basketball, that can get you places in the regular season, but will likely get you blown up in the tournament.

I still maintain the Houston team in 2021 was better than this one, and that team couldn't even compete with Baylor.

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They're 14th nationally in offensive efficiency. To suggest they're bad offensively is an ignorant take.

thales said:

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both 19/20 and 20/21 Baylor squads would beat this year's Houston team, as well as anyone they would play in the NCAA tournament this year

its a shame the postseason was cancelled in 19/20

we may have won 2 titles in a row

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Maybe. But if we had won it al in 2020, it's likely none of those guys would have returned. They would have gone to the draft like they did in 2021. Also, if their eligibility was done they wouldn't have returned. Without covid, there was no extra year.

Lastly, some might argue the reason they were so good in 2021 is because they had an extra year to practice & play together. I think they still would have won it all although maybe the same way. Again, all guess work.

The problem this year is defense snd consistency. They have messy spells on both sides: long scoring droughts and defensive lapses that allow other teams to go on long runs. These things can be disastrous snd help to account for at least some of our losses.

Tenacious D
Strong guard play

I don't think they are as deep as BU was.
If they have no further injuries between now and selection Sunday, they will be my pick to win it all.

The defense translates, but that Baylor team had more offensive weapons and firepower.

With the landscape of college basketball shifting and more teams making noise, it's tough to make a direct comparison.

The comparison is good with both teams playing to their potential, I would give UH a slight edge on defense, but we have an advantage on offense particularly half-court. Wish UH well except against us.

IvanBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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OkieBear12 said:

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Offense isn't nearly what ours was in 2021 which could be their undoing in the tournament once they get into foul trouble.

Defensively, my personal take is they're up there with our 2021 team (technically the efficiency metrics have them quite a bit better).

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I think they are better than we were defensively, and we were very good.

We were better offensively, but they do a lot of the same things Scott Drew teams do to earn extra possessions/field goal attempts with offensive rebounds.

This Houston team is objectively good. People have been trying to pick them apart for months, and all they've done is gotten better.

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This is an insane take, they're easy to pick apart, it starts with a bad offense. They should have beat TCU by 40 today, but they couldn't score. They're very thin on the bench after injuries. They won't be favored if they play UConn or Purdue.

This Houston team is far from even a unanimous pick to win this big 12 tourney. No one sees them in any kind of transcendent category. They're a good defensive team in a down year for college basketball, that can get you places in the regular season, but will likely get you blown up in the tournament.

I still maintain the Houston team in 2021 was better than this one, and that team couldn't even compete with Baylor.

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I agree with you to an extent on the conference and cbb overall. But once teams start pulling off game after game in tough situations, you have to give credit. I get it.. a strong offensive team with top talent can really pick Houston's scheme apart. That wasn't the case with 21' Bu's. So against top offensive teams.. I would probably take 21' Bu's defense in a couple game setting. Houston's consistent motivation and effort is better. This is what separates them over the course of a season. 21' Bu coasted at times. But when its time to show up.. I would take 21' Bu.

21' Houston was slightly more talented (than this Uh team) as they had a player who is a legit nba contributor. We just made them look bad. Its very close but think this Houston team is slightly better as Shead is a really good college player. Not afraid of the moment.

The difference outside of talent and size is obviously the guards. Mitchell is better than all of their guards. Butler is as good, probably slightly better, than Shead (better offensively, not quite the level defensively.. but good) and way better than Cryer or the other dude. Teague is also a significantly better overall player than Cryer or the other guy. Basically we would have 3 of the best 4 guards.. and it isn't even close.

Several here think they would give UH the edge on defense over our Natty team, which is laughable IMO. How quickly we forget what an elite defense we had our Natty year. Vital and Davion were IA and IB individually the best defensive players in college hoops that year. Teague with his high IQ, superior length, and anticipation was an absolute elite perimeter defender but was overshadowed by Vital and Davion. Butler was a well above average defender and Flo was a good positional defender (I think we have recency bias re: Flo because of how awful he was for us last year after he gained all the weight). We even had EJ off the bench with his incredible agility and lateral quickness giving him the ability to guard every position 1-5. If UH wins the title on the strength of their defense, maybe we can make a comparison. But our team that year was one of the better defensive teams in NCAA history, and I'm not even mentioning how superior our offense was relative to this Houston team, so let's tap the brakes before mentioning Houston in the same breath.

Actually we were not a fouling team. Our defense was dominant that year due to cohesion/connectedness, switchability, lateral quickness, IQ, and anticipation. Not overt, brute physicality.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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Actually we were not a fouling team. Our defense was dominant that year due to cohesion/connectedness, switchability, lateral quickness, IQ, and anticipation. Not overt, brute physicality.

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Davion Mitchell, Mark Vital and EJ were extremely physical defenders. They, like four of the five members of Houston's starting five, were elite defensive players, but they got away with a lot.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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Several here think they would give UH the edge on defense over our Natty team, which is laughable IMO. How quickly we forget what an elite defense we had our Natty year. Vital and Davion were IA and IB individually the best defensive players in college hoops that year. Teague with his high IQ, superior length, and anticipation was an absolute elite perimeter defender but was overshadowed by Vital and Davion. Butler was a well above average defender and Flo was a good positional defender (I think we have recency bias re: Flo because of how awful he was for us last year after he gained all the weight). We even had EJ off the bench with his incredible agility and lateral quickness giving him the ability to guard every position 1-5. If UH wins the title on the strength of their defense, maybe we can make a comparison. But our team that year was one of the better defensive teams in NCAA history, and I'm not even mentioning how superior our offense was relative to this Houston team, so let's tap the brakes before mentioning Houston in the same breath.

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There are objective ways to measure defensive efficiency, and our 2021 team, as good as it was, doesn't stack up at all favorably with this year's Houston team defensively.

We allowed four more points per 100 possessions, which is a significant gap. For reference, that's a wider gap than the one that separates this year's Baylor team (up to 59th nationally) from Purdue (20th).

We scored five more points per 100 possessions, which is also significant. And why I think our 2021 team would handle this year's Houston squad.

But this Houston team is better defensively than we were.

Quinton said:

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IvanBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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OkieBear12 said:

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Offense isn't nearly what ours was in 2021 which could be their undoing in the tournament once they get into foul trouble.

Defensively, my personal take is they're up there with our 2021 team (technically the efficiency metrics have them quite a bit better).

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I think they are better than we were defensively, and we were very good.

We were better offensively, but they do a lot of the same things Scott Drew teams do to earn extra possessions/field goal attempts with offensive rebounds.

This Houston team is objectively good. People have been trying to pick them apart for months, and all they've done is gotten better.

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This is an insane take, they're easy to pick apart, it starts with a bad offense. They should have beat TCU by 40 today, but they couldn't score. They're very thin on the bench after injuries. They won't be favored if they play UConn or Purdue.

This Houston team is far from even a unanimous pick to win this big 12 tourney. No one sees them in any kind of transcendent category. They're a good defensive team in a down year for college basketball, that can get you places in the regular season, but will likely get you blown up in the tournament.

I still maintain the Houston team in 2021 was better than this one, and that team couldn't even compete with Baylor.

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I agree with you to an extent on the conference and cbb overall. But once teams start pulling off game after game in tough situations, you have to give credit. I get it.. a strong offensive team with top talent can really pick Houston's scheme apart. That wasn't the case with 21' Bu's. So against top offensive teams.. I would probably take 21' Bu's defense in a couple game setting. Houston's consistent motivation and effort is better. This is what separates them over the course of a season. 21' Bu coasted at times. But when its time to show up.. I would take 21' Bu.

21' Houston was slightly more talented (than this Uh team) as they had a player who is a legit nba contributor. We just made them look bad. Its very close but think this Houston team is slightly better as Shead is a really good college player. Not afraid of the moment.

The difference outside of talent and size is obviously the guards. Mitchell is better than all of their guards. Butler is as good, probably slightly better, than Shead (better offensively, not quite the level defensively.. but good) and way better than Cryer or the other dude. Teague is also a significantly better overall player than Cryer or the other guy. Basically we would have 3 of the best 4 guards.. and it isn't even close.

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Baylor's 2021 guard corps is in the running with two or three other teams in the history of college basketball for the best ever. Houston is not on that level.

But relative to this year's field, their guard play is elite. Shead, Cryer and Sharp are all excellent college players, and Dunn and Wilson give them length and depth off the bench.

The only thing I can see potentially sinking Houston before the Elite Eight is foul trouble because without Tugler they are very thin in the frontcourt. But Sampson has built a really good team that plays extremely hard on both ends.