NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL SEMIFINAL: SYRACUSE VS HOUSTON

March 27, 2021

Kelvin Sampson

Hinkle Fieldhouse

Houston Cougars

Sweet 16 Postgame Media Conference

Houston - 62, Syracuse - 46

COACH SAMPSON: Really proud of my team. We had a great week of preparation. Obviously everybody works versus the zone, but I thought we spent more time defensively. Taking away the 3-point line, that's not easy to do. You say go out there and stop somebody. You've got to have clear responsibilities and great communication and you can't get hit by screens.

Buddy is really good off the ball. You watch him the last two games, he got open a lot ducking in and out of those screens. But the key is you've got to stay outside his hips. You can't stay inside them. You've got to be outside. And the big has to help.

But DeJon Jarreau, I thought, was tremendous. He's a tough kid. Smart, too. Very high basketball IQ. Can't be a great defender if you're not smart. And I thought we did a great job of playing down the middle versus their zone. I thought we got the ball inside enough and that was important. They do a good job of fanning out when the ball goes to the high post.

But you've got to get the ball under the basket and down the pipe. So we did a good job at that. Our guys moved the ball well. Having 15 assists on 23 baskets was good and only eight turnovers. We took care of the ball. We passed it. We executed well. And our defense was solid all night. Holding that team to 46 points is not easy. So hats off to my kids. I'm really proud of them.

Q. There was a lot of talk about their zone coming into the game. Did you think your defense was almost overlooked? And what was the key to that type of performance?

COACH SAMPSON: I didn't care about that. We're not much of a storyline. We're Houston. Their Syracuse, the whole -- the defense has been great for a long time. So, rightfully so.

We played really good defense, too, and just went about our business. (Indiscernible) words or try to outshine somebody, it's just -- at the end of the day it's a competition. You're trying to get your kids to compete.

We have a culture and identity we try to play to. I thought that's what we did. Our kids played like we played all year long. We didn't do anything special except have a different game plan. The game plan against Syracuse is the same as having a game plan against whoever else we play. But it's just different players with different skill sets.

The only thing we did different tonight, we didn't double the post because that would have required backside rotations or backside help. And that would have left the shooters open. The one time that Buddy got the foul, DeJon probably should have been in help and he shouldn't have. So next time out we cleared that up. And we didn't make that mistake again.

So every time you play against teams that feast off the 3-point line you have to have a plan how to guard the 3-point line. I thought Marcus, Quentin, DeJon and Tramon, but equally important was whoever was guarding Dolezaj. The guy guarding Dolezaj was as much a part of it as the other guys because he had to come up to the line to stop the ball. And when Dolezaj leaked or rolled to a basket, the other three guys had to load to his side.

So we just talked all week about five people guarding the ball. It's not one person or two people. It's five. Five people had to be in the right spot. And I thought for the most part we were. You're not going to shut them out. But holding that team to 28, what did they shoot from the floor? Wow, I didn't realize they shot 28 percent. And holding them to five 3s, 5-for-23, that's tremendous, tremendous effort on our kids' part.

Really proud of our kids' attention to detail this week in practice. Kellen had the scout report. He did a great job of breaking down their offense and personnel. We were really locked into the scouting report and our kids did a great job executing.

Q. If you could talk about the importance of that 10-0 run to end the half after they had tied it at 20, you responded with a 10-0 run going into halftime. And could you elaborate on Gorham's night and what he was able to do not only offensively but rebounding as well?

COACH SAMPSON: Well, the last part, a big focal point of our offense is attacking through the high post. But you can't stand in the high post. You've got to constantly be ducking in and out to make them have to know where we're coming from. Justin was in, DeJon was in the high post. Quentin was in the high post. Marcus was in the high post.

Had a lot of guys rotating in and out. We never stood. That way one person couldn't have accountability for the middle of the zone. We were always in and out. But when Justin got it, I thought we were at our best at playing high/low. And one thing we told Justin is attack the basket. Because if he could get by his man that means that the 5 man's man had to come over, rotate and help on Justin, which opened up offensive rebounding. There's nobody to block him out because they're in a zone. So, even if he missed it we're in great position to get the rebound and kick it out for another shot or tip it in or whatever.

But the rebounding, it's what he has done all year. He didn't do anything special tonight on the boards. He just did what he's done all year long. Justin's the best rebounder in our conference, in a conference full of good rebounder.

But Justin is motor, motor man. He's got a great motor. Big guys that are athletic with no motors are wasting their skill sets. Justin is not the most talented dude, but there's a lot to be said for his motor. Nate Hinton last year, Justin this year -- we've had a lot of guys that buy into rebounding in this program and none more so than Justin. He was a warrior out there tonight.

Q. The last couple of times you were in the Sweet 16, it was tough the way those games ended last minute, coming down to just a couple of points. I know you're going to play an even bigger game in two days, but what's it mean for these kids, this program, this fan base, just to get back to the Elite Eight? That's a place that this team this program this fan base has not been since 1984.

COACH SAMPSON: How many years is that?

Q. 37 years.

COACH SAMPSON: Just think of all the people that have come and gone since then. I don't know. I'm not even sure how to answer that. I think you should honor the past; I think you should live in the present. 37 years ago is irrelevant to our team. Our team is now.

These kids -- people should be worshipping this team -- should not be worshipping -- you should worship God. But people should be heaping praise on this group of kids.

It's about this group of kids and what they've accomplished and what they've worked to accomplish. I'm proud of them. What happened 37 years ago is -- that was tremendous. That was great. That's one of the great teams of all time. But I don't think any current team plays based on what happened 30 years ago.

Every guy on our team is born in the -- most of our guys were born in the 2000s. So I'm proud of this team and I'm proud -- we're going to live in the moment. I don't think you should -- and I really do mean this: I don't think anybody should say, well, it's about time we did this.

Well, a lot of programs has never done it once. And it's not easy to do. It's hard to win games. It's hard to make the tournament. It's hard to advance in the tournament. But our kids have sacrificed. This COVID thing has been real.

We took a COVID test last night after 10:00. And then we took another COVID test at about 4:30 or 5:00, about 5:00 today. We're constantly being screened and have to wear masks on an elevator with -- the things we do away from the court just to be able to play has been unbelievable.

But this is the University of Houston. Every coach and every player is part of all of our successes. But I think every former player and every former coach should be proud of this team for what they've accomplished. And that's saying something.

Q. Along the lines of the history I know -- I know you're looking forward not backward but when you got here, Kelvin, the cupboard was less than bare. Now you've gotten this team to a level they haven't been in nearly four decades. When you think about that, how does it hit you?

COACH SAMPSON: I mean, it's great. But I've been so locked in on this Syracuse scouting report, it's hard for me to switch channels right now. I'm still on channel 37. I mean, I don't know.

I'm not downplaying or pooh-poohing anything. It's hard for me to answer that right now. I feel exhausted. And I'm proud of our kids and their attention to detail tonight. Beating a team who is playing great. Syracuse is playing good. They have a good team. They're really good.

But as far as that stuff, I don't know how to answer that right now. I'm just focused on that. And as soon as I leave here I'm sure I'll have Oregon State on my iPad, start looking at them on the way to the hotel. The other stuff, we can wait and talk about that some other day. But right now I am proud of our guys, celebrate until I get on the bus and we'll start working on Oregon State.

Q. Are you enjoying the moment?

COACH SAMPSON: My mother always told me I was no good at that. She was smarter than me. I don't know how to do that. Never been much for vacations. Just always thought we needed to outwork everybody, just outwork people.

I'm proud of this team. We have high-character kids. I have no discipline problems. My best player, my best defender tonight, DeJon Jarreau, has already graduated college. I have two other seniors graduating in May. We have a first-class, first-rate basketball program with great kids.

We represent the University of Houston the right way. Proud of our fans. We have great fans here tonight. I could feel them. I heard Syracuse's fans. Syracuse has great fans too. But I know there's a lot of watch parties back in Houston, all over the country.

If somebody finds a way to get me that stuff -- Lauren does a good job, look at this. She was showing me stuff a while ago. That's pretty neat. We've been locked up in the RV park. Everybody has been kind of in an RV, that's what individual floors are like. So we'll go back, jump in an RV tonight, and shut the doors and get ready for Oregon State.

But I want to tell our fans, we really appreciate their support.

And we're 40 minutes away from the Final Four, just like Oregon State is too. Two teams are going to pour our guts out to get to that Final Four. Two days to get ready, and that's what our focus is on.