Houston Roundball Review Archive: November 2006 men's hoops MP3s

Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tom Penders after Coogs' HUGE win over PV

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- I'm not going to spend too much time talking about Wednesday night's 47-point win by the Houston Cougars over the Prairie View A&M Panthers (101-54).

No offense to PV; but, the Coogs are much, much better than the Panthers.

Coogs' junior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver set a school-record by making nine three-point field goals as he tied his UH career-high 33 points.

Jahmar Thorpe added 20 points (on 8 for 9 shooting).

The game was close at 15 to 11; then, the Coogs shifted into high gear and the rout was on.

Houston improves its record to 4-1 with the victory.

Coach Tom Penders gave his take on the game to the media afterwards.

Oddly, enough the Coogs are still missing "...three frontline players..."

Link to this post

Tuesday, November 28, 2006
JVG after Rockets 82-75 win over T-wolves

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets simply don't play an exciting brand of basketball.

Period.

However, this season they are playing winning basketball which is the bottom line.

Before Tuesday's match-up with the Minnesota Timberwolves I noticed the T-wolves attempt less field goals and less free throws than the Rockets; as a result, I assumed the game would be low scoring because neither team would take a lot of shots.

My assumption, this time, proved correct.

The Rockets defeated Minnesota 82 to 75 before an announced crowd of 12,709 at Toyota Center.

Yao Ming and Kevin Garnett tied for game-high scoring honors by each scoring 25 points.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Saturday, November 18, 2006
Willis Wilson and Morris Almond after the Owls loss to North Texas

HOUSTON, TX (Autry Court) -- The Rice Owls have been an inconsistent basketball team the past few seasons.

Thus far, this year's team is following a similar pattern: get blasted by 38 points to Gonzaga; bounce back the next night with a good nine point win over Colorado State; then, lose to a North Texas team who didn't have their leading scorer (Kendrick Davis) due to an injury.

Saturday night at Autry Court, Rice lost 71 to 69 to North Texas.

All-American candidate, Morris Almond, did his part on offense with 38 points (15 for 29 from the field); however, no other Owls player scored in double-figures.

The game began with Rice in a fog. North Texas jumped to a 15 to 11 lead before the Owls awakened from their slumber.

The Owls went on a 18 to 0 to lead 29 - 15 with 5:52 remaining in the first half.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Penders after Coogs win over Monmouth

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- I admit it. Before I read the game notes, I expected the Houston Cougars to roll over Monmouth today.

However, after I read the game notes, I learned Monmouth was a good ball club. Kudos to the notes.

Houston defeated Monmouth 89 to 80.

Despite forcing 28 turnovers, the Coogs just couldn't put MU away; but, the bottom line is UH got the victory.

Houston was led by Oliver Lafayette's 29 points. Robert "Fluff" McKiver added 25 points.

Monmouth was led by senior guard Dejan Delic's 33 points.

Here are a few of UH Coach Tom Penders' post-game comments: "...Monmouth is a very good team..."

Link to this post

Saturday, November 11, 2006
T-Mac: Yao is the best center in the league

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- I've said it before. In fact, I mentioned it Friday evening to some friends before the Rockets and Knicks played: Yao Ming is the best center in the NBA.

I know some people will disagree; but, I know two people who definitely agree.

The first person has to be Eddy Curry of the New York Knicks.

Curry was dominated (and embarrassed) by Yao Ming Friday night in the Rockets 103 to 94 victory.

Yao blocked at least four of Curry's shot attempts in the first half alone.

Yao finished the game with 35 points; 17 rebounds; and seven blocked shots while Curry finished with only seven points and five rebounds.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Thursday, November 9, 2006
Penders Discusses Three Newest Cougars

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- University of Houston men's basketball head coach Tom Penders announced that Horace McGloster, Brockeith Pane and DaShaun Williams have signed to play for the Cougars in 2007-08.

The official release is found here; however, Coach Penders talked to the media about the three players before today's practice.

Coach Penders: "...impact players..."

Link to this post

Coogs' Lanny Smith still "experiencing some pain"

HOUSTON, TX (Hofheinz Pavilion) -- I spoke with Houston Cougars senior guard Lanny Smith before the Coogs' practiced today.

He told me he feels only about "50 or 60 percent" following surgery to repair the cracked seismoid bone in his left foot.

Lanny is still unsure if (and when) he'll decide to play this season or sit out the entire 2006 - 2007 season and return for 2007 - 2008.

Listen to the interview: Lanny Smith -- "...experiencing some pain..."

The Coogs tip off the season with a road game at Rhode Island Monday, November 13.

Link to this post

Saturday, November 4, 2006
Rafer after Rockets Blow out Win over Mavs

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- To be honest, if I had a chance to predict which team would win in a blowout in a Houston Rockets - Dallas Mavericks match-up, 99 times out of 100 I'd say the Mavs would be that winner.

Well, that one time out of 100 happened Saturday night at Toyota Center.

The Rockets overwhelmed Dallas 107 to 76. Yao Ming destroyed Dallas by dropping 36 points (12 for 16 from the field and a perfect 12 for 12 from the foul line).

Kirk Snyder added 12 points off the bench while Luther Head scored 17 points in just 20 minutes of action.

However, the key to the engine was point guard Rafer Alston.

Rafer scored 14 points; but, he also dished out a game-high 12 assists as well as add a team-high eight rebounds.

On top of that, Rafer did a good job defending Mavs' point guard Jason Terry.

Terry shot 0 for 5 from the field and scored just 1 point in the game.

Realize this: the Rockets waxed the Mavs by 31 points and Tracy McGrady scored just eight points.

Check out Rafer Alton's comments after the game: "...we got after it defensively..."

Link to this post

Battier after Rockets Rout of Mavs

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Rockets started a forward tandem of Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes Saturday night versus the Dallas Mavericks.

Personally, I didn't believe that tandem would be successful unless Shane Battier was more aggressive on offense.

Shane only took six shots versus the Mavs; but, the Rockets didn't need Shane's shots because the rest of the team made up the difference in a huge way as the Rockets rolled over the Mavericks 107 to 76 in front of a sold-out Toyota Center crowd.

I'm still not convinced a Battier-Hayes tandem will work long-term; however, the Rockets got a win Saturday night.

I spoke with Shane after the game to get his take on the victory; Yao Ming's dominant performance; and the difference from Saturday's win over the Mavs to the loss at Utah.

Shane: "...competitive edge..."

Link to this post

Listen to more archived MP3s.