Tidbits from Coach Kelvin Sampson's un-recorded (oops) Media Session

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POSTED: February 16, 2022 -- 5:58 p.m. CT

Tuesday morning, Head Coach Kelvin Sampson had a media session. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the session wasn't recorded; but, I'm going to touch on a few of the things Coach Sampson mentioned during the Zoom call.

I discuss a few more of Coach Sampson's topics in this "Pawd Slama Jama" episode with Andy Yanez.

Coach discussed the UCF Knights, the Coogs' opponent Thursday night (8 pm on ESPN). He says the Knights have switched to a 4 guard, 1 big lineup since the first time UCF and Houston faced each other this season. UCF's move to the 4-guard lineup will make for a different defensive matchup for Houston's Fabian White; however, Coach Sampson said the Coogs will continue utilizing man-to-man defense.

Coach Sampson also said he would like to see better shot distribution in Houston's offense. He doesn't want to see point guard Jamal Shead taking as many shots as he did the last 2 games (25) compared to the amounts shots Fabian White (18) and Josh Carlton (13) took the last 2 games.

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Coach Sampson acknowledged its easier for teams, including Houston, to double low post players and limit the number of shot attempts. However, Coach Sampson believes opponents are getting away with fouls not being called when guarding Josh Carlton. Coach Sampson did acknowledge Josh needs to do a better job making his foul shots. Carlton is 10 for 23 from the line the last 6 games.

Coach Sampson believes Kyler Edwards is taking good three-point shots. Kyler simply isn't making them right now. Edwards has made 7 of last 32 three-point shots including 1 for 9 against Memphis.

Memphis made a high percentage of their three-point attempts. Houston did not.

Coach Sampson believes he needs to a better job conserving the energy of his players earlier in games in order to help them finish games strong the last 4 or 5 minutes of games.

He believes the national perception of teams in the American Athletic Conference would change if AAC teams won more games and advanced deep into the NCAA Tournament. Coach Sampson believes Houston, Memphis, and SMU are NCAA Tournament teams. But, getting wins in the Big Dance will help form a better perception of the AAC.

Lastly, Coach Sampson encourages the administrators at other AAC member schools to do a better job supporting the basketball coaches and give the coaches the tools and the patience necessary to establish a winning foundation rather than replacing coaches every 3 or 4 seasons.

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