- 15 hours ago
B Scott reacts to the Cougars loss and what’s next for the program.
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00:00U of H losing, I don't think I had even considered until just the shock of being there,
00:06as we were talking about earlier, the Nebraska and Iowa game.
00:08And I was like, you know, coming into this, I was like, you know,
00:11the last 24 hours of Houston sports has been really rough,
00:14but at least U of H is going to win unless they don't.
00:19And I was like, what if they don't?
00:21And so it's like literally the end of the Iowa-Nebraska game.
00:26I'm finally starting to contemplate, well, what if U of H loses?
00:30They could actually lose this game tonight.
00:32And then sure enough, they did.
00:33Fast forward through the game, and we can talk about the game as much as we like,
00:36but you get to the end, and I was just so taken aback when I got to the locker room
00:41and the emotion of it all and how much everybody cared.
00:45And, of course, I do a lot more pro sports than I do college sports.
00:49And there was also a pretty decent dead period or lag between the end of the game
00:56and the availability of the locker room, so I wasn't expecting this either.
00:59But the emotion in there, I got in there, and I'm not going to call any one guy out,
01:03but it's because it was the entire locker room was howling, howling, screaming, crying,
01:08because it meant that much to them.
01:10And I'd also forgotten how young some of the core players are,
01:13and then the ones who are not core players are leaving.
01:16So it's basically, we were talking about this before I got on,
01:19how it's either guys who are one and done, headed to the NBA,
01:22and are indebted to this staff and these teammates and these guys that they spent this season with,
01:28or it's the guys who have spent the last four years in the case of,
01:32or more than that, in the case of Emmanuel Sharp,
01:35in the last couple of years, in the case of Milo Juzan,
01:38Jojo Tugler is somebody who we'll see what happens.
01:41But, like, these are guys that are indebted to the program,
01:43entrenched in the program, and you got to kind of see the emotion of it all.
01:47And that just caught me off guard.
01:49I was not expecting that.
01:50I thought it was going to be more so business than usual.
01:53And it was really, like, end of an era, existential crisis type of feel.
02:00Not to over-dramatize it, but anybody that was there could tell you the same.
02:03Maybe they weren't as shocked by it as I was.
02:05But I was shocked by the emotion that I saw in that locker room.
02:09Okay?
02:10So that's one thing.
02:11Then you fast forward to hearing from Kelvin Sampson,
02:13and I couldn't help but sit with this, okay?
02:16There was a question asked to him.
02:18And this might have been the last question that he asked
02:19or that he was asked at the press conference.
02:22But it was something to the effect of, hey,
02:24what keeps you going in the age of NIL and the transfer portal?
02:28And a lot of your peers, especially the ones who are your age,
02:30are kind of going away from this.
02:32I think we actually have it.
02:33It's Myra Metcalf at ESPN.
02:35Ask Kelvin Sampson about this.
02:36I want you all to listen to this.
02:37And tell me if you think that this is sort of in line
02:40and consistent with the question
02:42and made you not think more about U of H's future in hoops.
02:45I mean, I still like it.
02:49But, you know, we all have our time, you know.
02:53But I think coaches have to understand when their time is.
03:02I mean, we all know this is a young man's game.
03:10I mean, I still like it.
03:12But, you know, I mean, we're all going to step away eventually.
03:19I haven't really thought about that.
03:23Sounds like it has.
03:24To the point where I can share anything.
03:30But I'm not going to get anybody's way, though.
03:34You know, if I'm in somebody's way or if I'm overstaying my welcome,
03:42I'll be the first one to leave.
03:43So, B. Scott, yo, what was that about?
03:46I mentioned it to Reggie before the show.
03:49He was so measured.
03:52A lot of pauses as he's thinking what to say.
03:55A lot of ums.
03:57I'm right there with you.
03:58Yeah.
03:59I'm right there with you.
03:59And I think it needs repeating or it's worth repeating.
04:03This was not a question of, hey, do you want to retire?
04:07Have you thought about retirement?
04:09When do you plan on stepping away?
04:11It was a question.
04:12I talked to Myron Metcalf about this a little bit afterwards,
04:14and we were both kind of a little bit puzzled by the answer
04:17and couldn't, weren't really sure what to make of it,
04:19still trying to figure out what to make of it.
04:21But the question was more so what keeps you motivated in the day of it.
04:25The thing that everyone is lamenting and people that are saying
04:28the reason why we're losing recipes in college sports
04:31and why nobody wants to be a part of it that used to be a part of it.
04:34It's the reason why Hubert Davis very quickly went from just the heir apparent
04:37to Roy Williams to a dude that could not get the job done
04:40anywhere near UNC is that the whole game changed on him.
04:42It's a great point.
04:43It's a great reason.
04:44There's a lot of reason why a lot of people suspect that Nick Saban
04:46is doing college, is doing TV instead of still coaching now, right?
04:50Like the game changed for a lot of people who valued it a certain way.
04:54Is Kelvin Sampson one of those dudes?
04:55What keeps him around?
04:57That was more so the spirit of the question.
04:59He went in a little bit of a different direction
05:00and started contemplating his future while saying that he hadn't really been
05:04contemplating his future while also clearly sounding like a man
05:07who was contemplating his future.
05:09And it all brought me to, long-winded way to say it all brought me to,
05:13we are running out of time with Kelvin Sampson.
05:17At minimum.
05:18At minimum, it's that.
05:19Yeah, and it's almost stating the obvious,
05:21but it's highlighted by the moment and listening to him talk.
05:26And then when you think about the makeup of this team,
05:28I can't help but think about the fact that this was the team you could argue
05:32was most suited.
05:34You can argue last year's team was better certainly because they got to the
05:37championship game, but this was the one.
05:39Like, name me the U of H team from this run that had two first rounds,
05:45two one-and-dones, won a lottery, and then also two guards that had been
05:49to a national championship the year before.
05:50Yeah, right.
05:51Right?
05:51Like, this was a uniquely situated type of U of H team.
05:54I thought that their best chance to win it was last year,
05:58but this was also their best perhaps assembled team set up to win it.
06:02Yeah.
06:03So you don't win it last year.
06:04We understand what happened.
06:05We remember what happened last year.
06:06Then this year, you fall short in the sweet 16.
06:09And then you hear Kelvin Sampson talking like that about his future
06:12on a question that wasn't really directed even toward that type of answer.
06:16It makes me just think about the fact that we're running out of time.
06:18And I would hate, just shout out to Kelvin Sampson and what he's done
06:21and what he's meant to this city.
06:22I would hate, and I hate the thought of him leaving his post at any point
06:27and for any reason without that championship.
06:29And so that part kind of stung after the game,
06:31aside from just the basketball side of it,
06:33them not being able to hit a shot and all that kind of thing.
06:35Yeah, because he's one of the greats, right?
06:36And you expect with a great, at least they have one of those claims to fame
06:40that you could really tack on them, one of those championships where you go,
06:43that was the season that they validated all the stuff
06:46that we know to be true about their capabilities.
06:48Yeah.
06:48You can't say that with Kelvin Sampson to this point, so I think that's fair.
06:51I think I want to dive just a little bit deeper for a second
06:54on what you're talking about here.
06:55When you're talking about we might not have very much time with Kelvin Sampson,
06:58there's a more good portion of this, which is, oh man,
07:02we might not have enough time because he's ready to hang it up
07:04and pass it on to Kelvin Sampson, who has been the heir apparent for a long time.
07:09There's also a more negative perspective of that,
07:11which is we might not have a lot of time
07:12because the same thing keeps happening with this team.
07:16And ultimately, Kelvin Sampson is one of those dudes
07:18that felt like he was good in the hood for whenever and wherever
07:21because he brought this program so far.
07:23But we're getting to a point where, you know, even with the best,
07:26we start to find nits to pick or what have you.
07:31And with him, it's happened the same way every time.
07:33The offense bottoms out and then they fall out of the tournament
07:36to where we might not have a lot of time with Kelvin Sampson
07:40so far as the goodwill is disappearing.
07:43And then how much does the goodwill disappear?
07:45Because the quote that he said, the idea of overstaying my welcome
07:50really landed with me because I was like,
07:51Or getting in someone's way.
07:53Yes.
07:53I was like, buddy, it never felt like that was the case.
07:56But is he thinking about the possibility of, hey, man,
08:00does this start looking to where people are not having the,
08:03you can stay however long you want,
08:04where people start trying to run you out of town?
08:06And does that affect the succession plan that has been well-situated for this program?
08:10I mean, it's something for him to think about because the coaching weight,
08:12it's not just some guy or just some guy that he, too, it's his son.
08:16It's his actual real-life son.
08:17Yeah.
08:18So, yeah, no, I think that that part has to be there
08:20because there's a personal nature to, like, a father.
08:23Lopez, you have sons.
08:24I have a son.
08:25We understand, like, we want better for our sons than we even want for ourselves.
08:29Yeah.
08:29So, I think that's part of it.
08:30I think there's an element to what I was saying of, like,
08:33it feels like Kelvin Sampson is a championship coach
08:35and it would be a shame for him to leave his post again
08:38without a championship considering what he's done.
08:40But then also, is there this guilty by association thing that's awaiting his son
08:45where now the shine is worn off of the legend
08:48and you're just now, for lack of a better term,
08:51the nepo baby for the guy that didn't get it done.
08:53And I would hate for it to even be framed that way.
08:55Yeah.
08:56But we're running out of time.
08:57And I don't think, you know, you talk about the pressure.
08:59I don't think, I think it's zero pressure from the outside, you know,
09:02of people saying, yeah, the offense, this or that.
09:05Yeah, there's going to be some frustrations.
09:06I think the only pressure is Kelvin Sampson.
09:08Like, the pressure is putting on himself to, like, to what you're saying.
09:12I think it's time to give it to Kellen.
09:13Well, you say zero.
09:14One, there's Ocho on the tech.
09:16But two, you saw that one person who left Toyota Center
09:19talking about fire everybody, throw all the kids off the team.
09:22You know, outside of the, you know, the insane people.
09:24Oh, okay.
09:25And Ocho.
09:26And Ocho.
09:26Well, is it really a game, is it really an emotional driver of a game
09:31if it doesn't result in somebody calling another person's fire?
09:35Like, somebody's got to lose their job because I'm upset.
09:38Well, the thing is, like.
09:39But my point about that portion is we get there with everybody.
09:43Like, there are no golden cows that never get there unless they leave.
09:47We do, but if there is an exception, as much as, like, we all know a bunch of
09:52really, really big UH fans that probably express some frustration to your point.
09:56Like, ah, man, they just can't make a shot.
09:58Yeah.
09:58But they're not in their heart of hearts even, you know, thinking about,
10:02ah, it might be time to move on.
10:03But, again, if they were, they wouldn't be like, you're starting to move on.
10:07Now let's let his son take over.
10:08Yeah.
10:09Right?
10:09Oh, that too.
10:09If they start to get to that point, they're not going to just want the guy's
10:13DNA replica.
10:14Yeah.
10:14They're going to want real change.
10:16Especially if you're starting to get to a place where you go, huh,
10:18maybe the Kelvin Sampson style of doing this doesn't work, right?
10:21Because where did Kelvin Sampson learn his style?
10:25Yeah.
10:25Kelvin Sampson, right?
10:26So, yeah, I'm with you.
10:28Like, that was, that did pique my interest.
10:31It set my intent.
10:32And I'm glad that you brought us the additional context of the question
10:35and the way in which it was brought up.
10:37And that's the type of thing that you only get from B.
10:39Scott being boots on the ground all over the great city.
10:42Yeah, man.
10:42Just kind of standing in the back of the room paying attention, man.
10:44That's all you got to do sometimes.
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