Houston Basketball: Takeaways from Cougars first three games of 2019-20

TULSA, OKLAHOMA - MARCH 22: Fabian White Jr. #35, Galen Robinson Jr. #25 and Breaon Brady #24 of the Houston Cougars celebrate from the bench against the Georgia State Panthers during the second half in the first round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at BOK Center on March 22, 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 28: Head coach Kelvin Sampson of the Houston Cougars coaches during a practice session ahead of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at the Sprint Center on March 28, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Too Much Iso

Saw it a lot in this most recent game against Rice when they were in a zone, most of the time there wasn’t a lot of ball movement and guys were going one on one. It forced Houston to pull up from three and take jumpers off the dribble. Anytime Houston was forced to set up the offense they looked like they struggled. Down the stretch against Rice Houston was excellent with moving the ball in the final few minutes and it showed with a massive 21-1 stretch.

Houston has had to rely consistently on getting out in transition and crashing the board trying to look for offensive rebounds. Houston has been disappointing on offense and relying on individual efforts to carry them.

Quentin Grimes was excellent in the RIce game putting up 32 points in a great effort. Freshman Caleb Mills has done a nice job in his first bit of action for Houston putting up double digits in both the BYU and the Rice game. Fellow freshman Marcus Sasser didn’t see a lot of action against BYU but played a pivotal role in the game against Rice knocking down five threes.

Kelvin Sampson will be really pleased with what he saw in the final few minutes against Rice and will look to see his team carry that momentum into a tough road game against Oregon.