Guard Play
When you think about what makes Houston as good as they are it is always going to come down to guard play. Their guards are what make them who they are as a basketball team. All American Sasser can do everything on the floor. He is a fantastic shooter, great defender and elite scorer. Shead is the highest IQ player on the floor and he always knows when to make the right decision. He is also a great passer and defender and is what every coach looks for in a point guard. Tramon Mark is the other starting guard and he is also a great shooter, elite scorer and great compliment to Sasser. I expect a bounce-back game for Mark who was not very good against Northern Kentucky.
To be frank none of the starting guards were exceptional against the Norse and if Houston wants to win the game they are going to need to be their normal selves. Basketball is a guard-reliant sport, gone are the days of the dominant back-to-the-basket center. Houston uses their guards for most everything and when they are at their best everyone is getting the ball, the threes, are falling and the big men are even getting theirs too. We all know basketball is more than just offense and that is especially true for Houston, they rely so much on defense and head coach Kelvin Sampson has his guards do a lot.
The challenge tomorrow is going to be shutting down the very athletic guards for Auburn. Wendell Green and Allen Flanigan have been in the system with Bruce Pearl for a while and are both very good players. They also do everything for Auburn. KD Johnson is the other guard for Auburn who is a fantastic defender and is going to be tasked with trying to shut down Sasser. If Houston wants to win this game their trio of guards will have to better than the trio of guards for Auburn. I have the Cougars picked to win the National Title so we know who I think will win, but this is going to be something to monitor the entire game.