Penders' Coogs
Regular readers here know I'm not a bigtime hoops fan.
I'll watch a little here and there, but mainly it's just filler to get me from football season to college baseball.
Those guys haven't disappointed, and played some very good ball tonight, thumping on LSU 81-72. At one point late in the game, the Coogs led by 17, but Penders pulled back and ran clock, making the final score a bit closer than the game really was. The move was probably smart, though, considering a very tough road game coming up on Christmas Eve at Washington, and then a road game to Texas A&M after Christmas. No need to expend needless energy for a 20 point rout when a 9 point win will do.
This team has some guards that are fun to watch, and they flat out hustle on defense. They seem to be turning me into a college hoops fan -- something that no team at Hofheinz has been able to do since I moved here (sadly). Here's hoping they keep it up, as things get tougher with C-USA games approaching.
(12-22-2004 Update) W.H. Stickney reports that Elvin Hayes was in the house.
Richard Justice adds this:
Hayes never played a game at Hofheinz Pavilion. All he did was get the place built.
"What has happened to this program hurts," he said. "It's like watching a child you raised go bad. It hurts to the heart. I love this program. I just don't understand how we could go from where we were to a point where we get almost no respect."
Penders is going to change that. He's UH's ticket back onto the national map.
[snip]
"Tom knows how to do it, too," UH athletic director Dave Maggard said. "You're not going to recognize this program in three years."
If you'd been around for the empty seats and dismal losses the last few years, you wouldn't recognize the program now.
Penders brought in five junior college transfers, installed his up-tempo style and let the Top 25 programs know the Cougars were again open for business.
He's got a small, quick team whose rushing style had Tuesday's crowd of 5,302 on its feet.
"I loved the atmosphere," Penders said. "Our guys played with so much heart. I think they got every loose ball."
Last night, Hofheinz was rocking, but it's still been pretty empty for most of the games. I hope we can keep it rocking. That atmosphere was fun, and the team fed off of it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/21/04 22:55 | Sports | Technorati
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Comments
I wanted to go but I had to do some Christmas shopping. That is a nice win for them. Did you catch any of the Princeton game last night? They got freakin' robbed. The game ended un an uncalled goaltend by Temple. So flagrant. Ridiculous no call.
Posted by Ethan @ 23:40 on 12/21/04
Yeah, we missed ya! The place was pretty energetic, over 5,000 in the seats, and much more noise from the fans of the good guys than the purple and yellow. Hofheinz can really get going if it has a few more fans than it's had at the games you've been at so far.
Didn't catch the Princeton game. I still haven't turned into THAT big a hoops fan. Actually, I don't know what occupied my time last night. Seems to be a black hole in my memory. And alcohol wasn't even involved. Weird. :)
Posted by Kevin @ 23:49 on 12/21/04
You're not kidding Kevin that was fun.
I came in to Houston early for Christmas just to see that game. These guys are playing very competitively, unlike Brooks', Drexler's and McCallum's teams.
Penders' coaching and attitude is a breathe of fresh air.
A big test coming up next for the Coogs at U. Washington and a reality check for the Agro-Americans next week at Berlin on the Brazos.
Posted by Louis @ 09:57 on 12/22/04
Keep winning, Coogs. Rice appreciates the RPI boost. :-)
Posted by Charles Kuffner @ 17:33 on 12/22/04
I think it'd be great if we could get both Rice and UH in the tourney. The state of football at both places is just depressing, but Willis Wilson does a nice job with basketball, and I'm obviously hopeful Penders can get UH turned around. It's been fun so far this season. The next home game is Louisville, though, which might be kind of rough. :)
Posted by Kevin @ 23:35 on 12/22/04
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