What Florida coach Todd Golden said about Houston: ‘Best defensive team in America’
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Florida attempts to do what only one other team has done since the final day of November - and do it on the season’s final game.
The Gators will be going up against Houston Monday night in the NCAA Tournament national championship game at San Antonio, with the Cougars coming in having won 31 of their last 32 ballgames. Houston has lost only once over the past four-plus months, and that came on Feb. 1.
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Florida coach Todd Golden is well aware of the challenges the Cougars pose to his squad. On Sunday, the eve of the title game, Golden talked about the Cougars, coach Kelvin Sampson and what the Gators need to do on Monday during a media session.
Here’s a sampling of what Golden had to say:
On Houston’s defensive prowess
(The Cougars lead the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to 58.5 points per game. Florida comes in averaging 85.3 points.)
“They're the best defensive team in America. They have just a great identity as a program of just being both physically and mentally tough. That’s something we've tried to pride ourselves on this year. Houston I would say is a great example of that; not only this year but Coach Sampson and his program have done it for a long time now.
“Talk about resilience and toughness, I feel like they showed that in a big-time way (Saturday) night (in a 70-67 semifinal win against Duke). I think they were down 14 at one point, down seven with a minute and a half to go. Never quit, never gave up. Didn't hang their heads. … Made some big-time winning plays down the stretch to take that game away from Duke.
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“You look at a guy like (Joseph) Tugler, (J’Wan) Roberts, they have incredible length and athleticism and physicality inside the paint. They wear you down, make it really hard on you.
“Houston obviously is exceptional. It's going to be a big challenge for us (Monday) night.”
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On the contrasting styles by both the Gators and Cougars
“Analytically, us and Houston, on KenPom, our efficiency margin is within point one of each other over a hundred possessions. We're an elite offensive team, a top 10 defensive team. They're a top 10 offensive team and elite defensive team. I think it's going to be a contrasting battle that way.
“Hopefully, we can get the game up and down a little bit. They're going to impose their will as they've done on everybody this year. We're a pretty tough team also.
“We're going to have to do a better job than we did (Saturday) night (a 79-73 semifinal win against Auburn). I thought first half, we let Auburn take it to us a little bit. We can't allow that to happen (Monday) night.
“They're absolutely an elite team. The way they guard, they're going to make it really hard on us. I think they’ll pressure the ball screen, try to get the ball out of (guard Walter Clayton Jr.’s) hands. But they rotate, they're long, they play so hard, so tough. We're going to have great mental and physical toughness if we want to give ourselves a chance (Monday) night.
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On the resilience of both Florida and Houston
(Florida rallied from second-half deficits in its last two tournament wins, beating Texas Tech in the West Regional final and then coming back to beat Auburn on Saturday after trailing at halftime.)
“I think for me it's really just about the players, the guys we have in our program. Coach Sampson, I love the way he talks about his team, the way he talks about his staff. I saw something that he doesn’t take phone calls when he needs spots on his staff, he just promotes from within.
“You can tell by the way they recruit, they're not worried about rankings, they're worried about finding tough-minded young men that are willing to put the Houston program above themselves.
“That's what we've tried to do at Florida as well. After three years, as I said (Saturday) night, I think we have a great group of those young men in our program that are resilient, that are tough, that are unselfish. Being compared to Houston’s program in terms of resilience is a huge compliment for us. It's what we continue to strive to build here in Gainesville.”
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On the prospects of playing in front of a Houston-dominated crowd Monday in San Antonio
“We can draw a little experience from the SEC tournament championship game. Obviously playing Tennessee in Nashville. I probably took for granted what that environment would be like. We walked in there, and it was 80% Tennessee fans. I was like, man, we got a road game to try to win the SEC title.
“I anticipate it being somewhat like that (Monday) as well. It's just part of what you have to get through to win a national championship. Houston is an amazing team; they deserve this opportunity. Obviously they're going to have some great momentum. They should have a lot of people here (Monday) night.
“For us, it allows us to add another chip on our shoulder and prove, try to prove, that we belong and that we can win in another hostile environment. It will be a bigger challenge because of that. It's nothing that we haven’t seen before this year. We've been able to fight through it. I'm hopeful we will, as well, (Monday) night.
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On Houston coach Kelvin Sampson
“I mean, he's just an amazing coach; that’s the biggest challenge. He's done it at an incredibly high level for a long, long time, at a lot of different places.
“Coach Sampson and the Houston program is definitely one of if not the toughest programs in America. They've been doing it for a long time. In my estimation, a little underrated, as hard as that might be to believe. They're just an elite, elite program.
“They’re so consistent, they're so tough. 19-1 in the Big 12 this year, 18-game winning streak I think right now that they're on.
“It's a huge challenge for us. But for us to continue to put ourselves on the map and continue to get Florida basketball where we want it to be, (Monday) night is a great opportunity. We got 40 minutes for one chance to win a national championship, continue to put ourselves in that conversation.
“But obviously, (Sampson) has a longer résumé than I do. He's been at it a little longer than I have. It's going to be a huge challenge for me to compete against him (Monday) night.
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On Houston’s ability to make outside shots
“They're obviously an amazing team. LJ (Cryer) and the rest of their perimeter all shoot the ball so well, him, (Emanuel) Sharp. (Milos) Uzan is shooting the ball great, a guy that wasn't thought of as an elite shooter prior to getting to Houston. They've done an incredible job of getting him confident from behind the line.
“They're a unique team. They don't necessarily finish great from two. Their two-point field goal percentage is lower than you would expect for an elite team, but they shoot the ball great from the 3.
“I'm not sure how analytical they think about the game, but they're an incredibly efficient analytical team. They don’t turn the ball over. They get back all their misses. They're very difficult to defend because of that.
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“I think a big part of this game (Monday) is going to be the battle of the boards. Whatever team is able to gain an advantage there I think is going to give themselves a great chance. We have to take care of the ball because they don't turn it over. They don't beat themselves; at times, we hurt ourselves that way.
“With LJ and the rest of the perimeter, we have to do a good job of limiting their good 3-point attempts. Big-picture goal is going to be make them take tough twos, fight like hell to get the rebound.
“Every rebound we get is going to feel like we won the game, I feel like. If we can do a good job of keeping them off the boards, we'll give ourselves a chance.”
