What Kelvin Sampson said about Colorado team still seeking first Big 12 win
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Colorado entered Saturday’s game against Houston winless in its new league.
As far as Cougars’ coach Kelvin Sampson was concerned, however, the Buffaloes were just as dangerous as any team Houston has played thus far in the Big 12 Conference. Especially with the Cougars playing on the road.
Sampson’s fears proved correct, as the Buffaloes fought tooth and nail with the No. 5 ranked Cougars for 35 minutes. But Houston got some huge defensive stops, converting several into points, in eventually pulling away for a 69-59 win Saturday afternoon at the CU Events Center.
“We sat down and watched Colorado against Arizona at Arizona, and that was a way closer game than people think,” Sampson said. “Colorado was in that game the whole way. The game here against West Virginia, they led a lot in the second half in that game. … They’re right there.”
Saturday’s loss dropped Colorado to 0-12 in its first season back in the Big 12 after having previously played in the Pac-12.
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Sampson added in his postgame press conference Saturday that he can empathize with what longtime Colorado coach Tad Boyle is going through right now. That’s because Sampson went through a similar struggle in his first Division I head coaching job, at Washington State.
In Sampson’s third season with the Cougars (1989-90), they finished 7-22 and went 1-17 in what was then the Pac-10.
“I’ve been there; my third year as the head coach at Washington State, all these experiences make you who you are,” he said. “I coached a team that lost 18 in a row. Gary Payton was at Oregon State, Sean Elliott (at Arizona); everybody had a bunch of pros, and we had some really debilitating injuries. … That team never quit, though, and I told them, ‘You don’t lose at anything until you quit.’
“Tad is one of the best coaches in our game, and you saw what it’s like; it’s not easy to roll out there and be 0-11 and give the kind of effort that they gave and played as well as they did. It’s not easy.”
Following that harrowing third season with Washington State, Sampson had winning records in each of his next four seasons with the Cougars, two of those with at least 20 wins, before leaving to take over as coach at Oklahoma.
Sampson also reiterated how hard it is to win on the road no matter what the records are. Houston (19-4, 11-1) came in having won 14 of its last 15 and shared first place atop the Big 12 with Arizona, while Colorado (9-14, 0-12) was dead last in the league, but Sampson expected a dogfight on Saturday.
“People that don’t have any idea what athletics is about, people that’s never played assume that this team versus this team is going to be a blowout,” Sampson said. “There are no blowouts on the road; you don’t blow people out on the road.
“The University of Colorado has great pride. I remember coaching (while at Oklahoma) against Chauncey Billups here, David Harrison. … Tad’s team last year had three NBA draft picks on it, and he’s rebuilding with a bunch of new guys, and this is not an easy league to rebuild in. But kudos to Colorado’s kids and kudos to Tad and his coaching staff, they’re fighting their butts off. There’s a lot to be said about that, and they keep playing like this, they’ll beat somebody.”
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When informed about Sampson’s comments, Boyle was appreciative, knowing it came from someone he has a great deal of respect toward.
“I’ve said this before the game, Houston is the gold standard in my opinion, and not just in the Big 12, I would say nationally,” Boyle said. “Houston’s the gold standard when it comes to defense and rebounding, and that’s what we aspire to be, but that’s who they are.
“It’s very nice of (Sampson) to say nice things about me; you coach this game long enough, maybe you have years like this, maybe you don’t, but when you do, you just appreciate how hard it is to win a game in a league like this and it’s hard. … I’ve got great respect for Houston and how they play the game, how tough they are. To me, Kelvin Sampson is a top five coach in the college game today, in my opinion. Nobody asked me my opinion, but that is my opinion.”
