The Starting Five: Houston's Doing it Again (HV+)
In a basketball world dominated by drop coverage, Houston does the exact opposite.
Welcome back to another edition of The Starting Five. To read last week’s version, you can click/tap here.
After winning the Charleston Classic, Houston is back in the number one spot on Kenpom. The Cougars are now 6-0 and have held all six opponents to under one point per possession.
Like in past years, Kelvin Sampson’s squad is playing an aggressive brand of defense. In a basketball world dominated by drop coverage, Houston does the exact opposite: They put the ball handler under duress by blitzing the screen.
The result is a defense that gives up a good amount of three-point attempts, but those attempts simply don’t go in at a high rate. Houston’s defense has held opponents under 30% from three-point range for five seasons in a row — and they’re doing it again this season.
In today’s newsletter, we’ll look at Houston’s defensive film from the Charleston Classic.
More specifically: How are the Cougars able to play such an aggressive brand of basketball without giving up open threes and/or layups?