Memphis = Phi Slamma Jamma disappointment

in addition to the players mentioned above, you also forgot that UH had freshman forward Greg "Cadillac" Andersen who played for the Spurs for a couple of years.

Don't discount the talent at UH, Michael Young if drafted by any team other than the Celtics probably plays for 10 years in the NBA. He currently has a son that plays at yates as a freshman (maybe sophmore) that is going to be a big time recruit.
 
Cadillac Anderson was a Freshman in 1983-84 and was not on the team that lost to NC State. Rob Williams left in 1982 and again was not on the 1983 team. Michael Young was not nba material and the Celtics wasted a pick on him, although 24th was a late pick (only 23 teams that year in the NBA btw and the Celts were awarded a special 1rst round pick for a reason I can't remember at the moment). Also, the Coogs had a very average bench. Overall the team was below average FT wise, not a good outside shooting team at all, and just an average passing team.
 
To say that Michael Young wasn't a good/great college player is just plain ignorant. He was the leading scorer on that 83 team. He is the third leading scorer in UH history behind Elvin Hayes and Otis Birdsong. Young also had his jersey retired by UH, joining Hayes, Birdsong, Olajuwon, and Drexler.

Benny Anders was also on the team that lost to NC State. He never played in the NBA, but he was very talented. Micheaux said that Anders was the best athlete on the team, and Gettys said that while Drexler would never admit to being outplayed by Michael Jordan he would admit to being beaten quite a few times by Anders in one-on-one games.

Young, Anders, and Franklin might not have had sucess in the NBA, but they were excellent college players.
 
Well Said Bornorange....Benny Anders was a helluva player. In fact he impacted the final four more than Larry (Mr. Mean) Micheaux who fouled out against Louisville with 13 minutes left and airballed early against NC State. Micheaux is my favorite player from that team by the way.
Houston also had depth....good defensive players like Lynden Rose who combined with (I can't remember the name) to be called the "Smothers Brothers".... also a young kid named Brian Williams was very good.
Credit the NC State gameplan to come out shooting. I'm not real sure Valvano was a great X's and O's guy either but their pace caught the Coogs very much off guard.
Thurl Bailey was a damn fine player. Whittenburg was good as was Sidney Lowe. Lorenzo Charles made the NBA a year later still on the strength of that dunk.
NC State playing in the ACC cannot be discounted. They played better competition every week.
Houston was a little bit like Foreman against Ali. They shoulda and woulda but just couldn't.
A few observations:
Micheaux was notorious for his tatoo. A small "Mr. Mean" on his bicep

Houston, near as I can tell is the last program to have different player numbers on Home/Away jerseys. Example, Micheaux was 40 at home 41 on the road. Home jerseys were evens and the roads were the next odd. My high school team had nis like that.
I watched that game on ESPN Classic last week for the first time since I watched it live. I couldn't believe how frustrated I was. NC State truthfully, beat them worse than I thought. Not a more talented team just took care o business
 
Phi Slamma Jamma was my favorite college team of all time in any sport and that includes UT football with Vince. That being said, I think we homers are giving too much credit to players. Seriously, mentioning Lyndon Rose and Brian Williams as game impact types is just too much. Michael Young was a very good college player but not a great one. Benny Anders was a physical freak but could rarely do anything besides dunk, steal, dunk, steal, rebound, dunk.

as far as accolades go, college teammates tend to give props to each other.... I know Jordan said some white dude named Steve Hale guarded him the best he has ever been guarded.

anyway, 1983 UH had flaws and NC State had size. Bailey at 6'10 or 6'11; Cozell McQueen at 6'11, Lorenzo Charles at 6'8", Sidney Lowe made the NBA, a couple of Italian boys who could shoot the mid range jumper etc etc.

when UH played an opponent with structure, coaching and talent, they struggled. Witness the wars Hakeem had with Joe Kleine and Jon Konkak. Hell, Lamar almost beat them in Beaumont.

I think this Memphis team would beat UH, especially if they had a 3pt line.
 
Sure UH struggled against Arkansas and SMU during the Phi Slamma Jamma era. So did everyone else. Those were two really good teams. Add the fact that they were conference opponents that were very familiar with each other and there is no reason to think those games wouldn't be battles.

Would UH have had trouble against Memphis? Definitely. Memphis has a very talented team that would have been able to match up well with their athleticism. The Memphis guards would have made it tough for the Houston guards to get off a shot. Olajuwon as a sophomore was not the dominant offensive force that he became in the NBA.

But Houston couldn't be counted out, either. If Memphis were to play a fast break type game Houston would have been at an advantage. And Houston would also be a challenge for Memphis to score on. Drexler, Young, Anders, Franklin, etc could get after it on the perimeter and Olajuwon was a force of nature in the middle. Micheaux would help on the boards, as would Drexler and Anders. While Memphis would have a height advantage nearly everywhere, Houston would have a leaping advantage nearly everywhere.

The 83 Houston Cougars and the 08 Memphis Tigers would have been a great game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top