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Speaker 1: Joseph Torte excellent coverage. Is always one of the few

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legit members of the media that covers the Houston Cougars.

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First the Houston Chronicle with us here from the Matt

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Thomas show.

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Speaker 2: Ross.

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Speaker 1: All right, Joseph, let's get to it. Take us through

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your life. When the games ended, you go to the

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locker room, you go to the press conference, you go

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in there. You know you've been in some tough locker

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rooms before, but size it up for the audience that

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couldn't get into where you were last night.

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Speaker 2: Well, typically they opened up the locker rooms, Matt pretty

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fast after it game. We there was probably close to

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one hundred plus media members and Houston's doors to their

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locker room remain closed for about forty minutes, maybe thirty

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five minutes after the game. Delvin Stampson was in there

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for a really long time, just talking to the team.

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I think he wanted to let some of the emotion

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get out before we all came in. But once we

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did get in complete silence. I mean, you had guys

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crying out loud. I mean, I hadn't been in one

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of those, and at least on a college level, I've

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seen the pros. But you know, they were hugging each other, crying.

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Guys were sitting alone at their locker room with towels

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over their head. I mean, you could you could hear

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pin drop and it was it was a lot of disappointment.

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A lot of it was right there for the taking

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type of feelings. But yeah, that was I mean, you've

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you've been around this school a really long time. This

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this is just another chapter to not able to get

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over the hump.

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Speaker 1: You had a really good seat for the game, and

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I think part of where you were will also be

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part of the things I'll ask you about. But ultimately

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as being as close as you were to the action,

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what the again, the Cougars got done to them last night,

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what they did the Duke on Saturday. And look, it

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wasn't a pretty game throughout. Both teams were some forty percent.

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The game was completely diffinitely officiated in the second half

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as compared to was to the first. And we'll get

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to that in a second. But the late game execution,

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the inability to get the Cougars to get into their offense.

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Did Florida put the clamps on or did something happen

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from the U of H side? That you're like, I

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have not recognized this from them at any point this year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the stuff that they did well this year, or

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that at some point, even when things weren't going their way,

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they found a guy to step up. You know, That's

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what Kellen Sampas did up game. You know, maybe we

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worry about a little better, maybe we don't have that

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stretch where the shots aren't falling. In the past, you

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can have those stretches and beat a Utah or you

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beat a you know, BYU they didn't have anybody come

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to the rescue. And you know, I don't know if

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it was so much what's Florida data. I mean, you

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got to give them credit for how they played in

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the second half, but just the characteristically uncharacteristically bad play

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at times. I mean the turnovers, four critical turnovers in

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the last couple of minutes, you know, two big ones

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there at the end with Emmanuel Sharp. It didn't look

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like the same team. And you know, if you're a

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Houston fan, for the first twenty eight minutes maybe thirty,

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you felt like this was your year, like it was

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about to happen. I mean, it was that close. And

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as you pointed out things that we're not used to

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seeing or them overcoming. Just just ripped it all apart.

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I mean it was it was really don't I don't

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know how to describe it math. I mean, just yeah,

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it all on the fold there. I mean, it was

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just I couldn't believe what I was watching, Joseph.

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Speaker 1: This is you know, this was Kelvin's best shooting team

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perimeter wise since he's been there, and from my vantage point,

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I was pretty close. I felt pretty lucky where I

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was sitting. There were shots that were leaving guys hands

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that I knew on takeoff they don't on a chance

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in hell, they were dropping. I mean some of the misses.

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I mean, Sharp was really off, Uzon was off. I mean,

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and then you got in the low block where Roberts

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couldn't finish last night.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it was you know inside outside. Uh

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you know there was one sequence where I think he

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got two or three shots back to back with the

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tips and tip outs, and none of the balls even

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King was hitting the rim. And I wish I could

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say that. Okay, you know, the the playing an adult,

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but you know you played it in Indianapolis. That was four

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games you had played in a don't, so I don't

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think that had anything to do with it. And then

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on the flip side, Matt, you would think that if

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somebody told me that they're all American Garb Walter Clayton

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Junior was not going to have a field goal for

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the first thirty three minutes, I would have said, you

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know what, Houston's your national champion. And so from that,

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from that standpoint, the defense was really good early on.

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I thought they had some hiccups, was dealing with Richard

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and the threes that he was making, But you're right,

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you know, came down to offense. He came down to

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that role that they had. I think it was twelve

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out of thirteen misses at one point that just wasn't

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going to get it done. And then the game changed

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with the officiating. I think there were twelve or sixteen

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fouls called in the first you know, I don't know

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if it was eight minutes or so the second half

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compared to the total that was the entire first half.

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So I'm sure that played a role. Because Tugler ended

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up bowing out Francis had for you know, that's the

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position that they couldn't afford to have guys in trouble

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and on the bench.

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Speaker 1: Joseph Torte from San Antonio and joining us here on

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the Matt Thomas Show at ross. So you are right

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behind the scorers table and Florida gets not only one

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technical foul but from the bench and then one from

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a player on the court, and the tone of the

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game clearly changed. First of all, how much jawing was

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being said by that Florida bench that eventually the officials said,

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I got to tease some people up. And then from

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your perspective, was there anything that you saw that said

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this game was going to be officiated completely differently in

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the second half than it wasn't at first. I'm not

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saying it was an advantage one way or the other,

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but it made it a very choppy, uneven, hard to

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watch game, beyond the fact that both teams were not

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shooting well right.

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Speaker 2: On the first part. You know, I was behind to

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the side of the Houston bench, so I wasn't really

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on that side. You know, they go, uh, Todd Golden,

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he he was pretty animated throughout the game. He was

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he was not happy with with some thing, so he

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was the vocal and I think that sort of was

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part of the technical on the bench and then the

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other one. I thought it originally was on the Condons guy,

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but apparently the other guy it looked like he spiked

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the ball and he did it right in front of

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the rest and that triggered the other tech. And I

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don't I think Houston missed two of the free throw

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attempts or at least one, and that and that was

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another thing, Matt. They didn't make free throws. Jay one

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Roberts hits both in the biggest win of the program's

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history against Duke, but down the stretch other guys and

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and and him as well. You know, they couldn't make

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their their free throw. So, I mean, there's a lot

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of things you can point at. I don't know. I mean,

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certainly the the being in the bonus as early as

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as Florida God that that played a role. Uh And

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and I think that that certainly had an impact on

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how Houston was able to do things. But you know

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that last play, uh, you know, the Lorenzo Charles dunk

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and eighty three was was such a huge play to remember.

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But you look at last night, that was pretty a

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really devastating shot that you know, emanueled. The plan was

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for Emanual to get that three and I don't think

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he saw or thought that Clayton was going to close

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that fast. And he went up and was like, oh no,

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and he kind of stopped and then mid air and

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they had to let the ball go and that ball bounced.

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It felt like an eternity just watching that ball bounce,

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and there was nobody from Houston nearby to be able

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to get on it. I would have maybe fouled there

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and at least you get a few seconds, and who knows,

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we're gonna if you get it, if you get one

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more shot at ten. But it just it just all

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sort of just that those three seconds, well three or

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four seconds. We'll just live on because they they didn't

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even get it, and they difference to miss the shot

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at the end. They didn't even get a shot.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the reality is the right play would have been

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to go ahead and grab the ball, get called for

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the travel. Then you foul Florida immediately, hoping they miss

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one of the two free throws. Now you're out of timeout,

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so you have nothing to do. I mean we're talking

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about the percentages are very slim, but at least you

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would have been given an option. But in Emmanuel's defense.

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That's the last thing you're thinking. It's about, Oh, I

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don't want to commit a traveling violation in the last

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two seconds of a ball game, knowing that that would

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have win the way they ended.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, I will tell you how many times I've

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seen him on that particular play where if he has

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enough time, he'll sort of lean in and he'll draw

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contact get to the foul line. And that's sort of

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you know, if you're not going to get a clean shot,

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that's you want to be in that position or you know,

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be able to maybe drive in the lane there and

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do something. I mean, all that was just taking off

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the table. And I think that it was similar to

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Purdue where they try to move Lja to draw some

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defenders his way and free up free up a guy

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unlike that. That game, Uh, Florida had a guy in

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in position and in the vicinity and just took everything off.

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And if you go back and look, Kelvin stands there

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just like a statue. I mean, he watches It's it's

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really sad to watch because he he watches it all

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unfold and there's just no reaction. I mean, it's just

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kind of a stunned look. And I think that's the

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biggest takeaway from last night that they said that he

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felt like this was the team to win it. They

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felt like they were constructed to go through the tournament

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and win it. And he's still searching for it. And

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and I talked to his wife after the game. She's

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been with him the entire time, and she said, this

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was going to take a while to get over every

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you know, the Michigan game and stuff. You know, the

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second round, you know, you get over those. This is,

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you know, down to the last few minutes of winning

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a national championship, and he's still looking for once.

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Speaker 1: And the cruelest thing of it all, Joseph wrap things

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up here, is that that would have been his eight

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hundredth victory. Instead, he's going to win his eight hundredth

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game against god knows who, I mean, some small d

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one that you know by game, and that's just gonna

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have it nearly not as much of an emotional situation

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for him. If he had won the eight hundredth in

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here at the Alamo, don't.

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Speaker 2: Would have been great. I mean, who's been a storybook?

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He wins eight hundred, they win a national championship, you

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know he's not hanging it up. You know he's got

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two years lest I mean that was never the issue

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going into the last game. Uh, they've got a They're

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gonna lose a lot of guys. They lose five guys,

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they lose Crier, they lose Francis, they lose Roberts, they

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lose Wilson, guys like that. So but they also have

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the three of the highest rated players ever to coming in.

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They'll probably go portal shopping for a couple of things,

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and then you bring back your point guard and Sharp

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will be back. So I've already seen them as early

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number one and on some you know websites. So it's

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not a doom and gloom. This was the window and

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now it's closed. I think it's built. They certainly have

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put themselves in position to be built for the long haul.

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It's just when you get to Monday night, that's your chance.

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That's how the Dukes win back to back. And you

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got teams like the Duke and North Carolina and Yukon,

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and you know all Houston wants is won. I'm sure

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that an alum, that's what you want. You just want

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one well, not to be greedy if it works out,

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you get a bunch, that's great. You just want one,

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and there's been seven trips to the Final four and

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it's been bad timing and bad luck.

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Speaker 1: You deserve some time off. I owe you a large meal,

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take care that family years, and safe travels back to Houston.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, buddy, have a good one.

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Speaker 1: We'll see if Joseph towards a Houston chronicle with us

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from San Antonio.