The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Emanuel Sharp of the Houston Cougars Joins The Show Before NCAA Final Four

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

Emanuel Sharp of the Houston Cougars Joins The Show Before NCAA Final Four

1232. It is the Matt Thomas show here with Ross. I'm in Los Angeles for tonight's Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers game. I was in Phoenix, get ready for the Rockets and Sons when I watched our next guest. Knockdown four three-pointers. He is the pride of Tampa, Florida. Manuel, Sharp, on the Matt Thomas Show, Ross. Manuel, it's Matt. First of all, thank you for joining me. Second of all, congratulations. How well did you sleep last night, or are you still just trying to,

decompartmentalize the great events of yesterday in this past weekend in Annapolis. No, I slept pretty good. I'm not going to lie. You know, I had the different rounds of the tournament attiring. So, you know, I got home. You know, I was excited, but, you know, with all the flying and stuff, you know, I had time to sit down on my bed. I really crashed. But, no, the weekend, the weekend was great.

The games were great. we played great and you know we competed and that's all that really mattered you held tennessee to 15 first half points i mean good lord i mean those those people have families do they not amenuel yeah but you know that's what we do we're built on toughness and defense and you know when we play defense like that and we're all connected you know all five guys on the floor like that you know it's hard to beat us i think it is absolutely i've had a pleasure calling a lot of your early season games on television but obviously what has happened to you guys let me ask you this early in the year

you had those three losses couple of an overtime and a few folks were panicking it was silly i guarantee it kelvin didn't let you guys panic because first of all you played great competition and i think in some respects it kind of helped you to where you are right now yeah yeah and i think that's why this team it's so good now at the end of the years because we went through those struggles in the beginning. And all the games were close in overtime, like you said, so we weren't panicking. We knew that we were, you know, in every single game. And really, we were up in all the games, too.

We just let, you know, them come back. But, you know, we got back to the drawing board. And, you know, Sam coached us like he always does. And we got better. And, you know, it's helped us now because we know how to close out games. Coach Simpson's a great friend of mine and called a lot of his games before you guys got there and things were turning around.

Are some of his practices harder than the games? Tell the truth. Yeah, I would say they are. But that's what makes us so good. When you replicate stuff in practice that's harder than the game. When you get to the game, it'll be easier. And I think that's what makes us so good because it's not only just him.

It's, you know, Coach Kew, Coach Kellen, HP, Goody Coach Casey They all do a great job Of making the practice reps Harder than the in-game reps And that's, you know It gets us to a different level

Man you had those four threes Yesterday in the victory And y'all were kind of teasing about Being in this big dome Now that's going to be bigger next week When you go to San Antonio How much different is it For you to shoot in a building

As cavernous as these domes And does it take a while to adjust or you just like, please let those bad boys drop because it's not like a typical college basketball arena. Yeah, I would just say you, I think the, you just got to get some shots up in there. You can't just kind of go in there without shooting and think it's going to feel the same.

But I think that's why, you know, the practices helped. The longer warm-offs that they gave was for that last game really helped too because we just got to get, you know, some more reps on the rim and in that arena, you know, than we usually do. And I think that helps. You know, all it takes is, you know, get a feel for the perception and the depth of the gym. And then, you know, everything will fall in place. Manuel Sharp with us here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross. E. Let me ask you about how many people have asked already for tickets for this weekend. What's your ticket

request is right now? You know, I got a lot of people asking for tickets, but, you know, we only get a certain amount. So, you know, it's kind of reserved for, you know, my closest family members. and a couple of my friends so but but no i understand it's the fine four is this big you know it's a once and a lifetime opportunity and uh you know we're very grateful to be in this position well i'm so proud that you represent my school i was uh an alum way back i am an alum way back in the day but to see this team get to where it is you went through the big 12 conference uh with just the one loss and you know a lot of folks before the this week were like man we got treated so unfairly

because we're having to go to Indianapolis and all the fans of Purdue are going to be there. What is the mindset? What is it like for you guys? You don't know what it's like to lose on the road. No matter what venue you're in, no matter how a lot. I mean, you went to Kansas this year and won. You went to Arizona and one.

You went to Indianapolis. Can you, do you close off the fans? Or is it just like, you know what, we're damn good. We don't play where we play. We're going to win some basketball games. You know, with the culture of this team and how tough we are, You know, I feel like on the road, when we're going through adversity, we have, you know, times where we can come together and stay together. And I think that was, you know, a lot of the emphasis losing those couple games in the beginning of the year is that when we went through adversity, we kind of separated a little bit.

So, you know, the main focus this whole year has been staying together, staying connected as one, you know, checking body language, getting more and huddles, talking to each other being, you know, communicating more with each other. and I think all that ties into being able to playing on the road, you know, in front of other people's fans, having the odds, you know, against you. And, you know, we've just progressed to becoming a really good road team. I think that's helped us, you know, not only in the way games, but playing in these tournaments because, you know, a lot of times the opposite teams have more fans in the arena than we do.

Well, hopefully it won't be the case in San Antonio. I'm getting, I have already made my reservation for Monday night, national championship game. So who are we going to play? Are we going to play Auburner, Florida, for the title? You know, I'm not sure. You know, they're both good teams. They are.

Right now, we're really focused on our next game, you know, which is against Duke. So, you know, when it gets there, when the time it gets there, we'll see who it is. What do you remember about Duke from last year? They're a great program with great coaches and great players. and, you know, they've had a great season, but so have we. You know, and that's what we got to figure on, you know, focus on is, you know, us, you know, what do we got to do? You know, we can't be too focused on anybody else, you know, Florida, Auburn, you know, or Duke. You know, we got to get our stuff right and everything will work out.

All right. Last question. What is this week practice going to be like? What do you want to do? Will you – it feels like to me that you guys don't change up who you are, even though you've been in this, late in the years. So what is a normal day for like, for you and your teammates getting ready to get on the bus for San Antonio

later this week? Everybody's focused. You know, everybody's downed in, you know, at this point of the year, everybody knows what we need to do. Like, not too much needs to be said. We're going to go out, you know, every day, compete in practice, high energy, like we have

the entire year and just carry it over to the weekend. Manuel, thank you. I know you've been super busy just getting back into town. I appreciate you coming on my show. As a fellow Cougar, I thank you for your hard work and dedication, represent our program the right way. Have a great time in San Antonio, and hopefully I will see you next Monday night for the championship. No problem. Thank you for having me, for sure. You got it. Manuel Sharp joining us here on the program. Man, I'm such a fan of his. Thank you very much. Again, Manuel Sharp with us here

on Sports Talk 790. Cougars against the Duke Blue Devils. We are the night game, which is going to be about a $750 tip time Saturday night from San Antonio.