Houston Cougars guard Jamal Shead, going for a loose ball against Longwood, is ready for another challenge against Texas A&M and Wade Taylor IV.
Houston's Jamal Shead and A&M's Wade Taylor IV squared off in December and meet again in NCAA Tournament.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A thinking man’s point guard, a basketball quarterback who sees all, very little, if anything, throws Jamal Shead off his game.
Not hostile road crowds. Not trash-talking opponents. Not even compliments from opposing coaches.
Why would admiration from coaches be on such a list?
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Well, with the University of Houston facing Texas A&M in an NCAA Tournament matchup at the FedExForum on Sunday, Shead wasn’t about to be caught off guard by a pat on the back from Aggies head coach Buzz Williams.
“He can guard anybody in the United States, no matter how old they are, no matter how much money they’re getting paid through NIL or through the National Basketball Association,” Williams said. “He is an elite defender.”
RELATED: Wade Taylor IV brings confidence into rematch
High praise indeed.
When I shared that with Shead, the consensus All-American said he appreciated the compliment, but perhaps being unnecessarily wary, he hinted that Williams might have been trying to butter him up.
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“That’s a great compliment,” Shead said. “When you get that from a coach that you’re about to play, it’s kind of a compliment, and it’s kind of a challenge.
“It’s a great compliment from him, but you kind of take it with a grain of salt.”
Grain of salt?
I laughed. Shead didn’t crack a smile.
UH’s point guard wasn’t trying to be funny. He has his guard up.
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One of the best defensive players in the country wasn’t being defensive. He just doesn’t have a game face. He’s always on.
Gotta love it.
Williams wasn’t working Shead. He meant every word.
Shead is that good.
“Anybody who has played against him or has had to prepare to play against him, has a lot of respect for him, because what he does screams out from the film,” UH assistant coach Kellen Sampson said. “There are certain guys that are sneaky good on film. Jamal is loud good.”
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The maturity level with which Shead carries himself is admirable — Williams also applauded Shead’s leadership — and cutups of his defensive approach could be sold as “how to” videos.
Shead brings constant pressure, but his effectiveness isn’t just about intensity or grit.
He’s a nasty on-ball defender who forces opponents to do what they would prefer not to. He knows their weaknesses and exploits them.
“He’s the smartest player we’ve ever had here,” Sampson said. “It’s his basketball IQ, but also his IQ as a human being. He can connect with the other people on the floor. There are a lot of smart guys who have zero ability to connect with others.
“Jamal’s understanding and knowledge of our system is through the roof. He can see around walls sometimes and be smoke through a keyhole at others. He always manages to be wherever he’s supposed to be.”
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When Houston and A&M met in December, Shead and the Cougars didn’t have their best game defensively.
A&M point guard Wade Taylor IV had a huge second half in leading the Aggies to a comeback from a 21-point deficit to tie the game late.
UH won, but Taylor finished with 34 points, the most a player has scored against UH this season.
The former Lancaster High School star made six 3-pointers in the second half and outscored the Cougars by himself 17-6 in a stretch to tie the game at 63-63 in the final two minutes.
He put on a show, throwing up shots from all over. But Houston went on to win the game 70-66.
“He hit a lot of big shots,” Shead said of the team’s first matchup. “He brought them back. And half of his scoring was in the half when they needed it.
“He’s a big-time player. He’s been a big-time player since high school. We’ve known each other a while. But he’s a big-time player and those are the type of moments he lives for.
“He’s on a burner right now. Best we can try to do is try to contain him.”
After scoring 25 points in the Aggies’ first-round win over Nebraska on Friday night, Taylor is averaging 26.8 points in postseason play and has made 19-of-36 3-point attempts in the last three games. He has made just 32.9% of treys on the season.
UH head coach Kelvin Sampson said talented offensive players often get the green light to shoot whenever and from wherever they want, but Taylor is a “little keg of dynamite” who’s light is “fluorescent green.”
Taylor has seven 30-point games this season. He didn’t have any in his first two years at A&M.
The second one of his career came at Toyota Center against Jamal Shead.
If he delivers another one on Sunday, the Aggies are a good bet to advance to Dallas for the Sweet 16.
Shead will be there too.
“They’ve gotten better since December, and so have we,” he said. “Texas A&M is a really scrappy team and so are we. It’s going to be a war tomorrow.”
Game on.
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