Yes, Iowa State takes a 1-8 Big 12 Conference record into Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday to take on a Kansas team that it hasn’t defeated in the past 10 meetings. No, the Jayhawks shouldn’t have any trouble at home, and anything less than a victory would be considered a disappointment.
But the Cyclones (14-10) have been in games this season under first-year coach Fred Hoiberg. They just haven’t closed them out. Natural struggles for a team in transition.
Two of Iowa State’s conference losses came in overtime (at Oklahoma State, vs. Oklahoma), while two others have been by one point (vs. Kansas State, at Nebraska). ISU could be 5-3 in league play.
The Big 12 becomes a brutal league when you can’t close games, though, because so many of them go down to the wire. And with the logjam that remains in the conference standings — eight of the 12 teams have three, four, or five Big 12 wins — every victory is a boost to the NCAA Tournament resume.
Hoiberg’s Cyclones won’t make the tournament this season. But they have shown promise. Hoiberg, like Colorado’s Tad Boyle, appears to be a good hire because Ames is where he wants to be. It won’t be a stepping stone for a better job one year later.
Before this season, Hoiberg was most recently vice president for basketball operations with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2009-2010. He’s a hometown hero in Ames. He grew up and played college basketball there before having a 10-year NBA career. He’s so popular he’s known as The Mayor around Ames.
Hoiberg’s best player this season is Diante Garrett. The senior leads the Big 12 in assists per game with 5.96, and is fifth in the league in scoring at 17.9 points per game. He’s on the floor all the time as well, as evidenced by his 35.92 minutes per game, tops in the Big 12.
Hoiberg and Garrett both caught up with the Conference Chatter blog to discuss Big 12 hoops, Kansas, Bill Self, Larry Bird, and a variety of other topics. Here are the highlights. No. 2 Kansas (23-1, 8-1 Big 12) will take on Iowa State at 3 p.m. Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on the Big 12 Network.
**Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg**
• **On KU coach Bill Self:** “Love his teams. Love how they play. Love how they compete. Love how they defend. They play up-tempo. I think it’s something where every school in the league strives to get there. I think they’ve won, what is it, seven conference championships in a row (six)? It’s what everyone strives to get to, man. You want to get to the top of your profession, and coach Self has done a great job of doing that.”
• **On the ISU coaching gig and being a native of Ames:** “My ultimate goal was to get back to Iowa State one day and be the head coach. It happened before I thought it would happen. I’m excited to be back … Look at (senior Brady) Morningstar down at Kansas. Similar situation. You get to play in the town that supported you growing up. People watched me and supported me in AAU Tournaments all the way back in the seventh and eighth grade. So to play in front of them in college, and now to have the chance to coach in front of those people who supported me is such a thrill.”
• **On whether he shows any of his players up by displaying his three-point prowess in practice:** “I played for Larry Bird in Indiana (from 1997-99). It didn’t matter who was shooting. Reggie Miller. Chris Mullen, whoever it was. He outshot everybody. I’ll shoot a little bit with the guys, but my days are over (laughs).”
• **On how his NBA experience will translate to the college game:** “One area where it really helps is in recruiting. Shoot, all these players who go play for a BCS school have the ultimate goal of playing at the top level. The fact that I’ve been there as a player and a front-office executive (assistant general manager, then later VP of basketball operations with Timberwolves) makes it very important. These guys see that. They want to get there, and they want to know how. I was very fortunate to play for 10 years and then have a great job, to where my last year, I was second in command. So it’s big for recruiting and I’m trying to use it as much as I can.”
**Iowa State senior point guard Diante Garrett**
• **On playing at Allen Fieldhouse:** “I think it’s a great place. The tradition that’s been in there. The teams that have played there. And Kansas has always been on top, one of the top 10 teams in the nation. I’m thankful to be able to play in that kind of place.”
• **On toughest defensive assignment in his four years at ISU:** “I’d say Sherron Collins. He had the green light to do whatever he really wanted to do for Kansas. Guarding him, he’s like a bulldog. He got a lot of ball screens, down screens. Chasing him around was kind of tough, but it was fun to play against that type of competition. And then, having big Cole Aldrich come out to set those screens on you, it was kind of hard to get around it (laughs).”
• **On what stands out most about KU this year:** “This year? The twins (Marcus, 16.9 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game; and Markieff Morris, 13.2 ppg/8.4 rpg). They played a pretty big role their first two years at Kansas.”
• **On what he did this summer when he learned Hoiberg would coach ISU:** “At the time, I was back at home (Milwaukee). There was a lot of stuff going on at Ames (after previous coach Greg McDermott left). I was shocked and was thinking to myself, ‘What’s going to happen now? What coach are we going to get?’ And then I finally got the phone call that Fred Hoiberg was going to be our coach and my eyes opened wide. I smiled. I was ready to get back to school.”
That should be all for now, friends. As always, discuss.
