Quotebook: Hoiberg & Drew discuss a battle of top 10’s

Pick a poll. Any poll. Iowa State and Baylor are both in the top 10. Tonight, the two Big 12 powers will go at it at 6 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum on ESPN2. On Monday morning, both coaches participated in the Big 12’s weekly teleconference. Here are a few noteworthy quotes to get your primed for tonight’s game. 

Scott Drew on the Cyclones…

“Well I think that the first thing that stands out is that they still shoot the three, spread the floor, and take care of the ball, and do all the things that Coach Hoiberg does with spacing and offensive efficiency. I also think that their frontline, Niang, Ejim, and Hogue, are just playing at a very high level. They are not only scoring the ball at a high rate, but their assist to turnover rate is very good for frontline players, but that is why they have emerged as one of the best front lines in the country.”

Scott Drew on DeAndre Kane…

“He has been outstanding. One thing you know about him is he is good rebounding, assisting, and scoring. Defensively with the size he can guard any position, he has done a great job of being a stat sheet stuffer.”

Scott Drew on playing in Ames…

“I texted Fred after the game with Texas Tech and asked if he would like to play here since a -40 degree wind chill is not as nice as 40 degrees. But it is a tough place to play, they are traditionally very tough at home so we know we have a challenge ahead of us.”

Scott Drew’s scouting report on Iowa State…

“If you saw them last year you really saw a team that spreads the floor and knocks down threes. This year Kane and Niang do a good job of getting open threes for other people on their team, they lead them in assists. They have shooters in Thomas and Long, and on the front line they have Hogue, he is playing the three and four for them, he is very good at crashing the boards and he is shooting the three. The thing about Iowa State is no matter who they are putting in the game, they are capable of scoring and you have to guard them and they stretch the floor, that makes it tough defensively to guard them.”

Fred Hoiberg on Baylor…

“They have had a heck of a year, I think they are playing together extremely well. I think Cherry has come in and done a great job filling some big shoes with replacing Pierre Jackson. I think their big guys pose a matchup problem any time they step on the floor, because of their length, their ability to get the ball in the paint, and their ability to offensive rebound. Plus they are shooting the ball. I think to win we have to play a great game tomorrow night. 

Fred Hoiberg on players from Canada…

“It has been great for us with Melvin Ejim going on as his 4th year as a starter for us. He just is one of those guys that plays the right way, he does all the right things, he is a 4.0 student, he is just a great ambassador for our program. Student athlete of the year in the Big 12 last year, just ones of those guys you love having on your team because of who he is. Naz Long same thing. He and Melvin are the best communicators out there. He is a guy that shoots the ball well and defends very well. You see the guys for Baylor with Cherry and Brady Heslip, who is shooting as well as anybody in the country right now. Then you see the hype surrounding Andrew Wiggins being the probable number one pick in the draft next year.  Look at last year with Anthony Bennett being the number one pick in the draft last year, it is a place you have to get in and recruit because of how talented the players are.”

Fred Hoiberg on Big 12 recognition… 

“We have had pretty good balance with our last couple teams, specifically last year with Babb, Lucious, McGee, and Clyburn, plus Georges (Niang) and (Melvin) Ejim on that team. Any one of them could hurt you on any given night. We have had five players of the week, that’s an amazing stat that we have had that kind of balance. The biggest thing with this group is the unselfishness and how much they love playing with each other. Just look at the assist numbers, against Northern Illinois we had 28 assist and just 5 turnovers. I think that last year our turnover to assist ratio going into conference play was about one to one, this year we are taking so much better care of the basketball and making simple plays. The chemistry on the court has been phenomenal with this group, and that has allowed us to get those weekly honors that we have.”