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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S MEDIA DAYOctober 15, 2014Fred HoibergKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI COACH HOIBERG: We're very excited about this upcoming season. Had a special year last year. Lost two guys that had a tremendous impact on our team, two all‑Americans, DeAndre Kane and Melvin Ejim, which will be very difficult to replace. I'm excited about the group I have. You don't replace those guys with just one or two players. You have to do it by committee. The thing I've been most pleased with our practices to this point is just how competitive they've been, the way guys have been getting after each other. I think we'll have a little more depth this season. We'll have the ability to play 10, maybe even 11 guys, and we'll have versatility to play different types of lineups. You can go small. You can go big. It's a group that's going to go out there and compete any time they take the floor. It's just the makeup of our guys. Whether they're out competing two‑on‑two in a shooting competition or going out to compete on a Monday in the Big 12. It's a good, exciting team. We have a good mix right now, good freshmen, returning players, and also a couple of transfers we'll sprinkle in. Q. Coach, typically, in the past couple years, you've been sort of a four out, five out type of offense. This year you guys have a little more height. How do you sort of balance what you've done in the past with now maybe being able to do some things that you weren't able to do for more of a traditional offense standpoint? COACH HOIBERG: That's a great question. We'll continue to do what's made us a successful offensive team by playing with the court spread. We are able, with the makeup of our group, to run some more quick hitters and take advantage maybe of some mismatches because of the size of our players. Our biggest emphasis right now on the offensive end, we haven't put in many quick hitters yet. It's just been how are we going to flow into our offense, and how are we going to recognize mismatches that will occur at any time during the possession. I've been really impressed with just the IQ of our guys to recognize who's got the best mismatch out there, whether it's in the post or whether it's on the perimeter, and we give a guy a side and space the floor on the weak side. It's something that will evolve, I think, with this group, but right now it's been a lot of flow. We'll start sprinkling in the quick hitters and get the zone offense a lot because we're going to see a lot of zone early on in the season. Q. Just talk about Bryce and what do you expect from him. And following that, the two guys you do lose were so much a part of what you did, especially with leadership. I wonder if this is related. COACH HOIBERG: Yes, that will be, I think, as big of anything we miss out of, DeAndre, Melvin is leadership. There's a lot of things said about DeAndre Kane going into the season. He was an absolute pleasure to coach. All throughout the season. In the leadership he brought to our guys, shoot, he's 24 years old and a lot of life experiences. He really helped with that. Again, that will evolve as the season goes on, who will take the role of leader. Again, I think we've got a group that will lead by committee instead of just one or two guys. As far as Bryce, he's been awesome. The thing I'll say about Bryce as a basketball player, there are things you can't teach. He's extremely athletic. He plays above the rim in transition. The thing we're trying to talk to him about is missing and taking shots on the floor. He's getting better at that. He's a guy that you can use all over the court. You can post him. He's every bit of 6'6". He's a very good midrange shooter. We talk about not taking a lot of contested, two‑point shots, but he finds a way to make him. So you have to let him shoot some of them, and then he can shoot the three. He's a guy you can use all over the floor, and he's fit in very well with our group at this point. Q. You've had a lot of success building your team around some Division I transfers. Why has that worked for you? Maybe what are some of the pitfalls that come with trying to do that, with guys cycling in every year? COACH HOIBERG: As far as pitfalls, we haven't had any to this point, as far as what could potentially happen. Such an open mind when we bring these kids into our program, and they've really bought into what we're trying to do. When you have guys like Melvin Ejim and George Niang and now Monte Morris, Dustin Hogue, they've got to conform to what you're doing. As far as why we've had success with them, they've really come in with the idea to win basketball games. It's not about individual agendas, and you have to have that. We're talking about chemistry all the time. If you're going to win and beat teams that have more talent, you have to have great chemistry. Our guys have been very pleased with the players we've brought in because they've bought into that idea very well. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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