AMES — Fred Hoiberg doesn’t know much about this players-only team meeting that Korie Lucious called on Friday night at Iowa State’s team hotel and he wants to keep it that way.
“I had players-only meetings when I was on the court,” Iowa State’s head coach and former NBA star said during his Monday press conference. “You can hash a lot of things out when you do that. A lot of times those guys go in there and say a lot of things that need to be said, sometimes personal things.”
Whatever it was that Lucious and the rest of the Cyclones discussed apparently worked. Iowa State’s 73-67 win over then No. 11 Kansas State on Saturday helped the team and an entire fan base somewhat forget about what could have been a disastrous loss earlier in the week to Texas Tech.
Lucious, a senior, used his previous experience at Michigan State to take the initiative.
“Just coming up as a freshman and sophomore I used to see our juniors and seniors call player-only meetings. Something good always did come out of it,” said Lucious. “After that loss against Tech, I just knew that we needed to bounce back so I just called the meeting to make sure everybody’s head was on straight.”
“We all just pretty much talked. When we started I said what I needed to say. I said that we needed to come out hard and make sure we are focused for the game. Everybody else put their own input in. It wasn’t an argument. It was pretty productive and something good came out of it.”
Clyburn, Big 12 Rookie of the Week
For the second time this season, 22-year old Will Clyburn was honored as the Big 12’s Rookie of the Week.
“He hates being called a rookie,” joked Lucious.
Clyburn, a Utah transfer, scored 24 points with 10 rebounds in Saturday’s win over the Wildcats.
“He really came out in an aggressive, attack mode against Kansas State,” said Hoiberg. “That’s how will has to play. He played quite a few minutes at the four. I liked what I saw with him there.”
Hoiberg also noted that Clyburn played every position from the four to the one in Iowa State’s victory.
“Not many guys have the versatility to play four spots,” said Hoiberg.
Gibson, Booker struggling
Senior big man Anthony Booker did not see the court for the Cyclones against Kansas State. Meanwhile, sophomore center Percy Gibson continued to struggle by going 0-for-3 in eight minutes of work.
“Percy has just missed a couple of shots that he finished last year,” said Hoiberg. “I’m confident with Percy. I still run plays for him to get the ball inside the paint to get touches in there over his right shoulder with that left hand. He just needs to see that ball go in the basket to gain some confidence.”
Gibson, who made 66 percent of his shots as a rookie, is 8-for-26 from the field since Big 12 play began.
Booker has scored a combined five points in Iowa State’s six Big 12 games.
“Book I thought played well in that first half against Tech – I think he only played four minutes but he was running, was active and engaged,” said Hoiberg. “The big message to those guys is to just go out there and bust their butt every opportunity they get. What opportunities there are will be dictated on a day-to-day basis.”
