Fred Hoiberg Praises Michael Devoe & GT's Zone Defense
Former Iowa State Cyclones player & coach Fred Hoiberg made his McCamish Pavilion debut tonight, with his Nebraska Cornhuskers heading back to Lincoln, NE having been dealt a 73-56 loss at the hands of the Yellow Jackets.
After the game, the Mayor of Ames had high praise for the ACC's leading scorer and Georgia Tech guard Michael Devoe, saying this about the sophomore:
“He plays with a great pace... He’s got a great hesitation move and obviously shoots the heck out of it… leading the nation in three-point shooting. [He] does a really good job drawing contact. A couple actions that they ran… the stack play we had a defense for it and didn’t execute it well. It got him loose and got him a couple of open shots and that can’t happen. Give them credit for getting him open looks. He’s a heck of a player.”
Devoe finished with 26 points against the Huskers, and is now averaging 23.8 on the season. With his Huskers also finishing the game 32.3% from the field and 23.1% from beyond the arc, Hoiberg also had high praise for Tech's stout zone defense:
“They do a good job with that. It is a zone you don’t see very often. It’s a lot like when I was in the Big 12… like Baylor and their zone with their wings outside. It starts in a 1-3-1 and kind of morphs back into a 2-3. Then when you do get it inside you have to shoot it over the big fella, which is tough to do. I thought the movement for the most part in the second half was really good, especially seeing the zone for the first time. You try to simulate in practice, but it’s impossible to do. If you keep the ball moving and create good looks… hopefully we’ll make them the next time we get that opportunity.”
Georgia Tech moves to 2-0 all-time against Nebraska, and is back in action this Saturday against Syracuse in McCamish.
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