Iowa State men’s basketball aims for defensive stinginess in exhibition with Sioux Falls

AMES - Offense hasn't been a concern surrounding Iowa State basketball in a long time.

Steve Prohm has a bunch of offensive weapons at his disposal, so offensive work hasn't been the focus in practices and scrimmages. What the Iowa State coach wants to see from his team is a heightened level of defensive play while new players continue to mesh with veterans.

Sunday's exhibition against Sioux Falls, which tips at 6 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum, is a success if the top-25 ranked Cyclones can simply get consistent stops.

'We do a good job when we don't have as many clips as I just watched from poor defense and poor ball-screen defense. Then it's a success,” Prohm said last week after his team scrimmaged Nebraska. 'I don't care if we shoot 4-for-22 from 3 or 12-for-22.

'We have to defend at a better level.”

Iowa State was 258th in the nation last season and allowed 75 points per game while opponents shot almost 50 percent from the field. How different the Cyclones will look is unclear, but the attention on getting stops is brought up constantly in practice.

Prohm has mentioned playing in more three-quarter-court pressure with more attention on perimeter defense and a more concerted effort, particularly from guards, to crash the boards. Iowa State was 294th in total rebounds a year ago, and knows that even with all the scorers on the roster, it can't rely on just trying to outshoot teams.

'We're smaller than most teams, everyone knows that, but we have dogs in here,” said guard Naz Mitrou-Long. 'We just need to bring the dog out of each other. It'll be a success if I see that Sunday.”

Part of that defensive success hinges on what Iowa State gets out of its fifth starter. Point guard Monte Morris, guards Mitrou-Long and Matt Thomas and forward Deonte Burton are the clear starters. As it stands, Louisiana Tech grad transfer Merrill Holden will be starting at center.

The 6-foot-8 and 224-pound Holden - who averaged 8.1 points and 5.0 rebounds last year at Tech - adds a big body to a small lineup, but has to find a way to differentiate his contributions and has to be the guy who does the dirty work. Running rim-to-rim with consistency, gobbling up rebounds and making easy plays when they are there has to be his bread and butter.

'Running the floor creates a lot of open shots for me and honestly the whole team,” Holden said. 'If I run the floor I can suck in three guys by the rim and leave other guys open.”

Rim running is perhaps the most crucial part of the operation, and is something Prohm is still trying to get the bigs to do with regularity. Holden and Northern Illinois grad transfer Darrell Bowie are the two likely candidates to see the bulk of early season minutes while freshman Solomon Young continues to grow in understanding schemes.

'All of them have their days when they're playing fantastic,” Morris said. 'We're just trying to get those guys to string three or four days together and not try to be so up and down.

'It's a hard learning curve coming from different schools, but we're just trying to get everybody on the same page.”

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