(Photo: Spencer Barnes/ WCSN)
Usually when a team wins by 17 points, the head coach is pleased. That was far from the truth for Bobby Hurley and Arizona State men’s basketball after its season opener against Southern Utah.
The Sun Devils opened their season defeating the Thunderbirds 81-64 behind 17 points from transfer Anthony “Pig” Johnson. The senior guard was a part of the eight new ASU players to see the court tonight.
Despite the personnel changes, problems such as poor rebounding and paint defense were reminiscent of last year’s disappointing season. After finishing second to last in Big 12 last year, Hurley accepted the win but was conscious of a difficult schedule ahead.
“I just think that we all want to be accountable,” Hurley said. “We want to try and set a bar at a certain level. Yes it’s great to win and I want them to feel happy that we won, but I also want to cautiously make them alert to the fact that the water is going to get deeper and the mistakes we made tonight are not going to be acceptable in some of our other games.
Last season ASU ranked 15th in rebounding differential among the 16 conference programs. To solve that, Hurley brought in eight players above 6’8”, compared to last year’s four. Despite the added height, the Sun Devils still struggled on the inside.
They were out rebounded 40 to 39 and gave up 16 offensive boards, far below the standard Hurley wants to uphold.
“We didn’t finish defensive possessions the way we need to,” Hurley said. “With as many guys over 6’8” as we’re playing on the floor, we can’t give up 16 rebounds.”
Southern Utah scored 44 points in the paint, 69% of their total. Freshman center Massamba Diop struggled to defend against the Thunderbirds, especially freshman guard Elijah Duval, who scored 17 points despite making just one three pointer.
Diop’s struggles were amplified by ASU’s poor spacing. Hurley said the players were reacting poorly to screens and playing too tight off the ball. These choices led to open lanes for Southern Utah to attack the rim. Even as a guard, Johnson knows they fell beneath Hurley’s defensive standard.
“We weren’t close to achieving it,” Johnson said. “We let them score 40 points in the paint. That’s a big no no for Hurley. No points in the paint. We got to step it up, watch film and see what we got to do to be better.”
As the game progressed ASU did seem to get better. With so many new players, many of whom played overseas, it is still adjusting to spacing and competing together as a team. Although this is their first game together, the players are engaging in Hurley’s system.
“My teammates trust me,” Johnson said. “I trust coach. I trust what he got going on. So, whatever he got going on, I just fall into it.”
This could be where the Sun Devils improve from last season. Hurley said a lack of depth and team first attitudes hurt the team last year. The willingness from the players this year allowed him to coach with a “free mind.” Continuing to build chemistry will be crucial for this team to improve from last season.
“It’s about locking into all these things that I talked about,” Hurley said. “These mistakes and things we didn’t do tonight in tonight’s game will haunt us as the games get more difficult. We really have to embrace that and make sure that we’re getting better in those areas.”
