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ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 9, 2015Bobby HurleyTempe, Arizona COACH HURLEY: I'll just say in general I'm super excited to start. A lot of work has been put in since July in the gym with the guys and in training, and then the five weeks-plus of practice and going at each other. We're all really looking forward to the start of the season. There's definitely hope there and a good group of guys to coach who have worked extremely hard. We've managed to stay relatively healthy coming in. I think we're playing at a pretty good level right now and had another good practice yesterday. Just excited about where the season could take us. Just very optimistic as most coaches are before the games are starting to be played. Q. Coach, after the game on Saturday and you're talking about don't really know what you saw yet because you have to look at the tape, what did you see? Because of the blowout, I guess, what was the most impressive thing that you saw about your team? COACH HURLEY: I mean, I like the fact that it was a dress rehearsal for Friday. We worked on our game preparation and got to play in front of a crowd with officials in a real game atmosphere. I think that that in some ways could limit the nerves that the players might feel Friday with the first game. So that's really what the exhibition accomplished. Outside of that, I look at more what's happening on the practice floor, and I think I get more out of that in terms of knowing what to expect from my team as far as them competing against each other day-in and day-out at a pretty high level. It did carry over to the court. The passing that I'm seeing in practice and the ball movement, 20 assists was a great number for us. We played with physicality, we rebounded, and it's hard to hold an opponent to 15% from the floor, regardless of who you're playing. So that's going to be key for us just how we guard to lead into the type of offense that we want to play this year. Q. Want to get your thoughts on opening with Sacramento State and how important is it to this squad to get off to a quick start? COACH HURLEY: Well, you want to start establishing an identity of who you are and particularly on your home court. Just give ourselves and our fans something to be excited about. I feel like our guys will have great energy on Friday. They're really looking forward to it. Sacramento State had an excellent year last year, a 21-win team and postseason team. So we'll get a great, great test on Friday. Q. Is Savon still on track to play Friday? COACH HURLEY: Yes, Savon looked very good yesterday. We didn't go extremely long coming off of the exhibition game, but he got good reps yesterday, was moving very well, and pain free. So he'll get three good days of practice going into the game. Hopefully if there are no setbacks that we don't anticipate, he should be ready to roll. Q. Where has Tra shown the most development from the time you've arrived to where you are now? COACH HURLEY: Tra's got really good demeanor out there right now. He's running the team. I have a lot of confidence when the ball's in his hands making decisions out there on the floor. He's shown his creativity. He's getting in the lane and making plays for teammates. He's got a good knack for finishing around the basket. I think he's pressuring the ball better than what I saw on film from him last year, which is going to be key for us. We need that from the point guard spot. Q. I know that you want to have this team be in your image, and you were a tough, hard-nosed kind of a player. How is this group responding to your interests in them playing that kind of style of basketball? COACH HURLEY: I think it's setting the tone defensively. We talk about wanting to play faster and put points on the board. Really the only way that happens is if you could stop your opponent to get some easy shots to get in the open court. I have a lot of confidence in our players and their own abilities in playing great offense and scoring. We've got to commit to playing that end of the court at a high level. I'm seeing progress day-in and day-out on the practice floor with that, and understanding the mistakes that are being made and then correcting those things. Really good teams that win at the highest level or NCAA Tournament teams take that end of the floor very seriously and understand and embrace the challenge of playing defense at a high level. Q. Wanted to get your thoughts on Obinna Oleka and what he'll bring to the team? Obviously he had a nice game in the exhibition. What are your thoughts of what he can bring? COACH HURLEY: Yeah, Obi's a combination forward, so there is some versatility with him. He can really shoot. He's an exceptional athlete too, way above the rim. He's got a great body for this level. So he's still learning. He's just here and out of junior college, so he's getting better and better on the practice floor. He's a guy that's going to be important to us in the rotation. Q. Obviously, Willie Atwood is one player that struggled a lot last year, and you're coming in with a fresh set of eyes and maybe a fresh start for him too has probably propelled him to be one of the better players you've had in the preseason. Can you talk about his development and what you've seen in the last few months? COACH HURLEY: Yeah, he wanted to put last year behind him. I know that he came in to ASU with a big reputation coming out of junior college and didn't put up statistically maybe the type of year he was looking for. But he knows he's got one year. Wants to make the most out of it. He's worked on his game extremely hard. Been one of the most consistent players that we have day-in and day-out. It's great for me to develop that type of trust with a guy to kind of know what he brings to the table. At the exhibition games, just played with tremendous energy, going after the rebounds. He knows everywhere he's supposed to be on defense, plays with great energy. He's got some good skills. He can get to the rim and he can shoot the outside shot, so he brings a lot to the table. Q. Speaking of tempo, you mentioned earlier you guys had a taste of this on Saturday. But how do you feel about the new shorter shot clock? COACH HURLEY: I've been saying this pretty consistently. I think it's good for the game. I think it's positive for making our product better. Fans and people are watching, want to see more points scored. They want to see a quicker-paced game. I think that shortening that will address some of those issues. In terms of what my philosophy is playing basketball and how my teams have played in the past, the shot clock doesn't factor in a whole lot. I wouldn't anticipate it being a major issue for us and what we do in our offense. Q. How would you assess how Eric Jacobsen has developed as a leader? COACH HURLEY: I mean, Eric has got great maturity about him. He's another guy like in the same breath as Willie that shows up to practice today, every day with the right attitude and does it consistently. He knows where he needs to be on defense. Great to have on the back line of defense. A guy that could be vocal and communicate with his teammates and is in the right spots and willing to give up his body. He does all those things on that end of the floor. He's worked as hard as any guy in the program since I got here in terms of just changing his body and leaning out a little more and understanding that we'd be looking to try to play a little quicker. He's changing ends of the floor great. He's all over the glass. He's a guy late in the game we (No audio) with his touch around the basket and his passing ability. He's a very good passer for a big guy, so he's doing very well right now. I've been excited about him since really since we started practice. Q. Has Andre been as efficient shooting the ball as he's shown here recently in practice? COACH HURLEY: I mean, Andre, like in the early stages of practice was just trying to get a handle on the offense. And a lot was being thrown at him, more than he's ever experienced. So just in the first couple of weeks he's trying to feel his way into what his role was going to be and thinking too much, and trying to remember where he's supposed to be all the time in our set offense. So he's beyond that point now. He's playing more on instinct, and that's why he's been so good for us like the last ten days just with his efficiency, his shot-making and his ability to create. He's a definite threat when he's out there. I was a little worried or concerned just about the first game, the first scrimmage, how would he react? Would he be nervous? And he didn't show any of that, which is a real positive. Q. I know it got interrupted a little bit last year because of injury. But how have you seen Kodi and Tra work together? COACH HURLEY: Yeah, I mean, Kodi is coming on also. I think we're very balanced, and it's guys like him particularly in exhibition that I can bring off the bench, and we either stay the same or get better. He had great minutes in the exhibition game with his ability to shoot and put it on the floor. When he creates, he's very good at knowing where his teammates are and passing. So he does a lot of the things that I look for in a guard, Kodi does. Again, he didn't have all the work that a lot of the guys had, just with getting back from the injury, so it's exciting to know that he'll continue to get better here as we move forward in the season. Q. Those schools are also strong in women's basketball. ASU has been strong here in women's basketball. Can you talk about the basketball atmosphere, if both programs are going good? COACH HURLEY: Yeah, it's kind of like we're going through the same thing that coach is going through now. So we're -- we can share quick conversations about how is your season going? You want to set a high standard, and it's exciting to know that they've been so successful and they do such a great job running their program. It's something that we're hoping to get to that level here as we move forward. Q. Just wondering, I know it's early in the process, but from what you've seen and what you know you have and the potential of the squad, would you be disappointed, all said and done, if this team didn't make it to the postseason? COACH HURLEY: Well, I mean, I've been in locker rooms two years ago my team at Buffalo I think was a postseason team, and we got tripped up in the conference tournament. You have to see. And you're in that locker room with a bunch of guys that are crying, that know their season has ended and some of the guys' careers have ended. So I've been in those locker rooms where guys have invested, and you've got to make the investment. I think we've done that consistently. We've done it on the practice floor and we've got to continue to do it throughout the year. You make that type of commitment to what we're doing, then the results will take care of themselves. Sometimes you don't have a team that's as talented enough or gifted enough to be in contention for the postseason. I mean, based on what I know about basketball and what I've seen in college basketball and what I've coached, I think this is a team that could be in contention for postseason. Q. Did you, before you came here, did you have any perception of Pac-12 basketball? Did you ever think about it, look at it? Obviously the games haven't been played, but what are you feeling now when you've been around coaches and look at the talent and things like that? COACH HURLEY: Yeah, for me, it's probably been just my experience as a player playing against Pac-12 schools and playing Arizona, playing UCLA, schools like that when I was going through the process. Then coming from the East and then coaching more in the Midwest, conferences get labeled and get a reputation. Pac-12 basketball has always been, from the outside, looked upon as a scoring conference. Say a free-flowing conference. That was part of the appeal and wanting to be a part of that because the way I coach offense, and we want to bring in guys that can score, that play a fun style, that can put points on the board. We want our fans to come in and watch a team that can put a lot of points on the board and enjoy that experience. You know, so that's why I thought it was a good match for me. Q. You talked about last week being the dress rehearsal, maybe getting some butterflies out of the way. Are those butterflies going to return probably on Friday having extended family there and maybe some friends too for your first Pac-12 game? COACH HURLEY: I drag myself through it, through misery for 48 hours at least before the game. Even being here today, it's real. It's starting to become real. So I'll be myself and how I normally am, and then when the ball goes up, it's everything. All that goes away. I just think -- I didn't get enough out of it just in terms of coaching that entire game the way I would like to have coached a game coming into Friday. But it will be a different experience with this type of opponent to go through that. It won't be like it was on Saturday. Q. Speaking of experience, I hear your parents will be there on Friday. What's that going to be like for you to have your parent there's watching you make your regular season debut? COACH HURLEY: Yeah, I'm trying to get a win for my dad who is 0 for 2 when he comes to watch me play. So we're going to have to overcome his record as well in this game. Hopefully we can take care of that. It's always great because I've been around him so much in my life, obviously, and in basketball and done so much. The one thing is I'll try not to look at him during the game because I would always feel like he might be evaluating me even as the game is going on because of what he's accomplished as a coach and things. But hopefully I don't lock in on where he is, and I can just maybe talk after the game about some decisions I made during the game that I can improve on as a coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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