Given another COVID-related pause slowed the momentum of Arizona State’s program following consecutive wins over the Bay Area schools, a jovial Bobby Hurley spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon. With a mountain of frustration to point to during the Sun Devils 2020-21 season, Hurley spoke on his gratitude for how his players have handled the unfortunate circumstances.
“I respect the resiliency that we’ve demonstrated,” claimed Hurley, whose Sun Devils sit at 6-8 (3-5 Pac-12) ahead of Thursday’s matchup with Oregon (10-4, 5-3). “We had high expectations, and we have not reached that. We’ve had a lot of injuries, illnesses, postponements, and the guys have not mailed it in by any stretch. They’ve really in the games we lost we’ve had chances to win.”
In order to connect with his players and display that gratitude for the time and opportunity to practice, the former Duke legend decided to participate for portions of a recent Arizona State practice.
“He was working pretty hard,” said sophomore center Jalen Graham. “I feel like coach – he’s still got it for his age. He can still ball with us and keep up with us.”
“I knew that we needed to do a little bit of conditioning after several guys being out for four or five days,” Hurley explained of his decision to join his players for their “17” drill, a series of sideline to sideline sprints needed to be completed in a minute and five seconds. “I sacrificed myself, my self-esteem and how I felt about myself after.”
Despite gaining an advantage by starting his run prior to yelling ‘go,’ the Sun Devil head coach told reporters he finished two seconds behind the desired pace and earned a verbal reprimand from sophomore guard Jaelen House. As House informed him of his flaws, Hurley said it was another good opportunity to share a moment with his players during a season of disjointed interaction.
As the Sun Devils prepare for a Thursday matchup with Oregon and a subsequent Sunday matchup with Oregon State; they do so, getting set for another Pac-12 foe that has experienced a similar COVID experience as theirs. On multiple occasions, both the Sun Devils and Ducks have had to undergo contact tracing and shut down their programs, missing practices and games on multiple occasions. The first matchup between ASU and Oregon, scheduled to take place in Eugene on Jan. 14, was postponed. Since the start of the calendar year, the Sun Devils have played just seven of their 12 scheduled matchups.
After the most recent ASU shutdown, Hurley said junior guard Luther Muhammad, freshman forward Pavlo Dziuba and an unspecified walk-on would not be in attendance for Thursday night’s game due to COVID-19 protocols. With Muhammad sitting out this season after transferring from Ohio State, and Dziuba having been a seldom-used piece off the bench, the recently developed Arizona State rotation should see more time against the Ducks.
“I talked to my dad, who was a Hall-of-Fame coach, watches every game, and he was raving about the impact that Jaelen House had against Cal,” Hurley said, with a new rotation featuring Kimani Lawrence in the starting lineup, as well as House and senior guard Alonzo Verge. “He had great things to say about Jaelen’s contributions in that game.”
Adding Lawrence and Jalen Graham back to the starting lineup after the sophomore forward missed multiple games due to mono has added length and defensive versatility to a Sun Devil lineup in great need of it. With Wednesday representing one of the best 40 minutes of practice all year, Hurley said he has great optimism about what’s to come Thursday night in Tempe.
“I don’t think we missed a beat in terms of being excited about being out on the floor and being enthusiastic about the opportunity to play a really good team on Thursday night,” Hurley said as the Sun Devils prepare to extend a two-game winning streak. “It’s not a usual situation by any stretch of the imagination.
“You try to keep things in perspective and realize the opportunity that you have. Our guys have a chance to play tomorrow night against a really good Oregon team that’s probably been consistently the best team in the conference year-in and year-out since I’ve been coaching in the Pac-12. It’s on ESPN. If that doesn’t get your juices going, then there’s something wrong with you.”
Graham speaks on return from mono
In both of Arizona State’s wins over California and Stanford, Jalen Graham scored in double figures, registering 12 points in each contest. It’s a sign of the sophomore’s return to physical shape after battling an illness early in January.
“I can remember my first day back after my sickness I came back and I couldn’t even finish my work out,” Graham explained. “I had to get on a treadmill, and it was really hard. For a couple of days after practice, I started getting my wind back, feeling bigger and stronger.”
Graham said he spent his time away eating plenty of food in order to avoid losing an undesirable amount of weight. With extra food and a few family hikes, Graham said he was able to stay in better shape than anticipated and make an impact when he returned to the Sun Devil lineup. Now, he and senior forward Kimani Lawrence’s return to the starting lineup have helped the Sun Devils' ball movement and defensive success.
“We’re just playing harder than we have before,” Graham said. “It’s affecting the team in all ways. I just feel like as a team, we’re all just playing a little harder and all just trying to give our all.”
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