With back-to-back losing seasons, Arizona State Basketball isn’t eliciting any preseason hype compared to some of its conference foes. Yet, that fact hardly dampens the optimism felt these days in Tempe less than a month before the season’s tip-off.
“The guys have been going hard since the first week of June,” said head coach Bobby Hurley, “I like our depth, and we got some experience, and both units have been competitive. This is probably my best team. My (2018-19) team with Lu Dort and Zylan Cheatham…those practices were wars, and guys were going at each other pretty hard, and that really got us ready to play. I feel kind of in a similar way about this group just because of our athleticism and size around the basket, and just some older guys that have, that have played a lot of college basketball. It’s a good mix.
“About the chemistry, I think the guys genuinely like each other seem to get along well. We have a lot to prove. They read the magazines, and they see the projections, and they don’t see their names mentioned in almost any of those categories by all people that know it all about college basketball. And coming off the last two years, it’s probably justified. But there’s been an edge to what we’ve been doing. And hopefully, that carries over and continues throughout the next few weeks.”
The Cambridge Brothers are some of the notable transfer portal additions to this team. Last year for Nevada, the 6-4 Desmond Cambridge averaged 16.2 ppg and, in three points made (87), blocks (34), and steals (51). He began his career at Brown, where he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, as he set the freshman scoring record in program history. The 6-6 Devan Cambridge transferred from Auburn, where last year he was second on the team in offensive rebounds with 56.
“They’re very different,’ Hurley commented on this duo. “I like Devan coming from a program that’s been winning, and that’s a priority for him to continue to do that. He’s an elite athlete in the open court, and the way we play our style, I think it fits him. He does a little bit of everything and will bring some of the ingredients that (outgoing senior) Kimani Lawrence brought for us.
“Des is going to provide a more instant offense, and we need to get better at that. That was what held us back last year, and so adding him and getting Marcus Bagley healthy will be key for us to address that.”
It would be anything but hyperbolic to declare that the upcoming campaign may rise or fall on the play of Bagley. The third-year forward has undoubtedly shown the glimpses of talent that make him a bona fide NBA prospect. Yet, playing in just three games last season and 15 total in his two years at Arizona State has naturally created some skepticism as to his potential impact this year.
“I touched on having a chip on your shoulder, being hungry, and have something to prove all those Clichés, and I think that’s a bullseye for Marcus,” Hurley remarked. “He’s heard a lot of people talk about him not being able to stay healthy, will he ever be able to play here… He’s highly motivated, and it’s as good as he’s looked, really, since his freshman year. So, we have high hopes for the season that he’s hopefully can put it all together for us this year.”
Versatility can be, at times, a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s a true measure of the elevated talent level aspect on a team. Conversely, it can create the inevitable challenge to coaching staff trying to establish a lineup rotation. And that latter element is one that is already on Hurley’s mind.
“Distribution of playing time will be able be something that I’m gonna have to handle very well,” Hurley admitted. “We’re extremely deep, especially on the perimeter, and I’d be comfortable playing a number of guys at those spots. And maybe that’s kind of a reactionary thing by me, with all the injuries we dealt with on the perimeter in the last two years. If one guy goes down, it’s not going to derail what we’re doing. So, we do have options; we could play small, or we could go really big. I’m gonna be able to get Marcus in as a 3 (spot player). I remember back to his game against USC in his freshman year he had 12 defensive rebounds. We got to be a better rebounding team, and we got bigger, even on our perimeter spots.
“And then, (center) Warren Washington has been a presence around the basket with his length, shot-blocking finishing above the rim, and with (forward) Alonzo Gaffney, it’s the same thing. (Center) Enoch Boakye is older and a little more experienced now. He’s continued to be a work in progress, and I think that there’s not going to be a ton of pressure on him because you bring in a guy like Warren Washington, who’s been very productive, who is older and experienced. I think he (Boakye) will go in, be physical, and score around the basket when he gets his opportunities and just keep things real simple for him. So, I like our paint coverage and our ability to score around the basket.”
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At 12.5 ppg during his first year in the maroon and gold, DJ Horne returns as the team’s leading scorer. While he certainly has high expectations for himself to step up his own game he also, he also anticipates the team’s depth being able to contribute to a more successful season for ASU. Furthermore, last year winning seven of the last eight regular season games is a factor that Horne feels can serve as a foundation to build upon.
“I think we’re in a really good spot right now as a team,” Horne claimed. “A lot of guys are on the same page, and I’m really excited for this year. I’ve been working on making my shot even more efficient; towards the end of last year, it started to slip a little bit as far as my percentages. So, I’ve been working on that and being an all-around leader for his team. Having a year under my belt in the Pac-12 is gonna come up big in games. It’s just big for me to instill those things that we were doing to end off the season last year and bring them on to this season to winning habits.
“With all the new pieces that we brought in this year, I feel like my job would be a lot easier. We’re going about our everyday business and feel it (last season) has put a chip on our shoulders. It’s gonna definitely make us better as a team. You can’t come in every day being complacent. You got to come to work or next man up. Coach Hurley has been big on that this year, and that’s why he’s brought in a lot of talent in this year.
“This is the year for us to make a big statement. I felt like we definitely ended the year off getting better. And I think that with the guys we have returning and with the new guys we have been coming in, we’re gonna definitely pick up from where we left off. We have a lot of weapons this year, and I just can’t wait to see what it looks like when we gotta step out into court on November 7 (ASU’s season opener).
Horne feels that the six new faces on the team have been acclimating at a rate that is faster than last year when the guard himself was a newcomer. Horne believes that the current locker room culture is a characteristic that will show up on game day. One newcomer in specific, Michigan guard transfer Frankie Collins is a newcomer Horne didn’t spare any praise of.
“I think we have the best backcourt in the Pac-12 right now,” Horne stated. “Frankie (Collins) coming in has definitely been a good addition for our backcourt. He’s all about (being a) point guard, and I’m gonna love playing alongside of him this year, as all well the other guys too. It will be a lot easier for us to get that offensive flow going like we did have last year.”
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Collins echoes the same sentiments as his teammate and feels that the team has been meshing effectively in the off-season. He added that a clear definition of roles by the coaches to the players has aided the process here.
“Being a leader and a playmaker,” Collins commented about his role, “a point guard who gets everyone in their spots, so we play downhill. Coach Hurley has a system where he allows his guys have a little more freedom than other teams. Coach Hurley has a great resume, did a lot of great things (as a player) at Duke and as a coach. His last two teams haven’t been as together, but he’s a coach that can take our team to the tournament.”
Hurley, from his perspective, believes that Collins is unquestionably capable of executing his vision and scheme because of the pure position traits the ASU newcomer possesses.
“Frankie Collins is a different (point guard) than I’ve had,” Hurley described. “I watched him rise up today (during the October 12th practice), and he almost had his head near the rim finishing, and I’m saying, ‘Wow. Has this position changed since I was doing it 30 years ago?’ It’s really exciting to see him be able to do some of the things he could do athletically. But he’s probably the best I’ve had at being a pure point guard and just getting others involved. The guys love being on his team because he finds people, and he’s thinking about playing like a point guard, and then he’s just gonna guard the heck out of the ball. He really takes it personally playing defensively, and I think it’ll be really positive for us at that position.”
“It takes the pressure off of me knowing that there is a guy out there who can control thongs and get guys involved and keep guys happy. If a guy is missed and he’s wide open, it’s demoralizing, and it chips at the trust the team has. When you have a point guard that is focused on that, it does make our lives easier.”
Shooting off the dribble, floaters, employing a different approach to court vision, and subsequent decision-making are areas that Collins specified as ones he has been working with closely with Hurley. That personal training, as well as the overall talent of the team, are some of the areas that truly excited him about this upcoming season.
“We got some great talent,” Collins stated. “We got a lot of guys who can score the ball really well at a high level. I was at Michigan last year, so comparing it, the skill is there, and the athleticism is there. I think we have a team that, as long as we stay together, and listen to coach and stay the course, we can win a (Pac-12) tournament championship, win a regular season championship, or even go to March Madness and do big things.”
