Granted, exhibition wins against vastly inferior opponents have to be taken with a massive grain of salt. Yet, Arizona State's performance in its 108-41 exhibition win versus NAIA school St. Katherine, by and large, did manifest some very welcomed elements and showed that a team full of newcomers is able to play at a highly cohesive level.
Here are five of the more significant observations from this ASU victory:
The absence of hero ball or isolation plays. For large portions of last season, this phenomenon was all the rage in Tempe and generally, tonight was nowhere to be found. Under the guidance of Toledo transfer point guard Marreon Jackson, the ball movement was crisp, and the offensive sets definitely had a higher degree of smoother flow than we've seen in years past.
You can qualify a lot of statements about tonight's contest with a "consider the level of opponent" disclaimer. Yet that should not diminish the fact that ASU had 13 assists in the first half alone and 26 for the entire game. Out of the ten turnovers committed by ASU, only three of them came from the guard spot, which showcased how well this group takes care of the ball compared to last season.
This year's version of Arizona State is a very unselfish team which in turn led to a lot of sound decisions on the floor and good shot selection. This element of creating an adequate offensive flow was perhaps number one on Bobby Hurley's to-do list coming into this year, and if this performance is a prelude albeit possibly producing more modest numbers against better competition, then this is a Sun Devil team that will be both enjoyable to watch and should achieve a higher rate of success.
By his own admission, Hurley wanted to veer away from the Guard U mantra of emphasizing ASU's backcourt, which by default perhaps diminished the contributions of its frontcourt on offense. And while we definitely saw some flashes of that approach in Monday night's victory, make no mistake about it, the overall caliber of guards, at least at first blush, is certainly equivalent to the caliber of that vaunted Guard U team that excited the fan base with entertaining basketball and helped ASU to qualify for the NCAA tournament back in the 2017-18 campaign.
To no one's surprise, Jackson was a stat sheet stuffer, something that was standard operating procedure for the Toledo star and reigning MAC Player of the Year. Jackson posted 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists to go along with 3 steals, and displaying quick hands that forced a couple more turnovers is a performance fans should probably get used to seeing on any given night.
We've heard glowing reviews in the preseason about Illinois State transfer guard DJ Horne who was 6-7 beyond the arc in a scrimmage versus New Mexico State, which was closed for the media and the fans. And today, in his first public appearance, so to speak, he more or less continued that trend converting 4-5 attempts from long range and tallying 15 points.
However, the leading scorer was Boston College transfer guard Jay Heath who may have had a quieter night from long range, just 1-4, but scored 18 points and really hitting paydirt more often than not, driving to the basket and completing two three-point plays. Ohio transfer guard Luther Muhammad who has been with the team since last year, chipped in with 5 assists and 3 rebounds to negate his 2-10 shooting for six points. All in all, that quartet of backcourt players is probably going to dictate many of their team's fortunes as the season goes on but indeed showed they can be capable of creating a stabilized backcourt that showcases a well-rounded arsenal of traits.
ASU played HARD and not down to the level of its opponent. I know it's effortless to dismiss the visitors' 19% field goal shooting as they faced a superior opponent, to say the least. But credit has to be given for ASU'seffort on BOTH ends of the court. Boxing out for rebounds which resulted in a 65-35 edge on the boards, including 18 offensive rebounds, or effective defensive closeouts that had the Firebirds converting just 5-22 three-point attempts should not be taken for granted in a game that doesn't count in the standings and one where frequently you could see players taking breaks on the defensive end. ASU scored 34 fast-break points and had 22 points off of 16 turnovers. An improved defensive identity was another crucial facet that required an upgrade from last season, and this exhibition contest certainly provided a glimpse into that feat having a good chance of being accomplished.
The ASU frontcourt did offer a bag of mixed goods. Forward Jalen Graham had 10 points on 5-9 shooting in addition to 6 rebounds as he showed some impressive rim protecting skills blocking 5 shots. However, he wwasn'table to shed the early foul trouble label picking up three fouls which ultimately did not hamper him in this contest, but his four turnovers were perhaps unexpected from such a veteran player.
Junior College transfer Alonzo Gaffney really did most of his damage outside the paint scoring seven points, although he also registered two blocks. He definitely looks to be a menace in the paint more defensively than offensively.
We mentioned on several occasions that five-star freshman Enoch Boakye had a rough off-season battling a couple of different injuries, which made it hard for the newcomer to truly establish himself and dull the usual sharp learning curve that any first-year player encounters. He, too, found himself in a lot of foul trouble picking up four fouls but definitely displayed his own defensive prowess with his 7-2 wingspan hauling down six caroms and blocking two shots. As I said before, seeing him materialize his full potential may be more of a proposition that could take place when the calendar just flips into 2022, but he does have enough good pieces around him that can cover for him while he still goes through the acclimation process.
Kimani Lawrence was the most impressive forward of the bunch who scored 9 of his 12 points in the second half, shooting 5-7 from the field, and showed a very impressive degree of well-roundness with 8 rebounds and four assists. The "Old man" on the team can absolutely prove to be a significant player in this season.
Freshman forward Jamiya Neal took full advantage of Marcus BBagley'sabsence (Hurley said he's hopeful the forward can be ready for the season opener on Nov. 9th) and justified his own preseason accolades scoring 11 points shooting 3-5 from three-point range in addition to his 6 rebounds and 4 assists. I said it before, and I'll say it again, out of the group of freshmen that ASU added, he's the biggest steal of them all. Truth be told, assuming the entire roster of forwards is going to be healthy and available, it may be hard for him to find meaningful minutes on any given night. Nonetheless, he certainly comes across as a young player that if called upon, should be ready to step up for the occasion.
I really like the fact that for nearly three quarters of the game, Hurley kept a tight nine-player rotation which, along with the return of Bagley to the lineup, will grow to ten players that will get the vast majority of minutes this season. This, to me, shows that Hurley took this exhibition game most seriously, and I think that resonated with the players and came through in their performance. Thus, it's no surprise to see ASU's head coach largely satisfied with the performance displayed on Monday night at Desert Financial Arena.
"Overall, I thought there were a fair number of positives," Hurley said in his postgame interview. "We turned the ball eight times in the first half, which is something I didn't see a lot of (in practices). Playing in front of a crowd was good, and accomplished what we hoped for. I've been saying all summer that our workouts have been highly competitive. We were practicing so hard coming into the first scrimmage that it translated into that game.
"I can put ten guys on the court that will practice as well as any team that I've had. It helps when you can practice hard and have a lot of guys that can make plays. They can come out here (in a game) and feel that this isn't as hard as what they face every day in practice.
"e talk about setting the tone and trying to establish playing a certain way, and practicing that way every day. And do that in a game no matter who you're playing or what the scoreboard says. I think this team has done that well."
The Sun Devils will tip off the 2021-22 season hosting Portland on Tuesday, Nov. 9th at 5 pm.
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