Late in the first half of Friday’s game, Colorado guard McKinley Wright dribbled the ball at the top of the key, waiting for his teammates to clear out. Arguably the Pac-12’s shiftiest point guard was being defended by ASU’s lengthy 6-8 forward, Kimani Lawrence.
Like the veteran ball-handler he is, Wright exploited his mismatch. He blew past Lawrence. Lawrence reached. Wright cashed in on the and-1.
And it seemed ASU’s best chances at halting Colorado’s mismatches were standing about 15 feet away, standing by the Sun Devil bench decked out in grey sweats.
Forwards Romello White and Taeshon Cherry did not play in ASU’s 81-71 loss to Colorado in Shanghai, China. The pair was held out by coach Bobby Hurley for a minor violation of team rules that occurred prior to ASU’s expedition began.
In their absences, the Sun Devils lacked size. It quickly showed. The Buffaloes, which were picked to win the conference in the preseason media poll outrebounded ASU 48-36, outscored it in the paint 38-30 and shot 8 percent better from the field.
The short-handed lineup did allow garnering an early impression of nearly all of ASU’s six newcomers and some of Hurley’s unique lineup configurations. By the end of the game, it felt like 2017 with all of ASU’s guards on the court.
At one point, ASU put out Remy Martin, Rob Edwards, Jaelen House, Alonzo Verge, and Elias Valtonen. That’s five guards on the floor at the same time.
To be fair, ASU did have its most success with a four-guard lineup. It helped ignite a furious 22-12 run that pulled the Sun Devils, at one point, within just a point after Colorado went to the locker room with a 13-point first-half lead.
Here are a few other takeaways from the Sun Devils’ first game of 2019.
Newcomers impressed with short-handed lineup
With White out, freshman Jalen Graham started down low for the Sun Devils. The Phoenix native had impressed Hurley in recent practices, the Sun Devil coach even admitted ASU tried some lineups with Graham and White playing side-by-side.
That plan will have to wait a game.
But, even with no collegiate experience and little help in the paint, Graham looked solid. He finished with six points on four shots and three rebounds. For most of his time on the court, he held his own. In game one, that’s all you could ask for.
Junior college transfer forwards Andre Allen and Khalid Thomas played a combined eight minutes and neither attempted a shot. At least one game in, it’s clear Graham will likely be White’s backup or counterpart once the junior returns.
Alonzo Verge, a junior college transfer, also made his debut on Friday night. He had been regarded as an incredible scoring threat and showed some flashes but finished with just four points on 2 of 11 shooting.
The surprise of the night, though, may have been Jaelen House. The talk of his energy and explosiveness had been well-touted by ASU’s players and coaches. But, wow, it just looks different when you’re watching it in a real game.
If we’re talking about flashbacks to 2017, the freshman’s debut kind of reminded me of watching Remy Martin for the first time. It just felt like the entire team got a jolt. The relentless defense. The speed. The non-stop bobbing and moving.
House was only 1 of 9 from the field but registered a+/- of -1, tied for the best on ASU’s roster. He played 30 minutes in his debut and recorded seven points, an assist and three steals.
Martin, Edwards, and Lawrence looked like ASU’s vets
On a team with six new faces and two of its returners two key contributors standing by the bench in sweats, Remy Martin, Rob Edwards and Kimani Lawrence basically had to take over.
The trio of upperclassmen was tenacious on defense, key in stringing together a few stops that gave the Sun Devils some unexpected life. On offense, they accounted for almost two-thirds of ASU’s total shots.
Lawrence scored 10 points. Edwards had 20. And Martin led ASU in every major category, finishing with 23 points and just a rebound and assist shy of a triple-double.
Lawrence looked more confident and explosive than last year. On a few occasions, he handled the ball beyond the arc, made a move and drove hard for a score. It seemed, though, he was out of position a few times, forced, because of White and Cherry’s absence, to guard guys that he normally wouldn’t.
And Martin put the offense on his shoulders at times. The junior point guard finished with 20 shots -- a mark he has only achieved once before in his college career.
As expected, the Sun Devils often found themselves in trouble. Whether it was fouls or turnovers or just missed layups. They were sloppy in the way you’d expect most teams out of the gate.
Most teams, however, aren’t playing a squad of the Buffaloes caliber -- or doing it without two of their most vital pieces. Because of all that, it’s tough to make any brash judgments about ASU after one game.
The only thing that can’t be debated: ASU is 0-1.
