Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement…
“The first half, if you look at the stat sheet, the stat sheets were virtually identical. There were 14 made field goals by each team, each team had a similar number of rebounds and assists and turnovers. The one difference was 12 free throws to four and that resulted in a nine-point differential. So, we’re done 10 and we’re minus nine at the free throw line at home. So, we got to do a better job I would imagine of not fouling and putting ourselves behind early in the game. That aside, it was atrocious defense out there and that’s our responsibility as a staff and we’ve had an identity for most of the season of getting stops. USC is a good team and Drew Peterson’s a type of player, Ellis, these guys, their bigs, the freshman that just became eligible, Vance has got a bright future. A lot of good players and they’ve won a lot of games this year so you look at it that way. But at the same time, we’ve given up back-to-back games at 50 percent shooting from the field when we’ve mainly been holding teams in the mid-30s. So, we gotta get back to the drawing board at that end of the floor and figure out how we could put guys on the floor that are going to play with energy, the necessary energy and value at the defensive end of the floor because we’re not going to outscore people in a shootout, that’s just not how we’re built. So, we’ll figure it out, we got days to do it. We’ve dropped two games at home to two very good teams, we’re still in a very good position in our league and now we gotta make up for it. ”
On how Devan Cambridge’s foul trouble impacted the defense…
“He impacts the rebounding. And we wanted him on Peterson. So we didn't get a chance to do that a whole lot. I mean, he wasn't great early, either. None of the guys played well. So it's hard to say what the impact of that was. I mean, Warren, statistically, he tried really hard and stuff. So I guess you could look at his performance and be pleased. But outside of that, it's hard to find a lot of positives.”
On how he relates to his team…
“I think the reason I've connected so much with this team and this group is because we've had some guys that weren't recruited heavily, they were overlooked (and they) play with a chip on their shoulder. And we certainly didn't have a chip on our shoulder today. And that's why I've really appreciated this team so much is because of how hard they've competed and how they get after it. And that's why so many people have enjoyed watching us through most of the year.”
On how he handled USC’s 1-3-1 zone…
“I thought that we needed to attack the middle part of the zone and the inside of the paint, they were virtually wide open. I thought when we were stuck on 18. You know, USC switching to it. Hopefully it just doesn't happen every time someone plays on it. It took like two or three minutes offensively to figure out where the weakness was and attack it. But I think Gaffney had a turnaround jump shot and Luther had a few chances that just didn't connect. So I didn't think that was really the issue. I think it's all goes back to how we're competing and how hard we're playing on defense. It just was nonexistent.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Center Warren Washington
On the team’s performance…
“I feel like it was flat-out embarrassing. We embarrassed our fans, we embarrassed ourselves. It's just embarrassing and I don't have much to say about it. It's embarrassing. We just got to get back in the gym and prepare for next week.”
On what to learn from tonight…
“We can't take anybody lightly. We can't take any games off. Every game you gotta play like it is a championship game. We got to talk on film. We gotta get back in the gym, look at what we did wrong and just make sure that we're doing a better job overall next week.”
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