BOBBY HURLEY QUOTES
ON HOW DIFFERENT ARIZONA IS NOW COMPARED TO EARLIER IN THE MONTH:
“I have noticed a little more urgency. I have heard Sean (Miller) talk about his team getting 50/50 (balls). They are rebounding with energy. They are getting more production from key guys, especially off the bench. Key guys are making shots and they have hit the three pretty well over the last couple of games.”
ON HOW TO PROTECT THE PAINT:
“We know that it is going to be a battle in there. I am excited that Romello (White) is going to be at full strength. Hopefully, he will be who he normally is. But, it is a collective thing. They have a lot of size around the basket and a lot of talent.”
ON HAVING A HEALTHY ROMELLO WHITE THIS GAME AGAINST ARIZONA:
“He is one of our key players, so anytime he is going well and feeling great, then you would feel good about that.”
ON JAELEN HOUSE'S INJURY STATUS:
“Jaelen was not a full participant today, but he has done quit a bit non-live (ball). We have tomorrow and then we will know more. It will be a game time decision. If I had to say now, I think he will play. But, he still has a few hurdles to get through.”
ON POSSIBLY PLAYING A CLOSER GAME NOW AGAINST ARIZONA COMPARED TO LAST GAME WITH ROMELLO WHITE:
“I think you look at each game as its own entity. That is how I am looking at this particular game. There has been a lot of craziness going on across the board in college basketball. So, when you are done with your game, you just have to let it go and think about the next one. So, I don’t really think we are dwelling on the first game against them (Arizona) or what the score was. I do not think that will have much of a factor on Saturday night.”
ON OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES IN LAST GAME VS. ARIZONA:
“Yea, it started with free throws and then it spread...it moved to other areas of our offense. From missing free throws and starting 0-6, it was not good. We have tried to be a team that is more consistent in that department. It was encouraging for us to shoot really well from three in our last game. That does not mean that it will happen again on Saturday, but I sure would rather be going into this game coming off a confidence building offensive performance.”
ON COACHING TECHNIQUES WHEN LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY:
“I am staying the course with what we are doing. I do not think there is a real need to be someone else or change what we have been doing during the last couple of years. I do have confidence that I am seeing guys play well and more guys play better. That is encouraging and it is a good sign.”
ON PREGAME MUSIC:
“It spans decades. The music means something to me one way or the other. I mix in some depressing music that might touch an emotion. I listen to upbeat rap from the 80’s and 90’s. My son has his own influence to get me into the more current generation. So, I listen to a bit of everything.”
ON SON RECOMMENDING CERTAIN MUSIC:
“He keeps up, so I know what is happening with some of the current music.”
ON MINDSET ENTERING THIS GAME:
“This is a week to strike a balance between staying sharp, building off of what we did on Saturday, and also being able to physically and mentally recover by taking a deep breath. So, that was kind of earlier in the week. As guys have gotten a little more freshness to their legs, we have ramped things up as the week has progressed. I told them yesterday that I felt like we should have played. My body clock was telling me that we should have played today or tomorrow. So, we got after it pretty aggressively the last two days.”
ON STRIKING BALANCE WITH PLAYING EMOTION AND NOT OVERCROWDING ANY DISTRACTIONS:
“I think you have to play defense with great energy and intensity. You should use the fire from the crowd to get you to make second and third effort plays on that side of the floor. Trying to avoid being uptight on offense is important and playing together by sharing the ball is kay. You cannot play in a game like this and think you are going to do it yourself. You need to have a collective mentality to how you will approach the game. Hopefully, I have been seeing that in practice and we are talking to our guys about that, especially at the offensive side of the floor.”
ON HISTORY OF THIS RIVALRY:
“It is heated for sure. It is strong. I still remember the McKale Center two years ago when we were undefeated and that electricity. It feels like that was yesterday. The way our crowd has responded over the last two years and turned our arena into a 95-5 or 90-10 percentage as far as Sun Devils to Wildcat ratio is impressive. That was not anything close to what it was my first two years. It was kind of 60-40 ratio in favor of Arizona State, so you just hope that you will have that kind of support in a game against a Top-25 team. They are one of the better teams in the country.”
ON DIFFICULTY OF SEEING PECKING ORDER IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
“You can kind of say that this team lost to a team, who lost to this team. They lost to who? So, even at the top of college basketball, you have that. We have played some of the more decorated teams this year and have been in those games. We had a chance to win those games. I wish that we had two more wins on our record right now. I think there would be a different vibe or different feeling. But, that is not the case. Our record is what it is now. But, there is potential there. I have been reminding our teams that there is not a team that anyone absolutely fears. That has really been this season across the board.”
ON TAESHON CHERRY IMPROVEMENT:
“I just want him to play hard, go to the board, and defend. He is defending with good energy and he is rebounding. He also needs to let the offense come to himself as he gets opportunities.”
ON TAESHON CHERRY DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT:
“I just think he more dialed in. He has been more focused. Even during practice this week, he is practicing harder. He is not engaging or getting distracted in any way. He really has been showing a lot of maturity over the last two weeks."
ON ANOTHER POST PRESENCE BESIDES ROMELLO WHITE:
“I think he would be the main guy. As the year progresses, I think you could see Jalen Graham maybe get some touches in those situations. He has pretty good footwork.We try to attack the paint through the dribble and get to the basket with our guards. We then look to drop off. We are a little bit different maybe outside of Romello (White) at not having a true back to the basket threat.”
ON REMY’S PERFORMANCE AGAINST BIG SCHOOLS IN RIVALRY GAMES:
“He has shown that he is not afraid of big games. Not just this game, even though this is an important game for us and for our season, but he has demonstrated numerous times in high-level games that he is usually ready to play and have an impact on winning."
REMY MARTIN
ON PRE-GAME MUSIC TASTE:
“I am kind of diverse, honestly. I am pretty mainstream. Some of my friends play music, so I kind of listen to everything and whatever is popular. I do not really know what he listens to, but I am sure that whatever he listens to, it is pretty cool. With the way he is and how fiery he is, I agree with his music choice. He can probably get anyone fired up.”
ON MINDSET ENTERING THIS GAME VS. ARIZONA:
“To me, this means everything. This is something I want to look back on and know that we gave it our all, but also know that we came out with the win. This means the world for me. This is a rivalry that has been going on a long time and I am just trying to keep the legacy going to ASU.”
ON ROMELLO WHITE HAVING A BIG IMPACT AGAINST ARIZONA:
“Definitely, especially with how he has been playing. He has been unselfish, kicked the ball out, and has been practicing really well. We will be ready to fight and give you guys a good game.
ON HOW DIFFERENT ARIZONA IS NOW COMPARED TO EARLIER IN THE MONTH:
“I have noticed a little more urgency. I have heard Sean (Miller) talk about his team getting 50/50 (balls). They are rebounding with energy. They are getting more production from key guys, especially off the bench. Key guys are making shots and they have hit the three pretty well over the last couple of games.”
ON HOW TO PROTECT THE PAINT:
“We know that it is going to be a battle in there. I am excited that Romello (White) is going to be at full strength. Hopefully, he will be who he normally is. But, it is a collective thing. They have a lot of size around the basket and a lot of talent.”
ON HAVING A HEALTHY ROMELLO WHITE THIS GAME AGAINST ARIZONA:
“He is one of our key players, so anytime he is going well and feeling great, then you would feel good about that.”
ON JAELEN HOUSE'S INJURY STATUS:
“Jaelen was not a full participant today, but he has done quit a bit non-live (ball). We have tomorrow and then we will know more. It will be a game time decision. If I had to say now, I think he will play. But, he still has a few hurdles to get through.”
ON POSSIBLY PLAYING A CLOSER GAME NOW AGAINST ARIZONA COMPARED TO LAST GAME WITH ROMELLO WHITE:
“I think you look at each game as its own entity. That is how I am looking at this particular game. There has been a lot of craziness going on across the board in college basketball. So, when you are done with your game, you just have to let it go and think about the next one. So, I don’t really think we are dwelling on the first game against them (Arizona) or what the score was. I do not think that will have much of a factor on Saturday night.”
ON OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES IN LAST GAME VS. ARIZONA:
“Yea, it started with free throws and then it spread...it moved to other areas of our offense. From missing free throws and starting 0-6, it was not good. We have tried to be a team that is more consistent in that department. It was encouraging for us to shoot really well from three in our last game. That does not mean that it will happen again on Saturday, but I sure would rather be going into this game coming off a confidence building offensive performance.”
ON COACHING TECHNIQUES WHEN LOOKING FOR CONSISTENCY:
“I am staying the course with what we are doing. I do not think there is a real need to be someone else or change what we have been doing during the last couple of years. I do have confidence that I am seeing guys play well and more guys play better. That is encouraging and it is a good sign.”
ON PREGAME MUSIC:
“It spans decades. The music means something to me one way or the other. I mix in some depressing music that might touch an emotion. I listen to upbeat rap from the 80’s and 90’s. My son has his own influence to get me into the more current generation. So, I listen to a bit of everything.”
ON SON RECOMMENDING CERTAIN MUSIC:
“He keeps up, so I know what is happening with some of the current music.”
ON MINDSET ENTERING THIS GAME:
“This is a week to strike a balance between staying sharp, building off of what we did on Saturday, and also being able to physically and mentally recover by taking a deep breath. So, that was kind of earlier in the week. As guys have gotten a little more freshness to their legs, we have ramped things up as the week has progressed. I told them yesterday that I felt like we should have played. My body clock was telling me that we should have played today or tomorrow. So, we got after it pretty aggressively the last two days.”
ON STRIKING BALANCE WITH PLAYING EMOTION AND NOT OVERCROWDING ANY DISTRACTIONS:
“I think you have to play defense with great energy and intensity. You should use the fire from the crowd to get you to make second and third effort plays on that side of the floor. Trying to avoid being uptight on offense is important and playing together by sharing the ball is kay. You cannot play in a game like this and think you are going to do it yourself. You need to have a collective mentality to how you will approach the game. Hopefully, I have been seeing that in practice and we are talking to our guys about that, especially at the offensive side of the floor.”
ON HISTORY OF THIS RIVALRY:
“It is heated for sure. It is strong. I still remember the McKale Center two years ago when we were undefeated and that electricity. It feels like that was yesterday. The way our crowd has responded over the last two years and turned our arena into a 95-5 or 90-10 percentage as far as Sun Devils to Wildcat ratio is impressive. That was not anything close to what it was my first two years. It was kind of 60-40 ratio in favor of Arizona State, so you just hope that you will have that kind of support in a game against a Top-25 team. They are one of the better teams in the country.”
ON DIFFICULTY OF SEEING PECKING ORDER IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
“You can kind of say that this team lost to a team, who lost to this team. They lost to who? So, even at the top of college basketball, you have that. We have played some of the more decorated teams this year and have been in those games. We had a chance to win those games. I wish that we had two more wins on our record right now. I think there would be a different vibe or different feeling. But, that is not the case. Our record is what it is now. But, there is potential there. I have been reminding our teams that there is not a team that anyone absolutely fears. That has really been this season across the board.”
ON TAESHON CHERRY IMPROVEMENT:
“I just want him to play hard, go to the board, and defend. He is defending with good energy and he is rebounding. He also needs to let the offense come to himself as he gets opportunities.”
ON TAESHON CHERRY DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT:
“I just think he more dialed in. He has been more focused. Even during practice this week, he is practicing harder. He is not engaging or getting distracted in any way. He really has been showing a lot of maturity over the last two weeks."
ON ANOTHER POST PRESENCE BESIDES ROMELLO WHITE:
“I think he would be the main guy. As the year progresses, I think you could see Jalen Graham maybe get some touches in those situations. He has pretty good footwork.We try to attack the paint through the dribble and get to the basket with our guards. We then look to drop off. We are a little bit different maybe outside of Romello (White) at not having a true back to the basket threat.”
ON REMY’S PERFORMANCE AGAINST BIG SCHOOLS IN RIVALRY GAMES:
“He has shown that he is not afraid of big games. Not just this game, even though this is an important game for us and for our season, but he has demonstrated numerous times in high-level games that he is usually ready to play and have an impact on winning."
REMY MARTIN
ON PRE-GAME MUSIC TASTE:
“I am kind of diverse, honestly. I am pretty mainstream. Some of my friends play music, so I kind of listen to everything and whatever is popular. I do not really know what he listens to, but I am sure that whatever he listens to, it is pretty cool. With the way he is and how fiery he is, I agree with his music choice. He can probably get anyone fired up.”
ON MINDSET ENTERING THIS GAME VS. ARIZONA:
“To me, this means everything. This is something I want to look back on and know that we gave it our all, but also know that we came out with the win. This means the world for me. This is a rivalry that has been going on a long time and I am just trying to keep the legacy going to ASU.”
ON ROMELLO WHITE HAVING A BIG IMPACT AGAINST ARIZONA:
“Definitely, especially with how he has been playing. He has been unselfish, kicked the ball out, and has been practicing really well. We will be ready to fight and give you guys a good game.