(NOTE: COACH BOBBY HURLEY MET WITH THE MEDIA AFTER PRACTICE ON MONDAY, NOV. 27, AS ASU IS RANKED FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE 2008-09 SEASON AND TRA HOLDER EARNED HIS SECOND STRAIGHT PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK).
ON WHAT IT MEANT FOR THE SUN DEVILS TO POP INTO THE TOP 25
“I think it was more just reflecting on what a great stretch we’ve had and everyone getting a chance to enjoy watching Tra Holder and Kodi Justice and Shannon Evans play the way they played and win a championship. That’s what we came here to begin that process of trying to be a relevant program, a team that could compete at the highest level and to win championships. We played against very good programs in Vegas, so just excited to see those guys play so well.”
ON HOW DO YOU THINK OF THEM (TRA, SHANNON, KODI) WHEN YOU SEE NAMES LIKE FAT (LEVER), BYRON (SCOTT) AND ALTON (LISTER)
“I mean those are big-time all-time greats that played here and NBA guys and I love our guys. “That (7-0) is not something we focus on, we’re trying get better and we’re playing these games one at a time and having a lot of respect and being humble for every opponent we have and we’ll see where it takes us.” (ASU has a chance to go 7-0 Saturday for the first time since 1980-81).
ON WHERE THE BIGGEST CONCERN IS/WHERE THERE NEEDS TO BE IMPROVEMENT
“I think defensively if you want to look at how we defend at the three-point line. But I do think that Kansas State has some guys that can make those shots and I think some of it had to do with our opponents, especially Xavier, with some of those guys that can shoot. So maybe just not losing sight, even as good as you feel about your offense and the potential of that, to realizing the importance of getting stops and making plays defensively. I thought Tra had the steal in the second half against Xavier and then Remy’s ball pressure and how disruptive he was and then De’Quon Lake, just how he was rebounding late in that game, we were getting stops and that opened the game up for us.
ON IF IT'S GETTING HARDER TO TEMPER THE HYPE AROUND THE 6-0 START
“I wanted my guys to just soak it in and just to appreciate how well they played and especially Tra, Shannon, Kodi and myself, we’ve been through a lot together over the last three years so its so rewarding to see all three of those guys All-Tournament Team and Tra the MVP and then to watch them celebrate on the floor. We got to move on now and refocus, just with how we take care of the guys, their energy. I thought we had a good practice today. Good step in the right direction of moving on, you know appreciating all the success we’ve had, but keeping it perspective, knowing how long the season is and how this is kind of just a small slice of what we’re excited to do the rest of the way.”
ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THE TOP RANKED TEAM IN THE STATE AT THE MOMENT
“I focus on what we’re doing and like I said, what the seniors are accomplishing. I’m rooting for the Pac-12, believe me, we want to see the conference do very well. I was excited about Washington State last night with them winning a championship, and once we get to league play that’s going to change, but for now I hope the best for all of them -- all our Pac-12 teams. Arizona is going to be fine, believe me. They have talent, they have a great coach, they have a great program, and they are going to figure things out, and they are going to have a lot to say about what happens in the Pac-12 this year.”
ON HOW MUCH FUN IT IS TO COACH THESE GUYS AFTER SEEING HIM LAUGHING AFTER REMY’S STEAL IN 4TH QUARTER OF XAVIER GAME
“It’s just, for Remy, I have so much respect for how hard he plays and the sacrifice that he makes. It’s very selfless to pick up the other guy the entire game. They don’t have a stat for that, you don’t get points for that. He was really focused on doing that and he was so instrumental in how we defend. Even watching the replay I thought it was fairly clean and it was a jailbreak going the other way too because like Shannon and Tra and everyone were trying to get out in front of them to get a layup. It would have been nice to finish that way, but just again, love how hard Remy defends and his determination to compete at that end of the floor.”
ON SMILING EVERY TIME HE TALKS ABOUT REMY
“I just love how he plays. I mean if you have one word for Remy it’s like ‘fun’. Remy, he just like plays the game with such great energy and enthusiasm, he’s just so much fun to watch and coach. So it was great to see him do some of the things he was able to do in this tournament.”
ON HOW BIG IS IT TO BE ABLE TI DRAW FROM THE TOURNAMENT DURING CONFERENCE PLAY
“The seniors have been through the basketball wars, we’ve been through a lot, again together. They play with great confidence and they feed off each other and they have tremendous belief in each other and playing unselfishly. It’s such a strong core, so going into games you just feel great because you know what they bring to the table. I think as the front court gains more experienced and continues to develop and we integrate Mickey Mitchell, who again, was an animal in practice today. Just how hard he was playing and going after rebounds and attacking the rim, just really excited to get him in the mix too. I think there is a lot to be excited about, even in terms of our growth as a team moving forward, even though we are playing at a pretty high level right now.”
ON BEING ONE OF THE TOP OFFENSES IN THE COUNTRY AND MAINTAINING THAT HIGH LEVEL THROUGH POWER FIVE OPPONENTS AHEAD
“We are just going to play our style of game and take what the defense gives us. I think our shot selections has been pretty much on point. I think just the multiple way we can attack, you know we are not just a bunch of shooters that can make threes, and we certainly can do that at times, but then we have guys that are playing at an elite level off the dribble. Kodi Justice, Tra Holder, Shannon Evans, and Remy Martin can all attack their man and create help and make a play for themselves or a teammate. So it’s very nice to have that and then we are getting more balance with our inside game. And Romello didn’t have his best game for us in the Xavier game, but we were able to keep making plays despite him not being at his very best.”
ON IF HE IS HOPING FOR AN INCREASE IN ATTENDANCE NOW THAT THEY ARE DOING SO WELL
“I love just being able to walk around town when I got my workout this morning, people weren’t avoiding me. They were wanting to say, ‘Hi.’ ‘Great Job.’ ‘I love watching your team play.’ Just an exciting team, the way we put points on the board, I think it’s a great style. You want to be entertained when you go and watch a game and we don’t put people to sleep with how we attack and I think that’s the exciting of part too. I hope that everyone does come out and just show the guys some love on Saturday because we’ve been terrific so far.”
ON WHAT IT MEANT FOR THE SUN DEVILS TO POP INTO THE TOP 25
“I think it was more just reflecting on what a great stretch we’ve had and everyone getting a chance to enjoy watching Tra Holder and Kodi Justice and Shannon Evans play the way they played and win a championship. That’s what we came here to begin that process of trying to be a relevant program, a team that could compete at the highest level and to win championships. We played against very good programs in Vegas, so just excited to see those guys play so well.”
ON HOW DO YOU THINK OF THEM (TRA, SHANNON, KODI) WHEN YOU SEE NAMES LIKE FAT (LEVER), BYRON (SCOTT) AND ALTON (LISTER)
“I mean those are big-time all-time greats that played here and NBA guys and I love our guys. “That (7-0) is not something we focus on, we’re trying get better and we’re playing these games one at a time and having a lot of respect and being humble for every opponent we have and we’ll see where it takes us.” (ASU has a chance to go 7-0 Saturday for the first time since 1980-81).
ON WHERE THE BIGGEST CONCERN IS/WHERE THERE NEEDS TO BE IMPROVEMENT
“I think defensively if you want to look at how we defend at the three-point line. But I do think that Kansas State has some guys that can make those shots and I think some of it had to do with our opponents, especially Xavier, with some of those guys that can shoot. So maybe just not losing sight, even as good as you feel about your offense and the potential of that, to realizing the importance of getting stops and making plays defensively. I thought Tra had the steal in the second half against Xavier and then Remy’s ball pressure and how disruptive he was and then De’Quon Lake, just how he was rebounding late in that game, we were getting stops and that opened the game up for us.
ON IF IT'S GETTING HARDER TO TEMPER THE HYPE AROUND THE 6-0 START
“I wanted my guys to just soak it in and just to appreciate how well they played and especially Tra, Shannon, Kodi and myself, we’ve been through a lot together over the last three years so its so rewarding to see all three of those guys All-Tournament Team and Tra the MVP and then to watch them celebrate on the floor. We got to move on now and refocus, just with how we take care of the guys, their energy. I thought we had a good practice today. Good step in the right direction of moving on, you know appreciating all the success we’ve had, but keeping it perspective, knowing how long the season is and how this is kind of just a small slice of what we’re excited to do the rest of the way.”
ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THE TOP RANKED TEAM IN THE STATE AT THE MOMENT
“I focus on what we’re doing and like I said, what the seniors are accomplishing. I’m rooting for the Pac-12, believe me, we want to see the conference do very well. I was excited about Washington State last night with them winning a championship, and once we get to league play that’s going to change, but for now I hope the best for all of them -- all our Pac-12 teams. Arizona is going to be fine, believe me. They have talent, they have a great coach, they have a great program, and they are going to figure things out, and they are going to have a lot to say about what happens in the Pac-12 this year.”
ON HOW MUCH FUN IT IS TO COACH THESE GUYS AFTER SEEING HIM LAUGHING AFTER REMY’S STEAL IN 4TH QUARTER OF XAVIER GAME
“It’s just, for Remy, I have so much respect for how hard he plays and the sacrifice that he makes. It’s very selfless to pick up the other guy the entire game. They don’t have a stat for that, you don’t get points for that. He was really focused on doing that and he was so instrumental in how we defend. Even watching the replay I thought it was fairly clean and it was a jailbreak going the other way too because like Shannon and Tra and everyone were trying to get out in front of them to get a layup. It would have been nice to finish that way, but just again, love how hard Remy defends and his determination to compete at that end of the floor.”
ON SMILING EVERY TIME HE TALKS ABOUT REMY
“I just love how he plays. I mean if you have one word for Remy it’s like ‘fun’. Remy, he just like plays the game with such great energy and enthusiasm, he’s just so much fun to watch and coach. So it was great to see him do some of the things he was able to do in this tournament.”
ON HOW BIG IS IT TO BE ABLE TI DRAW FROM THE TOURNAMENT DURING CONFERENCE PLAY
“The seniors have been through the basketball wars, we’ve been through a lot, again together. They play with great confidence and they feed off each other and they have tremendous belief in each other and playing unselfishly. It’s such a strong core, so going into games you just feel great because you know what they bring to the table. I think as the front court gains more experienced and continues to develop and we integrate Mickey Mitchell, who again, was an animal in practice today. Just how hard he was playing and going after rebounds and attacking the rim, just really excited to get him in the mix too. I think there is a lot to be excited about, even in terms of our growth as a team moving forward, even though we are playing at a pretty high level right now.”
ON BEING ONE OF THE TOP OFFENSES IN THE COUNTRY AND MAINTAINING THAT HIGH LEVEL THROUGH POWER FIVE OPPONENTS AHEAD
“We are just going to play our style of game and take what the defense gives us. I think our shot selections has been pretty much on point. I think just the multiple way we can attack, you know we are not just a bunch of shooters that can make threes, and we certainly can do that at times, but then we have guys that are playing at an elite level off the dribble. Kodi Justice, Tra Holder, Shannon Evans, and Remy Martin can all attack their man and create help and make a play for themselves or a teammate. So it’s very nice to have that and then we are getting more balance with our inside game. And Romello didn’t have his best game for us in the Xavier game, but we were able to keep making plays despite him not being at his very best.”
ON IF HE IS HOPING FOR AN INCREASE IN ATTENDANCE NOW THAT THEY ARE DOING SO WELL
“I love just being able to walk around town when I got my workout this morning, people weren’t avoiding me. They were wanting to say, ‘Hi.’ ‘Great Job.’ ‘I love watching your team play.’ Just an exciting team, the way we put points on the board, I think it’s a great style. You want to be entertained when you go and watch a game and we don’t put people to sleep with how we attack and I think that’s the exciting of part too. I hope that everyone does come out and just show the guys some love on Saturday because we’ve been terrific so far.”