Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
On the approach ahead of two road games in Oregon:
“Yeah, I mean, we talked about it last week. Just focusing on the next game and just concentrating on Oregon. It’s a hard place to play. Many teams haven’t had success in that building since I've been coaching in this league and they're a very talented roster. And I think everyone has a lot of respect for them in the basketball community for what he does and how he gets his teams playing better. And they had a momentum win at Utah. So we're just preparing for that game and then we'll get ready for Oregon State on Saturday.”
“It's tough to simulate that in practice, and because we don't play that style of defense, but we'll see some 1-2-2, ¾ court (presses) and they’ll still play some 2-3 matchup (zone) and I've seen it shift into more of a man defense even mid-possession. So, I think we’ve got to have movement, so we’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities, getting in gaps, can't just stand around and just zone… but they do a very good job of it. It's a unique style of defense.”
On the impact of having so many road games early in the season going into Oregon:
“Yeah, it makes you feel a little better that we've had that experience doing it. And three non-conference road games, two road games, and then the Colorado game. So, you know, hopefully, we build off what we've been able to do this past week. And that helps us as we hit the road. Now, lets see if we can do it this week. We can't just do with a couple of games. We’ve got to take the act on the road and see if that's a possibility. But yeah, I thought it was fun. I feel great for Devan. He's one of the hardest workers, he does a lot of dirty work for us. So to see him have that success with the lob and something he's been good at. It's his whole career. It's not something I've, you know, found for his game. I mean, it's, it's a part of who he is.”
On winning at Oregon last season:
“That was a really unique couple of days. I remember back to that just coming back from the Bahamas and then playing Washington State here the way we did … but to go there and win and then go to Creighton and then win … it kind of changed our season to a degree last year. So it took every second of the game to get it done. So it says you could expect every bit of that if we're going to come up with a win in Eugene (this time).”
“We have a lot of respect for our opponent. What Oregon has done over the years, they've been one of the top programs in our conference for years now. So it should not be that difficult for guys to see that. And they watch a lot of basketball. So they know over the years how good Oregon has been. It's a brand, it's a name. So I don’t think motivation will be an issue and focusing on what we do well and finding our ways to attack them on Thursday night.”
Favorite qualities of this year’s team:
“I would say the resiliency. The grit that we play with. We've had some games offensively that we've struggled to make shots. And that hasn't impacted how hard the guys play at the other end of the floor. And we've been consistently keeping ourselves in games because of how well we defend. And so especially on the road, you have to bring that to the table.”
On Warren Washington’s impact on the game:
“I said it this morning on the radio show, when you look at what he's done and played against a guy like Mouhamed Gueye on Thursday, and being as productive as he was in that matchup against one of the best young big guys in conference. The guy that went down to Tucson and had 20-plus points and a double-double. So for Warren to play that well says a lot about what he's doing. And it's not just as offensive production, which I think is starting to come on and we're finding ways to improve that for him, but he brings it defensively and was rebounding every game.”
"I think we have good depth which we're gonna play a lot of guys, so we're going to keep fresh bodies on the court, and then give max effort, and our lateral movement on the perimeter is excellent. We’re able to get back in front of the ball very quickly, so that we're not giving up a lot of paint touches, and the times that we do, there is a breakdown because we have a seven-footer there that's protecting the basket. So it's a pretty good formula. And the guys are doing it with their own will and intensity they're taking it personal.”
On Devan Cambridge’s impact to the game:
"He's got a tremendous basketball IQ and understanding cutting and moving and understand when the ball changes hands, he's like, get shot out of a cannon, you know, to fill a lane. And so like it's these instantaneous… the mental part is as physically gifted as he is athletic, he's also mentally quick with his movements, and that puts them in a position to get a lot of dunks in the open court or to get a tip and dunk on an offensive rebound. So he's just got a tremendous nose for the ball. And again, a sense of where it'd be on the floor.”
On the impact of not being in many rankings or ratings:
"I'm just trying to win games and that's our focus. It's a little early to wonder why your rankings aren't higher in the metric categories and sometimes it's a little puzzling with the wins that we have had, and I know we had the Texas Southern loss and it doesn't help our numbers great, but outside of that, and we've been really good this year. The San Francisco game the score was terrible, but I mean they almost beat Gonzaga like so they're a tough team to play at San Francisco so we've done a great job up to this point. We're just still concentrating on progressing through the league and trying to win games. We've had two quad-one wins right now at the moment. There's a lot of teams that may not have any at this time that are ranked fairly high, so we'll see about all that. I mean, that certainly matters at the end of the season when you have to hand your resume in.”
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard Desmond Cambridge Jr.
On how it felt to reach 2,000 career points:
“Honestly it was crazy, especially because I couldn't hit anything. I knew going into the game, I knew I would need to find points. Especially when I got an offensive rebound. I was wide open and got like a putback and it rimmed out and that’s when I knew It just wasn't meant to be. And then when I hit the shot that I did to make it then I realized like, it was all for reason, because that was a pretty cool shot, if I must say so myself. So I feel like that was fitting for it. And my brother (Devan) he was having amazing game. So I was just really watching him just enjoying the show, because I get front-row seats on the court.
On being able to reach the milestone playing with Devan:
“I can't even put it into words, man. Just him being there. And knowing that he looks up to me … even though he’d never tell me that like, just watching and it was just a really amazing feeling when I hit it. He was the first one to run down the court. Like he was super excited. And I always try to stay poise calm, cool collected … But yeah, I felt really good.”
On the chemistry of the team:
“I remember the first interview, literally at the same spot like this, that was my main emphasis and what I was talking about now. And you know, as you just play games with each other and go through tough games like we have and coming back from those deficits … that builds chemistry without even having to talk about it. So I definitely think chemistry is very high.”
On the challenges of Oregon’s defense:
"Well, they definitely have length. And they're very athletic. But at the end of the day, they lost a lot of games. And so I always look at what other teams did to beat them. And to be honest, I really feel like we can beat any team. We just have to come with the right mindset and the right approach in terms of our game plan and attacking their weaknesses. And so if we run, especially how we were doing that game literally just getting out there, it's kind of slow to get back in transition. And I feel like that's just a strong suit in any game. So as long as we, you know, capitalize on that then we will be alright.”