Arizona State Men's Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
On the status of Warren Washington:
"Warren went through the protocol throughout the weekend. And he was in practice yesterday. And he was full-go today. And he was moving well so there's these practices are very important for him. So far, so good."
On the outlook of the season:
"It was definitely a gut-check week for us just where we stood and what had happened, with some of the losses recently, and to be able to go on the road without Warren and take care of business like that against the Stanford team that came back two days later and beat Arizona. So, yeah, we feel really good about what we've done on the road. I mean, we have five Pac-12 road wins. So we've done a great job away from here, it'd be nice for us to finish the season on a good note at home, and there's so much to play for ... obviously with the standings being real tight and trying to get into that top four."
On Colorado:
"Tad (Boyle) does a really good job, his team is going to be very prepared. They've shown when they're right, and they're playing really well that they could beat anybody. They went and beat Tennessee and beat Texas A&M by 30. And they've had other really good wins. So I have a lot of respect for them. And certainly they have two of the better young players in the conference with KJ Simpson and (Tristan) De Silva, two of the top scorers in our league."
On the takeaways of the first Colorado game:
"We've put ourselves behind in games and we've managed to scrap and fight and I remember how hard the guys competed. And we were able to really will ourselves back into that game. I remember, DJ's drive to the baseline, and he could have tried to shoot a contested shot at the basket, and he made the right play and threw it to Des for a wide-open three. And, you know, and we got a great win, because you feel like you're still in if you could go into, you know, Boulder and win. It's such a tough place to play, not only the opponent, but with the altitude and everything else. But we didn't have Frankie and so this will be his first game versus Colorado. So be interesting to see how it plays out."
On having more scoring balance with Warren:
"I think the balance does help and being able to throw him the ball and get high percentage shots when we can. So certainly that's going to be in play. I think for those two games, we were more like outside-inside and trying to penetrate and attack from the perimeter. With Warren, we could do some other things that we can if he's not available. So I think that had something to do with it. I'm not putting it all on him not playing but I think hopefully we'll play better offense."
On the mindset going into the remainder of the season:
"There's a lot to play for. The spirit and practice was good yesterday and especially today. And so coming off a couple of wins, you feel good, you got confidence. I think we have something to prove to ourselves, though, just in terms of taking care of our home court. This is our last opportunity. And we have Senior Day on Saturday. So there's so many subplots to this. But ultimately, the most important thing is we have a really good record. We're having a good season. We have some key games in front of us to close out the regular season and just try and win as many games as possible."
On Duke Brennan's performance this season:
"I think it's great experience for him going into the week. As for me, you don't sleep good knowing you're not gonna have Warren because of what he's meant to the team all year. But on the flip side, now you could look back on it and see that we were able to win both games and Duke gets that extra experience of playing more minutes. So as we're moving forward and and our seasons on the line, at a certain point, if Warren's in foul trouble, or something's happening, there's certainly more trust that you can put him out there and he can get the job done."
On the high quality bench play:
"I know he started in the last game, but Alonzo Gaffney was excellent. In his last game, just 13 rebounds and his defense, he was very, very active. So I liked what I saw from him. Hopefully he continues to build off that because he had a wide open three, and I trust him to take that shot and it didn't go down, but it never stopped him from playing hard and making winning plays out there. So that was good. And Austin (Nunez) has been really consistent, providing a spark, coming off the bench, great defense and being a playmaker. And I know we got to get Jamiya (Neal) and Luther (Muhammad) going."
On any differences in scouting this week:
"Not for me. I mean, we've watched both teams so we were aware of what each team is doing. We're more focused on Colorado and that's just normal. That's how we look at each week. So we're not really practicing things to focus on Utah, Colorado has our full attention."
On Senior Day vs. Utah:
"It's just great for them to have the moment and it's a tough moment. I think you're excited for the future and what's next for these guys, but at the same time, you're gonna miss it. I know they will look back on and say 'wow, this is good experience,' I wish it could have lasted longer and then they'll have their families there and friends to support them on this last game so it's always like a a tough emotional type of game for these guys."
On the reliability and leadership of Des and Devan Cambridge:
"They've been very productive all year. And they bring different things to the table, both of them. So they check a lot of boxes between the two of them in terms of just athleticism and hustle plays by Devan, offensive rebounding, you can look at Des's rebounds in the right corner where he just went all out to save the ball and keep keep possession for us ... they make winning plays, they have a great feel for playing together and playing winning basketball. I think their leadership is huge. You could tell how locked in Des is. This is his last go-around like it's real for him and you could see just how he's turned it up terms of his practice how hard he's practicing how he's talking in practice and then Devan is just is a winning player. And he did it at Auburn and he's doing a lot of those intangible things that coaches love. And so both of those guys are definitely playing winning basketball."
On the pace of the season:
"I was telling one of our assistants, 'I can't believe there's only five games left.' I can't believe there's only two home games left and so it always just flies by that's just the nature of it. It always feels that way."
On the preparation for the next two home games:
"We talked about the fact that we have not dominated teams at home, like we haven't really won like you would hope and we lost to some good teams here but you want to take care of business on your home court. We've done more than our fair share of work on the road so far in the Pac-12. We just haven't won enough of these home games is our last opportunity so that's that's kind of been the message."
Arizona State Men's Basketball Forward Duke Brennan
On getting significant minutes:
"It was really, really good to get out there. Without Warren Washington. I knew I was coming in those games and I'm gonna have higher minutes. So I'm taking that responsibility, taking that leadership for the team. It was good for me. It was good for me as a freshman to understand what to do, but I'm just thrilled. I was working hard through it."
On having to adjust his style of play because of foul trouble:
"Yes. I try to be the energy guy coming out on the court. So some of those first fouls ... I'm hoping not to get them but sometimes I tend to pick up a few early so in those couple games on the road, I was really focusing on not picking up those fouls and just playing cautious but still bringing the energy for my team."
On the bench depth throughout the season:
"I think we have a lot of depth on our team. And I think everyone is a contributor. Sometimes it's not their night and other guys have to step up. So we're a team that's capable to go down to our bench. So it's really good for all the players and some players can have a big night coming off the bench. We see in some of these games, some like Jamiya will come in or or Alonzo Gaffney had like 14 rebounds versus California. So there can be major contributors into the game."
On the quality of upcoming teams:
"So the mountain teams come in, and we got the road trip up to the bay area, but we're just focused with these next two. We have three big road games at the end the season but we're really focused on these two games here at home ... and Senior Night is coming up. And the last two home games of the season, I think all the guys are ready to go."
On the impact of the seniors on him:
"All of them have really helped me throughout this season. Coming in as a freshman, you're not nervous, but it's eye-opening to you, but just them helping you through it each and every game. We're a family here, at the end of the day, it's super cool. And one person, Warren, Washington, he's our center. And I play the center position, I come in for him. But he's really just helped me talk about how the game flows and how the game goes."
On what is needed to win the next two games:
"We've just got to bring in all categories. As you guys know, defense is one of the main things for this team. So we need our defense on point in both games, but we need our offensive game to flow too. So we need to bring it in both categories. And I think we can pull them out if we play D and bring the offensive game. We can maybe get these next two."
On the energy in the locker room toward the end of the season:
"The energy is pretty high, like Senior Night is coming up, like I said, and we just want to show off for the crowd. And all these guys are a family. Especially after up in Brooklyn, like we really became a family up there. So these last few home games is sad, but we want to bring the dubs home for everyone to DFA"
On his bond with Austin Nunez:
"Me and Austin are actually really close. We we say the dorms. I've been here at ASU but no, I think as as being both contributors on the team, I think our bond has growth grown. And like I said, up in Brooklyn, when we were both playing pretty good up there. I think our bond really like solidified up there. And we just been carrying it through the season."
On Des and Devan Cambridge:
"Both those guys have been at different programs as you guys know. So their knowledge is next level. They bring it to the whole team and they share that knowledge with us. So both those brothers help us through each and every one of the games. So even through practice and before games, they're always talking with us telling us how we need to perform and what to bring out on the court. So just them keep on bringing that same energy is great for the team."
On Colorado:
"Their offensive game is really good, and we need to play defense. We didn't play defense in the first half of the game up in Colorado, so we really need to bring our defense come Thursday."
On the status of Warren Washington:
"Warren went through the protocol throughout the weekend. And he was in practice yesterday. And he was full-go today. And he was moving well so there's these practices are very important for him. So far, so good."
On the outlook of the season:
"It was definitely a gut-check week for us just where we stood and what had happened, with some of the losses recently, and to be able to go on the road without Warren and take care of business like that against the Stanford team that came back two days later and beat Arizona. So, yeah, we feel really good about what we've done on the road. I mean, we have five Pac-12 road wins. So we've done a great job away from here, it'd be nice for us to finish the season on a good note at home, and there's so much to play for ... obviously with the standings being real tight and trying to get into that top four."
On Colorado:
"Tad (Boyle) does a really good job, his team is going to be very prepared. They've shown when they're right, and they're playing really well that they could beat anybody. They went and beat Tennessee and beat Texas A&M by 30. And they've had other really good wins. So I have a lot of respect for them. And certainly they have two of the better young players in the conference with KJ Simpson and (Tristan) De Silva, two of the top scorers in our league."
On the takeaways of the first Colorado game:
"We've put ourselves behind in games and we've managed to scrap and fight and I remember how hard the guys competed. And we were able to really will ourselves back into that game. I remember, DJ's drive to the baseline, and he could have tried to shoot a contested shot at the basket, and he made the right play and threw it to Des for a wide-open three. And, you know, and we got a great win, because you feel like you're still in if you could go into, you know, Boulder and win. It's such a tough place to play, not only the opponent, but with the altitude and everything else. But we didn't have Frankie and so this will be his first game versus Colorado. So be interesting to see how it plays out."
On having more scoring balance with Warren:
"I think the balance does help and being able to throw him the ball and get high percentage shots when we can. So certainly that's going to be in play. I think for those two games, we were more like outside-inside and trying to penetrate and attack from the perimeter. With Warren, we could do some other things that we can if he's not available. So I think that had something to do with it. I'm not putting it all on him not playing but I think hopefully we'll play better offense."
On the mindset going into the remainder of the season:
"There's a lot to play for. The spirit and practice was good yesterday and especially today. And so coming off a couple of wins, you feel good, you got confidence. I think we have something to prove to ourselves, though, just in terms of taking care of our home court. This is our last opportunity. And we have Senior Day on Saturday. So there's so many subplots to this. But ultimately, the most important thing is we have a really good record. We're having a good season. We have some key games in front of us to close out the regular season and just try and win as many games as possible."
On Duke Brennan's performance this season:
"I think it's great experience for him going into the week. As for me, you don't sleep good knowing you're not gonna have Warren because of what he's meant to the team all year. But on the flip side, now you could look back on it and see that we were able to win both games and Duke gets that extra experience of playing more minutes. So as we're moving forward and and our seasons on the line, at a certain point, if Warren's in foul trouble, or something's happening, there's certainly more trust that you can put him out there and he can get the job done."
On the high quality bench play:
"I know he started in the last game, but Alonzo Gaffney was excellent. In his last game, just 13 rebounds and his defense, he was very, very active. So I liked what I saw from him. Hopefully he continues to build off that because he had a wide open three, and I trust him to take that shot and it didn't go down, but it never stopped him from playing hard and making winning plays out there. So that was good. And Austin (Nunez) has been really consistent, providing a spark, coming off the bench, great defense and being a playmaker. And I know we got to get Jamiya (Neal) and Luther (Muhammad) going."
On any differences in scouting this week:
"Not for me. I mean, we've watched both teams so we were aware of what each team is doing. We're more focused on Colorado and that's just normal. That's how we look at each week. So we're not really practicing things to focus on Utah, Colorado has our full attention."
On Senior Day vs. Utah:
"It's just great for them to have the moment and it's a tough moment. I think you're excited for the future and what's next for these guys, but at the same time, you're gonna miss it. I know they will look back on and say 'wow, this is good experience,' I wish it could have lasted longer and then they'll have their families there and friends to support them on this last game so it's always like a a tough emotional type of game for these guys."
On the reliability and leadership of Des and Devan Cambridge:
"They've been very productive all year. And they bring different things to the table, both of them. So they check a lot of boxes between the two of them in terms of just athleticism and hustle plays by Devan, offensive rebounding, you can look at Des's rebounds in the right corner where he just went all out to save the ball and keep keep possession for us ... they make winning plays, they have a great feel for playing together and playing winning basketball. I think their leadership is huge. You could tell how locked in Des is. This is his last go-around like it's real for him and you could see just how he's turned it up terms of his practice how hard he's practicing how he's talking in practice and then Devan is just is a winning player. And he did it at Auburn and he's doing a lot of those intangible things that coaches love. And so both of those guys are definitely playing winning basketball."
On the pace of the season:
"I was telling one of our assistants, 'I can't believe there's only five games left.' I can't believe there's only two home games left and so it always just flies by that's just the nature of it. It always feels that way."
On the preparation for the next two home games:
"We talked about the fact that we have not dominated teams at home, like we haven't really won like you would hope and we lost to some good teams here but you want to take care of business on your home court. We've done more than our fair share of work on the road so far in the Pac-12. We just haven't won enough of these home games is our last opportunity so that's that's kind of been the message."
Arizona State Men's Basketball Forward Duke Brennan
On getting significant minutes:
"It was really, really good to get out there. Without Warren Washington. I knew I was coming in those games and I'm gonna have higher minutes. So I'm taking that responsibility, taking that leadership for the team. It was good for me. It was good for me as a freshman to understand what to do, but I'm just thrilled. I was working hard through it."
On having to adjust his style of play because of foul trouble:
"Yes. I try to be the energy guy coming out on the court. So some of those first fouls ... I'm hoping not to get them but sometimes I tend to pick up a few early so in those couple games on the road, I was really focusing on not picking up those fouls and just playing cautious but still bringing the energy for my team."
On the bench depth throughout the season:
"I think we have a lot of depth on our team. And I think everyone is a contributor. Sometimes it's not their night and other guys have to step up. So we're a team that's capable to go down to our bench. So it's really good for all the players and some players can have a big night coming off the bench. We see in some of these games, some like Jamiya will come in or or Alonzo Gaffney had like 14 rebounds versus California. So there can be major contributors into the game."
On the quality of upcoming teams:
"So the mountain teams come in, and we got the road trip up to the bay area, but we're just focused with these next two. We have three big road games at the end the season but we're really focused on these two games here at home ... and Senior Night is coming up. And the last two home games of the season, I think all the guys are ready to go."
On the impact of the seniors on him:
"All of them have really helped me throughout this season. Coming in as a freshman, you're not nervous, but it's eye-opening to you, but just them helping you through it each and every game. We're a family here, at the end of the day, it's super cool. And one person, Warren, Washington, he's our center. And I play the center position, I come in for him. But he's really just helped me talk about how the game flows and how the game goes."
On what is needed to win the next two games:
"We've just got to bring in all categories. As you guys know, defense is one of the main things for this team. So we need our defense on point in both games, but we need our offensive game to flow too. So we need to bring it in both categories. And I think we can pull them out if we play D and bring the offensive game. We can maybe get these next two."
On the energy in the locker room toward the end of the season:
"The energy is pretty high, like Senior Night is coming up, like I said, and we just want to show off for the crowd. And all these guys are a family. Especially after up in Brooklyn, like we really became a family up there. So these last few home games is sad, but we want to bring the dubs home for everyone to DFA"
On his bond with Austin Nunez:
"Me and Austin are actually really close. We we say the dorms. I've been here at ASU but no, I think as as being both contributors on the team, I think our bond has growth grown. And like I said, up in Brooklyn, when we were both playing pretty good up there. I think our bond really like solidified up there. And we just been carrying it through the season."
On Des and Devan Cambridge:
"Both those guys have been at different programs as you guys know. So their knowledge is next level. They bring it to the whole team and they share that knowledge with us. So both those brothers help us through each and every one of the games. So even through practice and before games, they're always talking with us telling us how we need to perform and what to bring out on the court. So just them keep on bringing that same energy is great for the team."
On Colorado:
"Their offensive game is really good, and we need to play defense. We didn't play defense in the first half of the game up in Colorado, so we really need to bring our defense come Thursday."