Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement:
“There's certainly a lot of room for improvement based on that performance and that’s the optimist in me. Overall, the biggest positive is just our ability late in the game to create some turnovers and be able to find a way to win and you can look at a lot of things on the stat sheet that we’re aware of, it was not good quality basketball the way we hoped to be. I don’t think it was a real celebratory locker room and that's on me and our staff to do a better job of making sure we are ready to play. We knew that they would play extremely hard, they did that last year in games like this against Gonzaga and Michigan. I knew taking care of the ball was something I was going to be concerned about. 21 turnovers won't win a lot of games for you moving forward. We certainly got to do a better job of that”
On how you finished the first half:
“Early in the game we missed some layups, we struggled from the freethrow line and that set the tone for that. The guys that we have that are capable of shooting the ball to be under 50% and some of those were front end of one and ones. So that hurt us, it was a choppy game and not a lot of flow to it with all the fouls. It wasn't as appealing to watch as I could imagine. It wasn't a pleasing game on the eye I wouldn’t say”
On what tonight looked like for you:
“I’ve been saying how competitive we've been and how we compete against each other and hopefully that’s preparing us. I knew that this team was a hard playing team that would cause some problems. I figured a guy like Warren Washington might struggle a little bit in this game having to guard a guy that's a handler away from the basket. They are kind of doubling the post a lot, so even when you think you have a big guy that you can get it to, it is hard to get to him with their pressure. There were some things that I knew that they were gonna bother us with. I just think right now we are still competing against each other and we are not competing against our opponent in a collective way. I think it was just very individualized. I don't think we were really playing like a team should play at this point. So we’ll watch the film and make adjustments and hopefully have a better performance on Thursday night.”
On shooting struggles tonight:
“I mean I don't know, Frankie has had a really good preseason and I think 24 shots is more than what we would ever want him to take. The way he was being guarded I might have had 40 tonight when I played, if a team is just gonna back off of you like that and dare you to shoot. I trust that he can make those shots. I think he might have settled for a couple. I just think we have to get better balance to our offense, a better flow of our offense. Couldn't really go inside a whole today so everything was outside in, they took a lot away in terms of denials. That’s how they play, it became a player’s game to break down a defense and try to make a play. So we just weren't real efficient at that end of the floor.”
On struggling game one of the season:
“I know the guys were excited to play, some of it could be a touch of nerve which is always a possibility. I think it's hard to simulate all the fouls and get into a flow. I mean if I am going to find an excuse for it might be that. There's some guys that do different roles like Dez cambridge was coming off the bench for the first time in a while, you gotta adjust to that and hopefully we can help him because we need him to be more productive on the offensive end.”
On Tarleton play style causing trouble for ASU:
“You watch them last year and the games they had with Michigan they forced 21 turnovers and a 3 point game with three minutes left. At Gonzaga they were down one with eight minutes left. You just try and tell the players how hard they are going to play and they are not intimated to come in here. They’ve got a coach that’s been in alot of these big battles. This was nothing different for them and they outplayed us. We were fortunate to make plays down the stretch to close the game out.”
Frankie Collins:
On if the outcome of the game was expected:
“I would say it’s expected, we were going at each other for so long and playing the same way. We just need to continue getting better at playing as a team.”
On comparing last year’s game against Tarleton to tonight’s game:
“I was just doing whatever I had to do for us to win. Last year playing them, they were really good with their offense so I was prepared for that. I just think that as a team we weren’t prepared.”
On preparing for Thursday:
“As a team, you know, we shot all of the shots we wanted, they just didn’t all make it into the rim”.
Comparing preseason to how the game went tonight:
“It’s our first game of the season, I don’t think we need to stress just yet. We have all of the pieces we need, we just have to put them all together.”
On taking 11 3’s:
“I didn’t think I was going to take 11. I knew I was going to take some, I was just doing what I had to do to win the game. I didn’t think it would be 11 though.”
Marcus Bagley:
On if it felt like his first game as a true freshman:
“It felt like I was in foreign territory. It was fun out there, I’m happy we got the win. I need to keep being patient with myself and trust the process out there and get ready for Thursday.
On if the outcome of the game was expected:
“We talked a lot about how turn power so it was expected on that front, that they were going to force some turnovers, that’s kind of their team’s identity. We got some points, but there were also points that we could have gotten better, so now we need to watch the filmv and get back in the gym and get ready for Thursday.”
On how they were able to pull through:
“I think a big part of us pushing through to get the win was the fans, we were just feeding off of their energy, it helps us and I know it will help us in the long run.”
Connor Smith