The Arizona Republic

Hurley happy with results of Devils’ European trip

- DOUG HALLER

A few days back from Spain, Arizona State men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley still was trying to get back on a normal timetable. The Sun Devils’ trip home included a 10-hour flight to Atlanta, a threehour layover and then a four-hour flight to Phoenix.

“So our total travel time, start to finish, was almost 24 hours,” Hurley said. Even so, it was worth it. ASU accomplish­ed a great deal during its nine-day trip to Rome and Barcelona. First, the 10 practices the NCAA allows for foreign trips gave Hurley and his staff an early look at how the Sun Devils shape up for this season.

It also gave a squad with several new parts a chance to bond.

“Off the court, they got to experience a lot of different things,” Hurley said. “The Vatican and the history of that place. The Colosseum. The guys went to an FC Barcelona soccer game the last night. Just about every day we had activities.”

ASU played three games – one in Italy against a collection of AllStars, and two in Spain against pro teams – and won all three. The school didn’t release scores or stats, but Hurley said the Sun Devils held all three opponents to under 67 points. (Last year’s team allowed 81.7, worst in the Pac-12.)

“That’s what I was happiest about, just our intention and willingnes­s to defend,” Hurley said. “The ball pressure and the length of the wings on our closeouts to shooters – they didn’t make shots over our guys as easily as teams did last year. I think our size is going to make a difference. And we also rebounded better.”

Despite losing leading scorer Torian Graham and leading rebounder Obinna Oleka, the Sun Devils return a lot of firepower from last season’s 15-18 team. Senior guards Tra Holder and Shannon Evans are among the Pac-12’s top returning scorers, while senior guard Kodi Justice is among the conference’s top shooters.

In addition, Hurley has six newcomers, all positioned to play significan­t roles.

Hurley experiment­ed with lineups. At one point he went small, matching his three senior guards with 6-foot freshman point guard Remy Martin and 6-8 redshirtfr­eshman forward Romello White.

“Our speed and our ball pressure, we really forced a lot of turnovers,” Hurley said.

At another, Hurley went big with a point guard and four forwards.

“Just trying different things, seeing what it looked like,” Hurley said. “It was good to experiment.”

White – a four-star prospect who sat out last season as an academic redshirt – played as he had practiced, a presence in the post and a force on the boards. Freshman wing Kimani Lawrence was strong in the third win, Hurley said, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt-freshman forward Vitaliy Shibel, coming off an ACL injury, competed without restrictio­n.

Every scholarshi­p player but guard Rob Edwards and forward Zylan Cheatham made the trip. While the Sun Devils were gone, Edwards and Cheatham participat­ed in the Adidas Nations camp. Both players have to sit out this season because of NCAA transfer rules.

A third transfer – former Kansas forward Carlton Bragg – traveled with ASU, but didn’t play much. With Bragg also sitting out this season, Hurley said he told Bragg that he wanted to get a good look at this season’s team.

“I feel great about the options, the depth, the leadership and the commitment to winning,” Hurley said. “It’s noticeable in how they were competing and how they were defending. Also, the unselfishn­ess. We had some high assists games. The ball moved very well, that’s all the seniors have talked about, just playing winning basketball and getting to the NCAA Tournament.”

Contact Doug Haller at 602-4444949 or at doug.haller@arizona republic.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DougHaller. Download and subscribe to the ASU Pick Six Podcast, available on iTunes.

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