The offseason for the Sun Devils showed signs of an enhanced squad with the acquisitions of five-star freshmen forward Jayden Quaintance and guard Joson Sanon, along with a roster of quality transfer talent. Yet, a lopsided 103-47 exhibition loss to Duke injected shivers of skepticism into the ASU fan base and created apprehension on the eve of the season's tip-off.
An opening night matchup against Idaho State afforded an opportunity to replenish the program and its fanbase's confidence. However, Arizona State skidded by a 55-48 victory at Desert Financial Arena, which ultimately was another game with several shortcomings on display.
For head coach Bobby Hurley, the curtain raiser did not impress him in the slightest. After going up by double figures to end the first half, the Sun Devils appeared to be in the driver's seat following the halftime intermission. Their advantage was thoroughly slashed, producing a 27% shooting display. Hurley felt the team lacked desire in the second half and played uncharacteristically on the offensive end.
"I was just very frustrated by how we came in to start the second half," Hurley said. I described it like it was an AAU game, how we approached it, a game that had no meaning to it. Especially the first game, you imagine, there's just a lot of juice. And the last thing you would think you have to worry about is being motivated. So myself and my staff got to do a better job to get them ready to play the second half.
"We were doing bizarre stuff out there on offense, just throwing the ball around, under, out of bounds. We couldn't get the ball in bounds, and it was play where, like, we almost got a three-point play after it got deflected. It was balls bouncing around, and it was just like chaos at times. So you know, we have a lot to improve, a lot to get better."
Senior forward BJ Freeman credited the 'bizarre' play on the offensive end to nervousness, agreeing with Hurley on the sentiment. Freeman did not notice some of the signs in practice of sloppy play or mishandling situations on the floor in the hopes of making more impressive plays.
"First game, jitters first home game," Freeman said. People see the crowds out there you want to do a little extra. be fundamental, and play off two feet that's what we got to do. So we do it every day in practice.
Finishing the game with 14 turnovers to just 12 assists, it's clear the offensive end of the floor is a work in progress for the unit. The lack of cohesion thus far can likely be attributed to the overall roster changes the Sun Devils endured this offseason. With nine new players, including three top-50 freshmen, it became clear the players were unsure about when to move the ball as opposed to scoring first.
"It's kind of tough, but ain't nothing that we can't get past," Freeman said. [Hurley] always worships being a good teammate and executing the game plan. So, like [Alston Mason] said, go back to the drawing board and get ready to execute whatever coach says, and execute for 40 minutes, just not whenever we want, and turn on and off, because we do that. And it's going to be another long game."
With young, talented starters on the roster, instilling the proper mindset amongst the players is critical to success at the collegiate level. The growing pains were evident against ISU as Quaintance, the No.8 ranked player in the class of 2024, scored just two points from the free throw line, shooting 0-6 from the floor in 18 minutes. The 6-foot-10 forward was subjected to the bench early on after picking up two fouls in the opening two minutes. For seniors, despite being unfamiliar with the program, providing wisdom and advice to 17-year-olds is a vital assignment for the future.
"I've been trying to do my best just stay on them," Freeman noted. "They're five stars, so coming in, they want to think it's easy and stuff like that. But I'm telling them, you got to see the game a little bit more, and it's gonna come. [Quaintance] was kind of frustrated there with the two fouls early. I told him, 'Keep your confidence up.,' You'll never want your confidence to come down because you'll help us win a lot of games with your motor."
Quaintance's struggles began early in the contest when he missed both of his two shots from beyond the arch. For a player with his size and unbelievable athletic ability, Hurley plans to inspire his young player with an aggressive mindset to work his way inside out rather than settle.
"We'll talk to him. Especially early in the game, there's no reason to have your first shot or two be a three-pointer," Hurley said. "He was pretty open, and he can make them, but there are other things that he can do not to have to kickstart his game with that. Maybe find a way to get offense rebound and put the back score and transition something facing up, get to the basket so he could get some more confidence."
Quaintance's struggles in the front court were not isolated. His starting forward partner, Basheer Jihad, shot the worst of any player in the contest, going 0-7 from the floor in 27 minutes. These numbers were a far cry from the scrimmage against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Jihad and Quaintance led the team in scoring with 11 points each. Hurley was baffled by the performance of his starting bigs but chose to look within the game plan for a solution.
"I give them credit, but those two players should never be 0-13 in a game against the athleticism that team had on the front court," Hurley said. "It's just mystifying that something like that could even happen. So I don't know if it's the quality of their shots or what we got to do, but we'll review the film and see what adjustments we need to make."
ASU won't have much time to improve from their season opener, with two games on Friday and Sunday away from Tempe. On Sunday, they will face No.6 Gonzaga in Spokane, a team that knocked off No.8 Baylor 101-63 on Monday. Quick improvements will be required if they plan to have a successful weekend.
"I think there's got to be ownership through everybody right down the line, starting with me," Hurley said. "We're playing two teams the next two games with a chance to look like NCAA Tournament caliber teams. So we got to fix this thing quickly.
A positive notion to take away from game one is the performance of guard Alston Mason, son of former ASU basketball player Alton Mason, who had the best performance of any Sun Devil, scoring 14 points on 5-9 shooting and hitting two critical first-half threes to establish the lead. Mason noted the joy of playing for the maroon and gold and the comfort he felt considering his debutante status.
"It's good to be back in a familiar arena, good to have your family here," Mason said. "So it kind of made a lot more, and I just had to cherish these moments."It's my fourth year having the first game in college, so it meant a little bit more being able to put on the ASU Jersey."
With the Sun Devils' next game being a neutral site matchup in Las Vegas on Friday, a guarantee of improvement was aforementioned by Freeman, reaffirming the notion that he and his teammates are ready to embrace this season's challenges and will face them head-on.
"We're here to win this thing," Freeman acknowledged. "That's what the coach got on the board; the team and the players come here to win. We're gonna pick this up, I promise you guys."