More On Bobby Hurley’s Return To Cameron

A special night even if it was a blowout

Bobby Hurley’s return to Duke obviously didn’t go as well as he would have liked, with Duke smashing Arizona State by 56. Here are his comments after the game, followed by some links. Bullocks Barbecue, we’re sure, appreciates the endorsement.

Jon Scheyer probably does too. Hurley has good things to say about him and they don’t sound like he’s just blowing smoke. He also thinks this Duke team has great potential. He’s not wrong there.

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“Had a really good lunch yesterday. Bullock’s Barbecue is fantastic. Saw Coach K last night, spent a good amount of time with him. That was another great moment. Ran a couple days on the Duke golf course, used to run there when I played here. That was great.

Everything else is, I think, speaks for itself. I’m not really going to go into a lot of detail about this. It was a train wreck, is a good word, maybe, for us right now. The only good news, the only bright side of this for us, is that we’re 0-0 still. I don’t think I’ll have any complaints this week, I wouldn’t imagine. It should be a pretty straightforward week for me. I don’t think I’ll have guys wondering why they’re not starting in the opener. I don’t think I’ll have guys worried about shot attempts. I think by the end of this week, hopefully we’ll learn something from this.”

“I’ve been here long enough to know— my four years— that what just happened has happened before, and it could happen to me, and it did. I quietly was a little concerned, because I don’t think we were as impressive as I thought we would be in our closed scrimmage, and that was against a lesser opponent. And now, in one week, you’re at Duke, with their roster and the way they’re coached. I mean, Jon [Scheyer] is doing a great job here, seeing it firsthand, just the commitment they have to guarding and guarding with physicality and multiple efforts.

It was all the things that we decided not to do. We did it in spurts in the first half, just as our offense, we were incapable of generating points in the first half. We still hung around enough, but the second half we just were a disaster on defense to give up that many points and 15 threes, and you go right down the line, 17-0 transition points. There’s not a category that we did well. I think we had like, six or seven turnovers in our closed scrimmage, and that was pretty good. We took care of the ball. Well, we had 18 today, so that didn’t have much carry over there. That being said, we’ve got like nine days, so we’ve got a lot of work to do for our first game.”

“I’m a team guy. I played winning basketball. I value the team as a whole and not singling out individuals. But I was forced to really single out Jayden Quaintance as a bright spot. He wasn’t perfect. He didn’t make all the shots or whatever. But that dude belonged in that game tonight, like he was ready for that game, to play on the floor and he didn’t look out of place out there. His motor and his movement, his activity that was positive. Amier Ali, when we couldn’t make a shot to save our lives in the first half, hit a three on the left wing in transition, and then the very next play dove on the floor at half court. Those are positive plays for young guys.

Joe [Sanon]’s a little lost right now, and he’s got to bounce back and really find his groove. He’s a guy that I think we have high hopes for, and we haven’t played a game yet, so I don’t want to, you know, but you asked about the three freshmen, and that’s kind of what I thought of those guys right now.”

“[Duke] really played well together. Both ends, their communication, they’re switching. They’re challenging shots. They’re pressuring us on defense, so things didn’t come easy to us in any way on that end of the floor.

On the flip side, they seem like they’re a very connected group, a team that, a bunch of guys that are willing to share the ball to make the right play and guys that have pretty high IQs. I really liked [Kon] Knueppel on the film. I watched of him coming in and he showed that again. He moves without the ball, can shoot it, pass it. [Cooper] Flagg obviously.

So they have a lot of good pieces and then they have the big guy [Khaman Maluach] or they can play smaller so they have different ways that they can attack you. So, right now, they look really good to me. I’ve seen a lot of good teams over the years; yeah, they have a chance to be really good.”

• Game recap, analysis: Duke destroys Arizona State in basketball exhibition game
• 5 things we learned as Arizona State is overwhelmed by Duke in basketball exhibition
• Bobby Hurley did not enjoy his team’s return to Duke: ‘We got our ass kicked’
• Homecoming, and then a beatdown: Inside Duke basketball’s dismantling of Arizona State
• Bobby Hurley, Arizona State basketball outmatched in exhibition vs. Duke
• Longtime Duke fans rooting for Bobby Hurley, but not the Sun Devils
• Bond Still Strong
• Bobby Hurley Revisits Father’s Legacy At Duke
• Ex-Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski talks about his time coaching Bobby Hurley with Blue Devils