Head coach Larry Krystkowiak
Overall thoughts:
There has been a lot of discussion this week about a potential let down. I know that a lot of people asked if I was concerned with a let down in this game and a lot of credit goes to our team. I have said this a number of times, without being redundant, you could come and watch a practice at any point this season and not know whether we were 5-22 or 22-5. The guys have responded really well win, lose or draw to a game plan, with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. It is a really easy group to coach. I made a comment after our practice on Tuesday that I wouldn't want to be the team that would have to play us because you can talk about fixing things when they are broke, but it's human nature to lose a game like we did at Oregon. I think it really got some guys' attention. We had a terrific couple of days of practice and to have eight guys score eight or more points tonight was just what we needed. It was a group effort. I thought we defended the rim really well, to hold them to nine in the first half. There were a couple of different pick-and-roll coverages where guys did a tremendous job of finishing plays tonight, unlike our last game.
On team's defensive effort:
Finishing plays a lot of the time, well in the Oregon case, it was getting them to miss and then 50-50 balls bouncing around and we didn't complete the play, scramble, and guard the ball. Part of finishing a play is contesting it when somebody gets to the rim and staying in the play until the very end. That was really good tonight with those blocked shots, finishing at the rim. We didn't have a bunch of guys coming, trying to help. We ended up switching some pick and roll coverage and just played man to man. We ended up with a big on a small a lot of the times and those guys were trying to finish at the rim and that didn't go so well for them. All the way through the possession, I felt like there was a lot of intensity to begin a play and to end a play properly.
On Delon's performance:
I love Delon, but I'm not judging Delon based on being one of the best players. All of those awards, anything that comes his way are going to be well deserved. That is a standard that I think other people will have to determine, but we've known what we had for a couple of years. He is not concerned whether he is conceived as the best player in the conference. He is doing things the right way.
On the seniors:
We didn't want to have senior night, we wanted to have senior weekend. We have been talking about that for a long time. There may be a little extra emotion Saturday night, but we have been talking about Dallin and Delon all year. This thing goes fast. When we started the season I think I wrote on the board, "143 days 0 wins" and now we are 16 days before the championship game of the Pac-12 tournament. Poof. Where did those months go by? It is creating a sense of urgency even for our young guys. This whole process, your four-year experience, goes by really fast and it is important that you are on edge that entire time throughout those four years.
Delon Wright
On the team's performance:
The energy was there from the beginning. Our fans were here and we wanted to get back out after the loss.
On the balanced scoring:
I think we have great teamwork. Sometimes, guys aren't going to put up huge point totals so we all need to do our job and contribute.
On the 10 first-half blocks:
It was crazy! We did a nice job helping and playing defensively to get those blocks
What was more impressive - 10 blocks or nine points?
Nine points - some teams are able to score that many in a few minutes and we did not let them get it over a whole half.
Good to see him getting some time and getting adjusted to the college game. Good to get him some minutes
Isaiah Wright
On his six-assist performance:
I just wanted to be ready when my name was called and I think I held my own
On his mindset off the bench:
I just try and remain solid and get my teammates going. When it comes to my shot, I just want things to be comfortable.
On how he's growing as a player:
Being together with these guys, experiencing this ride and playing in these types of environments can only help me in the long run
Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek
Overall thoughts:
Utah was just tremendous in every facet of the game. We were not. There's not a whole lot of value in trying to dissect it any more than that at this point. We would have needed at least 50 time outs tonight. If we could have called a timeout after every possession, that might have been the only way.
We give Utah a lot of credit. They played really well and we didn't. They just have big strong bodies. They did a really good job on ball screen defense. They pressured ball. We had opportunities to kick it out over a couple instances, but they blocked our shot. They even blocked a corner three.
They are good (offensively). They are a top ten team for a reason. They move the ball. They have good balance inside and out. They obviously have a marquee player, Delon Wright, who garners a lot of attention. I think Brandon Taylor may be one of the most underrated players in our conference. He is an all-conference level player. He is really talented young man.
Overall thoughts:
There has been a lot of discussion this week about a potential let down. I know that a lot of people asked if I was concerned with a let down in this game and a lot of credit goes to our team. I have said this a number of times, without being redundant, you could come and watch a practice at any point this season and not know whether we were 5-22 or 22-5. The guys have responded really well win, lose or draw to a game plan, with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. It is a really easy group to coach. I made a comment after our practice on Tuesday that I wouldn't want to be the team that would have to play us because you can talk about fixing things when they are broke, but it's human nature to lose a game like we did at Oregon. I think it really got some guys' attention. We had a terrific couple of days of practice and to have eight guys score eight or more points tonight was just what we needed. It was a group effort. I thought we defended the rim really well, to hold them to nine in the first half. There were a couple of different pick-and-roll coverages where guys did a tremendous job of finishing plays tonight, unlike our last game.
On team's defensive effort:
Finishing plays a lot of the time, well in the Oregon case, it was getting them to miss and then 50-50 balls bouncing around and we didn't complete the play, scramble, and guard the ball. Part of finishing a play is contesting it when somebody gets to the rim and staying in the play until the very end. That was really good tonight with those blocked shots, finishing at the rim. We didn't have a bunch of guys coming, trying to help. We ended up switching some pick and roll coverage and just played man to man. We ended up with a big on a small a lot of the times and those guys were trying to finish at the rim and that didn't go so well for them. All the way through the possession, I felt like there was a lot of intensity to begin a play and to end a play properly.
On Delon's performance:
I love Delon, but I'm not judging Delon based on being one of the best players. All of those awards, anything that comes his way are going to be well deserved. That is a standard that I think other people will have to determine, but we've known what we had for a couple of years. He is not concerned whether he is conceived as the best player in the conference. He is doing things the right way.
On the seniors:
We didn't want to have senior night, we wanted to have senior weekend. We have been talking about that for a long time. There may be a little extra emotion Saturday night, but we have been talking about Dallin and Delon all year. This thing goes fast. When we started the season I think I wrote on the board, "143 days 0 wins" and now we are 16 days before the championship game of the Pac-12 tournament. Poof. Where did those months go by? It is creating a sense of urgency even for our young guys. This whole process, your four-year experience, goes by really fast and it is important that you are on edge that entire time throughout those four years.
Delon Wright
On the team's performance:
The energy was there from the beginning. Our fans were here and we wanted to get back out after the loss.
On the balanced scoring:
I think we have great teamwork. Sometimes, guys aren't going to put up huge point totals so we all need to do our job and contribute.
On the 10 first-half blocks:
It was crazy! We did a nice job helping and playing defensively to get those blocks
What was more impressive - 10 blocks or nine points?
Nine points - some teams are able to score that many in a few minutes and we did not let them get it over a whole half.
Good to see him getting some time and getting adjusted to the college game. Good to get him some minutes
Isaiah Wright
On his six-assist performance:
I just wanted to be ready when my name was called and I think I held my own
On his mindset off the bench:
I just try and remain solid and get my teammates going. When it comes to my shot, I just want things to be comfortable.
On how he's growing as a player:
Being together with these guys, experiencing this ride and playing in these types of environments can only help me in the long run
Arizona State head coach Herb Sendek
Overall thoughts:
Utah was just tremendous in every facet of the game. We were not. There's not a whole lot of value in trying to dissect it any more than that at this point. We would have needed at least 50 time outs tonight. If we could have called a timeout after every possession, that might have been the only way.
We give Utah a lot of credit. They played really well and we didn't. They just have big strong bodies. They did a really good job on ball screen defense. They pressured ball. We had opportunities to kick it out over a couple instances, but they blocked our shot. They even blocked a corner three.
They are good (offensively). They are a top ten team for a reason. They move the ball. They have good balance inside and out. They obviously have a marquee player, Delon Wright, who garners a lot of attention. I think Brandon Taylor may be one of the most underrated players in our conference. He is an all-conference level player. He is really talented young man.
