ASU Hoops Dealing With Schedule Setbacks

ASU men’s basketball has a longer than expected holiday break, after its scheduled matchup for December 31 with Washington State was postponed. This is the second postponed conference game for the Sun Devils, after they weren’t able to play against Utah on December 22. They’re supposed to play Washington on January 2, but that trip is uncertain.

“We haven’t practiced the last three days,” head coach Bobby Hurley said during his media availability. “We had some good practices on Saturday and Sunday after Christmas as we were preparing for this week. We didn’t practice Monday [scheduled off-day], Tuesday, today [Wednesday]. We’re still in a holding pattern and we’re hopeful that we can potentially get back out on the court tomorrow.”

Hurley noted that in most years the practice after Christmas tends to be horrible, but he was proud of how well it went this year. Now his team is trying to stay ready for when they get the nod to take the court again. 

Working the schedule around to fit games in due to COVID issues was inevitable for every team and conference this season. The process isn’t easy nor is there one correct way to do so. Hurley expects they will figure it out as they go along. With less time on the court this week, the team held a Zoom call on Tuesday to discuss game plans and other topics as well.

“The coaches tried to reminisce about ‘Hey remember back to the spring, remember back to the summer, we told you guys this was going to be a unique year,'” Hurley said. “You have to be able to be adaptable and flexible to what’s happening.”

Hurley and his squad remain optimistic that the season will resume soon, but for now they will control what they can control heading into the new year.