ASU’s Bobby Hurley can’t completely escape the ‘Duke floor slap’

If you ask non-Duke basketball fans why they dislike the Blue Devils so much, you’ll get a wide range of answers.

There’s been a stream of “unlikable” players like Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick and Grayson Allen.

There’s been the constant winning — five national championships, 12 Final Fours and a gaggle of ACC titles.

Oh, the floor slap would be mentioned as well.

Starting in the 80s, Duke players would slap the floor to get ready for an important defensive sequence. It’s become an unofficial trademark of the program, and something that has been imitated and mocked by other teams over the years.

Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley, who of course enjoyed a legendary college playing career at Duke, has slapped his share of floors.

But does he still do it to get through to his players in practice?

“It’s funny you should say that,” Hurley told Doug and Wolf Wednesday morning on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I wanted to leave that in the past. That was part of the legacy of being a Duke point guard. Tommy Amaker started it and passed it along to me and it moved throughout that program over the years.”

But, the second-year coach hasn’t been able to totally escape the slap.

“Shannon Evans, he slapped the floor at Stanford late in the first half,” Hurley said. “We had been playing some really good basketball, we were looking to get a stop late in the half and instinctively, he did it. I did it right away after him.

“We didn’t get any further support beyond there — it stopped with me and Shannon. But it was nice to see him thinking that way, though. We need more guys thinking about defending and getting stops.”

The Sun Devils (8-7, 1-1) got enough stops to win their Pac-12 opener at Stanford before dropping their next game at Cal two nights later. Two free throws from Evans put ASU up 61-60 with six minutes left, but the Golden Bears closed the contest on a 21-4 run to win, 81-65. Maybe a floor slap would have changed the defensive fortune?

Hurley’s team opens the home portion of its conference schedule by hosting Colorado at Wells Fargo Arena Thursday night. The Buffaloes are 10-4 overall, but dropped their conference opener on the road at Utah on Jan. 1.

“They’ve got a great record, they’ve got some good wins and they’re a very good defensive team,” Hurley said. “They’re giving up only 67 points and they’re holding teams below 40 percent shooting, so they get it done at the defensive end.

“We’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game on offense, we’re going to have to bring our shot-making ability. They’re very long — they’re bigger than us at every position.”

Colorado’s leading scorer is 6-foot-5 senior guard Derrick White, who averages 15 points per game. Fellow senior Xavier Johnson, a 6-foot-7 forward, pumps in 14 per contest, while senior Wesley Gordon pulls down 8.2 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the conference.

“We’re going to have gang-rebound,” Hurley said. “We’re going to have to be scrappy in the paint and try to hang in there near the basket.”

Thursday’s game gets underway at 7:00 p.m. and can be heard on 860 AM with Tim Healey and Kyle Dodd calling the action.

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