By now, there’s a pretty good chance anyone following college basketball in Arizona has heard of or seen the video of ASU coach Bobby Hurley telling his team after they beat Colorado last Thursday that anybody entering the state needs to get to “(bleeping) Tucson” to get a win.
But in a news conference Tuesday before the game, Hurley said his comments were not directed at the Wildcats.
“If our travel partner was USC, then I would have said to go to L.A. if you want to try and get a win,” Hurley said. “It was my way to motivate my team to try and do a better job of winning league games at home and establishing home court.
“I rarely lost as a player (at Duke) when teams came to Cameron Indoor. My record was very strong at home at Buffalo. I just wanted to get through to the guys how vital it is in league play to win your home games. It's hard to win games on the road.”
UA coach Sean Miller appeared unconcerned, saying Hurley’s remarks were an example that behind-the-scenes activity “can really be misunderstood.”
Miller said all coaches try to motivate their teams in different ways, depending on their style and the makeup of their team.
“If you have an experienced team that’s been there, done that, you tend to guide that ship that way,” Miller said. “If you have a group of guys that are inexperienced, or if you’re a team that’s tying to climb the ranks of college basketball, or your conference, there are certain things you want to emphasize.
“I think each coach is different, each program is different, and once in a while even in our program from one year to the next there’s so much change that the things that worked a year ago could be completely different six months later, nine months later.”
