ASU Basketball: 2019 Pac-12 Week 2 Power Rankings
By Trevor Booth
3. Arizona State Sun Devils
Whether you want to describe Arizona State as tall, lengthy or athletic, one thing is certain, coach Bobby Hurley’s team is unique and has the potential to be very good.
Three games into the season, we’ve seen the Sun Devils operate a pick-and-roll from 6-foot-8 freshman Taeshon Cherry to 6-foot-10 De’quon Lake, forward Zylan Cheatham provide minutes at point guard in addition to show-stopping windmill dunks and suffocating defense from freshman sensation Luguentz Dort.
Some of these phenomena have come due to pressing circumstances such as injuries or foul trouble at times during ASU’s 3-0 start to the season.
These injuries include guards Rob Edwards and Remy Martin. A sophomore, Martin has seen action in every game but has shown he’s not 100 percent healthy while Edwards has not played in the last two games.
Leading the way early in the season is Dort, a true freshman who has been reliable on both ends of the floor in the fledgling moments of his Sun Devil career. He’s averaging 22 points a game while grabbing almost eight rebounds a game.
The Canadian arrived in Tempe as an elite defender with a slashing ability to score inside. Through three games, he’s done both at an extremely high-level.
After a season opening, double-overtime victory over Cal State Fullerton, and two dominant performances against McNeese State and Long Beach State, the Sun Devils will soon face their first of several non-conference challenges.
ASU heads to San Francisco before taking on No. 17 Mississippi State in Las Vegas to open the MGM Resorts Main Event tournament.
– Whitehouse