NEW YORK — Bobby Hurley and Duke share a double-bill in Manhattan on Tuesday night.
But the former Duke point guard won’t be coaching against his old coach, Mike Krzyzewski, and his alma mater. Neither side would want that game — unless it absolutely had to happen.
“We’ve never had that conversation, I wouldn’t look to schedule that game [with Duke],” Hurley, who led Duke to back-to-back NCAA championships in the early 1990s, told me Monday after his Arizona State team (5-3) practiced at the New York Athletic Club ahead of Tuesday’s matchup with No. 18 Purdue (6-2) in the Jimmy V Classic. No. 5 Duke (8-1) meets No. 21 Florida (7-1) in the second game of the doubleheader.
“If we’re fortunate enough to be in the [NCAA] Tournament,” Hurley added, “we’ll play anyone that we get a chance to play.”
While Hurley won’t face the Blue Devils on Tuesday, he will coach his first game at Madison Square Garden, which on Monday night hosted an epic ending between old Big East rivals Syracuse and UConn and on Wednesday will feature LeBron James and the NBA champion Cavaliers visiting Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks.
“It was one of my biggest thrills at Duke as a player when we played at the Garden, that was the first time I had played there,” said Hurley, who played his high school ball at nearby St. Anthony’s in Jersey City. “I believe we played Notre Dame. I can’t exactly remember, it’s been a while. And then as a pro to come home and play the Knicks, I always loved it. It’s got so much history.
“I remember my brother and I going to watch Bernard King and those Knick teams play against the Celtics. My brother was a big Knick fan and I was a Celtics fan, so those were fun childhood memories so I always got a lot of love for the Garden.”
His brother, Dan Hurley, is now the coach at Rhode Island, which did play Duke on Nov. 20 for the Hall of Fame Tip-Off championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
After Duke’s 75-65 victory that afternoon, Krzyzewski chatted courtside with Bob and Chris Hurley, Bobby and Dan’s parents, and then spoke glowingly of Dan and the Hurley clan.
“They play hard and they play together,” Coach K said of the Rams. “He’s a really good coach. Not a good coach. A really good coach. And I think they’re a program, not just a team.”
Bobby isn’t sure if he’ll cross paths with his old coach on Tuesday, but if does the ESPN cameras will probably catch it.
“We haven’t spoken yet,” Hurley said. “I know they’re obviously as busy as we are. So that still remains to be seen I’m sure, but I’m sure we’ll cross paths [on Tuesday] if anything.”
Former Duke forward Jay Bilas will call the game for ESPN.
“Those two [Hurley and Krzyzewski] were so close when he was playing,” Bilas said. “I don’t think you ever get over the feeling of closeness.”
He added that Hurley brings a competitive fire rivaled by few.
“I think it’s a nice thing for [Hurley] being a New York guy, for everybody playing at the Garden is such a thrill,” Bilas said. “He’s such a competitor, I think that will wear off pretty quick and he’ll be in the moment as to what his team needs to do and what he needs to do to win. You think you’ve been around some competitors, and then you get around Hurley and you go, ‘Man, that dude’s at a different level competitively.”
While Duke is still integrating freshmen Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden and awaiting the debut of Harry Giles — all projected first-round NBA Draft picks — into its lineup, Hurley and Arizona State have their own concerns.
Chief among them is dealing with Purdue’s 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Caleb Swanigan and 7-2 junior Isaac Haas, both NBA prospects.
“They have great size,” Hurley said. “Swanigan is a big-time player, Haas is huge. And then they have really good shooting. They’re shooting 43 percent from three, so you can’t just completely lock in on the paint because then they can make you pay from behind the line.”
Hurley needs 6-8 senior Obinna Oleka — who is averaging 11.9 points and 10.0 rebounds — to play well.
“He’s averaging a double-double and he’s playing out of position for me,” Hurley said. “He’s a four man playing the five. I’m going to move him some to the four in this game. [6-10 Jethro] Tshisumpa, I’d like to see him keep making progress. I think physically he’s got the tools, he’s got to gain the experience so he’ll be out there and [6-8 Ramon] Vila, those guys are going to have to tangle with Haas inside and try and hold it down under the rim.”
The Sun Devils got back on the right track on Saturday with a 97-73 win over UNLV in Tempe after they had been obliterated by then-No. 1 Kentucky, 115-69, on Nov. 28 in the Bahamas in a game in which Wildcats freshman De’Aaron Fox notched just the second triple-double in Kentucky history.
“I just thought that they were the fastest team that I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching in college,” Hurley said. “They were turning a rebound or a turnover into two points. We’re a team that likes to go up and down so it wasn’t a great matchup because of the athletes and the talent that they have. And then they have an inside presence, too. They just have a lot of weapons and the kid Fox reminds me of Gary Payton a little bit too that I played against. [Rajon] Rondo, too, he’s got that body and the feel for the game and their defensive ball pressure is unbelievable.
“They’re going to be an impressive team this year, regardless of what happened against UCLA. UCLA is loaded, too, talent-wise.”
With Kentucky and UNLV behind him, Hurley now awaits his Garden coaching debut.
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