Tonight at 8:30 p.m. MST, Colorado takes on Arizona State in Shanghai, China, in both team's 2019-20 season-opener, which will count as a non-conference game.
ASU has made the NCAA Tournament for two consecutive seasons, the only Pac-12 team to do so in that time, while the Buffs, via a win Friday night, look to put an early stamp of confirmation on the preseason hype surrounding a returning roster full of talent and experience.
The game will be broadcasted on ESPN2.
Below is a comprehensive look at the Sun Devils via Hod Rabino, publisher of DevilsDigest, the Rivals site providing daily coverage of ASU athletics.
Twitter: @DevilsDigest
Join the conversation on tonight's game between CU and ASU here
Question 1: ASU comes off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. The Sun Devils have not made three straight since the early 1980s. Are expectations of ASU this year that the team is capable of doing just that?
Hod Rabino: "First and foremost, expectations, with back to back Tournament appearances, something that no other Pac-12 team can claim in that time period, are still there. When you lose two players to NBA rosters in Luguentz Dort and Zylan Cheatham, it’s hard to replace that level of talent, and even thought ASU does have a Top 25 (2020) class, it’s still a class that I don’t know (is capable) of producing that many immediate impact players.
Maybe it’s more of a case where next year and beyond we’ll see what they contribute.I think expectations are still there. I think everybody is aware that this year the Pac-12, at least on paper, should be much, much stronger of a conference than it was last year. But a lot of (that) are because of really talented freshmen that are going to be playing on a lot of different teams.
Arizona State is kind of hoping that the proven veterans that they have coming back can really counter all that infusion of talent.
In that sense, I don’t think ASU is really that much different than Colorado. Now, Colorado has better overall returning talent than ASU, but they’re similar in that they’re really not going to live and die by the freshmen compared to teams like Washington and Arizona, and it’s actually going to be their veteran players that are really going to dictate what kind of season they’re going to have.
That’s why I think this matchup on Friday is really interesting.Just like Colorado has high expectations just because of the veteran players coming back, not because of newcomers, I think the same could be said of ASU. I don’t know if ASU is going to finish second in the conference like they did last year, but to finish in the top 4, I don’t think it’s that far-fetched.
I think there’s optimism in Tempe but maybe not at the level it was at last year."
Question 2: ASU appears to have a similarly tough non-conference schedule, with Colorado, St. John's, Creighton and St. Mary's on the list. Is that something Bobby Hurley has sought out?
Hod Rabino: "That’s something that Bobby Hurley has done an excellent job at from day one. Even with the talent level he had in his first and second-year teams is nowhere near the talent he has now or even last year, he always made sure to schedule a very challenging slate. I think everybody should be really pleased with that aspect alone. It really helps RPI.
Not to harp on previous head coach Herb Sendek, but he had two 20-win seasons in Tempe where he did not go to the NCAA Tournament exactly because of that reason — scheduling a very weak non-conference schedule and not having a high RPI when selection Sunday came through.
Bobby Hurley always does a great job with that and it really does prepare the team for the rigors of the Pac-12. Now, ironically, folks may remember that it was only two years ago where ASU was a perfect 12-0 in non-conference play, ranked third in the country, but then their Pac-12 results were an absolute disaster. They finished eighth in the Pac-12 and just because they had such as strong non-conference schedule, they beat Kansas among other teams, they were able to sneak in to the Tournament.
So it’s not always a precursor to a successful Pac-12 season but at the end of the day, it does prepare you and maybe if nothing else, gives you enough good will or equity to be looked at favorably on Selection Sunday.
When it comes to non-conference schedules, Bobby Hurley does a great job with ASU."
Question 3: How have you felt about Remy Martin and his development? What do you see him doing for this team as a junior?
Hod Rabino:“Remy Martin is one of those old juniors if you will. He played so much as an underclassman — I think he was pretty much a veteran last year and even as a freshman, even though ASU had three senior guards, Remy Martin saw a lot of playing time and really was a focal point in some of those victories for ASU.
He’s definitely one of the best returning players in the Pac-12, there’s no doubt about that. Not only does he have a high number of assists, but also his assist to turnover ratio I believe in Pac-12 play along, he did lead the entire conference. He’s a guy that usually has really sound decision-making, really takes care of the bell quite well.
I know sometimes ASU fans cringe about his shot selection or even the form of his shot but when you look at his numbers, he’s more successful than not in that area. He’s definitely the engine that makes ASU go. It’s hard to imagine any given game where ASU wins without Remy Martin not having at least a decent game. He’s definitely a ball distributor first but has shown progress as a shooter, too. I have no reason to believe that he’s not going to take the next step this year.
Question 4: Who makes up the nucleus of this team?
Hod Rabino: "ASU is in that unique situation where, yes, you do have that Top 25 class but you’re not going to point to many newcomers at all that are going to make an immediate impact, but that’s what makes ASU very similar to Colorado and different to UW and U of A, to where if their true freshmen are not blazing out of the gate, they’re going to have a real tough time because returning talent is simply not there.
ASU is going to look to Romello White, Rob Edwards, Kiman Lawrence, who was a player that even here in ASU’s backyard, a lot of teams overlooked, but I think somebody who can be very significant, not only as a scorer but also on defense.
ASU is going to be dependent a lot on this returning talent but I think you have a lot of proven returning players. The newcomers are going to be more of puzzle pieces to fit here and there, mainly coming off the bench in support of the veterans."
