by Paul Casey Gotham
Monday broke ominously for Head Coach Mike Brey and his Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish Men’s Basketball team.
Still reeling from a 69-61 defeat at the hands of the U Conn Huskies – ND’s first loss at their home court – Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center in 45 games – the Irish found little reason to re – “Joyce” as they found themselves in the AP category of ‘others receiving votes’ for the first time this season.
On deck for the Irish: the surging Marquette Golden Eagles – winners of nine in a row and sitting a top the Big East with Louisville at 6-0.
Searching for answers Brey decided upon lineup changes for his starting five.
Zach Hillesland and Ryan Ayers would come off the bench. Jonathan Peoples and Luke Zeller would start. The latter decision would cause some to wonder if Brey might have left his mock turtle in the high heat cycle for too long — thus causing a drop in blood flow to his cranium.
Any doubters would be silenced as the Irish executed a perfect first possession swinging the ball from side to side, going into Luke Harangody who relocated the ball to an open Kyle McAlarney on the opposite side of the floor before continuing to Zeller at the foul line – Irish 2 Marquette 0.
Any reason to re-“Joyce” would prove fleeting.
Save for a couple of moments in the second half the Irish would spend the game trailing the Golden Eagles and their three-guard lineup only to fall for the second consecutive time at home, 71-64.
The fourth consecutive loss overall dropped the Irish to 3 and 5 in the Big East.
McAlarney spent the night with a Golden Eagle in his grill at all times.
Without McAlarney for a pressure release Irish point guard, Tory Jackson, looked incapable of adapting to Marqutte’s defense. It was as if Jackson had never had a line of smack run at him. He seemed insistent on several occasions to try and take on the Godlen Eagle defense single-handedly.
Other than knocking down two open threes Zeller’s night was capped by a late trifecta attempt that didn’t clang off the rim but rather went clunk off the board.
Harangody compiled his usual numbers – 29 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. But late in the game the reigning Big East player-of-the-year struggled and opted to force shots.
Jerel McNeal led the Golden Eagles with 27 on 11 for 23 shooting including three for seven from behind the arc.
Brey and the Irish have little time to heal their wounds. They travel to Pittsburgh this Saturday for a date with the 18 and 1 Panthers.
Maybe, just maybe, Brey can apply some pressure to the wounds and stop the bleeding.
Oh, Casey. You just couldn’t resist dangling this bloody mess in front of a shark. Thanks for putting this ball on the tee for me. I’m pulling out the BIGGEST BERTHA ever to whack this ball into tomorrow.
Mental toughness, let alone physical toughness, is NOT a trait ever displayed by a Brey-led ND team. The Irish are as soft as this side of the pillow. They can’t stop opponents from driving the lane and scoring on them, nor can they make clutch shots at home to beat quality opponents. Harangody is really the only tough player on this team … he’s the only one that consistently shows up when the chips are down. Hillesland, Ayers & Tory Jackson have disappeared. Why??? Luke “the pinhead” Zeller shouldn’t even have a scholarship. McAlarney is a quality player, but he’s being focused on by opposing defenses … cuz they know Pinhead and the Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight (or defend) is gonna melt like butter under any pressure whatsoever.
It’s been 9 years now … and we’re essentially getting the same thing from Mike Brey’s teams: Consistently on the NCAA tournament bubble list … their W-L record in reg season is anywhere from 20-9 to 17-12. They either just miss the tournament or represent a first round loss if they happen to make it. Somewhere between #30-#50 in the country. Meanwhile, private/catholic schools without the huge resources of ND are consistently outperforming the Irish. They include: Marquette, Xavier, Gonzaga, Butler to name a few.
Maybe being great in basketball isn’t a large priority for ND. Certainly, football is king, but a national school with ND’s resources should be able to do better than be on the NCAA bubble list every season … really without trying all that hard. So … what’s getting in the way? Coaching? High academic standards? Poor recruiting? All of the above?
Well … from my perch it looks like Coaching & Recruiting. For 9 years, ND has insanely pounded it’s head into the Mike Brey Wall and gotten the same results … a mediocre, bubble bursting basketball team. He’s a nice guy … and that’s the problem … the kids not only aren’t very talented, but they’re too nice and SOFT. Anyone there play tough defense and block lane cutters? Anyone capable of that? Anyone muscle people out of the lane?? Actually jump to block a shot … or even commit a hard foul one in awhile???? Nope … Brey recruits 6’4″ to 6’9″ guys that can shoot a little bit, but can’t jump and are physically weak. And then they stay that way for 4 years.
Let me tell ya … I’d really like to see what Butler’s coach could do with the resources ND has at its disposal. I’ve had enough of Brey. Charlie Weis needs an Offensive Coordinator … maybe Brey could take that job … Lord knows he knows nothing about defense.
WOW!
Did I take away a possible Wally’s Wednesday post?
Wally, I could not agree more. Brey has always been suspect in my mind. He recruited Chris Thomas and let Thomas be a cancer in the program. Thomas was not a good team player at the college level, but Brey got caught up in the Indiana “Mr. Basketball” title and couldn’t bring Thomas under control. That set a tone for mediocrity that Brey has maintained ever since. I also learned from your comment that Butler is a Catholic school! I did not know that.
Wally – Can’t say that basketball isn’t a priority at ND, when you have Top Ranked teams in Hockey and Soccer.
Makes me think that there needs to be a change at the head coaching position to take ND to the next level in basketball.
I kinda glossed over that Butler reference as a Catholic, but Wally you are right. The school website does not exactly come right out and say they are Catholic – kinda like Gonzaga – “A Catholic university in the Jesuit Tradition. I had to do a search to actually find the word Catholic on the site.
Ah – Pickin’ Splinters for all you educational needs. 🙂
Wally – I am glad I gave you the opportunity to vent. I can hear Becca Boo telling you to ‘Chillax.’
Even though I’m fighting with Wally about the Super Bowl, I agree with him about Harangody. His shot selection is terrible. Is this Brey being to afraid to clamp down on his star player, much like he never did with Chris Thomas?
Rey —
I wasn’t trying to criticize ‘Gody. If you watch ND, you’ll see that when K-Mac and the others are struggling from the perimeter (which is OFTEN recently), Gody will start taking shots from there, too. Actually, he’s not a bad outside shooter, but ya really don’t want to have to move him out there if you don’t have to. Gody is not Chris thomas in any way. Right now, he’s the only ND player who literally brings it EVERY game. He’s got phenomenal numbers again this year …. and when he doesn’t have his A game, he still fights to get a double-double each game. He’s got a great attitude … a real gamer. ND would undoubtedly be under .500 without him.
Okay – perhaps I should have separated my paragraphs. I said I AGREE with what you said about him, BUT I THINK his shot selection is suspect. He may not be a bad outside shooter, but sometimes he shoots that 17 foot fade away like he is Kevin Garnett. Why allow him to stray that far and shoot in that form? He’s done it every game I’ve watched. They don’t have to move him out there – he’s much more effective under the basket-low block. Even if the guards are off, Harangody will get you one or two more looks alone off of the boards. He won’t get that when he is chucking it up himself with a hand in his face.
Nor did I compare Harangody to Chris Thomas. I compared the way he is treated by Brey to the way Brey treated Thomas. Does he just let his star players run wild? I was never trying to say he was a bad player, had a bad attitude, etc.
Sometimes Gody has to move out and away from the low post in order to get away from the 7 footer who is likely guarding him. He’s only 6’8″ or 6’9″ and doesn’t jump well … certainly not an ideal post player. Shooting the 15-18 footer is one of the tactics he uses against these guys who can block his shot down low. It’s kind of amazing that he averages over 20 ppg.