JotCast | Notre Dame Hoops December chat

Notre Dame Hoops December chat

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Thomas Noie

1:54

That will do it for today. Thanks to all who participated. We'll be back later this month, say, maybe Dec. 17 with another chat. Hopefully the Irish will have played a few more games. If you have a question or comment that cannot wait, drop me a note at tnoie@sbtinfo.com. Thanks and stay healthy!

1:40

Lee: Make the NCAA tournament at the very least. Finish in the top half of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Have enough able bodies to be competitive relative to your league. I don't buy that whole "compete for championships" baloney that Notre Dame likes to trot out there. How many championships has the school's flagship program competed for/won since 1988? It's more like chase championships and still graduate your players and make the school more money than it knows what to do with. That's Notre Dame 2020.

Lee from Lancaster, SC

1:38

Mike Brey is a good coach and has done as much with the ND basketball program as can reasonably be expected. Back in the days of Digger Phelps, the Irish were on occasion a legitimate contender for a national championship. However, given all the changes in college basketball since those days, it's almost unfair to expect the Irish to legitimately compete for a national championship. What should be the realistic expectations of the men's basketball team every year? Does the ND administration expect the basketball to compete for championships like they do in several of the other team sports?

Thomas Noie

1:00

That would fit the profile, but nothing's official yet. They're going to get a game for Sunday. Whether they play it? Flip a coin....lol

Bill

12:59

Any word on the rumors that ND has just scheduled a home game against Detroit Mercy on Sunday?

Thomas Noie

12:48

Bill: We were led to believe that the reason Ryan Ayers no longer is an assistant coach at his alma mater, where he also played, was to pursue other opportunities. He's not coaching in college. He's not coaching in the NBA. He's not coaching, period. He's got a house in South Bend that he's not living in. That will tell you all you need to know about his "abrupt" departure. It wasn't so abrupt, and it wasn't to pursue future basketball opportunities. We'll leave it at that for now.

Bill from chicago

12:47

Tom, has there been any effort to communicate with Ryan Ayers to find out about his abrupt departure ? Is he trying to land an nba job ?

Thomas Noie

12:46

Joe: True, but there a lot of that falls under fit. And timing. Shooting guards might've been lined up to play for Notre Dame a couple years ago - say when this current junior class were freshmen. Shooting guard sits down with Brey and says, hey. you've got Robby Carmody and Dane Goodwin signed and T.J. Gibbs for two more years. Am I going to get meaningful minutes? Brey's going to say, yeah, if you can earn them, but I'm going to look first and second and third and maybe fourth as the guys I already have. You wait your turn. Guys then say, thanks, but I'll go somewhere I can play. That's why Notre Dame went the one-and-done (and whiff) recruiting route a couple years ago. Brey couldn't sell anyone on playing time. And every kid wants to play now.

joe from the south side

12:44

Tom: My knock on Brey would be this. He coaches a style of BBL that I don't think should go deep in the Tourney. Too perimeter oriented, and it's way to tough to outshoot everybody in unfamiliar courts. They don't rebound all that well and they don't defend all that well. In my mind, you just can't outscore teams for three weeks. That said, shouldn't shooting guards be knocking on his door to play? Especially with the freedom he allows? I think that would be my gripe. That guys like JJ Starling or kids from DeMatha aren't wearing out a path to South Bend. Too me, those are the kids who should be slam dunks.

Thomas Noie

12:43

Tim: A lot of it is that teams already have games scheduled for the weekend. If not Saturday, then Sunday. Nobody's going to play back to back like the NBA, especially during a pandemic. Is an arena available? Officials? Game management staff? DePaul recently shut down because of virus issues. A head coach/program has to take into account how badly they want to play. yeah, Notre Dame really, really needs a game this weekend, but at what cost? Getting Tuesday's game against No. 23 Ohio State and Saturday at No. 20 Kentucky wiped out? Any program that's not testing as often as Notre Dame carries a really high risk at this point. College basketball should've just started the season Jan. 1 and gone to a 28-game Atlantic Coast Conference league schedule. Every team would be on the same protocol. Non-league games, as we've seen this week, are just a roll of the dice.

Tim from Chicago

12:40

Hi Tom, how difficult is it in today's world to find an opponent to play on short notice to replace cancelled games. What are the logistical challenges that the average fan doesn't realize? What's stopping Brey from calling up the Depaul coach and saying we'll jump on a bus Saturday for the 90 minute ride over, see you at 2pm at your campus gym?

Thomas Noie

12:40

Coach: Good stuff, but I have to see this team play more than 40 minutes before declaring that they can't do this and that very well. Here's the rub - this is a veteran team, so they SHOULD be able to figure it out and not look as uncertain as they did the other night. A lot of it also is going against someone besides the same five guys in practice. Like, Juwan Durham can get that flip shot at the rim off. Cormac Ryan can get that layup to fall. Against a team like Michigan State, it's being swatted. It's an adjustment.

Coach from Reading, PA.

12:38

Hi Tom. ND has nobody, except Hubb, who can get past their defender. Yet that’s their offense. Penetrate gaps to get someone open. It’s not working. I think they need to run Chin, the Princeton offense. But in order to run it they need a shooter in the high post who can back screen then pop out. That puts Durham on the bench. Play 5 guys who can all shoot. Your thoughts. PS. Nice work covering ND football.

Thomas Noie

12:38

Andrew: It would help to have a home game to see exactly what they're going to do, but please, please, please, no fake crowd noise. From where the media was seated on the concourse of Breslin Center, it sounded more like a low hum or crowd noise. It's a little annoying. Can't replicate what it feels like having 15,000 fans in there, so don't try it. Plus, it makes it more difficult to hear what's going on down on the court.

Andrew from Plymouth, IN

12:36

I liked the aesthetics of the MSU arena on TV with the mural behind the bench where the seats would normally be. I could’ve done without the fake crowd noise that BTN pumped in, though. Any idea if ND is doing something similar to make the crowdless arena look better for TV?

Thomas Noie

12:36

Lee: Let's go with the women, mainly because the schedule might be a little lighter on that ledger. And same for getting back to the NCAA tournament. The number of tournament-worthy teams in the women's game is nowhere near it is in the men's game. You can pencil in the same two or three teams to the Final Four in women's hoops every year. Men? Little tougher. Not better. Just tougher.

Lee from Lancaster, SC

12:35

Which ND basketball team will win more games, the men or the women? Which team has a better chance of getting back into the NCAA tournament?

Thomas Noie

12:34

Andrew: Yes, yes, yes times 10. Notre Dame needs an assistant coach who can be the heavy, as Anthony Solomon was coming off 14-19 in 2013-14. He ran the spring workouts. He was tough on the guys, but they responded. What happens next? Consecutive runs to the Elite Eight. I don't know if this staff has a heavy, someone who can really get into guys when warranted. It has to be someone beside the head coach. It's OK to be liked, but it's also to at times be feared, even loathed, by guys if you can tap into their potential.

Andrew from Plymouth, IN

12:33

This has felt, for awhile now, similar to when Brian Kelly needed to finally go outside his own coaching tree and shake things up. This has been happening with the long dry scoring spells for multiple seasons now. Something has gone stale with the coaching, does Brey need to go get some assistants that haven’t played for him in the past? The coaching seemed best when Solomon and Cross were on the staff.

Thomas Noie

12:27

Joey: Yep....too early to draw many conclusions but this one we can draw - can't give up a 26-0 run and go down by as many as 28. Not this group. We should be beyond that.

Joey from Highland, IN

12:26

One game isn't enough to sell an entire season, but, from one game, it looks as if these guys haven't gotten any better. Still quite a few airballs and bad possessions. I just don't understand why. They're a veteran team. I know it's a tough MSU team, but, they went up 4 and that was it.

Thomas Noie

12:26

Caleb : For this season to be any sort of a success, he has to be that guy. It's his time. He wasn't happy with his role or his minimized minutes last season playing alongside John Mooney. Now's his chance to do something about it. Think you're an ACC big man? Legit ACC big man? Go play like one. It's not like he's not going to have every opportunity to max it all out. What he does - or doesn't do - is really up to him. Go be a player.

Caleb from Charlotte, NC

12:25

With the graduation of John Mooney, Juwan Durham is expected to have a bigger role in the offense and on the boards. However, he wasn't much of a factor in the Michigan St game. Can he be a guy that can consistently get you double-figure points and rebounds?

Thomas Noie

12:25

Joe: All true....Notre Dame wasn't going to win that one, fans or no fans. What I'd have liked to have seen was the compete level a little higher. More fight from the Irish. Less of more of the same in terms of shot-missing, decision-making, softness. There's no shame in going up to Breslin Center and losing. There is when you give up a 26-0 run.

joe from the south side

12:24

Tom: Much as I would have liked more from East Lansing consider this. MSU had a game under their belt. Huge! Road game on a SAT night at the Breslin Center. HOF Coach. Arguably, somewhat better talent. Finally, other than UVA, probably the best fundamental DEF and REB and screening team they will face, maybe in the country. That's a tall order for Game #1.

Thomas Noie

12:23

Kentucky? That's a noon tip next weekend in Lexington on CBS.

joe from the south side

12:23

Tom: I know ESPN and the ACCN are handling some of the early games, but I don't recall any TV schedule for the Wildcats. Have you heard anything?

Thomas Noie

12:23

Something to be desired? I'd say his insistence on sticking with his guys and being loyal to a fault - either on his staff or his roster. Not making a change here or there when change might've been best. I think back to after the 3-15 season in the ACC. Yeah, that was injury-related but it also was player-related, as in the guys they had weren't good enough. Every option should've been explored and used in the offseason to upgrade the roster. Bring in a traditional transfer. Bring in a grad transfer, if only to shake up the locker room status quo. Take a chance sometime. He didn't do it. The result? 10-10 last season. I'd like to see him take a few more chances, especially for someone as secure in his job as he is.

12:20

Whew, that's a lot of history and ground to cover. Let's see. If I had to go with one aspect about Mike Brey as the coach at Notre Dame with short notice, it would be that he never let outside influences influence the job he did in making that his program. Football gets the first and second and sometimes third seat at the table on campus? No big deal, just keep winning and building. Facilities stink? Don't let it deter you from the big picture. The former league you were in (Big East) kept changing with schools and divisions and format? Just win double-digit league games. Moving to a new league? Keep grinding. That's a lot to handle, and Brey's probably done as good as anyone could. Anyone. Should he have won more? Sure, what coach hasn't won as everyone wanted? Brey has his faults, but I'll ride with this - nobody would've been able to do what he's done in 20-plus years in the way he was expected to do it. Nobody.

joe from the south side

12:17

Tom: With you and Brey coming on the ND scene around the same time, what are the one or two things you've seen that you thought, "boy this guy is sharp, this guy is good"? And the one or two things where in 20 years there still leaves something to be desired?

Thomas Noie

12:16

Joey: Too early to tell. Hard to drop too heavy a hammer in his first game back, but did expect him to be a little more aware of his surroundings. He hit his first two 3s and then struggled to adjust when Michigan State adjusted to leaving him open. Hopefully, that comes in the next week or so....or whenever they play again.

Joey from Highland, IN

12:15

Your initial thoughts on Cormac?

Thomas Noie

12:03

And see, I knew I'd forget somebody....have to add Tory Jackson to that list.

12:02

Mike: Always a loaded question, because a former player or two will feel like I've slighted them in some way, shape or form. But this is overall in 21 years, liking these guys because of the way they played and the give-and-take we had in media sessions - Can't name just five, but Troy Murphy, David Graves, Chris Thomas, Ryan Humphrey, Jack Cooley, Ben Hansbrough, Ty Nash, Pat Connaughton, Bonzie Colson are right there. Again, probably left a few out, but those guys were fun to cover because they got it. On and off the floor. Luke Harangody should be on that list, but he was wayyyyy too "protected" by an SID who had no business protecting him.

Mike from Rochester

11:58

Favorite ND players to cover (top 3-5) over your tenure on the beat?

Thomas Noie

11:58

True, but also have to play smart at this level.

John from coloumbus

11:57

I agree robby definitely needs to learn to change gears and that why the injury cane at such a bad time, he was playing much more under control figuring out all that stuff he missed after freshmen year. Even in that Maryland game he had some great drives and finishes. That play was tough, open lane to drive, trying to stay aggressive, awkward foul and fall. Not many kids will play harder

Thomas Noie

11:47

Mike: Right now, it's easy to say, yeah, shut it down and push it back and play it safe. But I think (hope) that we see fewer postponements and cancelations once teams get into league play, where the testing protocols and standards are a little more steam-lined. That's where Notre Dame is running into issues right now - with non-conference opponents from non-power five leagues where I don't know the testing is as thorough. Look at what Notre Dame did to play at Michigan State - it tested four times last week, including once Friday afternoon in East Lansing and again Saturday morning. No issues. Now? Opponents have major issues. Hopefully, once teams get into league play, it kind of settles down. If not, the game's in biggggg trouble.

Mike from Rochester

11:44

Tom- thanks for doing this. Do you see the postseason being pushed back into April or May?

Thomas Noie

11:44

John: You said it yourself - Robby Carmody is fearless and tough to a fault. Yeah, you want him attacking and aggressive and all that, but do you really want him trying to dunk in the closing seconds of a blowout game, which cost him his knee? At some point, you have to learn how to change gears. Know when to push it and know when to pull back. There's plenty there for him. Thing is, I don't know if we'll ever get to the point where we see it.

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