JotCast | February Notre Dame Hoops Chat

February Notre Dame Hoops Chat

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Pat, Springfield, IL

12:44

From the time ND was down 23-8 to Duke, is there a comparison to the total game effort against Pitt? Also, a follow up to the question about possibly not having an ACC tourney. If that happens, does ND need to win out to get into the tournament?

Thomas Noie

12:44

Kyle: Wait, what? Assuming Nate Laszewski leaves for the draft? Nothing normal about that. Wesley and Konieczny will help, but how much remains to be seen. The ACC ain't the NIC. Next year, assuming everything is back to normal, it's the usual baseline expectation - top half of ACC, 12-ish league wins, NCAA tournament.

Kyle - Cedar Lake

12:43

Whats your thoughts on blake wesley and Jr K. Recruits. Both have the talent plus Elijah Taylor healthy next year anc matg Zona development. In a normal season with this team and assuming Nate leaves for the draft, what is this team capable of doing? Top 45 team? Top 6 Acc?

Thomas Noie

12:42

Morgan: I'd say I know Mike Brey as well as a beat writer who's covered him since he arrived in July 2000 should know him. I've seen the loosest side of him. I've seen the not-so loosest side of him. Beers with him not a line that should be crossed. He gets that I have a job to do, and, other than an incident in the 2000s with an SID who no longer is there, doesn't really care how I do it or what I write. Or lets himself care. But for all the Irish fans (you know who you are) who aren't happy about no NCAA tournament since 2017, Brey's right there with you.

Morgan McKinley

12:39

Tom, another question with a positive tone. How well do you know Brey? What’s he like as a guy? Loosest Coach in America? Cool guy? Have beers with? Truly a players coach?

Thomas Noie

12:31

Morgan: This isn't necessarily directed toward the SEC or a specific school, who am I kidding, yeah it is, but the prevailing attitude around college basketball the more I'm around it seems to be, let's just cheat or bend the rules and dare the NCAA to drop the hammer on us. Look at what's happened with Arizona and Kansas and LSU. I may be mistaken, but the feds have LSU coach Will Wade on a freaking wiretap talking about an illegal offer to a recruit. How much smoke needs to be around Sean Miller or Bill Self? It's almost like schools dare the NCAA to come after them, knowing they likely won't. It's a joke. Think if the feds had Mike Brey on a wiretap he'd have a job by the end of the day?

Morgan McKinley

12:28

Tom - Joe wrote about DeMatha pipeline which is BS. Since Dantley & Carr, how many? Kids at that level in 2020 want a stepping stone to the NBA, nothing less. The reality is there are plenty of NCAA FB & BB who don’t get an education at all and some are Juco level academically and we know it from UNC & others. My Q: do you agree at SEC & other programs, the top players are often (of course not all) not in any way shape or form anything resembling a college student academically and the NCAA and University turns a blind eye until they get caught??

Thomas Noie

12:28

Joe: That would actually take some effort from someone over there. Don't think it's high on the priority list. Neither is trying to conceal the empty seats. Almost like, ah, what's the point?

joe from the south side

12:27

Tom: A lot of stadiums now feature those cardboard cutouts of fans so that the place still looks somewhat full. Should ND consider keeping them even after the pandemic is over so that it looks like they have 3,000-4,000 inside Purcell?

Thomas Noie

12:27

Mark: Preaching the truth in Mishawaka!

Mark Kruz from Mishawaka

12:27

Tom you mentioned earlier that the ACC tournament might not be held. I have to agree with you 100%. No way will the NCAA allow any teams with the chance of having a team test positive and shut down their cash cow. Way too much money for them and CBS. Part of this season is not only being successful in the won lost department but testing negative and following protocol which a few ACC teams failed to do so far with tournament resumes. No way the WCC is going to allow Gonzaga to play in their conf tourney. The way the Irish are playing right now on offense they do definitely have a decent chance to win out and make the tournament especially if some teams fail testing positive close to tourney time

Thomas Noie

12:21

Ryan: No idea what 2022 will look like for so many reasons. Who in the junior class will take advantage of the free year? Who won't? Who leaves between now and then? When can the staff actually go and and recruit somebody in person? When can those prospects see campus?

Ryan from Overland Park, KS

12:20

Any news on the recruiting trail? I'd imagine Mike Brey is looking to add three guys in the 2022 class. Right now I only see 8 scholarship players for the 2022-23 season (carmody, wertz, ryan, wesley, JR, sanders, taylor, zona), plus the two walk-on's. I'm just hoping that the 2022 class isn't another one of those years where Brey fails to land an impact player (I'd say he did with wesley in 2021).

Thomas Noie

12:20

Joe: I've never truly bought into the whole DeMatha-to-Notre Dame pipeline is a lock stuff. Should it be? Heck, yes. Ten times out of 10. But again, kids might be looking for something other than they've had for the previous four years. It's just never felt as automatic as everyone seems to think it should be.

joe from the south side

12:19

Tom: What's disappointing is DeMatha is loaded with D1 kids in the JR class. I get the standards and all that but, my goodness, given that GT comment maybe you need to redouble your efforts. It's tough to take because those kids never mention ND, and I am never sure if it's no interest on their part or Brey not even sending out feelers

Thomas Noie

12:18

Liam: On-the-fly questions are the best. Let's go with the best six opponents (three in the Big East, three in the ACC) I've covered and again, I'm leaving someone out, but the clock's ticking so here it goes. Gerry McNamara (Syracuse), Richard Hamilton (Connecticut). Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse), Zion Williamson (Duke), Jerome Robinson (Boston College), Joel Berry (North Carolina)

Liam from London:

12:14

Tom, thanks so much for organising these chats. They are better than a warm pint of bitter. Tough question for you on the fly, so you can put it in the bank for the next chat if it is too tough for you. Who are the best five players - by position - you have seen play for the opposition at Notre Dame? I'll give you a plus one as a sixth man. Here's mine: Johnny Dawkins, Duke, Reggie Miller, UCLA, Len Bias, Maryland, Derrick Coleman, Syracuse, Danny Manning, Kansas and Dana Barros, Boston College - cos I need a Boston kid in the mix and he lit us up for 30 something in 1989.

Thomas Noie

12:14

Erik: Because these guys are never really taught or told about defense. They've been gifted the opportunity to play college basketball, which often means offense. And basketball players being basketball players, there's a chance that if their games aren't going well, they're not going to be all that interested in getting in a stance. I'm in one right now. It's not that difficult.

Erik (Granger, IN)

12:12

Thanks for being here! Why did we have to keep hearing about “getting in a stance”? How can players at this level not be able to (or willing to) play basic defense?

Thomas Noie

12:12

Joe: Wrote that very same line that night. Don't have the athletes? Here's a thought - go get some.

joe from the south side

12:12

Tom: Your thoughts on the Brey line that GT "out athleticized" us. WHAT?????? Georgia Tech? Wait a minute, you recruited these guys. Blame yourself.

Thomas Noie

12:12

Joe: Easy. And I love Harold, but I'd take running into a brick wall (Swan) than being hit by a runaway truck (Zion) any day. Worst case scenario on a Swan pick is I'm a little woozy for a while instead of being scraped up off the floor, and then trying to find my teeth.

joe from the south side

12:11

Tom: Your call. Pick one. You have to take a charge from Zion (Pat C.) or you are playing a pickup game against BigSwan42 and the man you are guarding runs you into a pick by BigSwan42 and your teammate does not call the pick.

Thomas Noie

12:10

Joe: There are so few teams doing it (or trying to do it) the way Notre Dame does it and a lot of teams that do it, well, the other way.

joe from the south side

12:09

Tom: Your FB comparison to not being Clemson, Bama, or Ohio St. is spot on. However, I disagree with your BBL examples. I believe Coach K and Jay run pretty clean programs. Instead I would offer Arizona, Auburn, Kansas and NC as examples of programs with limited, if any, academic standards.

Thomas Noie

12:09

Jarmon: Great question, and my answer likely would be the same as the coaching staff and the players. It would be the first game against Duke when Notre Dame was an absolute no-show. It had just won at Kentucky (yeah, even though Kentucky's not Kentucky this year, that's still a big deal) and had a chance to build on that by finally beating Duke, which also would've meant at that time finally beating a ranked team. But the Irish were out of it from literally the tip. Duke just pantsed them in their own gym. It was over soooooo early. Notre Dame had a chance to beat Kentucky and Duke back to back, had a chance to go 1-0 in the league, had a chance to get some momentum going to Indianapolis to play Purdue. Instead, it was a no-show. It set the early stage for the 0-5 league start.

Jarmon

12:06

If the coaches and players got a mulligan for one game this year... Which game do you think it would be? Do you think the coaches and players would vote for the same game?

Thomas Noie

12:06

Jarmon: Notre Dame Absolutely. The rest of the ACC? Think the overwhelming attitude of a lot of schools would be, OK, we'll find a work-around for that.

Jarmon

12:05

Tom I own a sports performance biomechanics company and work with many D1 prospects. Most blue chip hoopers I talk to want to go exclusively online for every class. True even before COVID. Do you see this trend harming not just UND obviously but the ACC overall?

Thomas Noie

12:05

Billy: I'll take the first seven, but anytime anyone wants to compare what Mike Brey has to do to what Digger/Johnny Dee did....you lose me. It's a totally different world. Then. Now.

Billy

12:04

why is it so hard for brey to win/recruit? 1. Brey does not cheat. 2. Notre Dame you have to go to class. 3. Under Armour in a Nike world. 4. No tradition like football. 5. Cost of attendance 6. Notre Dame is hard to get to from the East Coast 7. unlucky -- Colson/Farrell team riddled with injuries. Loss of Pfugler two years ago was a blow even though he was not the next Jerian Grant. 8. Digger won playing a schedule he made up himself 9. Johhny Dee won because at the time Notre Dame was the only hoops team that played on national TV in reg season.

Thomas Noie

12:03

Not if the Irish catch lightning in a bottle next year and everything falls into its proper place.

The Man

12:03

Will any of the current juniors stay for a fifth year do you think?

Thomas Noie

12:03

Jim: Great question, but the most loaded one in any hoops chat format, mainly because someone always gets left off, and often is there to say so. But I'll ride anywhere with these five: Bonzie Colson, Pat Connaughton, Jerian Grant, Ben Hansbrough and Troy Murphy. First sub off the bench? Too many to mention but let's just say guys like Matt Carroll, Dan Miller, Tory Jackson, John Mooney, Ty Nash, Tim Abromaitis, David Graves, Steve Vasturia, Demetrius Jackson, Matt Farrell, Ryan Humphrey are all right there. And I'm probably leaving someone out.

Jim Tal, Valley Center, CA.

11:52

Tom: Since you've been covering the Irish, who makes your all-time starting lineup and who is the first sub off the bench?

Thomas Noie

11:52

Morgan: Nik Djogo needs the Irish need him. He was a fringe guy in seasons past. Now, he's in the rotation and he's old, so deliver. As for every week, I don't know if my hoops sanity could take it.

Morgan McKinley

11:51

Tom - you should do this once a week in February & March. Us diehard ND hoops fans need it!! I think Nic has been a great teammate this year. He’s a solid rebounder, can guard many positions and he’s a very unselfish player. He has struggled previously but this year he’s been consistently solid. What do you think has been the cause, besides experience, for this year’s consistent play?

Thomas Noie

11:51

Jake: Too early to tell with what's already been discussed about how the offseason will be ThunderDome. Who's coming? Anyone? Who's leaving? Anyone? Nobody can say what this roster will look like in June until, well, June.

Jake

11:50

Any potential redshirts next season?

Thomas Noie

11:50

Liam: Back when the media was allowed to watch practice before we became evil and the enemy and everything else (no truth to that, by the way!!!!), I can say that end-of-game situations were a routine part of the practice plan. Like, down two and the ball and five seconds to make something happen. Or up one and having to defend to win. All normal stuff that the staff worked through. I'd push back on Notre Dame being disorganized at the end of the Carolina or Georgia Tech games. The Irish got a really good look at Carolina - both from Cormac Ryan and Juwan Durham on the baseline. That's about as good as you're going to to get. Against Georgia Tech, Ryan's gotta let that one fly. Or head fake and drive it.

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