JotCast | ND Hoops chat - 2024 wrap

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Thomas Noie

12:04

NIL, my man. It's all about NIL.

Drew

12:04

Do you current Arkansas transfer commit Josh Cohen could be in play if Musselman takes the USC job?

Thomas Noie

12:04

Mark: Yes, yes, yes, times 10. Don't get me started on the Big East and Madison Square Garden. Those were the best days of Notre Dame men's basketball, aside from 2015 in Greensboro. But the ACC tournament has no business being in Charlotte (sorry, Jim Phillips) or Washington (still one of the best cities to visit) or definitely Brooklyn. If you're not in the Garden, you have no business being in NYC. You do get a real feeling of the history of the ACC in Greensboro that you can't touch anywhere else.

Mark Kru z from Mishawaka

12:02

Tom after watching the conference tournaments I sure do miss the Irish being in the Big East. I know it would be difficult for the Irish to win there now if they were in the Big East but I sure did enjoy watching Hurley and Pitino go at it in the Garden. The juice in the Garden on Saturday nite felt like the Big East of the 80's. Watching the ACC tournament from D.C. kinda felt like as you would put it "Meh". Is Greensboro the best place to keep the ACC tournament at a permanent site?

Thomas Noie

12:02

Matt: Full disclosure. I was a big Cormac Ryan guy. He had me after I watched him do what he did in the 2022 NCAA tournament. He single-handedly shot Notre Dame past Alabama in San Diego in what will be the ultimate beat writer grind/road trip. I voted Ryan a first team all-league guy heading into the 2022-23 season. How'd that turn out? LOL. His season at Carolina was about what I thought. You can't play in that program as a 25-year-old with that talent and not play well. Would've been nice to see him get an ACC tournament title. Or a Final Four. He's a guy who maxed out his college experience.

Matt from NWI

12:00

A revolving door of nine sounds much better than seven. What did you think of Cormac Ryans year at UNC? More, less, or about what you expected? I thought he had a pretty impressive year on the whole

Thomas Noie

11:59

Bob: None. And not even on the radar as to wonder why. Sorry, but it was never a case against North Carolina or Virginia Tech or Wake Forest where you thought, man, if only Matt Zona had played more, Notre Dame would've had a chance. It happens.

Bob

11:58

Zona had a great game against Clemson when Njie had foul trouble. I thought he'd play more after that. But, after the Carolina game, Zona's playing time went way down. Any ideas why?

Thomas Noie

11:57

Notre Dame assistant coach Mike Farrelly is a Saint Joseph grad/former player so there's a connection. I would wonder why at 7-foot, 285, he averaged only 8.2 points and 5.7 rebounds. At that size and skill set, he should dominate the Atlantic 10. The Atlantic Coast Conference would be a big step up. Think you need to shoot/aim higher for more than an under-the-radar guy. The Irish need someone who can come in and be an impact guy from the jump.

11:55

I think Shrewsberry should take a look at 7 foot center Christ Essandoko who just left Saint Joes yesterday. Has 3 years of eligibility and would be a nightmare for opposing teams running the pick and roll with Burton with his size and 3 point shooting ability. Kind of under the radar which makes me think he'd be a good candidate for Shrewsberry to go after. Here is a link to his highlight tape: https://x.com/CBB_Europe/status/1775763991517688087?s=20 What do you think

Thomas Noie

11:51

Disagree. He heard plenty from Burton in the few games that I was able to actually see and hear courtside. As an aside, that's the kind of stuff you can't get a feel for sitting where we sit at Notre Dame. In the times where I was able to see and hear more on the road, I was struck by how Shrewsberry will give it to just about everybody. About everything. There's a reason why he didn't want us anywhere near any of his practices, even in preseason. Can only imagine what those sessions are like.

joe from the south side

11:49

Tom, Let me add something to the "barked at" comment you made. It seems to me that everyone on the team, at one point or another, got an earful from Shrews. Except Burton. To me, whenever he screwed up, Shrews treated it like it was a "teaching moment." Thoughts?

Thomas Noie

11:48

Mike: If I was in charge of the non-conference scheduling, it would be constructed to optimize as many wins as possible. Forget going here to play this school or going there to play that school. Max out the non-league with wins and then take your chances in the ACC. This program may not be at a point where Strength of Schedule is going to be that big of a factor in terms of an NCAA tournament resume. That's for 2025-26.

Mike from Rochester

11:47

Apologies if already addressed, but how do you see next year's non-conference schedule being constructed?

Thomas Noie

11:47

Xavier: Because this (stuff) is hard. It would be a snap if Notre Dame just needed any kind of point guard (they don't) or shooting guard (maybe) or wing (yes) or big man (absolutely). But it's more than that. Notre Dame needs experience. It needs proven players. It doesn't need someone who may also be looking to cash in with NIL. It can't be stressed enough - to find the right guys at the right time for where Notre Dame is, nothing about this is easy.

Xavier

11:45

Why does it seem like we are having very little traction with players in the transfer portal?

Thomas Noie

11:45

Cliff: Braeden Shrewsberry was a blank slate for me last season, like a lot of guys were. He was in the same situation as Markus Burton. Like, you didn't know what he could do or what he might do, but you knew he had to play. There was nobody on that team with a similar skill set. I voted Shrewsberry for ACC all-rookie team after he averaged 10.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 28.3 minutes. He maybe played too much early, but again, he had to. Moving forward? Improve his shooting numbers (.398 percent from the field, .371 percent from 3) and his assists numbers (29). It would be nice to see him be more than just a catch-and-shoot guy. Put it on the floor a little more. Find guys. Be an overall good guard in a league that is full of them. He's on that arc.

Cliff from Winnipeg

11:41

Braeden Shrewsberry surprised me last season -- he provided more as a freshman than I could have imagined. What were your expectations of him before last season and what do you think his contributions/role will be moving forward?

Thomas Noie

11:40

Mike: You learn early on that change is part of the deal in college basketball, which always will run a distant second to college football. Always. From a men's basketball standpoint, Notre Dame never should've left the Big East. Ever. Not after working so hard to establish an identity in that league, then becoming one of the premier programs and doing all it did. But you get it. The Big East collapsed and Notre Dame needed a new home. So, the biggest change today has to be the portal. It's really become free agency in college. Every year, a team could lose nobody. It could lose everybody. That Notre Dame had only three returning scholarship players when Micah Shrewsberry arrived, that every single scholarship player left DePaul and left Louisville during its coaching changes. The portal has become something entirely different than anyone could've imagined (and not in a good way).

Mike

11:36

In you tenure, what has benne biggest change? Portal? Expanded NCAA footprint/conference realignments? Huge coach salaries?

Thomas Noie

11:35

Charlie: No, no, no. One big tops. Maybe two if the right two are there. But this team needs an experienced big and needs and experienced guard/wing/forward who can score and bring a little bit of an edge. That's the tricky part. How do you get a guy (guys) like that but still keep the culture where you want it?

Charlie from Chicago

11:33

Do we expect all front court transfer targets Tom? Chances we bring in a veteran guard who can defend a little, feels like were gonna need a bigger stopper next year if we want a chance at winning some road games.

Thomas Noie

11:32

He can still be his ornery self and has slowed down some at age 82, but the relationship that I have with him as the Notre Dame hoops guy? Priceless. Had a college friend whose son had applied to Notre Dame and was in town to visit campus. I took the two of them to Digger's house for him to talk to my friend's son about what Notre Dame meant to him. My friend was jaw on the ground speechless. I'm like, ah, that's just Digger. True story.

11:30

Mike: Tangent time. Never did I ever imagine when I started in 1998 did I think that I would eventually count one Richard "Digger" Phelps as a friends, but here we are. One of the biggest surprises in doing this job. As gruff as he can be (and he can be), if you give it back and much as you get it, you can find some common ground. It's routine to hear from Digger a lot during basketball season. Like, every single day. He's calling. To talk hoops. To ask what channel this game is one. To just check in. There hasn't been a road trip I've taken in the last five, six, seven years that he hasn't called to make sure I've returned home safely. That the trip went well. He'll also call me on January 18 every single year with the reminder to wish HIM a happy anniversary the next day. I always kid him, what happened on January 19? These are sides that a lot of people don't get to see.

Mike C

11:24

In all seriousness, how is Coach Phelps doing these days? We still see him at games but it seems he's been out of the spotlight lately, which (as we all know) is very unlike him.

Thomas Noie

11:22

Cliff: We touched a lot on JRK earlier in the chat, but he can be a double-digit scorer, main guy given how hard he plays. There's no substitute for experience, but there's also no substitute for effort. Nobody plays harder than JRK.

Cliff from Winnipeg

11:20

What is the ceiling of J.R. Konieczny, and how close or far is he from it?

Thomas Noie

11:20

So it's perimeter shooting to start with Davis. Also, be more than just a straight-line driver to the basket, which worked more than a few times. When it didn't, he didn't have a counter to play off that. He was easy to guard. Don't be easy to guard and be more of a play-maker, be the point forward that so many teams have. Don't lose sight of defending. There's a lot to work with, which is why he's such an important guy.

11:19

J.J.: Wait, didn't you kind of, sort of just answer your own question?

If I'm Tae Davis, I'm locking myself in Rolfs and not coming out until my right arm falls off. After I've made like 20,000 jumpers from 3. He went (checks stats) 7-of-38 from 3. It's not that he shot .184 percent from distance, but that he took 38 shots when he kind of, sort of knew that those shots weren't going in. There's a sidebar story there, so I'll tell it - sitting baseline at Yum! Center late in the year for Notre Dame's game against Louisville. Davis is open in the corner (no accident) and the ball swings his way. He shoot it. It misses. Badly. Next timeout, Shrewsberry wonders what the #$%@ are you shooting that shot for? Davis proceeds to the bench and Shrewsberry goes on to vent to official Pat Driscoll how a guy who, at the time was 5-for-35 or something is shooting 3s. Driscoll just kind of shrugs.

J.J. P

11:15

You mentioned earlier Tae Davis' development perhaps being the biggest key of all for Notre Dame next season. Other than developing into a more reliable scoring threat from outside the paint, in what other areas of his game could ND fans expect (or hope for) a jump next season? More comfort/danger off the dribble given how Shrewsberry tabbed him early on for that 'secondary ballhandler' role? Greater consistency on the boards, where he showed tremendous promise but had as many two rebound games as games with ten?

Thomas Noie

11:14

Mike: I'll give you a shout when my next performance review comes up. Seriously, though, been with the Tribune since 1992, been on Notre Dame men's basketball since 1998. From suburban Chicago. Wife from South Bend. Never felt the need to see what else is out there. Rule No. 1 in this wacky business, in any business - don't mess with happy. Do the job until you don't want to do the job. The want-to is still real. Every day.

Mike

11:11

Your tenure at SBT has been a good long one. ND MBB for a good chunk of that. First off, congrats on all that, especially in a day and age where continuity of papers/magazines, let alone our favorite writers, seem a thing of the past.

Thomas Noie

11:11

Cliff: A couple hours ago when we started this chat thing, Matt Zona was the topic with somebody mentioning, hey, he's in the portal but what if he doesn't like what he sees/hears. Could he return to Notre Dame? The Tony Sanders situation is similar to the Matt Zona situation, which is ironic, because they're the closest of friends. Nobody knows what the basketball future is of Tony Sanders, including Tony Sanders. It won't include Notre Dame. It's just time for a change. For him. For Notre Dame. For everybody. Funny. If you asked what type of player Sanders is, I couldn't even begin to tell you. In four years, I never really saw him do enough to see what he can do.

Cliff from Winnipeg

11:08

What's the word on Tony Sanders? I can't imagine there is any scenario under which he is on the 2024-25 team (and on scholarship). Might he just conclude his basketball career?

Thomas Noie

11:07

The fans in attendance cheered and nodded in agreement and I remember thinking, whoa, be careful what you wish for. I'd guarantee that those same fans complained about all those 50 and 60-point games we watched this year. Shrewsberry said in preseason that he wants his teams to play fast and play a pleasing style. We certainly didn't see it this season, but that was more personnel based than coaching philosophy based. Notre Dame may never be like Alabama or North Carolina in terms of space, but it will look better than it looked this year. Fingers crossed.

11:05

Jim: If he is, the South Bend Tribune may have to find a new beat writer to cover this program. I kid, I kid, but man, last year was really rough. I go back to a Q and A that Shrewsberry did outside the bookstore the afternoon before the first home football game, and somebody asked him if his teams would play defense because, hell, the previous coach's teams didn't play defense and this fan got tired of watching Notre Dame win games 85-80. Seriously....

Jim, Yorktown

11:03

Is Shrewsberry committed to playing at a bottom 10% tempo like his past three teams have done?

Thomas Noie

11:03

Mike: Wouldn't that suggestion of having realistic ticket prices to boost the home crowds make too much sense? Especially at Notre Dame, which really just needs to detonate everything about the gameday experience at Purcell Pavilion and just start over. Would love to see the thought bubble over Micah Shrewsberry's head at some of the stuff we saw this year. Like, this is what home games are all about? Make it stop. That the prices decreased after last year is a good sign. Home games with Virginia and Duke this year (always premium draws) are replaced next year with Louisville and North Carolina (which brings out a lot of fans). Next year's home slate isn't easy on the eyes. Hopefully someone somewhere in the athletic department realizes something's got to change. Soon.

Mike C

10:59

Tom -- season ticket renewals went out yesterday, the earliest I've received mine in the 30 years I've had tickets. Our tickets also went down in price. Is there a movement in the athletic department to price tickets more realistically to try and boost the home crowds?

Thomas Noie

10:53

Show me. Don't just be involved with said difference maker or get him to campus for a visit. Get him on campus and get a commitment from him right then and there. Don't let him go see one or two more schools. I'm all in on Shrewsberry. It's going to happen. Watch.

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