JotCast | Notre Dame basketball chat - January 2025

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Tom Noie

10:03

Patrick: Great point. I think the Irish are reluctant to shoot it if they have a chance to shoot it based on one box score from this season - the Syracuse game on January 18 may have forever scarred these guys. What happened other than blowing the 17-point lead that day? Notre Dame finished with three assists. Three. That's hard to do, but the Irish made it look relatively easy. So now, after that bye week when it was hammered home that the ball's gotta move more, what's happened? Everyone is looking to make the extra pass. Turn down a good shot for a great shot. They had 17 assists at Virginia and only 10 against Georgia Tech.

Patrick Nolan

9:59

Tom, what is going on with the reluctance of players to shoot the ball? It was maddening how many times they'd kick the ball to someone who was even less open rather than shooting themselves...both inside and outside the three point line. Kebba Njie is 6-for-12 on the year from three, which is more than enough justification for him to let it fly when the defense gives it to him, regardless of where we're at in the shot clock. Matt Allocco was brought in here for shooting and seems reluctant to put the ball up unless 1) he's extremely open or 2) he's under clock pressure. Roper is reluctant to shoot because he's bad at it, but he's gotta take those shots or get off the floor. Burton must feel like he has to do *everything* in games like last night. Why is everyone else (except Braeden) so tentative?

Tom Noie

9:58

Mike: "Big-game hunting" for frontcourt help, huh? I'll dust off an oldie but a goodie when it comes to the topic of elite players/transfers and Notre Dame which holds up in today's portal age. You're an elite or fringe elite big, which means you have skills and likely a possible chance at the NBA. Which means you are a coveted asset by every major program in the country. Why would you bypass the chance to play at a Duke or a Kansas or a UCLA or Alabama or Arizona and play at Notre Dame? What does going to Notre Dame give you that the other schools don't? I don't see "big-game hunting" for frontcourt depth as a viable option. Not yesterday. Not today. Not tomorrow.

Mike, New Jersey

9:55

Tom, always appreciate you doing this …. Besides retaining Burton and Davis next season, I think the biggest off-season priority will be upgrading the front court , is Shrewsberry ready to step up and go big game hunting in the portal ? There’s a lot of promise with the upcoming class coming in, but I think you still need to go all in on one front court portal target

Tom Noie

9:54

Andrew: Are we sure we're not holding Braeden Shrewsberry to a different/demanding standard based on his last name (see the irony in you not using it in your post?) Shrewsberry is averaging career bests this season for points (14.8), rebounds (2.6), assists (33 total), minutes (34.5) and field goal percentage (.436). He shot .371 percent from 3 last year and is at .367. He's made 20 more 3s than the next Irish. He shot .824 percent from the foul line last year and is at .824 this year. Funny, but I want him to shoot it more like a hot potato, especially from 3. Don't like all the head fakes and the pump fakes and refusing to shoot in favor of a dribble drive/floater. Shooters shoot (you know that). He's got to shoot more. Think he's too wrapped up in, do I shoot the three? Drive it? Floater? Midrange?

Andrew, Plymouth

9:48

I thought we'd seen some growth from Braeden at the beginning of the year as more than a 3-pt shooter. He can get to the basket and has a nice floater, but it's completely unacceptable to play 35 mins and put up 0's in every category except points. What are the expectations of him going forward, is he out there to continue just shooting it like it's a hot potato or can he offer more to the team than just shooting?

Tom Noie

9:45

What are/were your expectations for Kebba Njie and Nikita Konstantynovskyi this season that makes it "very disappointing." Both are limited bigs (at best). Njie is on the roster more to preach the Gospel of Shrewsberry and offer a defensive/vocal presence. Shrewsberry said it the other night that Njie spoke up loudest in the most important huddle late in the second half and his teammates responded. Konstantnovskyi has played JUCO in Oklahoma, at Tulsa and at Monmouth. Did you think he was going to step into the ACC and be this dominant presence? Think you need to dial down your expectation of exactly what these bigs can offer.

Guest

9:42

Let’s be honest. The big men are not very good. They’re poor ball handlers. They don’t seem like they have a presence on the floor. There does not seem to be any leadership on this team. It’s a very disappointing season.

Tom Noie

9:40

Reason No. 3,567 why attendance stinks.

NotreDameIsABasketballSchool

9:40

We haven't had ANY halftime entertainment in 2 years... We don't need Red Panda every night but can get some Dogs Chasing Freesbies or something?!?!?

Tom Noie

9:39

George: For the second straight season, there will be no Ring of Honor inductee. The next selection should come from a group that includes John Paxson, Pat Garrity and Chris Thomas, maybe in that order.

George

9:37

Who’s your ring of honor inductee this year?

Tom Noie

9:37

Brady: Did a quick, like seconds flat, look at the remaining schedule for Notre Dame - 11 Atlantic Coast Conference games. Have Notre Dame going 7-4 the rest of the way, which would mean a 17-14 overall finish and 11-9 in league play. That's not nothing. After last season, that's progress, right?

Brady

9:36

What’s your regular season record prediction for this years season?

Tom Noie

9:35

Dan: That would be Nate Ament, a 6-foot-8, 185-pound power forward from Warrenton, Virginia and the No. 4 prospect in the Class of 2025 who has officially visited Notre Dame. Ament has Notre Dame among his 11 finalists. Confidence is high around the Irish program that Notre Dame is at least in Ament's top three. The Irish will be right there at the end. Ament may commit in February or March. Stay tuned.

Dan

9:32

Nate Ament odds?

Tom Noie

9:29

Mike: Do looking longer at Garrett Sundra and Cole Certa give Notre Dame a better chance to win? You don't ever want to sacrifice winning for the sake of seeing what Player A, B or C might do in a given situation. There might be a given segment or moment where Sundra or Certa may be an option, but the rotation is the rotation at this point. They're not in it. That's not a knock on who they might be in two, three seasons, only for this season.

Mike from Rochester NY

9:26

If ND is going to win with an old school developmental model, then the younger players will need to take a major step forward next year. Do you expect to see more playing time for Sundra and Certa down the stretch?

Tom Noie

9:26

Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. In many seasons, the NIT would be the worst possible postseason option, especially for a program that has gone to the NAA Tournament for a stretch of seasons. For this program, for this season, getting to the NIT would be seen as a logical next step off last season's 13-20 season. Notre Dame should be all in for the NIT.

Guest

9:24

Can this team get to the NIT and some tournament experience? NCAA Tourney probably out of the question this year.

Tom Noie

9:24

Mike: Not a chance. Look at where the three graduate transfer/portal additions came from this season - Lehigh (Burke Chebuhar), Monmouth (Nikita Konstantovskyi) and Princeton (Matt Allocco). That's no accident. If there was any year where Notre Dame needed to go deep and go big in the portal it was last season. Notre Dame didn't do it then, and it's not expected Notre Dame does it now. Not with the returning players on the roster and not with the incoming class. The message from on high is clear - the portal is not an option. Find another way.

Mike from Rochester NY

9:21

Will Shrewsberry be able to aim a little higher with portal recruiting this offseason? Landing the 4th or 5th best player on a low major conference team does not seem good enough for ND to make the NCAAs next year.

Tom Noie

9:21

The expectation for both would be to explore their NBA draft options. Declare for the draft. Maybe get to the Combine in Chicago in May where they can be evaluated and receive feedback from the NBA. I don't expect them to hear that they're NBA ready. Hear what they need to hear to better their games and return to college, where they could play more (and maybe make more) than they would chasing an NBA dream that isn't reality yet.

Swingfixer

9:19

What’s your gut say about the chance Marcus or Tae enter the draft next year?
I enjoy your work.

Tom Noie

9:19

Welcome to the Cole Certa chat. Lots of questions about the freshman guard who is basically the last scholarship player in the rotation who spends most of his time near the end of the bench. The easiest answer, and the most obvious, is to look at the depth chart. He's the fifth guard in a rotation of four. If you play Certa, who do you sit? Give him five minutes here or five minutes there, but where do the minutes come from? Cole Certa may eventually develop into one of the best knockdown shooters in program history (which would be saying something), but his game's nowhere near the point where you say, yeah, he needs to be on the floor. That's not to say we won't say that next year or the year after, but for now, for this season, on this team, it's hard to get to Cole Certa.

Dan

9:16

Wondering what is going on with Cole Certa? He is the 2nd highest ranked recruit on the team, but is getting little to no playing time.

Tom Noie

9:16

Chris: You never want to flush a guy and his potential to be a consistent contributor, especially with 11 games left in the regular season, but it's hard to see a path for J.R. Koniecnzy that doesn't include being a bit player here and there. He's played fewer than 10 minutes in five of the last seven games. He's averaging 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.7 minutes. He's shooting .421 percent from the field and .343 percent from 3. Sure, give him a ton of credit because he hustles and seems to work hard, but at that level, you need to have that one skill to set you apart from everyone else. What is it with JRK? That's not a knock, it's a serious question. What does he bring, what can he do, that keeps him on the floor?

Chris - Columbus, Ohio

9:12

JR Konieczny has gone from a regular rotational player to an afterthought in Micah Shrewsberry’s use of personnel. He seems to be a guy who is willing to dig in, play some D, grab a rebound and sometimes contribute points. Is his career at ND effectively over?

Tom Noie

9:12

Apples to oranges. It's the same sport, but not even on the same planet. Notre Dame women's basketball was built by a Hall of Fame coach and came along at the right time in the right place. Everything fell into place to the point where it became one of the sport's bluebloods. That's women's basketball. It's over there. Men's basketball is over here. The sport's bluebloods are UCONN and Kansas and Duke and North Carolina. Do you seriously think Notre Dame could stand on THAT level? That would take a commitment far greater than anyone associated with the program was ever willing to make. Look at how long the men's program remained independent. It lost an entire decade because of it. Apples to oranges.

Guest

9:09

Why is Notre Dame's men's basketball never been on the same level as the women's team?

Tom Noie

9:09

Alex: It's a valid concern for any player in any collegiate sport. We saw it this past football season with Jeremiyah Love. The concern as soon as the season was winding down wasn't, oh, won't it be great to have J-Love back for a third year so he can make a possible run toward a Heisman Trophy. It was, oh, I hope he doesn't leave. This season cannot fall off the rails not because of the future of Markus Burton and Tae Davis, but the future of Micah Shrewsberry. Notre Dame is positioned to make a move over the final month. It's important for Shrewsberry to make that move, to show what this program can be.

Alex

9:06

Ok let me try this again, my apologies for sending incomplete submissions. I wanted to ask you: Is it premature of me in that the only reason I am hoping this thing doesn't completely fall of the rails this season is so Burton and Davis remain bought into the vision and don't jump ship next season for a more lucrative opportunity? Or, with the current state of college athletics, is that a valid concern to have no matter the outcome this season? Specifically pertaining to these two.

Tom Noie

9:04

Dennis: Right now, it's hard to see anybody transferring. Seriously. I know it's the way of the college basketball world, but Micah Shrewsberry has been very deliberate in who he recruits and how he recruits to make sure he gets guys who are bought into the whole Notre Dame experience and not just chasing an NIL paycheck and/or playing time. Now, that said, somebody might leave because it's the way of the college athletics world - everybody leaves. J.R. Konieczny has one more year after this one. Does he feel he can max out his college experience at Notre Dame, or maybe decide it's time to go elsewhere to do that? TBD.

Dennis Huyvaert

9:02

Hi Tom , with the talented recruits coming in next year , who do you see transferring from this year’s team ? Thanks for your great work .

Tom Noie

9:02

Pat: Honestly, the baseline at the least for this program this season should be 10-10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. My projected league record was 11-9/12-8 depending on the rhythm of the schedule (and no key injuries until the one key guy was injured). If 10-10/11-9/12-8 gets this team an NIT bid, that would be a successful season given where the Irish were last season. An NIT berth would show growth, would show progress and would show potential to take another leap next season. Year Two was never going to be a guaranteed run back to the NCAA tournament. That was too big of a jump. Small steps, consistent steps, confident steps will get this program to where it has to be.

Pat H., Springfield Ill

8:59

Is a conference record of 10-10, even 12-8 feasible? Does a winning record get ND an NIT bid? Keep up your great work

Tom Noie

8:59

TC: Incomplete on all fronts. Touched on it a little bit with the Cole Certa question, but Sir Mohammed suffering the knee injury really torpedoed his first season. It would've been fascinating to see what the Irish (and what Mohammed) might have been when Markus Burton suffered his knee injury. Would a healthy Mohammed have fit in? Flourished? That he was hurt at the same time as Burton really made everything difficult. Garrett Sundra has shown flashes, but with Kebba Njie and Nikita Konstantynovskyi gobbling up most of the minutes in the front court, Sundra was not expected to offer much (and even considered the five-year plan). Certa hasn't been an option since the exhibition in Fort Wayne. You got the idea that night that when he was the last in off the bench that he wasn't going to have much of a role. Think it's safe to say that next year's freshman class will be expected to offer more from the start. This class was more of a long-game/developmental group. Next year's can't be.

TC69

8:55

What do you see of this year's freshman class?

Tom Noie

8:55

Who's that?

Dollar Tree Clerk

8:55

Is John Brice really the best sports writer in the universe?

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