JotCast | Notre Dame basketball February 2025 chat

Notre Dame basketball February 2025 chat

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Tom Noie

12:12

IF: Five regular season games remain - Pittsburgh, at Clemson, at Wake Forest, Stanford and Cal. In a perfect world where Purcell Pavilion is a death trap to visiting teams, you'd say Notre Dame should win games against Pittsburgh, Stanford and Cal. OKI, let's just say Pittsburgh and Cal. That would give this program a 7-13 record in the ACC - just like last year. It's a hard sell to say that Notre Dame will win at Clemson and at Wake Forest.

Illinois Fool

12:10

ND is in a precarious spot in the ACC standings and could easily miss the conference tourney. Tough schedule remaining, what games could/should the Irish win?

Tom Noie

12:10

None.

Mike from Rochester NY

12:09

Has Pete Bevacqua offered any clues regarding his standard and expectations for the basketball program?

Tom Noie

12:09

Markus Burton wasn't good against SMU. He's reached a point in his career where you can't not be good every night out. Comes with the territory.

Bossman from Boston

12:09

1st time participate. Watching last night's game, I wondered if Burton was one of those players that Shrewsbury thought lacked energy. Seemed to me Burton sat on the bench more than normal and when reentered the game he played a different style of game. More about passer the ball around than trying to score.

Tom Noie

12:09

IF: They cancel the last five games and everyone reconvenes in October? Kidding, of course, but when Micah Shrewsberry says "this ain't gonna happen again" can we say for sure that it won't? I'm not confident that there won't be another Louisville or SMU moment the rest of the way.

Illinois Fool

12:08

It amazes me that this late in the season that this team has no identity, lost on both ends of the court. What could possibly happen in the remainder of the season to give us hope for the future?

Tom Noie

12:07

Pete: Based on the previous two Atlantic Coast Conference games against SMU and Louisville, that would be true. But eliminate those and Notre Dame competed enough to the point where it could have been and really should have been 11-2 in the league. Seriously. There were six games in there - North Carolina, North Carolina State, Syracuse, Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech - where Notre Dame competed well enough to win, only to be done in by a lack of something with the head coach. Was this an elite ACC team this season? Not a chance. Was this a team that shouldn't be 5-10 in the ACC? Absolutely.

Pete from Berrien Springs

12:04

IMHO, I think it comes down to not enough talent and athleticism to compete in the ACC. The limitations of last year's squad are still present, with the exception of Tae Davis improvement. What made us think an Ivy League guy and 2 other unknowns would really help is be more competitive in the ACC? The 3 freshman are still freshman.

Tom Noie

11:49

Robert: They sure do. You're not getting this kid or that one or that one. You can get a grad transfer from ... Lehigh!

Robert from Mishawaka.

11:48

The question earlier about Dusty May at Michigan and Kelsey at Louisville. Do they look at how those teams were constructed? Louisville had 15 transfers on the team, maybe a dozen seniors. In saying that, does Notre Dame's admissions tell Shrewsbury who he can go for in the portal. This year's three transfers were all grad transfers.

Tom Noie

11:48

Jim D: None of those previous transfers are walking through that Notre Dame men's basketball door.

Jim D. - Mechanicville, NY

11:48

Unfortunately this hoop season is reminding me of the 2003 and 2007 football seasons. However, if you don’t change with the times you will be left behind. Saying that will ND tweak their approach regarding recruiting and accepting transfers? If not, is there any way out of this moving forward because of how the college landscape has changed so much? ND has had impact transfers in the past with Humphrey, Miller, Ben H., Martin, Atkinson and need more players like that to compete.

Tom Noie

11:47

Sedan: You should try it from this end...

Sean,Greensboro NC

11:47

Tom , long time no speak.Hope all is well with you and your family.I see nothing wrong with admitting this coach is a mistake and move on.If we wait another year, we put the program even further behind.After watching our women beat Duke, it will be hard to find a reason ever to watch the men again this year. My patience is exhausted.

Tom Noie

11:47

One year may certainly happen but throwing the doors open to the transfer portal likely won't. That's been the M.O. since the portal. Notre Dame does not fancy itself a portal destination for men's basketball. Find a way to compete, just don't find your way to the portal. The "need" to give Micah Shrewsberry a third year is more about optics than the recruiting class. What coach comes in when he knows the one that left was basically here barely long enough to unpack? Here's a hint: Zero

Deilus from Fort Mill, SC

11:45

Hey Tom, do you get the sense that Pete Bevacqua is as obsessed with winning in basketball as he is in football? One thing that irks me is the "need" to give Micah another year because of the incoming recruiting class. That worked out well for the 2018 class that was supposed to revitalize Brey's tenure. If Micah does get another year I think he needs to make bigger waves in the transfer portal, Princeton and Monmouth transfers don't excite the fanbase.

Tom Noie

11:44

Not the five-fouls-so-go-use-them kind of player. Never has been.

Todd - Waynesville, NC

11:44

What has happened to Burke Chebugar? He would have been good for five fouls to combat the bully ball from SMU.

Tom Noie

11:44

Greg: It's up to them to flip that to their advantage. They've talked for yearfs now about making the homecourt a tough place to play. They seemingly have no idea how to do that. So we get the Virginia Tech game and the Louisville game and the SMU game...

Greg from Illinois

11:43

I was at the recent Virginia Tech home game - thought the coach spent too much time "chatting" with the officials. I also was very disappointed in the student crowd - what else did they have to do on a Saturday afternoon in South Bend? I think coach should show the team the final three minutes of the recent Georgia Tech home game win - the team played with energy and, dare I say, joy. Finally, I believe there have been more home losses in college basketball this season than ever before. My question - is playing at home too much pressure for this team with a lack of crowd, energy, and groaning from those who are there after a missed shot, turnover, etc.?

Tom Noie

11:43

Bobby: That Notre Dame basketball looks a whole lot different next season in the way it plays, in the roles, in everything.

Bobby from Virginia

11:42

Tom - IF this is to turn around under Shrewsberry, how do you think that story gets written? IMO: 1) Burton learns how to elevate the play of those around him, 2) Davis works in the offseason to turn into a legitimate threat from outside (but the list certainly doesn’t end there).

Tom Noie

11:42

Robert: We media dopes think along those same lines in terms of player availability. We don't have a say in what players are there for post-game (at least they were, unlike Louisville where the excuse was that it was ... already too late in the night). Seniors and leaders should be front and center after every loss. Rarely are they. Markus Burton has been to one postgame - ONE - since his return from injury.

Robert from Mishawaka.

11:40

After watching last night's post game presser you could see a defeated looking Shrewsbury who talked about the level of urgency for those players who might be playing their final games. Why have student athletes being interviewed like Mohammed and his son? Mohammed is just a freshman, have Roper and JR answering those questions.

Tom Noie

11:40

Frank: There is none, which is why Notre Dame is where it is. Paging Ben Hansbrough. Paging Matt Farrell. Or Demetrius Jackson. Heck, give me Prentiss freaking Hubb with this team.

Frank from Michiana

11:39

P[ggy backing off of question from Linas about what's missing from this team. Burton is a scorer, Shrewsbury is a shooter, Davis a somewhat back his player down and score in the paint. Don't you believe that the team needs a floor general? Louisville had an experienced guy in Chucky Hepburn. I don't see that floor general/leader on the floor.

Tom Noie

11:39

Neither are anywhere close to being ready.

Kale Herdman, Mechanicsburg Ohio

11:39

Why has it been so difficult for Certa and Sundra to get quality minutes? I really like what I seen from both of them on both sides of the ball. They have played very well defensively, bring a lot of energy, and are both scoring threats.

Tom Noie

11:39

WIll be fascinating to see, won't it?

Andrew, Plymouth

11:39

Should we read anything into Burton's minutes being down and not starting the second half of the SMU game? It's massively concerning that the team did not show up in the next game after his press conference outburst, too. Combining Burton's "benching" with Shrewsberry also saying that all he needed was five guys and all his timeouts makes me very curious about the roster construction of next year's team and who may or may not be back from this season's roster.

Tom Noie

11:38

Both. For as dynamic as Markus Burton is, when your best scorer is also your only real point guard, it's going to lead to some funky stat lines in terms of assists, turnovers and shot attempts. Nothing about this offense fits the way it's supposed to fit. Start with the Xs and Os.

Andrew, Plymouth

11:37

This team does not share the ball well. While they are not in last place in team assists in the conference like they were last season they aren't much better than last place this year. Is this a function of not having a true point guard or is it the downside of the offense that Shrewsberry wants to run?

Tom Noie

11:37

It's hard to hit a guy who's hurt, but Matt Allocco has had six games this season, and another against SMU, where he's had one field goal or fewer. Notre Dame needed more from that spot. That it hasn't gotten it, and that J.R. Konieczny was bypassed for whatever reason, put even more pressure on the other guys to deliver on the offensive end.

Andrew, Plymouth

11:34

He finally said it in a press conference this last week, that maybe he hasn't prepared this year's team as well as last years on the defensive end. Last year's team was locked in on the defensive end and that helped make up for their offensive shortcomings. Who was expected to contribute at a high level on offense this year that has not? If we're assuming that ND did not need to put as much effort in on defense this year, as they did last season, then that means he was expecting more offensively from this team.

Tom Noie

11:33

Alex: Man, you are on it today my man! I'd caution everyone to take a long walk through the neighborhood if you think Jalen Haralson is enough to cure what currently ails Notre Dame basketball. No doubt he's talented. But in a basketball sense, is he a killer? This program needs a killer. They're not going back to the NCAA Tournament without one.

Alex

11:32

Jalen Haralson seems to be the one and only positive thing remaining in terms of hope for this program next season. But am I wrong in thinking the expectations for him are already too high? Aside from a Cooper Flagg, you don't really see freshman come in and dominate and at the same time have their team in the top 25 (let alone top 5). See Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, they have the numbers and they are fabulous players, yet Rutgers sits at 13-14 on the season. Is Haralson just as good of a prospect as those guys?

Tom Noie

11:31