JotCast | Notre Dame hoops fall chat

Notre Dame hoops fall chat

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Thomas Noie

12:26

My first inclination is to take Torin for his steadiness and knowing that he'll be there every night. But there's still more in Durham that we haven't seen, something this staff should be able to tap into and ride this season. Francis maxed out his abilities as a senior. Durham has a few more steps to go to do that. Maybe this is the year we see it. Maybe.

12:24

Walter: Whoa....that came out of nowhere....like one of those brain teasers the teacher throws in to throw you for a loop. This took some thought. Francis started all 30 games his senior season. He averaged 11.6 points and 9.4 rebounds in 29.9 minutes. He shot 50.4 percent from the field and 67.3 percent from the line. It was about the best he could do after many wondered if he'd ever be effective after back surgery earlier in his career. Juwan Durham's college averages heading into his final year are 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game. He's shot 56.8 percent from the field and 69.5 percent from the foul line. So....

Walter from Indy

12:22

Senior year Torin Francis or Juwan Durham...who do you take for this year's squad?

Thomas Noie

12:19

Keep reading! And chatting! And believing....

John

12:19

Thanks Tom. You are a great man, and I always love your hoops talk. Keep up the amazing work!

Thomas Noie

12:07

John: Let's first see this core play well and have success, then get to the NCAA tournament where we see, OK, there's something there. Even that team that went to the Elite Eight in 2015 came from nowhere. Those are the best type of teams to cover, when that rocket just kind of takes off and you hang on for the ride to who-knows-where. Would hope to do that again.

John

12:06

Thanks Tom. I absolutely love this junior class. I think they could be one of the best classes in school history, and depending on the incoming freshmen next year, might have a shot at the final four. Just an opinion, but do you think this as well?

Thomas Noie

12:06

Joe: It was going to be really hard for Robby Carmody to earn a role unless he absolutely crushed it in workouts and preseason, just because the unknown was always going to be there. Now? Who cares if he ever plays meaningful minutes. Just to be able to practice and stay healthy for a season or two would be a big deal. Now, if you're Mike Brey, probably can't count on him. It's tough.

Joe from the south side

12:04

Tom. Now you are a rock star on 2 continents. BTW, I was born and raised near Pittsburgh. Has there been a more star crossed career than Carmody’s? I hope one of the brothers’ athletic careers pans out. Would love to see Robby contribute to the program. Like Cormac he plays with a little swagger. At least he did.

Thomas Noie

12:01

John: Well, if the ACC coaches were in charge of the bracket, I'd say pretty good. Kidding aside, there's no reason to think Notre Dame shouldn't be tournament worthy after going from three league wins to 10 league wins. So go win 11 or 12 or more and get back with this junior core that wants to take this chance and run with it. Here it is. Go do it.

John

11:57

Hey Tom, what do you think our chances of making the tourney are this year?

Thomas Noie

11:55

Joe: Glad you were able to connect...and you're not the first person in Europe to have issues with NDInsider. Wish we had a better answer for you. Anything you need catching up on, drop me a note at tnoie@sbtinfo.com and I can email back the hard copy. For a fee of course (just kidding)!

Joe from the south side

11:54

Tom. Thanks for all of the chats. It makes me feel connected to fighting Irish basketball and the good old US and A (per Borat). And a special thanks for the link in Twitter. For the record the ND insider site is not available in Europe at all. So your link is my only link.

Thomas Noie

11:46

Coach: All is well in this crazy pandemic world. The first official day of practice for college basketball is Oct. 14. The first official day for games is Nov. 25 (Thanksgiving Eve). Notre Dame was scheduled to open at home against Army on Veteran's Day. Not sure how the schedule's going to look once it get finalized. Might be league games only. Might have a few non-conference games in there. It will look completely different than the original.

Coach Calabria from Reading

11:44

Tom. You might have already covered it but what are the first practice date and first game dates for hoops? Thanks a lot. Hope you are well

Thomas Noie

11:44

Jeff: Thanks my man.....keep reading and keep in touch as hoops moves forward!

Jeff

11:43

A PS to my earlier suggestion. I could see what I proposed playing out over a period of 2 weeks or so when students are on break, which this year means any time from November 21-February 2, but I agree that it's ACC first and then non-conference games. Thanks for these chats. You and the SBT/NDI staff rock!

Thomas Noie

11:43

Mike: All with interest in Notre Dame and some degree of mutual....but we've been down that road before....lol

Mike from Pittsford, NY

11:43

Thanks Tom. One more: I know it's tough to speculate with recruiting, but any thoughts on Fletcher Loyer, Isaac Traudt and even Ryan Mabrey (who, to my knowledge, has not been offered)?

Thomas Noie

11:42

Joe: Martin Geben and Steve Vasturia are playing together in Zalgiris (Lithuania). Demetrius Jackson is an hour away playing for Rytas. Bonzie Colson is in France playing for Strousburg.

Joe from the south side

11:41

Tom. I believe Geben and Steve v are teammates in Lithuania. I believe DJ is also in Lithuania but on a different squad. Sad because he has nba talent in some areas. Rex I thought went to England because his mother has roots there. Can u confirm the above?

Thomas Noie

11:29

Joe: You're now Joe from Europe.....lol. You could be our European correspondent for ND hoops alumns playing overseas. Get me something on Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia and native son Martin Geben playing in Lithuania. Check in on Rex Pflueger in England! Pay's not great, but you can get your ND hoops fix! lol

Joe from the south side

11:28

Tom. Not on vacation. I live here. Too afraid of the government response if the pandemic spikes again. And I can look at prospects over here as brey has no interest in it. Might find the next Marty Geben!

Thomas Noie

11:28

Jeff: Good stuff. Any idea of how we could possibly see some hoops this season is a good one. The bubble option? Hmmmm....but again, Notre Dame probably (OK, likely) is waiting to hear what the plan is for the ACC before committing to anything bubble-oriented. Getting quality competition is important, but making sure you get all 20 league games overrides pretty much everything. Still, that comes with a caveat. What do you think the reaction would be if Mike Brey went to Father Jenkins and said that he and Niele Ivey were taking their teams to a bubble for six weeks of hoops? That's probably not an option.

Jeff

11:25

Tom, thanks for your good work in keeping us all up to speed on NDMBB. I'm curious what your thoughts would be on a state of Indiana bubble of sorts for non-conference games. Indianapolis has a lot of facilities, and the state has a good mix of major schools (IU, ND, Purdue, Butler) and mid-majors (Ball St, Valpo, IPFW, IUPUI, Evansville, Indiana St). All involved could play a handful of games against teams not in their conferences (maybe 2 games against majors and 3 against mid-majors) while not going more than 2-3 hours from home. There are probably a lot of logistical and contractual things to work out, but on the surface this type of bubble would seem to reduce costs to athletic departments and increase the odds of keeping players safe while also giving them good competition.

Thomas Noie

11:24

Joe: Thus, the ACC coaches' reasoning that everybody gets in the NCAA tournament. If they can pull this season off, you're going to see some wacky (stuff). Maybe Notre Dame can win at Duke. Maybe they lose at home to the last-place team. No one knows what the season will look like, but it will be strange. On so many levels.

Joe from the south side

11:23

Tom. If there is a bbl season shouldn’t the pandemic level the playing field in the ACC? No home court advantage, Coach K can’t make all those freshmen harmonize in a few weeks can he?, and brey essentially returns four starters and a top 60 recruit as his base 5?

Thomas Noie

11:23

Mike: Mike Brey's contract runs through the 2024-25 season. He has every intention of finishing out that deal and then maybe even coaching further - either here or elsewhere. I'd be surprised if Jack Swarbrick still was AD when Brey's contract expires. He just might feel it's time to go do something else and somewhere else.

Mike from Pittsford, NY

11:21

Any idea on how long Brey might want to stick around and whether Swarbrick will be at ND to replace Brey and Kelly?

Thomas Noie

11:21

Joe: Man, you salty on vaca! LOL. But you're right. Aren't you tired of the whole "DeMatha connection" storyline? Like, when has that really paid off other than getting Jerian? Here's a hint - it hasn't. And don't get hung up on the LaLu thing. Guys go to LaLu with the hope their profile blows up to the point where they're one-and-done guys (see Stewart, Isaiah). Again, hate to keep circling back to the same storyline, but Notre Dame guys are different. Few fit. Too many don't.

Joe from the south side

11:19

Tom. With last year’s yawner of a recruiting class, brey really needed to step up. What do you say when you can’t recruit kids from your own high school Dematha), can’t recruit kids from a catholic basketball factory under your nose who is coached by an alum (La Lu and Isaiah Stewart not to mention Coleman lands), and can’t recruit kids whose old man went to Notre Dame (DaRon holmes

Thomas Noie

11:19

Joey: I don't know if everything's under wraps as much as it is under consideration. Given the lack of overall depth and other factors (can Djogo deliver? Can Carmody stay healthy?) Mike Brey's kept every option open. Official practices don't start until mid-October. But the feeling is Elijah Taylor and Matt Zona up front and Tony Sanders in the backcourt all are going to get a look. Think the focus the last few weeks has been getting on the court just to get on it and get moving, then get the schedule figured out. What's that look like? That's maybe more important than the rotation in late September.

Joey

11:15

Obviously you haven’t been able to get in the building and the team just got into 5 on 5, but have you been able to hear anything regarding the freshmen competing for the last 1 or two rotation spots or is everything still under wraps? Seems like one of them could have played into a rotation spot by now even though they’ve only been 5 on 5 for a few weeks.

Thomas Noie

11:14

Walter: LOLOL...and for the record, it's 10-10 baby! Rex and T.J....good guys, but in terms of basketball players, both hit their ceilings way too early in their careers. That's just the way it is. Or was. Both were hard to cover last year because they were only going to do so much. Time to move forward. For all involved.

Walter from Indy

11:12

oh no brey-isms are seeping into my subconscious. next thing you know I'll be telling people I shot 9-9 on the golf course. all due respect to Rex and TJ, sincerely, but can you identify one thing (on the court) this team will miss from their absence? I thoroughly like both guys, but I'm excited to see the a new look backcourt

Thomas Noie

11:12

Q: An offseason like no other has been pretty much status quo in terms of Mike Brey and the media. No hiding (except on the RA issue). I've done stuff with him (mainly about his former guys). One reason we haven't dived too deeply into his perspective on this team is I don't know how much he really knows about this group. Every time I see a photo on social media from practice, all the guys are wearing masks. How much can he really glean from socially-distanced workouts? Strange days indeed.

Q93 from Chicago

11:09

How much have you spoken/interacted with Brey this offseason? Has he gone into hiding (I haven't seen many quotes from him)? More or less than normal? It sure would be nice to hear his perspective on the team.

Thomas Noie

11:09

Joe: Solid effort from across the Atlantic. I did have to slightly edit your question (for obvious reasons). Fair points, but I just can't speculate about what happened with Ryan Ayers. The information provided by Notre Dame didn't say much, but in other ways, it said a lot. Safe travels!

Joe from the south side

11:07

Tom. Participating from Europe. My thoughts on Ayers. You don’t quit a job at your alma mater in the middle of a pandemic. Especially with no job to go to. Who is hiring assistant coaches right now? Nobody. So assume he was fired. If there is no police record it could be a violation of school policy. I welcome your speculation as information on Notre Dame basketball is in short supply round here.

Thomas Noie

11:07

Ollie: Maybe blind faith? That being a five-year guy he's ready to be better than 30.4 percent from the floor and 23.8 percent from 3. I have zero issues with Nik Djogo personally. He's a good dude. A good locker room guy. A good teammate. He cares. But at this level, and he'll be the first to admit it, he's got to deliver something more than what he's delivered his previous four years. And it's not like he hasn't had chances. Maybe this is the year everything just clicks for him. It'd be a great story.

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