JotCast | Notre Dame men's basketball chat - February 2024

Notre Dame men's basketball chat - February 2024

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Mickey, NYC

1:23

I agree. I think this team is finding something over the past few weeks. It seems that they have grown into a group that understands that if you keep playing hard, trying to execute then good things will happen (even if a miracle comeback falls short). Know you may not have a view from Shrews yet on last night but SYR and 1st half last night…the defense gave up more points than usual. Any concern there? And given that Wake beat Duke…ND beat Wake…

Thomas Noie

1:23

John: Notre Dame has been involved with the likes of Azavier Robinson, Jalen Haralson, Christian Gurdak, Malachi Moreno, Braylon Mullins and Trent Sisley for 2025. Micah Shrewsberry has been right there where Mike Brey was during his time - in on the right guys. Now can he do what Brey rarely did, and sign them?

John from Naperville

1:21

Tom- any idea on recruiting for 2025 class? Saw Gurdak was planning to visit and even got some eye emojiis from you on twitter. I know comparing roster construction to past, with the Portal, would be like comparing apples to Watermelon. Glad you are fully on board the Shrewsberry train. Guy is going to win big at ND, just hope IU gets the right guy the next time their search opens or we might be looking in a few years time.

Thomas Noie

1:20

Wade: Let mde...say...this...a...little...slower....so...you...get...it....Ah, forget it. Nobody said ANYTHING about that team having what it took to make a deep run. What was said was that the juice/excitement around that season was high AFTER Maui and BEFORE Michigan State. Like, whoa, this season might be something. Once Colson's foot started hurting, it was over. I don't get why you don't get that. Thanks for the aches and pains explanation anyway....

Wadelite

1:18

Thanks for the background on Colson, but a foot hurting and breaking a foot are not the same. Aches and pains are common for these guys and they play through them. A diagnosis of a broken foot you stop playing immediately. IMO there just was not enough on that team beyond Bonzie and Farrell to make a deep run.

Thomas Noie

1:11

Wayne: Great question with only one obvious answer. It's Markus Burton. In the beginning, he was a freshman point guard who played with the belief that because he played a certain way as a high school senior down the road at Penn, he could play that way as a college freshman at Notre Dame. He looked like a high school kid at times in November and December and January, trying to do stuff that wouldn't work at that level - splitting double teams with a dribble the most obvious. Over the last six weeks, he's become more of a college point guard, one who thinks the game as well as he plays it. Some of the finds he's making now he didn't/couldn't make earlier.

Wayne

1:08

At this point, which player's development has surprised you the most? Seems like nearly everyone has improved, but is there a singular player you would point to? If so, what's been the key?

Thomas Noie

1:08

Wade: Sigh...really? FWIW, Colson played in the game against Georgia Tech. But since you went there, we'll go there. This is from my Q and A with Mike Brey. I've written about it a TON over the years, how Colson's foot issues started with the Michigan State game. Just because it broke later that month doesn't mean it didn't bother him. And that the season effectively ended after the MSU loss. Anyway, here's Brey "We roll into the 2017-18 season and win Maui in dramatic fashion. We're rolling up to Michigan State, the No. 5 team in the country, get our (butts) whooped and (Bonzie Colson's) foot starts bothering him."

Wadelite

1:05

Tom FWIW I went back and found an SI story that states Colson broke his foot in practice on the day before the 12/30 home game with Georgia Tech. The 2 games I referenced were on 12/5 and 12/16. I have never read of any foot issues he had before that 12/29 practice.

Thomas Noie

1:03

Yeah, Notre Dame isn't getting that call on the road. Ever.

Guest

1:03

Tom, I believe Coach Shrews thought Burton was fouled on the 3 pt shot. If you watch the film, the shot is missed and the rebound is tipped out to Copeland (i think) and immediately Shrews exploded on the official. Honestly, looked like a good no call.

Thomas Noie

1:03

Jim: Sounds like a question for The Observer folks, right?

Jim Reagan Charlottesville VA

1:03

Hello Y’all! Tom, on your watch, has The Observer advocated both Admin and the student body to better support Men’s 🏀 ? Also, considering Shrewsberry’s and the Assistants’ coaching stops, I can’t wait to see them dig into the collective playbook next season!

Thomas Noie

1:02

Frank: If Notre Dame is going to be carefully selective in the portal, they have to hit home runs. Or triples. Mason Gillis would be just another guy. And looks it from his point of you. You played for a program that was a No. 1 seed each of the last two NCAA tournaments. You've won Big Ten championships. Where is the incentive to move to a program where finishing .500 would be considered a good year? He's known nothing but success.

Frank from Mishawaka

1:00

If Notre Dame were to dip into the portal, would Shrewsbury possibly bring in somebody he's familiar with? Say Mason Gillis(6'6" 230) of Purdue, or would that just crowd the small forward group?

Thomas Noie

12:36

Rich: Honestly, in the fog of nearly coming back from 29 points down, and nearly getting it to overtime, I missed it. Might have been something I circled back around with Shrewsberry had they won, or had we traveled too Syracuse. So much was going on at that point, it was like, wait, what happened? Never a dull moment around these guys...

Rich in GA

12:35

Tom - What happened in the closing seconds of the Syracuse game that had Coach Shrewsberry so incensed? That was an incredible comeback that came oh so close. Since then, I have wondered what the announcers missed or ignored.

Thomas Noie

12:29

Mickey: That would've been comical to say during the seven-game losing streak. Back then, it was like, ugh, just play it out and end the rest of the regular season. Then the three-game win streak happened. Nearly winning at Syracuse happened. Roaring back from down nine to Wake Forest happened. There's some juice around those guys now. Knowing that they will compete makes you think it might carry into next month. Will it? Don't know, but we should know this - Micah Shrewsberry will make certain the Irish are a team no one wants to deal with in D.C.

Mickey, NYC

12:27

Look at you saying the ND can be dangerous in the ACC Tourney. I’m sure no one is going to throw that back at you if it doesn’t happen. Lol

Thomas Noie

12:27

Justin: Easy. When you're near the basement of the conference, you're handed your SEC/ACC Challenge with no complaints. It's a made-for-TV event, and what TV wants, TV gets. TV doesn't want Notre Dame in a marquee matchup. And as we've seen today, they certainly don't want them in a matchup at near-empty Purcell Pavilion. So you put them on the road and you take it.

Justin, Ft. Wayne

12:25

I believe in your last hoops chat I saw you say that next year ND will be away for the SEC challenge again. Any reasoning as to why that would be?

Thomas Noie

12:25

Wade: You might want to read closer BEFORE you post.

Please? No brakes need to be pumped because when I referenced the 2017-18 season, it was AFTER winning Maui and BEFORE playing at Michigan State. That's when Colson's foot started bothering him. Ball State and Indiana happened as Colson was hurt. The vibe for 2017-18 ended in East Lansing. Everything that happened afterward was the result.

Wadelite

12:24

As evidenced by losing at home to ball state and an awful loss to a mediocre Indiana team. I can still see walk on Zack McRoberts hustling for a missed free throw while Bonzie stood like a statue. This was all before Bonzie got hurt.

12:23

IMO the brakes should be pumped on how good the 17-18 team was. They were very flawed as evidenced by

Thomas Noie

12:22

Jim: I get that it's fun, but it's also so unrealistic. None of the three had the buy-in to stay. Cormac Ryan wanted something else in his final year of college. I don't know if he would've had the patience to pull the young guys along. Remember, he had a chance to do that last year with Starling and Lubin and we know how that went. Starling was in a different head space for myriad reasons. Everyone wants to point to what it might be like to have had Lubin, but he was such an unknown. He was always hurt. Of the three, he was the only one who waited until Shrewsberry was hired to leave, and he still left. There's your answer on him. When the exodus arrived last spring, I was on record as saying EVERYONE off that team should leave. Make this a clean break. No Mike Brey baggage remaining. Start completely over. They made the right choice to leave. Shrewsberry made the right choice to start nearly from scratch. Everyone's better off.

Jim Tal, Valley Center CA.

12:18

Tom, I'd like to throw a what-if scenario at you. How much different would this season have looked if any or all of the following - Starling, C. Ryan or Lubin - had stuck around? It's kind of fun to speculate on just what might have happened.

Thomas Noie

12:13

Wade: Honestly, I don't, because all three currently remain in the developmental stage of their college careers. You want to develop a guy at Notre Dame, the best way to do that is to get someone whose game you can grow. Like Garrett Sundra. If Notre Dame is to use the portal wisely, it needs more guys who are closer to being finished product. Plug and play guys. Booker and Power and Estrella might be splash transfers, but it also keeps the Irish, in some ways, where they are now.

Wadelite

12:11

Tom, there's 3 highly rated 2023 freshman that the former staff was recruiting that have done next to nothing this season : Booker, TJ Power and JP Estrella. Do you see Shrews going after them or do you believe he opts primarily for grad transfer? I'm quite sure former Virginia big man Shedrick has another season of eligibility left. His PT has diminished at Texas. Could he be an option considering he's familiar with AC Getter?

Thomas Noie

12:10

Everything in that what you believe Notre Dame needs is what you get from a front-line/starting/main guard. You're getting that now from Markus Burton. You'll get that from Sir Mohammed. Logan Imes doesn't need to be anywhere close to those two. That's not his role. We see what Imes has done, or maybe hasn't done, as a true freshman and decide, yeah, he's not the guy. He's not THE guy, but he can be A guy. A change of pace point guard who can move the ball and get it to where it needs to go, someone who doesn't have to score? Wait until this roster is to a place where he just has to fit in. He's exposed a bit this year because of the lack of scorers. With what Notre Dame wants to be, Imes is a keeper. Trust me.

Guest

12:08

Tom, Disagree on Imes. With no interior scoring threat, that leaves perimeter ball movement, and personnel movement. And while I'll give you that Year 2 of Coach Shrews will feature an improved version of those, Imes shows little to no ability to beat a defender off the bounce. He is a caretaker at best. I would also add that teams have shown that full court pressure can present issues for ND. In that case, Imes may play WITH Burton, but certainly not instead of Burton. What am I missing about Imes?

Thomas Noie

12:07

Slo...slow-playing Burton. Well played.

Guest

12:07

Tom, With all of the accolades offered up for Burton, wasn't it Solomon who slow played his scholarship? I seem to remember Brey wanting to offer, but Slo kept saying "Hold on." Looks like an air ball.

Thomas Noie

12:07

Mike: Get recruiting coordinator Brian Snow on the horn. Now!

San Diego Mike

12:06

We need a scoring big and I have the perfect fit.. enter Robbie Avila. The kid screams ND basketball big

Thomas Noie

12:06

Wade: Too early to tell. We're still a year (2025-26) away from that. What's he going to look like? What's the roster going to look like? Remember, this is JRK's first real year of college basketball. There's still so much more for him to do and to show. Maybe that happens here, maybe it doesn't. Let's see how it plays out.

Wadelite

12:05

Tom, do you believe JR will utilize his 5th year at ND? I do not, I see him transferring down. I also believe they need to find a big man upgrade in the portal. Kebba is a solid defender, but when I saw him stuffed point blank at the rim by a guy who washed out at 2 other schools that confirmed again we are fooling ourselves he can ever be a reliable inside scoring threat. IMO ND will have enough guards next year.

Thomas Noie

12:05

Then at Syracuse when they're down 29. Notre Dame had every reason to collectively throw up its hands and say, yep, not tonight. What else you want from us? We've won three straight. We've got two straight home games coming. We're good. Then the comeback to nearly top all comebacks. In December, that 29-point deficit would've stayed at 29. On Tuesday, the Irish were down nine in the second half to Wake Forest. It didn't feel like nine. In December, it would've felt like 19. You just figured Notre Dame had a run coming. A run came. They're doing stuff now they weren't capable of doing in November and December and January. To the point where you don't want to play this team in DC.

12:03

Mickey: Each of the last three games have told us plenty about the growth of this team. Last week at Louisville, when the Cardinals looked like they could chew gum and dribble and shoot all at the same time. Irish were up 14 and rolling, but the Cardinals cut the lead to eight. What fans that were in the stands at Yum! Center got a little frisky. Markus Burton said afterward that it seemed like some of the Irish were playing scared. Micah Shrewsberry burned a timeout to settle everything. Think i tweeted that the next four minutes would tell us a ton about this team, about that game. Back from the timeout, Braeden Shrewsberry bangs down a pair of 3s, part of a 16-2 run. Game over.

Mickey, NYC

12:00

i think this team has surpassed the expectations of most and while there are still some maddening moments (ball just swinging around 25 feet from the basket) it is clear that the “process” is taking hold.
I asked in December which games would tell us the most. Now I’d like to hear your thoughts on what have we learned about this group over the last 6 games that speaks to the growth of the team (other than Burton)?

Thomas Noie

11:55

From your mouth to the athletic department's ears. Second bit of business for Pete Bevacqua, behind maxing out football to be as college football playoff worthy as possible, is get men's basketball support of life support.

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