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

Notre Dame men's basketball chat - February 2024

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Paul - South Bend

11:54

Amen, Tom. The student support is embarrassing. With the decline of the program the last few years and the slow start this year it was always going to be tough on attendance this year (but the 50-year diehards were there last night). We've gone done the road of the University and its criminal lack of support for advancing the program. To be honest, I feel like the school's attitude toward men's basketball has improved (holds fingers close together) this much. But they need to make it really hard for people not to come. Like basically giving away last minute game-day tickets, and making the experience more fan- and kid-friendly. If they can't market the product with two local kids on the roster, then maybe short of 15 wins in a row or a final four it is just not gonna happen.

Thomas Noie

11:54

Michael: Absolutely. it's totally on them. A common refrain for this season I've heard is how the ACC stuck it to Notre Dame's student body by playing so many league games during winter break when the students weren't there. OK, so that's even MORE reason to embrace what few chances they had to see this team and be a factor. That hasn't happened. This is a student body thing. Plain and simple. Quit complaining and do your student body duty.

Michael Harrington

11:52

I agree with your feelings about the turnout relative to the student body. As a former student who never missed a game to me, it's almost unconscionable. Plus this team is fun to watch regardless of how productive they might be on any given night. Marcus Burton alone is worth the price of admission. There are some extremely talented freshmen on this team. I think Davis can be an All-American. I think Burton could end up being the best guard in all of college basketball in another year. It's up to the people to show up!

Thomas Noie

11:51

John: Not as long as ago as you think. How about coming off a school-record 15-5 in the ACC, 24-11 overall and two minutes away from going to the Sweet 16 in 2021-22. Notre Dame was returning its core, bringing in a recruiting class that included McDonald's All-American J.J. Starling and certainly talked a good game that fall. THEY, not us media dopes, talked of how they were lined up to win the ACC outright and go to the first Final Four since 1978. We all know what happened next. Total and utter detonation and destruction. Aside from 2021-22, 2017-18 was full of optimism early after Notre Dame won Maui and climbed to No. 5 in the Associated Press poll. Think about that, they were FIVE! Then Michigan State boat-races them, Bonzie Colson's foot starts to hurt and that season goes off the rails. We've been down the future-is-bright road before. This one, though, should have staying power.

John, TN

11:48

Tom, great stuff. This year's team has been increasingly easy to root for as the season has gone on. This team is unquestionably moving in the right direction and its best days are ahead. Is that the feeling on the team, too? When's the last time we had this sort of future optimism for this team?

Thomas Noie

11:39

They've already got that on the roster. His name is Logan Imes. Watch how his role evolves next year.

Guest

11:38

Tom, I'll add one more to the wish list. Spot on with a reliable big and a wing scorer thru the portal. I would also add backup point guard. Not a scorer at all, only a facilitator. Maybe a grad transfer from the IVY or METRO ATLANTIC. I believe they need to spell Burton more during the regular season, if they have dreams of playing in the post season.

Thomas Noie

11:38

Paul: Wait, what? A backhand to the media, there? Whoa.....

We do have a vote for what it's worth. Burton is my vote for rookie of the year right now. But first team all league? You better be really elite and your team better be good. It's a hard sell to say Burton is top five when his team is bottom five of the league standings. Just the way it works. He'll still be an all-league guy. And for clarification - the PRESS votes for the weekly awards and has voted Burton rookie of the week three times, so yeah, we do know something about what we do....

Paul - South Bend

11:36

I am sure they will find a way to not give Burton ACC Freshman of the Year. But am I nuts to think that he should be ACC First Team (for all players)? Name somebody that has successfully carried the kind of target and burden for his team's performance every game. Are those awards voted by players, coaches or press? If the first two, I like his chances.

Thomas Noie

11:35

Mark: Being the hometown guy who's basically living a dream that nobody saw coming has to be a big one. But bigger than a big bag of money? NIL is very real, and they're going to be coming for Markus Burton. Maybe even coming for Hannah Hidalgo. Watch.

Mark. Chicago

11:34

Given that there will be teams who will throw NIL silly money at Markus, which ND would never attempt to match, can you see Markus staying as long as ND’s counter offer was reasonable. He didn’t jump ship at the beginning of the year when everyone was bailing out. What intangibles motivate him about ND?

Thomas Noie

11:34

Rich: Thanks for the note. Believe it or not, we've been down this road before of trying to figure out how to better get the student body to care about basketball as a whole. Honestly, this one's squarely on them. They have to care, and have to believe that it's important to want to go. If I were to roll out some of the excuses I've been given in the past, your brain might blow up. Notre Dame basketball is about to get serious again. Will the student body follow that lead?

Rich, Phoenixville PA

11:33

(too soon with the enter key). So what gives? Is the sports admin looking at remedies, ways to increase attendance, particularly students? Thanks for your thoughts.

Johnny

11:32

How long will we be able to keep Burton and coach shrews if they keep winning with nothing? I know they’re moth Indiana guys but surely some bigger program will try and come poach them if they can get them

Rich, Phoenixville PA

11:32

Hey Tom, great win last night, I'm really excited about the direction coach MS has the team moving. That being said, I was so disappointed at the size of the "crowd", tip time/weather notwithstanding, particularly how few students were in attendance, from what I could see of the student section.

Thomas Noie

11:31

Talk about a glutton for punishment. Citadel AND Georgetown? What's next? First half of Marquette? Second half of North Carolina State? First half of Syracuse? Of course, ALL of that was needed for Notre Dame to get to where it is now. Waking this morning and seeing Notre Dame in 12th place (ahead of Miami) should be cause for little celebration, but the chatter was real last fall that Notre Dame might go 0-20 in the league. I'd say there are a lot of quietly nervous ACC coaches wanting to steer far, far, far away from Notre Dame in that league tournament bracket. The Irish are going to get somebody. Watch.

Guest

11:29

Tom, As part of my Lenten sacrifice, I periodically focus on unpleasant times, so that I can better appreciate all the wonderful things the Good Lord has given to me. To that end, I have rewatched the Citadel game a few times. At that time, they had also just lost to a GTOWN team that has 2, count 'em, 2 conference wins, both versus DePaul. To this point, the possibility of SEVEN conference wins. Nothing short of miraculous work by Shrews and his staff. In the ACC Tourney, if they would win their first game, they would likely get WAKE, SYR, or CLEM. I wouldn't want to play them in my opening game, and as an NCAA bubble team.

Thomas Noie

11:28

Justin: Can't agree with you more, my man, but two words for you - Tobacco Road. This conference tends to be a little (OK, a whole lot) territorial when it comes to college basketball. And post-season awards. Remember 2015. Jerian Grant should have been player of the year in the ACC. Had that thing locked down. Then it went to Jahlil Okafor. Might happen again, but as I wrote today, Burton has to be the guy. Has to be.

Justin, Ft. Wayne

11:26

I don’t see how anyone wins ACC rookie of the year over Burton. Lots of talk about Jared McCain but Markus Burton has been way more valuable to his team. Only thing McCain has going for him is their record. Where would the Irish be without Burton? Feels like a no brainer to me.

Thomas Noie

11:26

Jim: Agree on all three. Lock Tae Davis in the gym and don't let him out for spring and summer and early fall until he can shoot closer to 40 percent (OK, maybe 30 percent) from 3. Teams don't respect his perimeter shot at all. He's got the drive and finish and defensive pieces. Time to develop something on the perimeter. Carey Booth will get better just by being older. He should still be a high school senior right now. There's so much there, but you can see how Booth doesn't know how to use those tools. With J.R. Konieczny, it's about slowing down at times when he needs to slow down and being productive for an entire game, not just those first-half bursts that we've seen this year. Again, any convo about top performers have, have, have to also include the portal. Maybe there's a guy out there that no one sees coming, like a Ben Hansbrough or a Paul Atkinson. That changes the entire calculus of everything.

Jim Tal, Valley Center CA.

11:23

Hi Tom, I think it's reasonable to assume that moving forward Burton and B. Shrews will be ND's top two performers for the foreseeable future. But for the Irish to really be a force, a consistent and viable third option has to be found. In your opinion, who has the potential to be that guy? Right now, it appears as if either Davis, Booth or J.R. would most likely be the one to fill that role. Your thoughts?

Thomas Noie

11:23

Jason: None, and honestly, just don't see it. Mentioned earlier that with Zona and Sanders and Alex Wade all back next year (unlikely), Notre Dame would be at 14 scholarships - one over the limit. Should Sanders and Zona move on and Alex Wade goes back to walk-on status, that gives Notre Dame 11, which means two spots available. Those two, ideally, would be a veteran big man and and an experienced scorer. At Notre Dame, two is all you need, and maybe all you're going to get. This program will never be Wake-like with seven transfers. Notre Dame believes less is more, which works, as long as you get the right two transfers. Do that, and this roster looks WAAAAY different for 2024-25.

Jason

11:21

Are there any rumblings that any of the rotational 9 will transfer? Going back to a previous question, I’d have to think 1 or 2 will need to move on in order to get some portal talent.

Thomas Noie

11:20

Justin: I'd say more frustrating than disappointing when it comes to Kebba Njie, who is still trying to figure it out on the fly as a post player in the ACC. Might be able to get away with that in the Big Ten. In the ACC, though, you get exposed, and he's been exposed. Honestly, he might be better served as the second big, someone who doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting he's required to do as the main low-post threat. There's some stuff there where you say, OK, maybe...and then there are other times where it looks like he needs another two years of big-man seasoning. Let's remember, though, he was brought in to help preach the message of Micah, not be the next impact big. Give him time. He may get there.

Justin, Ft. Wayne

11:18

What has been your thoughts on Kebba and his play this year? Maybe my expectations for him were to high or safe to say he’s been a little disappointing? Really hoping he develops more of a low post game for his last couple of years.

Thomas Noie

11:18

Mike: I don't know if that's who Sir Mohammed is. He's more a facilitator, someone who's going to get the ball to the right guy at the right time for the right shot. If he has a good shot, he's going to find someone for a great one, then sprinkle in some stuff for himself when warranted. He's really someone who makes everything go. He's different than Markus Burton in that regard. Burton's been more of a scoring guard. Mohammed seems more like a guard's guard. Notre Dame placed so much on Burton's shoulders this season, and credit to the kid, he's more than delivered. I don't know if Micah Shrewsberry wants to do that again with Mohammed. Get a veteran scoring guard/wing from the portal and give Mohammed more options where to move the ball.

San Diego Mike

11:15

Is Sir Mohammed ready to come in as a Freshman and put up double digits points a la Braedon and MB? Would help a lot to have a bigger wing who can score it

Thomas Noie

11:14

Dennis: Agree. This was going to be a process, and a sometimes painful one. It has been. Marquette. The Citadel. But these guys have grown from those tough nights. Less robotic and more free flow where it's not a root canal to get to 70 points. Again, 11-17, 6-11 isn't anything for anybody to beat their chests about, it feels more like 17-11 and 9-8, doesn't it? That's because there's been progress mixed in with the potential.

Dennis Edwardsburg MI

11:12

At he game last night and am very impressed how this group has grown in different areas this year. We look like we have an offence now. At the beginning of season we were robotic. Not there yet but much better. Defensively we understand the plan better every game. We are tough underneath, compared to last year.

Thomas Noie

11:12

Awesome. Great to hear. Even more reason to take that COVID freebie year and go somewhere where he would play major minutes. Talk about maximizing your opportunity. Matt Zona has done that.

Tom, Bergen County, NJ

11:11

Hello Tom. In regard to your earlier reply, I heard that Matt Zona graduated last summer and is now working on his MBA

Thomas Noie

11:11

Tony: In this new era of college basketball (transfer portal, NIL, etc.) there's no way to really know - or even guess - at how many recruits a certain school may or may not bring in for a recruiting class who are still high school juniors. What does Notre Dame do this offseason in the transfer portal? Is there a current college player who will enter the portal who will better fill a position/area of need than a high school senior? While the transfer portal might be relatively quiet this offseason from an outgoing process, will it remain that way a year from now? All of it impacts your traditional recruiting class. Notre Dame seems to be in on the right kind of kids in the junior class. Of the top seven prep juniors in Indiana, five have serious interest in Notre Dame. So there's that. Anything beyond that would be a guess, and a guess that likely would be wrong.

Tony

11:08

Tom, how many recruits do you think Coach Shrews brings in? It seems they have a lot of offers out? Are they out in front on any?

Thomas Noie

11:06

I'd say a cautious maybe for Saturday. We might hear something more from Micah Shrewsberry later this week, but the fact that JRK wasn't in a walking boot would indicate that it's more maintenance than a long-term issue.

Ken Woodworth-South Bend

11:05

Also, any update on JR's status?

Thomas Noie

11:05

Ken: We've hoops chatted now for about 75 minutes, so I guess that was a good warmup to go there. Everything has to be couched with "I know it was a 9 p.m. tip and late tips are awful for attendance..." but that student attendance, not only last night but really the last month has been beyond disappointing. The SBT beat guy bashing students again? Hardly. They were really good early in the year, and they were acknowledged. But they always have a reason to NOT go. Wonder what the reason was last night? Too warm outside? That walk over to the arena on a 70-degree night too challenging? I've been down this road so often with the student body. They're the first to complain about the product, and the last to embrace the product. Great for the group that bothers to show up, but man, you want to be elite, how about acting like it. To get 4,698 (and that's being generous) out for a team that had just beaten Duke is unacceptable. Does anyone on campus even care? More excuses to start in three, two, one...

Ken Woodworth-South Bend

11:01

What a great win last night, especially considering that we only had a "half-full" arena supporting our home team! Great to see more students out last night, but still not as many as should be there. What do they have to do besides winning their last 4 of 5 ACC games to get more butts in the seats at the Joyce?

Thomas Noie

11:00

Luke: Not on the radar just yet, but hovering within similar air space. We're waiting for that Holy $%^#$ moment. The Burn Year had the overtime win at Marquette. In 2011, it was the win on Senior Day in Storrs. This team has a chance to join that select company with a certain game against a certain league cornerstone in a certain arena where everything is a specific color of blue next week. Win that one, and we've got something.

Luke S

10:58

While not much is at stake, where does this recent run rank on the unlikeliest of late season runs you have covered on the beat? The Burn offense Sans Gody to clinch a tourney berth comes to mind. Just incredible how much better this team has gotten since December, and after being left for dead in January.

Thomas Noie

10:58

Johnny: The odds are off the board (i.e. there are none) on Micah Shrewsberry. At least, not yet. He's 48-48 as a college coach. Let's get down that road with a string of NCAA appearances and big wins and big visibility in Notre Dame men's basketball before we worry about what might be his next move. Shrewsberry said this is a destination job, but every coach, in every sport, always believes he has that one last move in him, one that no one sees coming. As for Burton, as we mentioned earlier in the chat, the transfer portal and NIL is always lurking. You can never say never. Not in college athletics in 2024

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