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

Notre Dame men's basketball chat - February 2024

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Johnny

10:55

What are the honest odds Burton or shrewsberry leaves in the next couple of years. I know they are both Indiana guys but what if a school like Indiana university, or even the nba poached them. A clearly great coach and what seems to be an elite college point guard.

Thomas Noie

10:44

Ryan: First thought walking out into the gale-forced winds outside Purcell Pavilion after midnight this morning? How does Markus Burton NOT win Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year? Seriously. Braeden Shrewsberry has been solid, though he struggled last night. Probably not enough room for both of them on the ACC all-rookie team, but a lot to like moving forward. From both.

Ryan Mars Pa

10:43

Tom What do you think about the play recently Of Braden Shrewsberry and Markus Bruton go Irish ☘️☘️🏀🏀

Thomas Noie

10:43

Andrew: Great question/observation. It's been fun/scary/interesting/intimidating (in some ways) trying to figure out what makes Micah Shrewsberry tick. Who he is as a person beyond being the head coach. Covering Mike Brey for 23 years, you knew what he was thinking. You knew what questions you could ask. With Shrewsberry, there's still a feeling out/figuring out process. What worked with Brey might not fly with Shrewsberry. But you can still get there. Mike Brey was great, but you're so right, it all got stale from every angle. You know who would be the first to admit that? Mike Brey.

Andrew from Plymouth

10:40

Your interaction with Micah at the conclusion of the presser last night about his kid driving now was pretty cool. I know this is a new relationship and the one with the old coaching staff soured a bit at the end, but has the coaching change also been beneficial for you in your job covering the team? I'm sure it became a bit stale before just because of how long the previous staff was in place.

Thomas Noie

10:39

Aaron: It was going to be really low. You don't start over from basically nothing having lost 98 percent of this and 99 percent of that and bring in an entire new roster, new coaching staff, freshmen who aren't wise to the world of college basketball and NOT struggle. The struggle was going to be real. You mentioned the turnovers, they happened and had to happened and frustrating as it was to watch and cover for this team to figure it out and do what it's doing now. Good teams, old teams, spend hundreds of hours in the offseason playing pickup together. Getting into a rhythm. Understanding what other guys are going to do before they do it. This team had none of that, which is why we saw what we saw the first three months. Could have beens? Those are for next year when there's a foundation and an expectation and a reference point for this team to be better. The ceiling will be higher, and, honestly, within reach. This year was just hold on for your ACC lives and hope for the best.

Aaron Bourbon, IN

10:35

As poorly as they've played at times this season, the Irish have been very close in several of their losses. Georgetown, NC State, Syracuse, both BC games all come to mind. Games they should have won. There are several other games where the final score doesn't indicate how close the contest really was and where the Irish would have been in a position to win, even with their offensive limitations, if they had only taken better care of the ball and not had so many unnecessary turnovers. What's your opinion on what the ceiling could have been for this year's team?

Thomas Noie

10:32

Jet: Is that your real name? Really?

Jet?

From a 35,000-foot view of Cole Certa, Sir Mohammed and Garrett Sundra, they've been good, but not great. Well, outside of Mohammed, who seems primed to drive Myers Park in Charlotte to another state championship. Certa has come off the bench at IMG, which seems more an AAU team where everybody has to get theirs and there's not always enough to go around. Sundra plays on one of the most talented high school teams in the country in Paul VI in suburban D.C. We'll circle back around in the spring with a deeper dive on how all three fared in their senior seasons, but all look to be good, solid foundational pieces to this Irish program.

The Jet from Evansville

10:29

How are next season’s recruits doing this year?

Thomas Noie

10:26

Todd: Kebba Njie remains the proverbial work in progress, especially on the offensive end. It rarely looks fluid, but when you play in a conference like the ACC, you better at least pretend you have an option of going to a serviceable big man to keep the defenses relatively honest. Throw the ball to Njie, it gives the defense something to think about and, in a perfect offensive world, it collapses the defense off shooters so Braeden Shrewsberry and Carey Booth can get a sliver of daylight to do what they do. Njie does need to be more decisive from a Basketball IQ standout. If anyone ever needed a summer of big man camp, it's Njie. Too bad they don't do that anymore.

Todd, Charlotte

10:24

What is the reasoning behind getting Kebba Njie the ball at the top of the key to swing it on offense? He is not decisive with it, and it often leads to him sailing balls out of bounds.

Thomas Noie

10:23

Terry: Thanks for finding your way over here. All questions that have been asked by our women's basketball beat writer, Anthony Anderson, and answered by Irish coach Niele Ivey, who is a little less forthcoming on discussing injuries than Micah Shrewsberry or even Marcus Freeman. Brown has a knee issue that prevents her from playing at the level she needs to play at to be an effective ACC-level guard. Prosper has been out with some sort of leg/foot issue while Obinma is not in a position to help. If she could, she would. Right?

Terry - Highland, IL

10:21

Why is there never a discussion here about the Irish women’s team? They are far better than the men’s team!! Things like: why is Jenna Brown not playing? Why is Becky Obinma rarely playing and what’s the status on Prosper?

Thomas Noie

10:20

Bob: If you're serious about your college basketball program, you always have to be ready to tap the portal for talent. And you better. Look at Wake Forest. Similar school to Notre Dame in terms of academics, but way more serious about being a serious player in the ACC. Wake's roster carries seven transfers. Notre Dame will never get to that many, but it has, has, has to go into the portal in the spring and summer for a possible scoring wing and a scoring big man. If Notre Dame can do that, it accelerates the three-year timetable of getting back to the NCAA tournament. If the academic side raises a red flag on the portal, winning becomes that much more difficult. Really difficult.

Guest

bob cary, estero, fl

10:17

does ND expect to use portal for scorers after season for 2024-2025 team?

Thomas Noie

10:17

A way-too-early starting five next season? That seems pretty easy, at least in February. Markus Burton, Sir Mohammed and Braeden Shrewsberry at the guards, Tae Davis at the Swiss Army-knife swingman spot and Kebba Njie in the low post. Subject to change of course, based on the next question...

10:16

Still too early, but building toward a solid B. That's not reflective in the record or the league work or the (slim) chance to play in postseason. Rather, it's rooted in what we mentioned earlier - Micah Shrewsberry vowed for this team to be playing its best basketball at the end of the season. November and December and January saw its share of rough waters, but it seems this team has navigated them and continue trending upward as March nears. Down by 29 in the first half and nearly win at Syracuse? Teased Digger Phelps that it would've been the greatest comeback in program history after that one. He nearly hung up on me.

Guest

10:14

What grade would you give this season? Way early,I know, but best guess on starting 5 next November?

Thomas Noie

10:13

Sam: I don't know if "worried" is the right word. Maybe cognizant or slightly concerned because this is 2024 and guys can leave at any time for any reason. Say Team A, B or C looks at Notre Dame's roster and sees a player it believes it can fit with its roster. That school's NIL collective gets together and says to the current Irish player, hey, you come play for us, we'll give you x amount of dollars - far more than Notre Dame might offer. Say $750,000 or a $1 million. What would you do? Outside of that, I tend to believe that the current Irish roster is pretty solid in terms of being all in with Micah Shrewsberry. The majority chose Notre Dame because of Shrewsberry. Tae Davis said after The Citadel game, when Shrewsberry said he'd help anyone who wanted to go into the portal to go that night, that everyone on the roster was there for the right reason - for Shrewsberry. Still, everything is on the table and nothing about it should be a surprise. This is 2024. Players leave to do what's best for them.

Sam from Norfolk, VA

10:09

Hello, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the gradual, albeit slow, improvements through the season, but I’m worried about transfer portal attrition and having to re-start from almost square 1 next year. Is this something I should be worried about?

Thomas Noie

10:07

Dennis: I don't see Matt Zona or Tony Sanders coming back next season, and it has nothing to do with what they've done or haven't done on the court in their Notre Dame careers. Notre Dame needs some roster flexibility heading into the offseason. If both returned, and one-time walk-on Alex Wade remained on scholarship, coupled with the incoming recruiting class of Cole Certa, SIr Mohammed and Garrett Sundra, that would be 14 scholarships - one over the NCAA maximum. Notre Dame could use a veteran big and another scoring guard/wing from the portal if that opportunity presents itself. It's more a numbers game moving forward.

Dennis Huyvaert Osceola, IN

10:03

Hi Tom , with senior day coming up do you see either Matt Zona or Tony Sanders Jr . coming back next year ? Thank you for your great work .

Thomas Noie

10:03

Dave: Yes. Thankfully, the COVID year ends after 2024-25. The last group at Notre Dame that has that bonus year of eligibility is current seniors Tony Sanders and Matt Zona. It remains to be determined how they use it. Might be time for one, and maybe both, to either move on to a place where they will play more (if that's what they want) or start the next phase of their lives that doesn't include basketball. Both will graduate this spring.

Dave from Alpha, NJ

10:01

Hi Tom. Thanks for always doing the chats.
Have a general question. Will the 24–25 season be the last of “the extra year for Covid” scenario.

Thomas Noie

10:01

Kevin: It's a little of everything that has allowed Notre Dame to run off wins in four of its last five ACC games, but a big dose of it has been Micah Shrewsberry. My prediction of at least six league wins this year after going 3-17 last year was based a lot on how Shrewsberry would just out-scheme other coaches and get a win or two that the Irish had no business getting. They'd also be better because they'd compete their you-know-whats off. That's what we've seen. Looking at this roster in November, it had no business winning six league games. But you put this group together, give it some confidence, get them to play hard and believe and no matter what, keep fighting, and you get to where the Irish are. And you get a sense that they're not done.

Kevin, Chicago

9:58

I believe you predicted the # of wins we are likely to have. Do you get sense Micah style of play works for ACC? Seems ACC poor this year so that 7

Thomas Noie

9:58

Andrew: The development of J.R. Konieczny is right on track, well, on track as well it could be before JRK missed his first game of the season Tuesday with a sore right foot, a foot that has been giving him some issues for an extended period, which might be the reason his minutes have dipped. Since playing 30 at Pittsburgh, JRK has logged 17, 11, 16, 10 and 6. Still, he was really, really good at Louisville last week with nine points and five rebound sin 10 minutes. At one point, his plus/minus rating was at (+21). We need to keep in mind that Konieczny really is a freshman. He sat out last season and didn't play much at all as a true freshman. This is his first true look at college basketball. He entered Tuesday as the third-leading scorer (8.6) and rebounder (5.0). It's been a good first step. What he needs to learn is to pace himself. There have been games where he's sooooo wound up and running all over the place and making plays that he tends to burn out in the second half. That will come as he gets older

Andrew from Plymouth

9:53

What's going on with JR's development? He started out well but his minutes have decreased over the course of the season, which doesn't speak well to his impact for next season when the roster becomes much more talented than it is this year.

Thomas Noie

9:36

Don't look now, but what Notre Dame men's basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry promised (hoped) way back when this all started it starting to happen - March is right there within reach and the Irish are playing their best basketball. Winners of four of five following Tuesday's gut-check success against Wake Forest, Notre Dame (11-17; 6-1) feels good about itself as the season winds down. Feels good about its culture. Feels good about the future. Feels good. It feels good, doesn't it? To join in today's session, be sure to include your name and hometown with your question or comment. With that, you know the rest. Let's light this chat candle...

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