ND Basketball and Mike Brey

I know that several subscribers to this blog probably don't give 2 hoots for ND football and probably don't give 1 hoot about ND basketball. Too bad. Here's an analysis of this year's ND team from a guy that considers himself an amateur expert on college basketball:

- Defense and Rebounding - This Irish were ranked in the top 10 in the preseason because of their success last year and because they returned everyone but Rob Kurz. No one thought he was THAT big of a loss. I was even shocked to find out that he was in the NBA. We were wrong. ND has never been been renowned for its tenacious D or for protecting the defensive glass. That's what happens when you starting line-up is the cast of the suburban all-stars. Last year, they were poor with Rob Kurz; this year, they are pathetic without him. The Ohio St. and St. John's losses are directly attributable to the absence of Rob Kurz and the inability to prevent the opponents from getting offensive rebounds.

That said, Brey's system doesn't rely on defense by design. Brey knows that his team will score and score in bunches. He knows that there are maybe 8-10 teams in the country that can score with his team on a regular basis. He knows that if his team can make stops on 5 key possessions during the stretch run of just about any game, they will win. And he knows that he doesn't have the depth to allow any of his players to get into foul trouble. So he tells his players to keep their hands straight up and not to contest shots for most of the game--then the Irish get a few key stops down the stretch (aided by an energizing fan base over the past 45 home games) and earn the victory.

Impact: The primary thing that is keeping ND from being a final 4 contender.

- Lack of depth - Brey has never played with a deep bench. The Irish clearly have 3 go-to guys in Harangody (who has the bigger forehead?), Jackson, and MacAlarney. Ayers and Zeller are role players that can contribute offensively when someone else creates for them. Hillesland plays like a bitch. I don't really know what Peoples does. I like what Tyrone Nash (Soph) has done in limited minutes. Carlton Scott has been the next RuCar--instant offense--in limited minutes. The problem is just that--limited minutes. Brey played only 7 players (all Jr's/Sr's in the Seton Hall game. If KMac is going to average 39.5 minutes in the easiest 4-game stretch of the conference schedule, when is he going to get a rest? I think that the bench guys have the ability to contribute more, but they need to be given the ability.

Impact: In college, you can play with 7 for isolated games as long as you can stay out of foul trouble. You just can't do it when you're playing Seton Hall. No direct impact on the Irish, but it indirectly affects the defensive intensity (see above) and will cost the team 1-2 games because of the reliance on just a few people for scoring.

- Tory Jackson - Harangody is great--he's the reason that the Irish are a potential top-10 team instead of a potential top-20 team. MacAlarney is great--he's shooting 45% from 3pt range against the opponent's best perimeter defender each night (averaging 4-9 from 3pt range). Tory Jackson is the reason that ND will be successful this year. Tory's efficiency has been amazing this year; he is quietly shooting 42% from 3pt range (up from 27% in his first 2 years) and leading the Irish to a gawdy 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio as a team (Tory is at 2.3-1 personally). Since the beginning of conference play, Tory is averaging 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5 assists, and only 1.75 TO in 37.5 minutes per game; during those 4 games, he has shot 19-42 (45.2%) from the field and 14-16 (87.5%) from the FT line.

Impact: As Tory goes, so do the Irish. The ceiling for this year's team is dependent on the ancillary players stepping up; the base for this year's team is Tory Jackson. He is more important to this team than Harangody.

- Upcoming stretch - The next month is the most critical part of the regular season. From Jan 12 to Feb 12, ND plays @ L'ville, @ Syr, vs. UCONN, vs. Marquette, @ Pitt, @ Cincy, @ UCLA, vs. L'ville. As of today, ND is 3-1 in conference; if ND can go 4-3 in this stretch (4-4 overall) and 5-2 to close out the conference season, 11-7 in conference could be good enough to get ND a top 4 seed in the Big East tourney and a bye for the conference tournament.

Prediction: ND will not be able to have the same success against the teams in the bottom of the conference that they did last year. The Irish will drop a disappointing game @ Providence or vs. Villanova towards the end of the season and finish 10-8 in conference as the 6 or 7 seed in the Big East, go 1-1 in the Big East tourney, get a 5 seed in the NCAA's, and go to the sweet 16 but lose to the 1 seed.

Season's Beatings

by John Walters: Thursday, December 25, 2008 3:16 PM

(per email from Ookie)

  
‘Twas the night before Christmas, 
When all through the den, 
The plasma was tuned to the ESPN, 
The fade route was hung by the pylon with care, 
In hopes that young Golden soon would be there, 
The O-line was lit as if by a fuse, 
With visions of blocking for Allen, or Hughes, 
And Charlie on crutches, not unlike Tiny Tim, 
Though his face not so pale, and his eyes not so grim, 
Joined by Chuck Jr., his son now a teen, 
Two Weis men from the east, a nativity scene, 
On a Hawaiian island, Notre Dame is marooned, 
Give thanks in green jerseys they are not festooned, 
The voice on the tube, it did give quite a scare, 
We wanted Pat Haden, but got Andre Ware, 
While up in the press box, scribes scatter like mice, 
No, that isn’t Santa, it’s a lei’d Charlie Weis, 
When, what to my half-drunken gaze should arrive, 
Than the Domers are gaining plus yards on a dive, 
With a little-used halfback, and now he is scorin’, 
Poor Pops--too much eggnog—in the corner is snorin’, 
Then Clausen broke huddle, while Gramps he broke wind, 
And as Jimmy called names, I sat and listened: 
“On Rudolph, on Duval, on David, on Tate, 
Let’s put positive spin on the season ’08! 
Run routes with a fervor; please give it your all, 
And, do me a favor, just don’t drop the ball.” 
Like ravenous orphans when at table do sup, 
The crazed Irish defense did bark,“Crank me up!” 
With the speed of eight reindeer the 'backers were blitzin', 
While Corwin did send nearly all of his Smiths in, 
Then behind the safety young Golden did go, 
Intent on not hearing, “That’s ten in a row.”
Bowl losses, that is, for they all knew the score, 
N.D. hadn’t won one since Jan. ’94: 
Buffs, Buckeyes and Beavers, the latter school twice, 
Had helped forge a record so naughty, not nice, 
An ACC trio extended the drought, 
Plus two to the Tigers, and both were a rout, 
But tonight, in Oahu, ‘gainst placider climes, 
Look, Ma, in the end zone: a touchdown for Grimes! 
And when Armando returned a kick all the way, 
The children, all ages, were merry and gay, 
Who knew that this school could provide us such mirth, 
On the eve of the date that its namesake gave birth? 
And when it was over, the scoreboard proclaim:
Hawaii 21; 49, Notre Dame, 
49 points? In a bowl? That’s a first, 
For the men of South Bend, who of late have seem cursed, 
Or at least apathetic, uninspired, or lame, 
It was as if they’d forgot who they are: Notre Dame! 
But tonight on the shores of the 50^th state, 
Where brides and Barack often go to vacate, 
Some pride was restored, and hope came alive, 
That next year we may crack the ol' Top 25, 
And Charlie was happy, that much you could see, 
He needed a win near as much as a knee, 
Back home in our p.j.’s, we readied for sleep, 
With grins as we thought of the ’09 two-deep, 
While out past the ocean, where honeymooners play, 
Charlie opened the presser with, “Fire away!” 
Then he boarded a plane, this descendant of Knute, 
Saying, “Merry Christmas to all, now I’m off to recruit!”

This feels familiar

There hasn't been a lot of NFL talk on the blog, but this just dawned me as I'm reading about the firing of Browns GM Phil Savage and inevitable firing of Browns coach Romeo Crennel.

The Browns coaching search feels like the ND coaching search from 2004. While the Willingham firing was a surprise, there's the one candidate that's linked to the institution.

Urban Meyer was an assistant coach who loved Notre Dame. Bill Cowher played for the Browns and coached with the Browns. Everyone knows Meyer was ND's No. 1 choice. Everyone knows Cowher is the Browns' No. 1 choice.

Whatever Bill Cowher wants he's going to get. Unlike Meyer who wanted concessions ND wouldn't give.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Merry F'n Christmas

The juice

Why does the NFL receive a blind eye to steroid use while baseball is vilified for it?

Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and the rest of baseball's alleged junkies are publicly ostracized for using performance enhancers. Yet these three have never failed a test for steroids, nor have they admitted use. McGwire all but admitted use by exercising his fifth amendment rights before Congress, Clemens was named in the infamous Mitchell Report, and all you need is to compare Bonds from his days in Pittsburgh to when he broke the home run record to have ample evidence for anabolic steroid use.

Time and time again in the NFL steroid use is forgotten, and even seems to be justified at times. A federal judge in Minnesota stepped in to prevent the suspensions of the Vikings' Kevin and Pat Williams (and several other NFL players) when they tested positive for a diuretic used as a masking agent for steroids. A judge defends the NFL players while a former US Senator names names in Major League Baseball. Perhaps someone needs to investigate the judge to see if he had money on the Vikings, knowing they'd be vulnerable to losing to the Lions without their two best players.

The reason the suspensions were halted is that the players allegedly did not know the substance they were taking contained the diuretic. This argument has been voiced to deaf ears by just about every baseball player who's been busted for steroids. Shawne Merriman was suspended four games for a failed steroids test in the NFL. After his return later that year, fans and pundits had made his drug use a distant memory and proclaimed him the NFL's best, most ferocious, most physical defensive player. His excuse was, again, that he didn't know there were steroids in a supplement he was taking. Why shouldn't he be held responsible for what he puts in his body like we expect baseball players to be? Doesn't he - just like Bonds - make his millions by his athletic accomplishments? It's foolish and irresponsible of them not to know exactly what they are putting into their bodies.

I don't buy professional athletes in the NFL or MLB telling me they didn't know what they were taking, and it's insulting if they expect me to believe them or be sympathetic. They know they'll be tested and that they are under a microscope. However, guilt or innocence for Williams et al is yet to be determined. The judge claims that the substances taken did not list all of the ingredients. But why else are these guys taking a diuretic - are the Williams' trying to lose weight?

While both the NFL and MLB have taken huge steps toward cleaning up their sports, the NFL needs to sack up and show some accountability. Shawne Merriman's secret is in the needle. Just have a look at him now, all juiced up, versus years ago before he went Jose Canseco.

Did you just see that?

I am posting this video for two reasons: 1) get that queer Duve Day crap off the top of the blog; and 2) to inspire discussion of the embedded video.

This is the next to final play in the 5A Texas high school playoff game at Texas Stadium between the Allen Eagles in white and the Euless Trinity Trojans in black. See if you can spot the problem here and please discuss.