Notre Dame’s 84-67 victory at Boston College on Saturday improved its conference record to 6-8. The depleted Irish must get to 9-9 just to be in the NCAA Tournament discussion; and even then, they will have work to do in the ACC Tournament. A couple of conference tourney wins might be enough, but ND still…
Brad Stevens has a great quote about basketball that I believe applies to the 2017-18 Fighting Irish. “You have to earn your right to win the game with effort and togetherness,” he said. Stevens neglected to mention that a team that can’t shoot doesn’t have many options. Effort, toughness, rebounding, defense… Those are important, but…
The games are raison d’être for a basketball team; but simultaneously, they are mere steps in the unfolding story of a season that begins in the summer and, in all but a handful of cases, ends with a tournament loss. Roles are determined early in the process. Some leaders are appointed while others emerge. The…
If you follow college basketball even a little, you know that the Notre Dame men’s basketball team won the Maui Classic tournament. Early season tournaments aren’t the biggest deal in the world, not compared to the NCAA Tournament or the ACC Tournament; but it’s a challenging format that is a good test of mettle as…
Disclaimer Disabuse yourself of any notion that criticizing the way a basketball player performed should be extrapolated to attitude and effort. If you don’t have the intellect to make that distinction, please stop reading now. The Prophet, Part 1 If I heard Mike Brey say it once during the 2016-17 season, I heard it half…