The final home game is a time for many things – time to honor the seniors and their families, time to thank the fans, time to make a final push in the conference standings, and time to reflect… time to reflect on the season’s goals and re-dedicate to achieving them, time to reflect on the ups and downs of the season itself, and time to reflect on careers for those who won’t return in the fall.

I asked Zach Auguste what advice he would give to his freshman self when the young man arrived on campus nearly five years ago.

“I’d tell him to keep his head up,” he said. “Don’t beat yourself up too bad mentally. Trust the process and everything will be okay. Just work hard.”

In response to the same question, Demetrius Jackson said, “Be patient. Trust the process. It takes a lot of hard work, and it doesn’t happen immediately. Work hard. The results may not be immediate, but just trust the process.”

The process. Maybe two young men using the same phrase is a coincidence. Presented with the same question about advising himself, what would a freshman say?

Rex Pflueger’s response was, “Stay patient. Work your butt off. Make sure you keep doing well in school. And just enjoy the process.”

A vital element of effective leadership is a consistent message that everyone on the team understands, accepts, and translates to action. What is “the process” in the Notre Dame basketball program.

Pflueger describes the roller coaster ride a season can be. To him, it’s keeping an even keel over the long haul.

“The process means there are going to be ups and downs throughout the season,” Pflueger said. “You know you’re not always going to be the happiest; but there are going to be those moments when you hit those peaks, (when you) beat a North Carolina or beat a Louisville at home.”.

Steve Vasturia talked about consistency in a slightly different way.

“Keep playing hard and never lose confidence,” Vasturia said. “Focus on each game, each practice each day and continue to get better. As long as you work hard, good things are going to happen.”

Head Coach Mike Brey sees the process as context for a team’s evolution over the course of a season. If he can spend less time getting his group out of the dumps after bad games or bringing it to earth after big wins, he can get the team to adapt and add to its repertoire as the season progresses.

“We always said, because I wanted them to get away from being an extension of last year’s team, that I really believe this group has a chance to improve all the way up to the ACC Tournament,” said Brey. “So I need you engaged when we come at you with something a little different or we tweak something. I’ve come back to that theme many, many times.”

The process… It’s a common understanding of how both individuals and the team develop. It’s what transforms Demetrius Jackson from the freshman who was dismissed from the team for two weeks into the junior who is the team leader. It’s what helps a terribly inconsistent Zach Auguste become one of the best players in the ACC over the second half of the conference schedule. It’s what keeps Rex Pflueger working hard when he isn’t playing so he’s ready to seize a rotation spot when his chance comes. It’s what allows Mike Brey to change his team’s approach to offense before the last game of the regular season.

Is it what will lead to a successful 2016 postseason?

He’s Back

With talented seniors and outstanding leadership in place on the first day of practice, Brey often referred to himself as “the loosest coach in America” during the 2014-15 season. He knew that overcoaching would inhibit his team, and he guided the group accordingly.

I hadn’t seen the loosest coach in America until the North Carolina State postgame press conference. Brey has been more reserved, more the guy who was trying to determine what puzzle pieces he had and how each one fit with the others.

After a four game funk that included three losses, two of them blowouts, Brey decided his team needed a different approach. This was the last chance to change tactics before tournament time. More importantly, the team needed an infusion energy and, with a little luck, an infusion of confidence.

The decision to play faster has been well documented. The team practiced with a 20 second shot clock in the days before the NC State game. But there was one more ingredient to add. The loosest coach in America was called into service. You can observe that coach in the postgame press conference.

“Maybe we take some semi-bad shots. I don’t care,” Brey said about the faster tempo. “The runnin’ Irish head to DC,” he quipped.

Asked about a between the legs bounce pass, he said, “We’re ballin’, baby. We’re ballin’. There’s an example of how loose we are and how we’re going for it. I loved it. That was awesome.”

Maybe Brey is whistling past the graveyard. It has been an up and down season with a team that played very well through the middle of the season and very poorly both early and late in the season. Significant changes in tactic and tone are unusual this late in the season, but this team needed to lose the funk quickly. There is no time left for incremental improvement.

Time will tell if he’s pushing the right buttons.

Kudos to the Fighting Irish Women

Three years in the ACC. Three first place finishes. Three ACC Tournament championships. Fifty-six conference victories including the three tournaments. One conference loss. And the ACC is an excellent women’s basketball conference.

This was going to be the difficult season. Jewell Loyd left the program after three seasons to become the #1 pick in the WNBA draft and eventual rookie of the year. Freshman point guard Ali Patberg, a top 15 recruit, tore her ACL in preseason practice. Highly regarded post player Taya Reimer was injured for part of the early season, and then she decided to leave the program before conference games started. Sophomore center Brianna Turner, the team’s best player, fought a shoulder injury that will require surgery when the season ends. Turner’s return for this season was in doubt when she missed six non-conference games.

After her team won a close game against a very good Oregon State team in December, Muffet McGraw said, “I remember saying at media day that it’s going to take us until February before this team gels because we have so many moving parts.

“I’m a puzzle maker,” McGraw continued. “I love the challenge. I enjoy trying to put those pieces together.”

She has, indeed, completed a challenging puzzle by integrating talented young players with unselfish seniors who have adapted their roles as the youngsters emerged. This wasn’t supposed to be a one loss team. It wasn’t supposed to be ranked #2 in one poll and #3 in the other. It wasn’t supposed to be a #1 seed.

It is all of those things as well as a group that has has made ND Nation proud.