A come-from-behind overtime win for the #8 Fighting Irish brought them to 19-2 on the season and 7-1 in ACC play. Jerian Grant led his team with 25 points as Notre Dame came back from an 18-point deficit to take the OT win over NC State 81-78. The Fighting Irish look towards top ten rival Duke on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s game will let you know just how good ND really is. At least Duke won Mike Ks. 1000th game and that might be a good thing for ND. I just hate the thought of Mike K. winning 1001 against the Irish. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen. At least we will get to see the rat squirm, like he did against St. Johns on Saturday. It is amazing to me just how much he cries to the refs throughout the game. He is on the sidelines whispering sweet nothings into their ears. Sickening, I say! Stop your crying. Coach, you are one of the best and the attempt to intimidate the zebras is just disgusting! Go Irish!!
You’re being somewhat cryptic in regards to your feelings about perhaps the greatest college hoops coach in history. Please elaborate.
WHY A 5 STAR SHOULD FIGURE OUT HE SHOULD BECOME IRISH
“If they want to come here just to hang their hat to play football and go to the NFL, we passed on some pretty good players, because I don’t want guys to come here and not finish their degree,” Kelly said. “I want guys to come to Notre Dame, get their degree, help us win a national championship and be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. That’s what I want, if that’s what they want.”
BRIAN KELLY
Also don’t forget their exercises in futility in the Big East Tournaments year in and year out.
Duly noted, thanks for the reminder.
This team could make the sweet sixteen or elite eight. This is a fun team to watch. For whatever reason the school is satisfied with a respectable basketball program. No scandals and the revenue is at an acceptable level. A final four team would be fun but not expected. I say just enjoy the games.
That’s all true. It’s just this isn’t the first solid ND team, yet they always seem to make an earlier than expected exit from the tournament.
I tend to agree with Mike. They’ve had some good years in the Big East, and this year does have a special feel about it. They took Virginia to the wire. But they’ve had other good years too and Brey usually does a good job helping them get to the tournament. He is an excellent X’s and O’s guy. The problem is the early exits. I can’t remember the last time they made it past the 2nd round, and they’ve exited first round many times to inferior teams. When that happens, it completely wastes an otherwise good year. What’s the point in having a great regular season if it ends the 1st day in the tournament? Nobody remembers the 1st and 2nd round losers.
One problem in the past was Brey’s unwillingness to go the bench. Our top players were exhausted by tourney time. Now last year, due to Grant being kicked off the team and some other factors, he had to go the bench more often. I do see more of a willingness this year to play the bench, and in fact in the blowout against Virginia Tech, the entire team got some playing minutes.
Another is our bench isn’t as deep as other teams. Against North Carolina a few weeks ago, that almost cost them the game. Since NC had a deeper bench, their players were more rested. ND was spent by the end of the game. I give them all the credit in the world because they fought through it and won, but in the tournament, where a single loss knocks you out, most teams will be playing hard and ND is going to have to fight through that.
Finally, while ND is a great 3 point shooting team, a great passing team, and playing better defense than I’ve seen them play in the past, they are not a great rebounding team. They needs to improve that to make any deep runs in the tournament.
I think they have the talent to make a sweet 16 run, but there have been too many years where that was the case and they fell flat in the tournament.
I should have said good years in the past in the Big East–and this year in the ACC.
Great, but can Coach Brey start to win any tournament games? Year after year he takes good teams into the tournament only to bow out in the 1st weekend. God forbid he should take a team to the Final 4. George Mason, VCU and Butler can do it but apparently it’s too mich to ask for ND to do it under Coach Brey.
He has not had an athletic team yet that can still win like he has this year when their shooting is off. Tournament games can be flukey depending on your draw but we are more capable this year than any year. Key is making free throws and playing solid defense. Can’t fault Brey for free throws.
3 yrs. in a row they lost they’re 1st tournament game. In at least 2 of them, they were the higher seed. In one of them, they were a #2 seed.
All of those years, he lacked the athleticism and free throw ability of George Mason, VCU, Butler, Gonzaga? I’m looking at his coaching career at ND as a whole. It’s characterized by teams that don’t play up to their potential in the tournament. The reasons why just don’t matter. Either the performance has to change or you have to change the coach. The performance hasn’t changed, so…
I’m used to hearing Miguel just complain about recruiting rankings and the difference between 3 and 4 star players. I find this line of complaining very refreshing. When do the complaints about the baseball team begin?
Think they were looking ahead to Duke on this one. NCS is a solid team, but ND should have beaten them handily. I just can’t believe the consistency ND is showing this year. They were supposed to be a year away from this type of team. Really hope Grant sticks around next year. They will be a solid contender next year for sure. This year is a very pleasant suprise! Go IRISH!