Comments on: Situational Analysis

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:03:23 +0000

Jim, if the WNBA paid its superstars the same as the NBA does, ND would have the same problems in women's basketball as it does in men's.

The difference is the best women's basketball players know they're going to be doing something else for a living after they graduate, so the ND degree is meaningful to them.

By: Jim Kress

Jim Kress — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:01:44 +0000

Why is it that the men's team is so inferior but the women's team is consistently superior?

After all, they all play for the same school, use the same facilities, play an equally daunting schedule but the men's team always fails to achive success while the women's team is always in the National Title mix?

By: bigblue

bigblue — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:03:36 +0000

Here's my thoughts in somewhat randon fashion. Notre Dame has lost to underdogs too numerous times in tournaments including the big East for it not be a reflection of the coach.
Too many great ND shooters never get or got the ball passed to them a time when they can shoot " in rythmn" which is crucial to ball going in the net.
There have been too many games where Notre Dame defeated or nearly upset great big east teams during many seasons. It takes a good coach too develop and cohere and synthesize, strategize the talent shown in those victories into a consistently winning team. Up till this year Tory Jackson was frequently dribbling with his head in downward tilt. Couldn't the coach correct that earlier? In a recent game Abroimatis looked to be wide open in the corner while Jackson marched ball up the court. Get that great shooter the Ball! Harangody no doubt shows great hustle skill and some athleticism, but he frequently over hustles,almost out of control and also takes ill advised low percentage fade away shots . Ditto the hurried three pointers he too often decides on. This stuff is on the coach I think .
Notwithstanding Mike Breys's perhaps fineness,dignityand worth as a human being I just don't sense him to being anywhere near a great coaching talent. My impression is he doen't seem to have that sense of overall mastery and insight into game. His time clock management was once atrocious. And he seemed to call time outs that disrupted his own team's momentum. He seems to be better perhaps with some of that but seems to me to be lacking in many coaching areas some of which i attempted to argue above.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:51:35 +0000

Here's my thoughts in somewhat randon fashion.Notre Dame has lost to underdogs too numerous times in tournaments including the big East for it not be a reflection of the coach.
Too many great ND shooters never get or got the ball passed to them a time when they can shoot " in rythmn" which is crucial to ball going in the net.
There have been too many games where Notre Dame defeated great big east teams during some seasons. It takes a good coach too develop and cohere and synthesize, strategize the talent shown in those victories into a consistently winning team. Up till this year Tory Jackson was frequently dribbling with his head in downward tilt. Couldn,t the coach correct that earlier? In a recent game Abroimatis looked to be wide open in the corner while Jackson marched ball up the court. Get that great shooter the Ball! Harangody no doubt shows great hustle skill and some athleticism, but he frequently over hustles,almost out of control and also takes ill advised low percentage fade away shots . Ditto the hurried three pointers he too often decides on.This stuff is on the coach I think .
Notwithstanding Mike Breys's fineness,dignity, worth as a human being I just don't sense him to being anywhere near a great coaching talent. My impression is he doen't seem to have that sense of overall mastery and insight into game. His time clock management was once atrocious. And he seemed to call time outs that disrupted his own team's momentum. He seems to be better perhaps with some of that but is lacing in many coaching areas some of which i attempted to argue above.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:34:41 +0000

If you are looking for Defense, Offense and an overall better fight out of this team IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF EVERY GAME… then Brey has to spread the minutes and QUIT playing top three guys 37-39 minutes. It's that simple, this is something Brey CAN CONTROL. Forget all the other stuff. Scott, Hansborough, Hammer, Brooks, are next years team so let them play 20 minutes and give the big three a chance at the end of games. They look like walking dead at the end of every game and IT SHOWS!

By: Slick

Slick — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:51:47 +0000

Good analysis. If your theory is true (and I don't doubt it), then it also would be true that athlete admission standards are tougher today than they were in Digger's glory days of the 70s (when I was a student). So…are the standards tougher today? Could Carr, Dantley, Brokaw, Shumate, Tripuka, Flowers, Laimbeer and Woolridge get in today? If they could, then something else must be wrong. If they could not, then we are doomed.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:09:56 +0000

WD '89 comment nailed it for me.

You can complain all you want about the the external factors - many of which are valid (that is not to say other schools don't face impediments not raised here).

Bottom line is that he is a poor tournament coach. And that is what matters in the NCAA Mens basketball. He is like a poor man's Bo Schembechler of College Hoops who was terrible in bowl games but did a well in the regular season.

Raoul

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:38:55 +0000

"If Notre Dame doesn't implement the bullet points on a blog post, I'm not renewing my season tickets."

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:52:12 +0000

A common theme I see lately in football and basketball is an overall lack of fight, toughness and resolve when things get tough. How many times have you seen ND get "hit in the mouth" and respond by slowing down, hanging their heads and almost cowering? It's embarrassing to see a team like UConn come into Notre Dame Stadium and show more excitement and heart than our guys. For lack of a better word, they have looked soft foe quite a while. How many times is Harangody going to fall on the floor and then complain? How many times do our guys allow someone to take the fight to them before they stiffen up and fight back? Not sure if that's a theme in coaching, since I think it's apparent in two of our teams, but as an alum and former student-athlete, it hurts to see our guys lose that battle time and time again, regardless of what the scoreboard says. It's never fun to lose, but it's always easier to swallow it when you know your team didn't go down without a good fight.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:45:02 +0000

Brey needs to sell the administration on his needs as much as he needs to sell recruits. Failing to do so will land him back in the CAA – perhaps a level that he is best suited for. Nice guy but can he swim with the sharks? Player development (to include instilling toughness) is sorely lacking.
Physically wearing TJ out by the start of February the past 2 years is inexcusable, particularly with Brooks gathering splinters…….