Awful. Hey, at least Georgetown lost today too.
Tory Jackson was benched in favor of Ryan Ayers at the shooting guard spot. Jackson did end up having a good game. So did Kyle McAlarney. Everybody else contributed to two hours of hell for the Notre Dame fan.
Tory scored 17 on 7-11 shooting. 9 rebounds, only 3 assists. He turned the ball over a couple of times (no numbers on that right now and the ESPN stats might be off so soon after the game), but overall played his best since Seton Hall.
K-Mac was the other bright spot. He was able to find a couple good looks and knock down six shots. 16 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist. Good to see him snap out of the prolonged slump. UCLA didn't worry as much about him as they did about Luke today, so Kyle had a bit more breathing room than usual.
Hillesland with 3 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. That is a solid line for him, but it is frustrating to see his overall lack of development the last three years. 3, 5, and 5 was a nice game sophomore year. Zach is still making mental mistakes and failing to crash the boards with authority. Once took he took the ball up the floor and every Notre Dame fan could predict the outcome. Lots of dribbling, an out of control spin, and an easy turnover. It happens at least once a game.
Zeller with 5 points, 3 rebounds. Luke Harangody had his first real struggle in a long time. 2-12 shooting, only 5 points and 1 rebound. The Bruin frontcourt took him out of the contest completely. It was sad, really. The heart and soul of our team was out of his element from the opening tip. Keep fighting, Luke.
Off the bench, I really liked what Nash and Scott showed in expanded time. 4 and 4 for Tyrone, 7 and 4 for Scott. They are the future and were two of our best players today. Need to give them more PT. Ayers, the starting 2 (correct me if I'm wrong, I missed the opening minute or so) was pretty flat from inside the arc. Did add a pair of threes and six points. Jonathan Peoples did very little.
7 straight losses as this season continues on its tail spin. Next Thursday at home against Louisville could be our final stand.
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12 comments:
Never in my life have i seen a team with so much potential just crash like we have. I am really lost for words. Our offense is terrible and our defense is just pathetic. Today was one of the first times i saw this year where the team did not care. We have had bad losses but this was hardest to watch.
Ugh... That's really all I can say.
Nash and Scott are the future. They should both start getting 15-20 minutes a game from here on in, though I doubt Brey will do that.
One positive note - I think this game means the Gody will be back next year. I think pro scouts probably saw how he could be contained in the post - he won't be a first rounder until he can shows that he can play facing the basket & he probably won't get that chance until he has either Nash or Cooley in the post to free him up to roam more.
Men vs. boys. Stick a fork in this group. Real development is when you see a player like Aboye from one year to the next.
Coaching? Look at the defensive effort by UCLA - that's coaching. All day long they imposed their will on us. The back door lay up out of a time out is something we never get.
Anon, if you were watching the game, we got at least one backdoor layup ourselves.
Brey has got to start playing Nash and Scott more. There may be some games like Pitt for both of them, but if you start out planning to give them minutes, you can back them off (as with Peoples vs. Ville) if they're having a bad game.
Did we get a back door lay out of a set play coming out of a time out? That is coaching. We shoot threes out of time outs. That is prayer.
At least Tory showed some heart today. Don't think that this wasn't an important game for us - a win would have been big on selection Sunday. We got shellacked on a national stage. Wooden was probably thinking that his Central High teams would have more competitive.
As bad as things are, our postseason hopes hang on our league games, not this one.
There is doubt in my mind that this team will qualify for the N.I.T.? We sure miss Coach Cross, when I was at the practice last year he was in charge of the defense. Brey is what he is, a mediocre coach with mediocre talent. Never close in the Big East tournament, one or two and out in the Big Dance, if he makes it. The look on the players faces told the story right from the start today.
And people are halloring for Weis to develop talent?
I just have to wander what Swarbrick is thinking. Two monumental collapses in football and basketball in his first year. It has been my experience that CEO's (and he is a CEO) sweep house and bring their own folks in. I think you will see two coaches with very short leashes next year.
Nice comments everyone.
I do think the new AD brings an interesting dynamic. Forget just CEO's, you see new bosses clean house in the sports world all the time. If football is underwhelming, say 8-4, you'll see Charlie Weis get fired (perhaps a bit overdue). If the basketball team fails to compete in the Big East, you might see Coach Brey on the way out (not as deserved as Weis, but not wholly without merit).
To be honest, having a new AD might work in the best interest of everyone involved. If he was to be fired or (preferably) leave for a position at a basketball school, it could be blamed for his personality not meshing with a new boss. Then, we would get an opportunity to find a new coach without waiting for the program to deteriorate and lose some of what Coach Brey's success has gained.
Right now, that's still speculation. I'd love to see this guy take us to the next level, but if he cannot (again, his seat is still cool until the end of next season), absolutely we should look to move forward.
G&B
You know that I've been a Brey defender for several years... But this is the first one where I am seriously questioning his judgment. He should have recognized last year that none of the seniors could step into the Kurz role and developed Nash or Scott into that prior to the season.
Unlike the detractors, I think he has a really decent class coming in next year with the bonus of two D-1 and tournament tested transfers, but I'm upset at his approach to this year. I think he totally misguaged his players - and if he'd played it right, the team might have performed to the level of expectation.
Give him a couple more years, but if he continues the lack of objective assessment displayed this season, I would be happy to cut him loose.
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