We could come up with plenty of excuses as to why the Wednesday night tilt between the Duke Blue Devils and Notre Dame Fighting Irish Basketball would be a sleepy affair, but no list of reasons would add up to the listless performance on display in South Bend.
Pick your reasons. It’s the ACC opener. It’s before Christmas, the season hasn’t really heated up yet! Irish football is dominating the headlines, everyone’s focused on Clemson. Or Early Signing Day! Still, normally, coming off a win at Kentucky is a big deal and with powerhouse Duke coming to town, there’s usually some buzz. Maybe it’s the lack of crowds. Or the nearly blown lead on Saturday that crushed any goodwill that might have been earned. Duke, for their part, had been blown out by Michigan State and Illinois in two of it’s last three games. Most conversations about Duke basketball were in relation Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s decision to skip their remaining non-conference games and give his guys a mental break and a chance to return home for the holidays.
All of those reasons still shouldn’t amount to the lethargy seen on Wednesday. Duke took an early lead. Dane Goodwin made a few shots to keep Notre Dame in it, and the lead waffled back and forth between 6 and 19 for most of the first half. Duke opened the second with a mini-run to push the 7 point halftime lead to 12, before the Irish cut it to 5 multiple times. Sure, in 2020, Duke isn’t Duke and a home game isn’t a home game, but it’s still a big moment? Right?
But it wasn’t. At no time in the game did Duke look or feel threatened. They hit some shots, they got some friendly whistles and they corralled some loose balls, but they didn’t do anything special. And Notre Dame didn’t do anything to make them be special to earn the win.
After cutting it to 55-50, Duke calmly expanded the lead with a 9-0 and 18-6 run and no one batted an eye (Certainly not Dickie V who was talking about anything but the game). Then the game ended and everyone moved on. Such is life in the Irish basketball program in 2020.
Problems Without Solutions
The main issue on display in the ACC opener was both simple and complex. The Irish basketball team just isn’t good enough. They’re not fast enough (Hubb, Ryan), not strong enough (Durham, despite his numerous attempts to get up shots from the post/in traffic) or aggressive enough (anyone, really) to threaten a team like Duke. Duke’s current roster is likely the least athletic roster it’s put on the floor in well over a decade, and the Irish made them look skilled and fast and smooth.
The only true hallmark of this team (and really the teams over the last few years) is a propensity to occasionally shoot the lights out from 3, but the Brey’s trademark ball movement offense has bogged down at key moments, leading to countless come-from-ahead losses.
Help On the Horizon
Goodwin was legitimately good tonight and he deserved better from his teammates. It’s a small string of improved play and increased aggression from him, and it would be great to see it continue through the rest of this tough schedule stretch.
But the single biggest bright spot of the night was the first game in an Irish uniform for Trey Wertz, the recent Santa Clara transfer. With the NCAA’s announcement of blanket eligibility for transfers, Wertz stepped on the floor and logged 20 good minutes, scoring 9 points with 3 rebounds. He instantly looked like the smooth, aggressive ball handler the Irish need. He should be starting this weekend against Purdue, and would be a breath of fresh air from the aimless top of the key dribbling of Hubb. Hopefully, he and Goodwin can push the offense to a better place and begin to threaten our future opponents with more than just step back jumpers, and we’ll see steps forward in future games.
Up Next
While COVID is already making this season plenty unpredictable, the Irish are slated to take on Purdue at 2:30 EST at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse as part of the yearly Crossroads Classic. Purdue will be riding high off a big win over Ohio St on Wednesday night.
(long rant warning) Thanks for putting this together Dan. I don’t think I can do it anymore. To play winning basketball, you need some combination of talent, effort, and execution. This team displayed none of the three Wednesday night (or really the entire 2nd half of OSU and UK). I’ve stopped writing about this team a while ago because my limited vocabulary hindered my ability to find new ways to say, “they stink.” You really hit on the lack of effort. Brey’s postgame included all sorts of passive-aggression towards both Hubb and Ryan for their defensive effort. The team does seem to lack both a physical and mental toughness. There’s someone like Hubb who doesn’t lack for swagger, but experiences massive lapses in effort and concentration. Then, there’s someone like Durham who probably needs a little more swagger and “f-you” toughness in his game. Goodwin seems too passive, and only steps in as an alpha from time to time. Laz can get fired up but seems to really struggle with inconsistency. There’s no engine driving the effort with this team. No one dragging them along. Perhaps that’s because they realize they’re just nowhere near as talented as their opponents. We all thought that the glow of ’15 would lead to a bounty of new talent, but since then, not a single recruit has played up to their recruiting hype/rankings. I did a little digging this morning, and Solomon left the program in ’15, and Inglesby in ’16. That would mean that the last recruiting class they worked on in earnest was Mooney, who debuted in the 16-17 season. Where’s the diamond in the rough guy like Cooley, Connaughton, or Colson? Where are the guys who have a chance at the fringes of the NBA. On the ’15 team alone: Jerian, Pat, DJ, and Bonzie all played actual NBA minutes. VJ and Auguste also had sniffs at the league over summers. Auguste and Onions are still getting paid to play overseas. Name a guy on this roster who’d even get a look at a Summer League roster. The talent in the post Solomon/Inglesby era has been woefully overrated. Makes you wonder if “shopping in a new aisle” is a better strategy than getting under the radar guys with great motors who develop. Where’s the Tory Jackson, Psycho B, DJ, or Farrell guy that is going to light a real fire with this group? They just aren’t very talented and have shown almost zero progress from when they set foot on campus. Then, there’s the execution part. That ’15 team had an identity. They ran floppy sets with some initial motion, but when it came down to it, they could always spread the floor and go PnR because they had the shooters to make teams pay for helping. This roster has so many shooting holes in it, that it never really stresses a defense. There’s always at least 2 people on the floor you can help off of, and none of the… Read more »
I cannot more wholeheartedly agree – no matter the score even in the previous game (ND-Kentucky), I felt like ND lost that game either way with the way they played in the second half. I remember even back in 2016-17 that I trusted this team to get the job done.
Now I have a hard time believing they will win any game (was even nervous during the Detroit mercy game).
While I cannot speak for the history and vibe of the program in between digger Phelps and Mike Brey (more seasoned folks tell me it was a dumpster fire), it sure is looking sad how this program may very well be on the path back to mediocrity after all Brey did to change the culture and results.
I think to put it short and sweet, I’m just tired of the teams ND has put out lately, almost to the point of being disinterested. Can’t believe I’d ever say this, but here I am.
You are 100% right. That said, I think this would be a much different team with Carmody. He was one of those high-energy guys that would have driven this team forward. I still think they can come together and figure out an “identity” to push them forward…it’s just hard to gel when 4 of the first 5 opponents were ranked at least at one point.
The best teams Brey has had were able to do pre-season tournaments to come together and play better as a team. There has not been enough “real-game” experience to pass judgment on these guys yet. That said, so far I hate watching the team as much as I hated the Sherman-led fiasco.
This is a completely rudderless program. The move that needs to be made is “counseling out” (in the parlance of my old Big 6 employer) Mike Brey. This staff, this team, everything about ND basketball right now is the product of a guy whose heart just isn’t really in this anymore.
Brey and Kevin Sumlin should get an apartment together where they can go get drunk on the beach daily for the next 6 months and figure out how to spend the rest of their lives, because it sure as shit isn’t in coaching.
My expectations for ND basketball are pretty darn low, but man, this is just sad to watch. It feels like the Elite Eight runs were in 1987 or something.
I’d hate to see Brey go out like this, but you have to think Swarbrick knows we have to move on very very soon.
Muffet went out on a low note, but on her terms. I have to think Swarbrick gives Brey a little nudge to try following her out.
Nationally, people love Brey. He’s good when they stick him on TV for pregame analysis when ND bombs out of tournaments; I have to think there’s an ESPN Seth Greenberg type job waiting if he wants it.
He could do that for the next 20+ years and kick ass at it. Anything that doesn’t involve recruiting, or defense.
I see 0.0% chance that Mike Brey is asked to leave. You don’t send your winningest coach out on anything other than his own terms. You’d get crucified in the media for even suggesting it right now. Let that dream go. He’s here as long as he wants.
Swarbrick is extraordinarily patient with coaches, and it’s not like there’s much pressure on him to do anything in particular with the basketball program. So maybe you’re right. I just find it hard to believe he’d be OK with the program being a constant last-place contender.
Who would crucify him though? The media hasn’t had any reason to pay attention to Notre Dame Men’s basketball for years.
I think you’re underestimating how much goodwill that ACC title and Maui win brought Brey. Then you take the Duke connection that gets a lot of media people slurping him. Especially without any talent, HE is the story every time we play on a national stage right now. He’s untouchable.
Jaden Ivey is more athletic than any player on our roster. Nate Reuvers is shooting 54% from deep this year. These are two players who desperately wanted to come to ND and Brey didn’t recruit them. Every decision he has made since the elite 8 has been terrible. If he’s untouchable, Swarbrick is an idiot.
I would gladly wager against that. We’re still the same school that basically told Lou Holtz to take a hike three years after he should have won his second NC. No one is above being removed, even if it’s done in a publicly friendly way.
You’re in my era brother. There were a LOT of Lou cracks that were showing before he was shown the door. The players were definitely snickering about “the old man” in ’94, and there were even shouts of racism with how Jarious Jackson was treated relative to Powlus at the very end. Throw in “Under the Tarnished Dome,” and you can see where both Lou and the school were thinking it might be a good time to both move on. I don’t see the equivalence here. I think Muffet is the more relevant parallel.
Wow, a Muffett comparison? She basically built the program from little into one of the elite programs nationally (plus won a couple nattys). Brey has at best done only marginally better on the whole than one would expect from any coach who got 20 years to coach at ND.
I think he’s very likable, but him being one of the best ND coaches of all time is almost more a function of patience than program-building.
You can’t ignore that he won an ACC trophy, and from my seat watching 91-95 up close, the fact he built a remotely competitive team in the Big East is freakin’ amazing. I figured that would be a bloodbath. He did all of it with minimal support. Is he the best ever? Hell no. Is he better than average for what ND can attract/retain? I believe so. Not many top coaches are going to want a job where they play 2nd fiddle to football and make players go to class. I hate that we’ve fallen back on hard times, but he maintained a sustained period of (marginal) success beyond what MacLeod was able to do.
Realizing this is a “fun with endpoints” thing and it starts off from heights that ND arguably shouldn’t have gotten to in the first place: are there any other programs that have fallen further than ND in the last five years? What a rough run – and that’s even inclusive of an Elite 8.
It’s something I started writing when I was putting this together, and stopped myself because it probably requires closer examination than I was willing to give it on Wednesday night.
Even if we don’t give ourselves full credit for what we did in 15+16 (overachieving by a large amount), we still all wanted to look at that stretch as raising the bar. We had been a fringe tournament team for so long (and again, way better than the time in the wilderness between Digger and Brey), averaging something like a top 35 finish and a 9 seed with blips up and blips down, but the 15/16/17 stretch felt like building something. If 17 could become our new down year, this ride was gonna be fun!
Instead, not only have we not converted anything of 15/16/17 to long term momentum, we’re probably worse off than we were from 03-14. We had down years in that stretch, but nothing like this.
The 3 years stretch of 12/13/14 had us ranked 42/36/96 by KenPom, bookended by a 11th in 2011 and 9th in 2015.
Our current 4 year stretch is 35/97/57/76. Our current 76th is the 3rd worst of the Brey era, ahead of only 2019 and 2014. Last year’s 57th was 5th worst, ahead of only those 3 + 2005.
Ultimately, that’s where the lethargy in the program comes from — Not only have we regressed away from the peak of 15-17, but we’re regressed past where we started, to depths unseen before in the Brey era. It’s sad, it’s frustrating, it’s incredibly boring basketball and it makes none of the process of watching this team fun.
The MacLeod era (my time on campus) had future pro’s LaPhonso Ellis, Monty Williams, and Pat Garrity over that time (sadly, never all together) – yet they never even remotely sniffed a bid. My freshman year (’91-2) was highlighted by Phons’s run to the NIT final that they lost to Virginia. That’s it. Troy Murphy (a MacLeod recruit) and then Doherty started to turn it around and Brey inherited that momentum 1 year into the Murphy Era. For all the doom and gloom following ’95 that the BE would be a house of horrors for ND. The momentum from the Murphy era created a truly competitive member of what was the toughest league in the land for a long time.
I’ve maintained that the “standard” for ND basketball should be the good side of the bubble. Great years are a tournament shoo-in, good years are a mid-seeded bid, bad years are the wrong side of the bubble, but in the conversation. History says Brey can keep us at/above the line, but extrapolating this current roster + the pipeline leaves you deeply concerned that the standard might be shifting back to the MacLeod years with no hope of a bid.
I think the thing that has been the most painful about this year is just how much of a carbon copy it has been of last year. Of course, the team consists of mostly the same players, so it shouldn’t be too shocking, but I was hoping for some addition by subtraction by removing Mooney, Gibbs, and Pflueger, none of whom could seem to do anything in the clutch (or at least since Rex’s freshman year).
The ranked losing streak continues to be befuddling. We had a chance in so many of those games that they’ve blurred together. It seems statistically impossible for us to lose so many of those tight games consecutively, but when Brey seems to invite those situations over and over, maybe we are setting ourselves up for failure. To echo comments from others, it’s the little things like securing loose balls that continue to haunt us. We have the weapons to be a classically efficient Brey offense, but no killer instinct to bury teams.
I’m trying to remain positive because we have been favored in only one of these first 5 games, and a 2-3 record is probably what most of us would have predicted (if not 1-4). The ACC looks somewhat down this year and we should have ample opportunities to rack up wins when we get into the conference slate. There’s really not a lot of evidence that things will suddenly click for this group, but hopefully Wertz can add some missing element to the mixture.