Facing two teams rated outside the top-250 of the KenPom rankings, the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball team took care of business to improve to 3-0. On Wednesday night, ND blew out Seattle 92-49. Friday, the Irish beat Loyola-MD 83-48. With all caveats about the level of competition, the Irish looked as good as they could have in both contests. Since no one wants to read a blow-by-blow recap of two 30 point wins over low major competition, I’ll share a few things that stuck out to me watching the two contests.
Geben Schools 7 Footer
Before the season, the Irish had a huge question mark in the front court. In the opener against an undersized Bryant, Brey mostly chose to play a small lineup. Geben only played 12 minutes, but was effective against the undermanned Bulldogs. Against Seattle who started a 7′ 3″ center and brought a 6’10” player off the bench, Geben played just under 20 minutes. Although he didn’t have a shining stat-line, Geben played excellent defense, cleaned the boards, and finished a put-back slam in style. Geben was a big reason why Seattle big men shot just 7/21 inside the arc. Against Loyola, he had another solid night grabbing a game leading 10 boards in juts 15 minutes. Whether he can do that against high major big men remains to be seen, but the two performances were certainly positive signs.
😮 SEND IT IN, MR. GEBEN 😮@Martin_Geben sets the tone early in our victory over Seattle with a put-back dunk. #DunksDuLac pic.twitter.com/04mP9Tio8X
— Notre Dame MBB (@NDmbb) November 17, 2016
Irish 2-3 Zone Has Mixed Results
With the Irish out to a huge lead at halftime of the Seattle game, Mike Brey used most of the second half to work on the team’s 2-3 zone. Unsurprisingly, the effectiveness of the defense depended on the personnel. When Rex Pflueger and TJ Gibbs were at the top of the zone, the defense was fantastic. The youngsters pressured the ball, disrupted passing lanes, and forced turnovers in a way that looked nothing like a typical Mike Brey zone. When Steve Vasturia and Matt Farrell were in the game however, the zone was as largely ineffective. Rex and TJ are far superior defenders to Farrell, and probably a bit better than Steve, but their effort level also stood out. Perhaps they both realize their defense could be the key to earning more minutes.
TJ Gibbs Is a Joy to Watch on Defense
Taking your eye off the ball, to focus on a single player for an entire possession is a great way to watch a game. During the first half of the Seattle game, I tracked TJ Gibbs on defense for a couple possessions. What I saw was incredible for someone used to watching the last few years of ND basketball. On his first possession, Gibbs fought through a ball screen, jumped to the ball after a pass, switched onto a new man after a screen, and then effectively closed out a shooter to force a miss. He did all of this while loudly talking to his teammates. Gibbs picked up three steals on Wednesday to lead the team, and added two more Friday. He also did so without taking stupid risks or picking up dumb fouls. I think all of the 18stripes hoops writers see him eventually taking Farrell’s starting spot by January. Farrell has been solid thus far, but I’d love to see it happen on Monday.
Interesting Irish Lineups Lead to Depth Questions
It’s no secret that Mike Brey normally plays a tight rotation. This year should change that. Against Seattle, everyone except the walk-ons played double digit minutes. Seven minutes was the floor on Friday. Brey also played some interesting NBA style lineups. The most interesting had starter VJ Beachem playing with Gibbs, Pflueger, Matt Ryan, and Austin Torres or Elijah Burns. We also saw some small-ball “Bonzie at the five” groups. Ryan took VJ’s spot and played with the starters for a spell, too. Even Mooney was featured at center for a bit. If Mooney sees his playing time drop as the schedule gets harder, the rotation will still be deeper than we’ve seen in recent years. Ryan, Pflueger, and Gibbs are a lock to see real minutes this year, and either Burns or Torres will add depth down low.
Bombs Away
The Irish can still shoot it. With Seattle sitting back in a 2-3 zone for much of the game, Irish shooters had loads of open looks behind the arc. After a cold outside shooting day against Bryant in the opener (3/16), ND went 15/34 (44%) from deep vs. Seattle. Notre Dame followed that up with a 10/25 (40%) night against Loyola. The makes came from all over the roster. Only TJ Gibbs (1/8 combined) seems to be cold at the moment.
New Threads
The Irish debuted a new, all green, look against Loyola. The 18stripes staff is universally positive about the new jerseys. I personally still love the mustard gold alternates ND has worn the last few seasons, but am cool with changing it up. They remind me a lot of the Shamrock Series uniforms (which always draw mixed reviews) from last football season, but I think it works a bit better on a hoops jersey. With the new jerseys and a few guys rocking unreleased Curry 3 kicks, don’t ever say Under Armor didn’t do nothing for the people.
.@rexpflueger_1 unveils the @NDmbb “All Green Everything” uniform in impressive fashion #BRxND pic.twitter.com/JmPFOUzJj1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 17, 2016
Looking Ahead
The meat of the season starts Monday when the Irish face Colorado (KenPom 52) in Brooklyn. While it’s just one data point, it’s worth noting that the Buffs only beat Seattle by 11 this week. The Redhawks even led early in the second half before Colorado flipped the switch. Look for some answers on the bench rotation questions during the CU game. The Irish will face Texas (49) or Northwestern (61) on Tuesday depending on the results Monday night.
I think depth will be the thing we talk about most this season. It is easy to get a bunch of guys run when your opponent is 200+ rated. When things get tougher, attitudes change. I definitely foresee a game in our future where we’re frustrated about Geben and/or Farrell getting extended time with Gibbs and/or Burns waiting and watching. I can even see a frustrating loss while Brey tinkers. For example, I don’t think platooning Rex/Torres will last, but clearly that’s the favored pattern for now.
Geben looked better, but clearly, he’s the central question when it comes to depth. If he’s effective, there just aren’t many minutes for Burns. If he struggles, hopefully Burns and Mooney can make meaningful contributions. Torres is an interesting case because Brey loves having 5 offensive threats on the floor, but teams are clearly sagging off Torres.
We all have opinions about the “best 5” right now, but because we’re not closing these early season laughers with game pressure, we don’t really know who Brey considers his own best 5.
The good news for Geben is that he doesn’t have to score. Offensively he looks completely lost out there; or maybe it’s just that he stands out as being so slow in the center of such a fluid offense. But if he can rebound and play defense (huge ifs, obviously) I think Brey will stick with him, because the other 4 starters around him have all looked fantastic on offense. Even the guy I didn’t ever want to see on the court last year, Farrell, has looked very under control. We’ll see what happens once the athleticism in the competition picks up though.
It’s been especially nice getting these big leads so that Ryan can get a lot of run. I think it was Jordan Cornette who pointed out that he just looks a half step slower than last year. Hopefully all of this live game time will help to get him rounded back into shape; having his instant offense off the bench is going to be huge for us many times this year.
I’ve got a good feeling about this year.
I really feel like Geben, Burns, and Mooney are the key to this season. If any of those guys (most likely Geben) can step up and be serviceable on post-D and rebounding, give us 25 minutes a game, and not be a total black hole on offense, we’re gonna have a really complete and well-rounded team. We’ve got so much talent at the guard and small forward position, I’m not worried about offense or defense there. The only position I’m scared of us being outmanned at that could cost us winnable games is the 5.
On another note, I’m so excited to see Gibbs getting early minutes. I’ve been so frustrated over the last couple years with Pflueger, Vasturia, and Auguste getting a bunch of DNPs early in the season, then being relied on later in the season. (Vasturia’s first college FT was a crucial one against OSU at a neutral site. How does that happen?) I’m so excited to see that trend ending with Gibbs and even Mooney. It’s huge for them to get minutes early on.
Lastly, how freakin’ athletic can this defense be. If we put Gibbs – Pflueger – Vasturia on the floor, we can shut down just about any backcourt in the nation.
What an exciting year to be an ND MBB fan. Hope the students and fans support the team by showing up to the games. Could be a really special year if a couple things fall into place.