Notre Dame Game Thread

[kg01]

Both on paper & in what I watched, the players did a lot of good things and didn't play badly, in general, but I'm not going to bother recapping those things. I'm too tired. After seeing this tweet today, I knew at some point I'd have an opportunity to share it and, quite frankly, I wanted that opportunity.

I heard him say that after the Duke win but it was STTE, "We don't run offense against them, we just play offense."

He then went on to talk about how his guards just beat their man off the dribble and just create offense. I was a little jealous.

Ah well, just twiddlin' mah thumbs still ...

 

[dtm1997]

I heard him say that after the Duke win but it was STTE, "We don't run offense against them, we just play offense."

He then went on to talk about how his guards just beat their man off the dribble and just create offense. I was a little jealous.

Ah well, just twiddlin' mah thumbs still ...

I watched a good portion of that game and he's dead on. They just make things happen from scoring themselves to setting up post players. He's a great coach.

 

[GTJason]

I think the players tonight were great. Huge question here and I'm being serious: When was the last time we came out of a time out with a play called and got a basket? Every time CBG calls a time out at the end of the game to draw up a play we end up throwing it away or taking a horrible shot. These kids are decent basketball players so I have to assume the play call is bad. It could be execution because the kids are tired, but then we'd hit it every once in a while (even a broken clock is right twice a day.)

 

[McCamish Maniacs]

I notice a trend...

Honestly, I've been able to live with the Gregory offense, but at this point its clearly a major detriment at the end of games. There's no reason we should be 0-4 in the ACC right now other than coaching

 

[McCamish Maniacs]

First time in Marcus's career that he didn't get a field goal

 

[orientalnc]

This is starting to look like we could be 0-10 when Wake comes to McCamish in February. I know, we play BC in that stretch. But I am beginning to worry about a guy on their roster named O. Hanlan. I hear he completely, single-handedly and by himself, beat a team one night two years ago when that team thought they were going to win said game.

There are so many memories of games like that from the BG era. Aw, the sweet smell of bygone years...

 

[awbuzz]

I think the players tonight were great. Huge question here and I'm being serious: When was the last time we came out of a time out with a play called and got a basket? Every time CBG calls a time out at the end of the game to draw up a play we end up throwing it away or taking a horrible shot. These kids are decent basketball players so I have to assume the play call is bad. It could be execution because the kids are tired, but then we'd hit it every once in a while (even a broken clock is right twice a day.)

The bolded is what concerns me. I'm confident that the play was not drawn up to throw the ball away or take a highly contested shot. It's about execution. Some of the execution issue is that we don't have a guard that can dribble penetrate well on a regular basis.

Let's face it CH and Jorg. seem to be gun shy when it comes to shooting. Rightfully so based upon the FG%. (okay, Tadric isn't doing so well either)

Without them being a realistic threat we will continue to see results like the last 4 games.

 

[Peacone36]

we have the foundation of a good back court in three years with Jorgensen and Jacksonmy concern is the Gregory doesn't have the ability to develop them to reach their full potential

 

[McCamish Maniacs]

This is starting to look like we could be 0-10 when Wake comes to McCamish in February. I know, we play BC in that stretch. But I am beginning to worry about a guy on their roster named O. Hanlan. I hear he completely, single-handedly and by himself, beat a team one night two years ago when that team thought they were going to win said game.

There are so many memories of games like that from the BG era. Aw, the sweet smell of bygone years...

Given that all 4 games have been close (if you consider Wake close because it was close for most of the game), and 2 of those 4 games were against the #12 team in the country, I am doubtful we will start 0-10. However, without being able to win close games, we will certainly struggle to find consistent success the rest of the season, but we should pick up wins here and there

 

[orientalnc]

I actually turned on the game last night thinking we would win. Given our rebounding advantage and Auguste's absence, this game was ripe for us. I agree with @Peacone36 that we could have a good back court in the future, but neither of these two, nor Heath, is anything close to acceptable right now. It is way beyond my comprehension that we are in the fourth year of BG's tenure and still do not have a guard who can reliably make open shots from the arc. Thank god for Bolden last night, but he is as inconsistent as ever.

 

[Stinger90]

we have the foundation of a good back court in three years with Jorgensen and Jacksonmy concern is the Gregory doesn't have the ability to develop them to reach their full potential

You would think with our coach being a gym rat and guard in college would translate better.

 

[jeffgt14]

There’s just no reason we should be this bad at shooting. It’s not even just 3 pointers (although we moved past Alcorn State for 350th out of 351 last night). We can’t hit the broad side of a barn on a typical midrange jumper. The least we could do is hit the damn rim but if there’s not a backboard in the way, then everything we throw up is an air ball. How on earth can these guys play major college basketball and shoot this badly? It’s completely illogical. There’s no way these guys were this bad a shooting coming out of high school or nobody would be recruiting them. There just has to be something going completely wrong in the way we practice and prepare for games to be this bad. I don’t even want to know how bad we’d be if we weren’t averaging 13 offensive rebounds per game.

 

[orientalnc]

Before the season began, I predicted we would have difficulty scoring points. But I never conceived how bad it would be. Thanks to our 2/OT loss at ND, we average 62 points per game in ACC games. But only 58 points in regulation time. That is just terrible. No wonder we are 0-4!

A big part of our problems is that we are taking too many shots late in the shot clock countdown. Those shots are far too often forgettable attempts with little actual chance of success. We turn the 35 second clock into a ten second clock. I wonder how different we are from other teams. Does anyone know if the NCAA keeps data on this?

 

[Connell62]

There’s just no reason we should be this bad at shooting. It’s not even just 3 pointers (although we moved past Alcorn State for 350th out of 351 last night). We can’t hit the broad side of a barn on a typical midrange jumper. The least we could do is hit the damn rim but if there’s not a backboard in the way, then everything we throw up is an air ball. How on earth can these guys play major college basketball and shoot this badly? It’s completely illogical. There’s no way these guys were this bad a shooting coming out of high school or nobody would be recruiting them. There just has to be something going completely wrong in the way we practice and prepare for games to be this bad. I don’t even want to know how bad we’d be if we weren’t averaging 13 offensive rebounds per game.

Excellent point. Our inability to make shots (from anywhere on the court) makes this offense look absolutely horrendous! I agree, Travis has potential and I think that he and Heath have played well for the most part this year, but neither are finishers or shooters. Their drives into the lane are for one reason - to dish. It is not essential in every offense, but most teams that are where we want to be have a lead guard that can score the basketball as well as facilitate offense. In short, we have no real scoring threat at the PG position.

It doesn't stop with our point guards either, every guard on our team is having trouble in that area. For guards to be effective, you have to be ability to finish in traffic. Whether it is getting all the way to the basket or pulling up for the jumper/floater. It is abundantly clear to everyone that this team lacks "playmakers" at the guard position, and that is 100% on Gregory and the staff.

That is a shame too. This team has rebounded the ball extremely well all season, and we have played good enough defense to compete with every team in the ACC. I truthfully feel like we're one (maybe two) pieces away from being a very good team. Give this team a gunner or scorer, someone that can consistently beat their man and finish, and we would likely be 3-1 or 4-0 in the league, but at this point, it appears that we're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole on the offensive end.

Writing is on the wall...

 

[jeffgt14]

You can get away with having poor guard play if you scheme the offense around it to still be able to get the ball down low. Sampson has every tool in the world to be a great high post player. He can hit the 12 footer decently enough and sees the floor well enough to pass the ball down low to Cox or Mitchell. Instead, when he’s in the game, he’ll wonder around the 3 point line and play like he’s a wing.

 

[GTRX7]

Excellent point. Our inability to make shots (from anywhere on the court) makes this offense look absolutely horrendous! I agree, Travis has potential and I think that he and Heath have played well for the most part this year, but neither are finishers or shooters. Their drives into the lane are for one reason - to dish. It is not essential in every offense, but most teams that are where we want to be have a lead guard that can score the basketball as well as facilitate offense. In short, we have no real scoring threat at the PG position.

Heath has shown a nice little runner, push type shot in the lane from about 4-5 feet out. Other than that though, I agree that neither Travis nor Heath keep the defense honest. Whats worse is that defenses can slack off so much on those guys on the perimeter that it takes away a lot of space and entry passes down low, where we have been scoring at an okay rate. Both guys have shown some nice glimpses, but need to develop a reliable outside/midrange shot when left wide open.

 

[Connell62]

Yes, we could definitely scheme better, no doubt about that, but that goes back to my point about not having the right pieces. As teams are seeing us on tape and playing us for a second time, they are forcing us to play to our weaknesses by taking away the post and the drive & dish. The high post is only going to work when the opposing team has to respect outside shooting. Otherwise, the spacing is screwed up because defenders are playing off their man and sagging into the lane. As a result, the lane is clogged...if you are even able to get the ball into the high post, there are usually two guys converging on the ball right away forcing them to kick it back or force a bad shot/pass.

 

[GT22]

What has happened to Q? Was unstoppable against uga, now while watching some games I forget he is on the team. I hate it for them because I know the effort is there

 

[jeffgt14]

What has happened to Q? Was unstoppable against uga, now while watching some games I forget he is on the team. I hate it for them because I know the effort is there

He had enough time to practice shooting away from Brian Gregory for the UGA game.

 

[McCamish Maniacs]

This whole situation just sucks. Like people have said, we're one more piece or a couple made shots away from being 3-1 or 4-0 in the ACC. Instead, the seasons essentially over only 4 games into conference play. The guys are giving it their all and Gregory is a great guy who is giving it his all as well, it's just not working. It's a shame to see things happening the way they are