Warts, Weakness or Fatal Flaw?

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Today's column isn't exactly a pick-me-up...

Prior to the season, I broke down what I believed to be the five major weaknesses of the Irish basketball team heading into non-conference play (for an in-depth look, click here). In the next two weeks, we’ll look not only at these weaknesses, but also review the team’s strengths, and break down each individual player prior to Conference play. But for now, it's time to bite the bullet, and review the projected weaknesses as the Irish prepare for the Big East season.

Listed Pre-Season Weakness:

1. True Depth
2. Pick and Roll Defense…and offense
3. Finishing at the Rim
4. Scoring Droughts vs. Man-to-Man defenses
5. Paging Michael Graham (toughness)

1. True Depth – The crux of this was originally how Notre Dame would be affected if one of its top eight players missed significant time. Now I’m more concerned about actual bench contributions even if the Irish are once again blessed with good health in Conference play. Every contributor will be broken down individually over the next three weeks, so I won’t go into much detail here, but suffice it to say the bench trio of Luke Zeller, Jonathan Peoples, and Tyrone Nash have yet to take the next step, the expected step, or the necessary steps to propel the Irish toward another top four finish in the Big East.

Early Verdict: Weakness. It’s too early to consider this a fatal flaw, though I’m admittedly skeptical about future contributions from Nash in Conference play.

2. Pick and Roll Defense…and Offense – We’ll skip this potential weakness as it’s more of an upcoming issue vs. Big East foes Marquette, Pittsburgh, and UCONN. Neither Texas nor Ohio State was a heavy pick-and-roll team. And if UNC had been, it would have been just another nail in the coffin.

Notre Dame struggled mightily vs. Ohio State’s perimeter players (especially Evan Turner) and as a general rule, they’ve struggled for the last five seasons vs. opposing slashing scorers, but have been able to mitigate the damage (at least in 2006-2008) with a variety of defensive looks, top-notch defensive rebounding, and rarely fouling the opponent (ND was 2^nd in the Big East in fewest free throws attempted against last season). My guess is that this will eventually be somewhere between a weakness and a fatal flaw, but am willing to give the team/staff the benefit of the doubt due to the familiarity and advanced scouting of Conference foes.

Early Verdict: We’ll re-examine No. 2 midway through Conference play (but I’m skeptical).

3. Finishing at the Rim – I’ll save you some time: this is a fatal flaw. It was a fatal flaw last season, and one of the few categories in which departed senior Rob Kurz would be of no help (zero, in fact, he was a magnet for shots smacked off the glass – and I’m trying to be fair, as the Irish miss him more than I thought they would – more on Kurz later). This weakness was detailed in the pre-season column and not only is it not going to change, but it was in full effect vs. the Boston University Terriers last Saturday night. So yes, I have a feeling Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, UCONN, Louisville, et al will be quite successful denying Irish efforts at the rim.

4. Scoring Droughts vs. Man-to-Man – I was surprised to see Ohio State’s matchup zone work so well vs. the Irish in Indianapolis, but if its any consolation, that’s the best matchup zone ND should see this year. Both North Carolina and Texas were able to apply significant ball pressure in Maui, and to the credit of ball handles Jackson, Hillesland, and McAlarney, Notre Dame was able to combat the Longhorns’ defense with execution and their trademark shooting from beyond the arc. The Tar Heels, on the other hand, not only smothered the Irish in the first half, but were aided by a few missed open perimeter shots, and were simply too far ahead by the time McAlarney morphed into Reggie Miller. The Irish can’t miss open looks vs. more talented opponents.

Early Verdict: Weakness. Notre Dame can score. They’ll score with anyone in the conference, and few teams will be able to maintain the necessary level of pressure to bother the Irish for the duration of a contest. And most Big East teams are challenged to score at some over the course of a hard-fought game.

5. Paging Michael Graham (toughness) – This, of course, is where the Irish miss Kurz the most. I thought the extent of the (Kurz) loss was wildly overblown in the off-season. Apparently I was wrong. However, the extent to which this weakness has been exposed is an indictment of four players and a coaching staff. Casual Irish basketball fans that complain ad nauseam about head coach Mike Brey are misguided and or/misinformed, but in this singular category, any and all complaints are warranted. Seniors Luke Zeller, Zach Hillesland, and Ryan Ayers, and sophomore Tyrone Nash must take it upon themselves to attack the defensive glass in January, February, and March. If they don’t, the Irish will lead the Conference in second chance points allowed. And if these four don’t start hitting the glass and making their fouls count, they should be held accountable with extended time on the bench. Each is capable of contributing more than he has (Hillesland is usually solid in this area, but he was manhandled by the Buckeyes in the paint). Zeller had 10 defensive boards at Marquette last season, so when he finishes a contest with two boards in 20 minutes, there’s an issue. Ayers is a seasoned, 22-year old senior. He can run, jump and he’s absolutely automatic from the outside. But he needs to re-learn the basketball axiom that rebounds are gathered below the rim. He also needs to venture into the paint.

Nash is obviously talented but still growing into his game. In the meantime, he needs to embrace the role of the enforcer (he has the body and the requisite five fouls to waste). Two boards for each foul committed should be his Big East misison.

To limit the piling-on (though this is a “weaknesses” review) it should be noted that Harangody and Jackson are absolute men on the glass, and Jonathan Peoples is underrated in this category as well (he had the rebound of the season vs. North Carolina – and I’m not talking about his incredible tip dunk). McAlarney finds a way to chase down defensive boards as well.

Early Verdict: Fatal Flaw

Unfortunately, a new weakness emerged in non-conference play:

6. Free Throw Shooting – Speaking of completely unacceptable...I wrote this in the pre-season Strengths column (try not to laugh if you’ve watched the Irish this season):

But the most undervalued skill set of this Irish squad is the ability to close out victories at the free throw line. After consecutive give-away losses in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam last November (to Baylor and Georgia Tech) the Irish clinched competitive home victories vs. UCONN, Providence, Marquette, Pittsburgh, and DePaul by knocking down late foul shots.

The Irish will have approximately ten conference games decided in the final three minutes this season, and there is a host of candidates comfortable knocking down the elusive freebie from fifteen feet.  

And actually, Notre Dame is one-for-one this season in terms of nailing down a game at the free throw line. They closed out the hot-shooting Boston Terriers with a 4-4 final minute combined effort at the stripe by McAlarney and Jackson. But poor efforts at the line (throughout the contest) did not help the cause vs. UNC and were the death knell in the loss to Ohio State. The Irish have hit just 61% of their free throws as of December 16. If that continues they’ll end up looking up to eight teams in Conference play.

Early Verdict: Wart. This is a highly correctable issue, and I have a long-standing theory I’ll share regarding the team’s free throw woes in a later column/blog.

Early next week I’ll post a final pre-season review of the team’s perceived strengths.