The Basketball Blog - Outshooting an Old Friend

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog, Big East style! The Irish earned a solid B+ in non-conference play, earning one of the best wins of the young season vs. Texas; suffering a loss to the best basketball team in the Carolina’s (including the Bobcats) in Maui; and taking one on the chin vs. surprising Ohio State. Additionally, the tomato cans were summarily dismissed with one challenge (BU came to play…and to shoot), and Conference play has begun across the country.

Notre Dame’s New Year’s Eve opponent: former Independent powerhouse and current Big East Rival the DePaul Blue Demons. Unfortunately for DePaul, Mark Aguirre did not walk through the arena’s doors.

Quick Recap: (Todd Burlage’s BGI game story and box score can be found here): The Irish jumped out to a 47-34 halftime lead, with Harangody, Hillesland, and McAlarney accounting for 33 total points in the first stanza. The Blue Demons were without freshman shot-blocker Devin Hill (ankle) and as a result, Harangody, Hillesland, and the rest of the Irish were able to finish unfettered at the rim for most of the evening.  DePaul made the requisite Big East home team runs, cutting the Irish lead to seven points on two occasions, but the contest was generally a comfortable 10-12 point margin for most of the night.

Without further adieu, here’s your first player-by-player breakdown of the New Year:

Fran Fraschilla and Jon Sciambi – Yet another (along with Bilas/Raftery/McDonough) enjoyable ESPN basketball announcing team. Frashchilla was able to fall back on his coaching and recruiting experience to blend relevant stories of past DePaul, ND, and Big East stars. Comparisons are often forced during these broadcasts but Fraschilla’s were apt and didn’t get in the way of the broadcast. Sciambi has a great voice and is enjoyably understated (insert obvious ESPN joke here).

Dar Tucker (DePaul) – Dar Tucker’s a scorer. Not a shooter, not an overwhelming athlete, but a scorer. And he’d be my first pick if the game had been played outside on a hoop with no net. (Harangody would be my second choice; Tory Jackson third; and Jordan Cornette would be 25^th…). Unfortunately for the Blue Demons this season, Tucker is also fully capable of keeping both teams in the game.

Mac Koshwal (DePaul) – Koshwal’s a force from inside five feet, and he’d be the ideal addition to this Notre Dame team. He also has the annoying habit of screaming after inside baskets (a la Moses Scurry, circa 1990). Of course, in Scurry’s case, his team was usually up 15 points, not trailing by such a margin. 

K-Mac – Began the Big East season hunting for his shot, and DePaul’s guards had neither the height nor defensive discipline to crowd him. McAlarney made them pay with three early shots from behind the arc, opening up the lane for Hillesland and Harangody to go to work. K-Mac never got into a shooting flow in the second half, but he did fire two pretty passes for scores – one to Hillesland alone underneath and another of the cross-court variety to a cutting Ayers for an easy hoop. There’s not much else to report other than a nice floor game, one Sunday drive down the unguarded DePaul lane, and a couple of free throws when DePaul was forced to foul one of the best shooters on Planet Earth.

Reigning Big East Player of the Year – As Fraschilla pointed out during the broadcast, Harangody is a nearly automatic double-double (Luke, Tyler Hansbrough, and lottery pick Michael Beasley were the only major college players to average a double-double last season). Harangody is one of the best traffic rebounders in the college game (along with Hansbrough and Pitt’s DeJuan Blair) and he fought another solid rebounder (Koshwal) for every errant shot en route to 16 boards. His 26 points were attained in the usual varied manner: spinning layups, put backs, two step back jumpers, a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe, two handed jams, and a left-hander through the lane in which the defense simply gave up when faced with taking on his massive frame. I felt that Zach Hillesland was the player of the game for the Irish – yet another indication that we take Harangody’s production for granted (how many guys go for 26 and 16 and aren’t the automatic game MVP?).

Zach Hillesland – Hillesland finished at the rim tonight, and if you’re a close follower of the Irish you A.) just took a second look at the previous comment, and B.) know that a recurrence of this development would be a godsend for the 2009 Irish. For two seasons, ZH has shown an ability to get to the rim, but more often than not those forays have resulted in errant, tipped, or wild shots (and charging calls). Wednesday night vs. the Blue Demons, Hillesland dominated his defender(s) with a variety of driving finishes at the rim. He found Harangody for an easy dunk; he pushed the tempo, hit a reverse; a tip-in; received easy passes for layups; hit a (first ever) one-handed bank shot off of a beautiful spin move and looked like a confident scorer, not just facilitator. And to ensure Irish fans it wasn’t a total dream, Hillesland missed four of his five free throw attempts (no need to pinch your self after all).

Hillesland finished 8-11 from the field and didn’t commit a turnover. If he can play anywhere near this level vs. top tier Big East teams, or in most road games, the Irish will be one of this brutal league’s top two teams.

Tory Jackson – In the game preview, I mentioned Jackson should have his way with the DePaul backcourt, as each potential defender had a fatal flaw in the matchup with the physical, seasoned Irish leader. Jackson didn’t disappoint, finishing with 12 points, 6 boards, 7 assists, and just 1 turnover. He struggled a bit from the field (4-12), but hit 4-6 from the line (4-5 when it mattered); and controlled the contest, continually finding the open man, accounting for extra possessions, and creating what I like to call “junk” in the lane. Jackson will never be a college shooter, but he’ll always find a way to score vs. Conference foes. For more on Jackson, check out tomorrow’s player previews.

Ryan Ayers – Which review would you like, his shrinking violet first half or game-sealing, shooting assassin approach to the second stanza? Ayers might have been taken a bit out of his game in the early going, as he drew the hot-shooting Dar Tucker defensively and then threw a careless backcourt pass that led to an extra Blue Demons possession. He finally got untracked with a corner three from Jackson around the one-minute mark of the first half.

But the light came on for Ayers, who, as much as any Irish player, was responsible for killing every mini-rally DePaul could muster. Ayers hit a trey to extend the Irish lead to 11 with 10 minutes remaining; another killer three-pointer in the corner (from Harangody) to extend the lead from 10 to 13; and yet again at the 7-minute mark to give the Irish a 12-point advantage.  When DePaul challenged, Ayers answered. There’s no reason Ayers can’t get 6-7 good looks from behind the arc per contest.

Jonathan Peoples – Ten minutes, five points, three boards, a steal, two turnovers, a missed open 3 (but he got his own rebound) and one nice finish and foul in the second half. I think Peoples needs more time on the floor for two reasons: 1.) Jackson and McAlarney need to remain fresh for 17 more Conference battles, and 2.) He needs to play in rhythm, as he’s anything but a spot-up shooter. The only way to play with rhythm is through more time on the court. Of course, he has to earn those minutes by knocking down wide open shots, something he did as a freshman and sophomore, but has yet to do this season.

Luke Zeller – Ten minutes, a three-pointer, a tip-in on the break in the second half (after starting the break with a loose ball tipped by Hillesland), and other than another offensive board, very little impact. Zeller, I believe, also needs more time, as he’ll never hit a high percentage squeezing off just four shots per contest. More on Zeller in tomorrow’s Player Previews.

Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott – Made an appearance with seconds remaining. Nash did not appear pleased.

Final Thoughts: Neither the Blue Demons nor the Irish played with enough defensive intensity to cause turnovers and, as a result, this was a cleanly played game that resembled a friendly contest between 10 (highly skilled) buddies looking to show off their offensive wares. That won’t be the case in future contests.

The Irish can score, and will score, vs. everyone in this Conference. They’ll have the usual 4-5 minute droughts, but so will Marquette, Pittsburgh, UCONN, Louisville, etc. And other than a few junk defenses, ND won’t put together too many defensive stops, so the only way they’ll improve over the next 17 games is to battle more on the glass and hit free throws at a 75% clip (Hillesland can get to 65% with better concentration/confidence).

Kudos: ESPN flashed a stat that deserves mention: Mike Brey is now 81-50 in Big East Conference games. His two predecessors were a combined 35-53

The Next Basketball Blog will follow Saturday’s contest vs. the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden.