The Basketball Blog - Rediscovering a Skill

Welcome back to the world’s most surprised Basketball Blog!

This seems like the perfect time (after a win) to work in a long-awaited rant:

There’s a difference between “wanting to win” and “playing hard.” Wanting to win is ingrained in every team, player, coach, and fan. Everyone wants to win to varying degrees. But the scoreboard doesn't care if you "want" to win. 

Playing hard, on the other hand, is a skill in basketball. It’s as important shooting, ball handling, or any other basketball drill practiced by 3^rd graders at camps across the country. And last night, for the first time since a January 24 loss to Connecticut, the Irish played hard as a team for 40 minutes in a 90-57 domination of No. 7 Louisville.

The final score is irrelevant (well, maybe not to the NCAA Committee, but we’ll cross that bridge later). The means to that shocking end is what needs to be addressed. Irish players hit the floor (repeatedly) at the mere possibility of a loose ball. Senior captains fought for rebounds and contested entry passes. A junior All-American and a now gainfully employed sophomore forward met on the boards for the same errant shot on more than one occasion. Defenders moved their feet, closed out on perimeter shooters, and fouled with authority to prevent dunks and layups.

The Irish not only played their most physically tough game of the season, but were finally the mentally superior team as well. Occasional mishaps vs. the Cardinals’ pressure didn’t lead to a run by the visitors but rather to open transition baskets on ensuing possessions.

Shooters knocked down open shots, cutters filled the lanes with authority, and the big three of Harangody/Jackson/McAlarney repeatedly attacked the rim looking to score or draw a foul.

The Irish were overdue to break out of a scoring slump, but it would have mattered little had they not coupled that known team commodity with the recently forgotten skill… playing hard.

Louisville admitted defeat early in the second half last night, but that takes nothing away from the Irish effort (besides, have you ever seen a team quit when things are going well?). Notre Dame’s heralded, experienced team finally beat a very good team into submission.

Zach Hillesland penetrated under control (for the most part). Tyrone Nash brought 14 minutes of energy, patience with the ball, defensive pressure, and toughness. Neither Nash nor Hillesland scored in the game’s first 34 minutes, but the Irish would have struggled to win without them.

Kyle McAlarney was his Joyce Center self again (with an extra does of hustle mixed in). Ryan Ayers made the Cardinals pay for their full-court pressure, hitting the only two “crucial” buckets of the game: two three-pointers to extend the Irish lead from 10 to 13 and from 8 to 11 late in the first half.

Tory Jackson was the best guard on the court and rediscovered his love for attacking the boards and the defense. Luke Zeller played just five minutes (all in the first half) but filled the lane, found the cutter, and most importantly, fouled hard late in the first half when the Cardinals were looking for a spark. And of course, Harangody was a dominant force.

There’s nothing more you could ask of this team…except of course that they play this hard again.

Three Coaching Notes:

I’ve recently pointed out the perceived failures of this coaching staff so it’s important to be accountable and note the successes as well:

• I was certain Coach Brey would award Tyrone Nash with a “panic start,” the change for the sake of change move most of us have been calling for. Credit Brey for bringing Nash off the bench (early) instead to ease him into the contest.
• Brey’s mid-game adjustments, such as allowing Hillesland to break man-to-man pressure rather than simply using Jackson vs. quicker guards, were worthy of a leader that’s the reigning back-to-back Big East Coach of the Year. 
• Rarely does the “back to tryouts/training camp” coach-speak translate to game action. But the atmosphere created by the coaching staff in practice this week (the same staff I graded with an “F” through 22 games this season) worked like a charm, and it should be employed again in preparation for three “must-play-hard” games over the next nine days vs. South Florida, West Virginia, and Providence.