The Basketball Blog - The Blog Runneth Over

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Today we test the limits of this blog’s bandwidth…

Sure the Irish looked like an NIT quarter-finalist Wednesday night vs. Rutgers, but it’s important to remember some of the Big East cellar dwellers can be dangerous at this time of year. To wit: Villanova 72 DePaul 70…and ‘Nova is Sweet Sixteen bound yet again. 

Accentuate the Positive:

• Coach Brey’s early 2^nd half pleading with a dead Joyce Center crowd (kind of hard to cheer when your squad is getting worked by a team that’s dropped 21 of its last 24 road games) was the most excited and animated I’ve seen him this season. And his team responded on the floor with a 31-16 run over the next 12 minutes to take control of the contest.

Then Again:

• The Irish hit one field goal (a K-Mac three-pointer at the 5:41 mark) over the last EIGHT MINUTES. And didn’t score a point from the 4:55 mark (Tory Jackson free throws) until 0:12 remained, when Luke Harangody calmly drained two crucial free throws to extend the lead to 67-62.

Scoring droughts such as these were par for the course last year as well (so common an occurrence it was one of my five listed weaknesses of this team in the pre-season). And I think I know three reasons why:

1.)    Let’s get the obvious out of the way: No one on the team can consistently break down his defender one-on-one and score. Jackson is probably your first option, but he relies on spectacular reverse spinning layups when he’s on his game (and playing at home). Not exactly what you’re looking for when you need a basket at the 3-minute mark.

2.)    The free-flowing style the Irish embrace for the first 30-34 minutes is completely abandoned when the game turns into a possession-for-possession battle. I understand that its human nature to milk the clock in close games; and the Irish are technically just looking for the best shot when they slow it down. But that’s not their style for the 80% of the game. How can they expect this approach to work for the crucial 20% near the end?

3.)    Harangody’s a tired warrior. Beaten down from carrying a squad that offered little aid for more than half of the conference games this season. More on this in its own section below.

Now, back to Rutgers…Rutgers is awful. They’re a nine-man turnover machine. I know Coach Brey has to compliment his inferior opponent after an ugly win, and the Scarlet Knights could be better next season (in theory), but Rutgers’ personnel is anything but “impressive.”

Yes, freshman Mike Rosario can score on most players at this level (or maybe any level as he progresses). And their big men are bothersome defensively with their combination of strength (Echenique) and length (N’Diaye). But 1-14 is 1-14.  

Defensive Improvement, Defensive Issues

“About as good of a look as you’re going to get when the other team needs to shoot a 3.”

That’s an end-game quote from game commentator Mike Kelley (who knows a thing or two about real defense). With Rutgers down five and 12 seconds remaining, guard Anthony Farmer took all of four seconds to dribble to his right and drain a 3, cutting the lead to two. Now, Rutgers being Rutgers, they lost track of Tory Jackson down court; committed an intentional foul; game over.

But that’s not the point. This team has recently agreed to play defense in spurts (rather than not at all). But they’ve shown the mental toughness to play that way for 40 minutes just once this season (Louisville). I just want to prepare you for a maddening ending vs. either UConn or Villanova, and/or any second round opponent in Madison Square Garden.

Individually, Ryan Ayers had the best four-minute stretch of any Irish player I’ve seen this season (including the block of the year at the Joyce Center). But he played 36 minutes, not four, and was schooled by Rosario more often than not (Jackson eventually switched to guard the Scarlet Knights talented freshman).

And Jackson came through with 5-6 strong minutes as well, pressuring Rosario into two turnovers, forcing an air ball, and denying him the ball in half-court sets. But it was Jackson who failed to close out on Rosario’s 3 that cut the Irish lead from 12 to 9. Jackson that lost Rosario on a breakout pass 30 seconds later to cut the lead to 7. And Jackson that raised a half-hearted defensive hand when Rutgers absolutely had to hit a 3 (and did) to cut the lead to two with under 0:10 to play.

For the 2009 Irish, defense is still seen as an annoying means to an end rather than one-half of the game. 

Lineup Quandaries

For the first time this season, I think I see the coaching staff’s issue with the incorporation of their three-man bench. Mind you, I didn’t notice this at the game, because I was amazed that Luke Zeller could play a nearly perfect half (offensively) and not take off his warm-up after intermission. And I was shocked that a dead-legged Harangody didn’t cede more playing time in the middle of the 2^nd half to Tyrone Nash.

Zeller/Nash combined numbers vs. Rutgers:
19 minutes, 14 points, 3 offensive rebounds, 5-5 from the field, 3-6 from the line, one 3-point basket (Zeller), two “And 1s” (Nash), two assists (both Zeller to Nash). Total second half minutes: TWO. In those two minutes, Nash grabbed an offensive rebound, put it back strong for a bucket, and was slammed to the floor (fouled).

Those aren’t “stolen minutes,” (common coach-speak for: our bench stinks). On the contrary, if you remove Harangody from the equation, those minutes might be better than any two starter contributions you’ve seen from the Irish this season.

For the final time (pardon my broken record): Tyrone Nash needs to play more, at least until crunch time when his foul shooting (pardon the pun) becomes a liability.

But believe it or not, I finally see Coach Brey’s point of view: Who do you take out?

Two of Ayers/Jackson/Peoples have to be on the floor or Notre Dame wouldn’t stop a 7^th grader from getting into the lane.

The “Providence Lineup” of Zeller/Ayers/K-Mac/Peoples/Nash again looked strong in limited minutes vs. Rutgers, but we all agree Harangody needs 34-35 minutes (just not 37-40 anymore).

Zeller can’t/won’t/doesn’t close out on shooters, even in a zone. Zach Hillesland poses zero offensive threat as teams (even Rutgers) finally figured out if you back off him by five feet he won’t drive and create shots for others…or attempt and open shot. He’s beaten down by guarding better and bigger players for the last two months, and if not injured, he’s at least severely hurting (he grabs his hip after nearly every collision).

Kyle McAlarney, while in no way deserving of 39-40 minutes, certainly needs to be on the court as much as possible, if for no other reason than to spread the floor. He defines the basketball term “threat”: If K-Mac misses 10 straight you still need to guard him closely.

So whose minutes should be cut? Jackson? The Irish aren’t winning two Big East Tourney games without 30 minutes of inspired basketball from their starting point guard. (You have to admit, Peoples has been used nearly perfectly for five of the last six halves of basketball. You’re not consistently getting 30 good minutes from a guy that’s been conditioned for 12).

Lineup continuity is a major issue: Nash is a better rebounder with Harangody next to him and a better player with Hillesland feeding him passes as a cutter in the lane. Zeller is a better player with a cutting, active Nash as well. Try coming up with a quality lineup that involves those four at the same time.

Peoples is the perfect compliment to a lineup that has scorers, but three of the team’s four scorers are perimeter players. That’s four perimeter players and Harangody. Good luck battling on the boards with Ayers as your second tallest player.

These issues should have been worked out in December vs. South Dakota rather than Saturday in Storrs.

Notre Dame entered the season confident that their bench would fill-in as niche players to augment an experienced starting five. What they failed to realize was that more than half of their starting five were in fact “niche players” as well.

Every team needs role players, just not six of them.

The Weight of the World

I first noticed this at Syracuse in mid-January but tried to ignore it. Luke Harangody, the previous master of low-block position; an unorthodox mixture of ballet and bull in the paint; has stopped fighting for post position. He’s expanded his game as a shooter and it’s improved his draft stock. He’s developed a fade away jumper and running hook to combat the likes of Hasheem Thabeet. He’s even a judicious three-point threat.

And regrettably, he’s often halfway down the court after every miss. In his 1-9 and 2-12 start vs. the Scarlet Knights, only three times was he moving towards the basket on a shot. He’s started to rely on the fade away rather than just incorporate it, and if he’s more than 7-feet from the hoop after a shot he rarely crashes the boards. To make matters worse, only Tyrone Nash and Jonathan Peoples have the foresight to attack the offensive glass when Harangody releases a shot (while everybody else stands where they’ve spotted up).  

With 7:30 remaining vs. Rutgers, Harangody attempted a contested fade away jumper when the player guarding him (N’Diaye) had four fouls. Allow me to quote the person sitting next to me (my wife, who as far as I know, has never coached a basketball game):

“Why is he fading away when that guy has four fouls?”

I wish Luke was asked that question on the bench at the next dead ball.  

The Irish won’t beat DePaul/South Florida/Rutgers in the Tuesday opening round Big East Tourney game if Harangody doesn’t receive some help/rest over the next 11 days.

Note: this is NOT a hustle issue for Harangody who, despite shooting 15 of his 25 shots moving away from the basket, secured six offensive boards, four of which eventually led to points. In fact, even after complaining to refs (don’t get me started on the flopping) after two no-calls, it was Harangody who sprinted 90-feet to grab two defensive boards. And it’s Harangody who fights two opponents for every contested rebound. When the Irish have a rare fast break, Harangody invariably is the first man cutting down the middle of the court looking for the ball or rebound.

Notre Dame’s best player needs rest on the bench. At least two short stints in both halves. Otherwise he’s going to continue to “rest” when he needs to post-up on the low block and the Irish late-game offense will continue to sputter.

The Game of the Year

I referred to the January 24, Joyce Center matchup with UConn as the biggest regular season game for Notre Dame since 1987 (vs. No. 1 North Carolina). Well, that moment is long gone. But tomorrow’s matchup in Storrs is undoubtedly the defining game of the year for the 2009 Irish.

A win at UConn will turn every NCAA Selection Committee member’s head. That win would be the road pelt the Irish resume needs. A 3-6 conference road mark that includes wins over Providence and UConn is much more valuable than defending your home court vs. Villanova, but finishing 2-7 on the road. As I wrote last week, for some reason, the basketball world believes in this Notre Dame team much more than in their past bubble seasons. They’re dying to put the Irish in the tourney. ND just needs to give them a reason.

Wins vs. DePaul (currently 16^th in the Big East), Rutgers (15), South Florida (14), hopefully splitting with St. John’s (13), Georgetown (12), Seton Hall (11), Providence (6), and Louisville (2) will look a lot more impressive with UConn (1) on the docket.

Impressive enough to quell the crowd that would rather see the likes of UNLV, Siena, and Maryland receive one of the final spots. Take out the Huskies and Monday’s dead-even matchup with Villanova won’t be played with a bid in the balance.

A full Scouting Report for the UConn game will appear on the homepage Saturday.