The Basketball Blog - A Burden Lifted

Welcome Back to the Basketball Blog. It was midway through the second half of Game No. 29 that the meaningful portion of the Notre Dame Basketball season officially ended. This finality arrived for the Irish in familiar fashion: meekly, defenseless, and with Tyrone Nash watching from the bench.

There’s no reason to harp on the loss to Villanova, I can sum it up with two points of emphasis that were obvious to anyone that studied opponent game film (prior to last night’s contest):

• Villanova and Scottie Reynolds excel in executing one of the oldest and simplest plays in basketball: the high-pick-and-roll….Notre Dame’s defense looked as if it had never seen nor heard of the 40-year old basketball staple.
• Villanova did an excellent job of fronting and denying the pass into the post….and Luke Harangody and the Irish did an even more impressive job of allowing that to happen. 

But one sequence deserves mention, as “Coaching Adjustments” was a highlighted bullet point in BGI’s pre-game scouting report:

Tyrone Nash was the predominant defender vs. Villanova big man Dante Cunningham for the game’s first 27 minutes. Nash wasn’t perfect, but he had frustrated Cunningham (the 54% shooter was 4-11, throwing multiple elbows that were, thankfully, returned by Nash); and Cunningham did not score from the 4:51 mark of the first half to the 12:50 mark of the second.

Nash took at seat at the 13:43 mark of the 2^nd half. In a 2-minute, 47-second span, Reynolds drained a 3 on another poorly defended pick and roll (set by Cunningham, defended by Kyle McAlarney/Harangody), and then Dante Cunningham scored the next eight points on four shots/four Villanova possessions. On the fifth possession, Shane Clark (five points per game average) scored the next bucket.

That’s 10 straight points; all with Harangody defending; all with Nash on the bench. Nash reentered after three dead balls, two timeouts, and 4:05 had elapsed. That, my fellow residents of Basketball Purgatory, is what is commonly referred to as a “Coaching Adjustment.”

The Big Picture

A single loss isn’t the issue for this lost team. And sometimes when a season runs off the rails so violently it’s necessary to look at the program from the fans’ perspective, because the 2009 Irish were somehow able to undo much of the goodwill engendered by their two/three predecessors.

Midway through the first half (with the game tied) I was asked if it seemed that Villanova was the team that was playing for its tournament life, not the Irish.

My serious response: “No, they (Villanova) just always play like that.”

Notre Dame, on the other hand, does not. In fact, they played “like that” four times since returning as the conquering runners-up from Maui in late November: vs. Georgetown, Louisville (both times), and Saturday at Connecticut.

“That” isn’t easily found in statistics (other than the W/L columns) and “that” is what educated basketball fans want to see: desire, competitiveness, will. When you stay in your seat only out of bitterness as thousands file out around you, well, that’s a pretty good sign your level of expectations haven’t been met.

Had the Irish players and coaching staff approached “that” level of play in the other 14 Conference games we’d be celebrating a fifth place finish and looking forward to next week’s one-game bye in the Big East Tournament.

Instead, the overnight bags for New York are again packed; the Irish can save time and money at Michiana Regional Airport by carrying-on their rolling travel bags. Toiletries won’t be necessary…Manhattan hotels generally provide deodorant and tooth brushes for anyone with a brief layover in the Big Apple.

Most teams set pre-season goals. I’m not privy to Notre Dame’s 2009 list, but I do know the coaching staff met one of its objectives: lowering expectations. 

Yes, Notre Dame can again relish the underdog role the staff so readily embraces (likeable underdogs generally fight and scratch for every point and inch, but that’s a column for another time). The team’s two-season “Our House” home court identity established by previous squads was unceremoniously stripped away by three visitors that “got after” the Irish.

(If you’re looking for a loose definition of “got after” that’s Notre Dame post-game-ease for: That team practices and embraces defensive intensity, aggressiveness, and accountability while we fear it. But hey, if you leave us open, we’re a dangerous little team! Merit badges for every senior.)

Unworthy

The Irish teams of ’06, ’07, and ’08 were also limited defensively and athletically, but they played for 40 minutes (or I suppose 39:55 if you count the Heartbreak Kids of ’06) and rarely dropped a game simply because the other team “wanted it more.” (And as an aside, please stop insulting our intelligence by explaining that Villanova, West Virginia, Marquette, et al “wanted it more” this year. We were able to discern that ourselves).

The 2006 squad (6-10 with losses by an aggregate 35 points; five overtimes intermixed; six games ending on the final possession), 2007 (11-5) and 2008 (14-4) were led by senior overachievers that developed and improved over the course of four seasons (Chris Quinn, Colin Falls, Russell Carter, and Rob Kurz). They were teams of which, as a fan, you could be proud. They first suffered through losses; then built an identity; defended that identity, and re-established Notre Dame as a player in modern college basketball entering the 2009 season. They had plenty of shortcomings, but “wanting it” was not one of them.

At the outset of 2009 you could feel the Joyce Center crowd embrace this new identity every time the corny but effective, “Together we fight…Together we WIN” pre-game video montage came to a crescendo. If you were looking for the loudest place on earth you could have simply come to South Bend on January 24 and walked inside the JACC when the beloved Irish took the floor vs. Connecticut. Just five games later, the same crowd is now restless and disgruntled (or as Michael Scott would say: Don’t worry, they’re all extremely gruntled…) after watching the experienced Irish inexplicably wilt under game and defensive pressure.

The college basketball talent level on the Notre Dame roster is near the middle of the Big East pack (they lack overall team athleticism but possess most essential basketball skills). Their game-tested experience level is at the top of the Conference. They have one of the best scorers and rebounders in the conference and the best shooter. But their collective desire to be great is just north of that of 0-15 DePaul’s.

2010

Next season will be better, and more importantly, different. You don’t become two-time Big East Coach of the Year by simply being a good guy. Adjustments will be made in the off-season. An assistant coach that can play the bad cop role (emphasizing annoying little things such as hustle, boxing out rather than watching the ball, and defensive teamwork) will likely be brought onboard. And new blood such as transfers Ben Hansbrough and Todd Martin as well as young talent in Tyrone Nash, Carleton Scott, and redshirt forward Tim Ambromaitis will bring a fresh, hungry approach to augment Harangody, Jackson, and Jonathan Peoples. Four freshman forwards will join the team (the bench needs ballast, lest it float away).

But the 2009 season was a complete failure. Even potentially hanging the school’s first NIT banner would be of little consequence for a team that was capable of the school’s third run to the Sweet Sixteen over the past two decades. There were legitimate expectations that a winner existed in South Bend and there was something to be excited about during the winter months. Now you have to question if a team that had found its niche is on the right track.

The Irish coaching staff accidentally accomplished one unwritten goal this season:

The burden of winning has officially been lifted.