BlueandGold.com - Old School With O'Malley

The Basketball Blog - NIT Fever

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:21:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! If you woke up with a case of the chills, a slight headache, or maybe a runny nose, fear not, you aren’t suffering from a spring cold. It could simply be you’ve caught the latest version of the super flu sweeping the nation….NIT FEVER!

The Irish, clad in their usual home whites on St. Patrick’s Day (Digger Phelps is not walking through that door), entertained the Blazers from Alabama-Birmingham in front of a sparse crowd, excuse me, gathering….actually, make that a smattering of spectators at the Joyce Center last night.

The unofficial attendance breakdown is as follows:

Two cushioned sections (green seats) that were ¾ full of sufficiently lubed-up students on St. Patrick’s Day; similarly populated mid-court sections (yellow and blue seats for you Joyce Center regulars); a few social networks mixed into the cushioned corners; happy wanderers behind the other basket (purple seats), about six UAB fans; I’m sure 10-12 good-hearted folks that mistook this event for a Women’s First Round NCAA Tournament game, and thankfully, the ND band.

Anyone sitting in the bleachers after the game’s first 10 minutes was being ironical...

Which leads us to:

The Top 10 Comments/Text Messages overheard/received at the Joyce Center Last Night:

10.) “They haven’t looked this good since Ireland…”

9.) “Hey Tim, I can’t find the game on TV, is the NIT on Lifetime or The History Channel?” – Text message from Atlanta

8.) (After a technical foul) “Someone should tell (UAB coach) Mike Davis to relax, it’s the NIT.” – Actually I said that but couldn’t figure out a way to work it into the Blog.

7.) “What do you think the usher to fan ratio is tonight?” (My wife and BGI’s Jason Meyers in a collaborative effort).

6.) “Friends and Family Night at the Joyce, eh?” – Text message, Rhode Island

5.) (In response to my mid-February guess that 6,000 would show up) “Sara says there are 6,000 if everyone is pregnant with twins” – Text message from Philadelphia

4.) “Tim, yell something, I bet I can hear you...” – Text message, Columbus, OH

3.) “You know, (opponent’s name withheld) has the facial appearance of a full-grown midget.” – Columbus, again

2.) After a Luke Zeller dunk in (relative) traffic – “Is that Tyler’s brother?” – UNC fan living in Atlanta…sarcasm is apparently alive and well in the South

And the No. 1 Comment/Text Message from the Joyce Center last night…

“Look around…this is what happens when your goal is a one-game winning streak.”

Survive and Advance

The Irish were interested if not intense, and prevailed 70-64 (click here for Todd Burlage’s game recap). Luke Harangody was a leg-weary warrior, again scratching out baskets when his team needed them most (including a key bucket out of a Brey-called time-out and set play to extend the Irish lead to seven with two minutes remaining). The Blazers apparently received the scouting report on K-Mac as he was forced to work through switching defenders for most of his 12 points. Both Ryan Ayers and Harangody hit the floor for late-game loose balls while Ayers added timely weak side defense and connected on 3-7 from beyond the arc.

And just to make sure you knew it was still 2009, the Irish gave up 14 layups (13 that mattered) and one vicious dunk. Robert Vaden, UAB’s veteran star – who I believe transferred from IU just after the Keith Smart era – lit up ND’s defense for 24 points including a 6-13 performance from long range. He could have doubled that total back in his youth…

Finally, Tory Jackson shook off an overall sloppy performance by drilling two key free throws with 57 seconds remaining (63-60 ND).

However, due to both unfortunate timing and a 2-12 record vs. NCAA Tournament participants, the Irish will entertain New Mexico (Steve Alford actually is walking through those doors!) tomorrow night for Round 2 in front of what I assume will be an even smaller collection of curious onlookers, as Thursday is the first day of the Real Tournament, which will inevitably preclude the majority of students, casual basketball fans, diehard basketball fans, diehard drinkers that pretend to like basketball for three weeks, and most non-family members from attending.

However, a win vs. the Lobos would put the Irish on the precipice of the Final Four (so to speak) with a likely matchup vs. Kentucky or Creighton early next week. Fan acknowledgement and attendance, wherever the game is played, would likely spike for either quarterfinal matchup. Unfortunately, so will the opponent’s level of play.

Until then, the Irish will toil in obscurity in their own barren gym. There’s no winning streak to protect; no eight-hour pregame show on campus, no rabid fan base to appease; and no students partying in their honor…just another team among many striving for mediocrity, and for one program, an upbeat end in The Garden to an otherwise forgettable season.

I believe Coach Brey and the seniors when they say that they want to hang the program’s first NIT banner in the rafters after the season. But what happens if you throw a banner-hanging ceremony and no one shows up?

The Basketball Blog: Self-Inflicted Wounds

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:50:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! No, last night wasn’t a major surprise if you’ve followed this ill-prepared basketball team over the last 15 weeks, but that doesn’t make it less frustrating.

[More]

The Basketball Blog - Viewer's Guide to the Tourney

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:18:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Today we offer your complete Viewer’s Guide to the 2009 Big East Tournament, also known around South Bend (or at least around this Blog and by Zach Hillesland) as the Drive for Five (more on Hillesland later). [More]

The Basketball Blog - A Burden Lifted

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:47:00 -0500

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.

[More]

The Basketball Blog - The Blog Runneth Over

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:54:00 -0500

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

[More]

The Basketball Blog - Bubble Free Zone

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:44:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Today’s version is Bubble-free, as all speculation will be tabled until (at least) next week at this time after the Irish have returned from a battle at UConn. [More]

The Basketball Blog - Two Down, Two to Go

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:01:00 -0500

"It's an old fashion hole-diggin'. By Gar, it's been a while."

– Jasper Beardley, The Simpsons

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Notre Dame broke ground on its now shaky NCAA Tournament foundation with an early January loss at St. John’s; continued digging when it forfeited its identity in back-to-back home losses later in the month, and started filling in their own grave in a double digit loss to a Cincinnati team it had to beat.

[More]

The Basketball Blog - Rediscovering a Skill

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:01:00 -0500

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.
[More]

The Basketball Blog - Bubbling Over

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:43:00 -0500

Welcome back to the world's most disappointed Basketball Blog!

According to Monday’s USA Today, since the publication began administering the coach’s poll in 1991-92, only nine teams that began a season ranked in the pre-season Top 10 failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

[More]

The Basketball Blog - We Wanted It To Be One Way...

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:03:00 -0500

“You want it to be one way…but it’s the other way.”

– Marlo Stanfield, HBO’s “The Wire”

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog, where I can’t shake the feeling that something is missing…

[More]

The Basketball Blog - Joyce Center Magic

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:21:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Today’s column is for the 20-30 people in the world that see the letters A-C-C and don’t immediately think of the Athletic Coast Conference. It’s for people that remember watching Digger break out the gold(ish) jerseys vs. any Top 20 team with a pulse. It’s for the girls that wore “Just Say Yes” T-shirts on national television during a 1987 upset of No. 1 ranked North Carolina. It’s for the 1977 Notre Dame Student Body named the game’s Most Valuable “Player” due to their overall impact in an upset of the nation’s #1 team (San Francisco).

[More]

The Basketball Blog - Plugging the Leaks

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:30:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Today’s column runs the gamut – from preaching patience to an official airing of grievances (mine). Observations regarding deficiencies that can’t be fixed and those that should be; All Star opponents; and, as always, (my) unsolicited advice…free of charge.

[More]

The Basketball Blog - 40-Minute Men

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:06:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog! Today’s column remains solid for just under 40 minutes, but I had almost no help, and had nothing left for the crucial finish.

You can find Todd Burlage’s game recap and box here. Now, onto the player breakdowns:

[More]

A Daunting Task - Continued

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:54:00 -0500

Welcome back to the Basketball Blog and the continuation of Notre Dame’s Big East schedule breakdown. You can find the first portion of this look-ahead here.

[More]

The Basketball Blog - A Daunting Task

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:21:00 -0500

Last season I broke down the Irish Big East schedule into nine neat and easy mini-seasons; predicted a 12-6 finish; and was happily a full two games off as the Irish completed the challenging slate at 14-4, tied for a second place finish.

[More]