2015 Men's ACC Tournament Thread (ND ACC Champs)

[Grahambo]

no offense, but this type of thing pisses me off. ive had season tix since the early 00s and nobody supports the mens bb team. everyone goes off to their basketball team, mostly duke or iu or whatever top 10 program they can bandwagon. then when nd is "good" (except nd has been a perennial top 25 team under brey) the football fans come crawling out claiming to have been an nd fan the entire time.

im not hating on the bandwagon, just seems like the kids that have been busting their ass for the past 30 years deserved your fanhood every bit as much as this year's team.

I think you are...haha

 

[AgentJ]

I think you are...haha

maybe a lil... lol

ill welcome the bandwagon so we can fill up indy in the final four, just hoping people start paying attention. mens bb is pretty neglected by the university as far as facilities and budget. people have hated on brey for years but he does more with less than anyone. he is one of the best coaches of the past decade imo, yet some wanted him fired going into this season

 

[irishfan]

maybe a lil... lol

ill welcome the bandwagon so we can fill up indy in the final four, just hoping people start paying attention. mens bb is pretty neglected by the university as far as facilities and budget. people have hated on brey for years but he does more with less than anyone. he is one of the best coaches of the past decade imo, yet some wanted him fired going into this season

This. If you told Calipari/Pitino/Coach K/Brad Stevens to rank the ACC jobs in terms of where it would be the easiest to win, ND would come in 13th IMO only ahead of BC of VA Tech.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Brey hasn't shown he can win a tourney game. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people being critical of him for that. We've had teams good enough to do it and we haven't.

 

[irishfan]

maybe a lil... lol

ill welcome the bandwagon so we can fill up indy in the final four, just hoping people start paying attention. mens bb is pretty neglected by the university as far as facilities and budget. people have hated on brey for years but he does more with less than anyone. he is one of the best coaches of the past decade imo, yet some wanted him fired going into this season

Per ISD

NOTRE DAME ROTATION (ESPN rankings)
Demetrius Jackson – 4 star – No. 24 nationally
V.J. Beachem – 4 star – No. 70 nationally
Jerian Grant – 4 star – No. 96 nationally
Pat Connaughton – 4 star – Unranked
Bonzie Colson – 4 star – Unranked
Steve Vasturia – 3 star – Unranked
Zach Auguste – 3 star – Unranked
Austin Torres – 3 star – Unranked

DUKE ROTATION (ESPN rankings)
Jahlil Okafor – 5 star – No. 1 nationally
Tyus Jones – 5 star – No. 4 nationally
Justise Winslow – 5 star – No. 15 nationally
Grayson Allen – 5 star – No. 21 nationally
Amile Jefferson – 4 star – No. 25 nationally
Marshall Plumlee – 4 star – No. 35 nationally
Matt Jones – 4 star – No. 36 nationally
Quinn Cook – 4 star – No. 38 nationally

NORTH CAROLINA ROTATION (ESPN rankings)
Justin Jackson – 5 star – No. 8 nationally
Joel Berry II – 5 star – No. 17 nationally
Isaiah Hicks – 5 star – No. 18 nationally
Marcus Paige – 4 star – No. 22 nationally
Brice Johnson – 4 star – No. 34 nationally
Kennedy Meeks – 4 star – No. 59 nationally
Joel James – 4 star – No. 60 nationally
J.P. Tokoto – 4 star – No. 70 nationally

 

[IrishLax]

Per ISD

So basically, outside of Demetrius Jackson, there isn't a single player on ND that was ranked higher coming out of high school than a single player on UNC/Duke. Crazy. That's full KSTATE football level over-achievement.

 

[BobbyMac]

no offense, but this type of thing pisses me off. ive had season tix since the early 00s and nobody supports the mens bb team. everyone goes off to their basketball team, mostly duke or iu or whatever top 10 program they can bandwagon. then when nd is "good" (except nd has been a perennial top 25 team under brey) the football fans come crawling out claiming to have been an nd fan the entire time.

im not hating on the bandwagon, just seems like the kids that have been busting their ass for the past 30 years deserved your fanhood every bit as much as this year's team.

No offense taken AgentJ. I played against the Irish in college.

I've warmed up a bit since Harangody signed but it's with much humility that I have to root for ND and Butler year in and year out in the tourney as they represent the home state. This year the Crusaders are back to form... 28-5 and ready for a run to the Sweet 16. (fingers crossed)



.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

maybe a lil... lol

ill welcome the bandwagon so we can fill up indy in the final four, just hoping people start paying attention. mens bb is pretty neglected by the university as far as facilities and budget. people have hated on brey for years but he does more with less than anyone. he is one of the best coaches of the past decade imo, yet some wanted him fired going into this season

I've been a fan since the Digger Phelps era. Unless a fanbase is rooting for a bball dominant school like Duke or Kentucky, you're not going to see your fans as rabid as they should be. Remember football is one game a week and EVERY game counts. In bball, it's a long season & teams can survive a bad loss. While my expectations aren't as high as with football, I was growing weary of Brey's team consistent one & done in the Big Dance to double digit inferior seeds. Not that I called for his firing b/c after all it's ND bball....who they gonna attract? It has made me appreciate what Digger accomplished when the tourney was 32 teams. There's few excuses for not getting in the tourney nowadays....it's become like the NFL playoffs. Brey has me firmly entrenched in his camp after his excellent coaching this season & the ACC crown. I'm still wary of an early exit in the NCAA but I'll hope for this run to continue.

 

[MNIrishman]

I've been a fan since the Digger Phelps era. Unless a fanbase is rooting for a bball dominant school like Duke or Kentucky, you're not going to see your fans as rabid as they should be. Remember football is one game a week and EVERY game counts. In bball, it's a long season & teams can survive a bad loss. While my expectations aren't as high as with football, I was growing weary of Brey's team consistent one & done in the Big Dance to double digit inferior seeds. Not that I called for his firing b/c after all it's ND bball....who they gonna attract? It has made me appreciate what Digger accomplished when the tourney was 32 teams. There's few excuses for not getting in the tourney nowadays....it's become like the NFL playoffs. Brey has me firmly entrenched in his camp after his excellent coaching this season & the ACC crown. I'm still wary of an early exit in the NCAA but I'll hope for this run to continue.

This is the part I don't understand. The Irish are well-positioned geographically to attract great basketball players in a state that's basketball-crazy. Heck, MSU, Illinois, Purdue, Louisville, and Indiana all do it. Is there anything in our way besides facilities? I hope that a good run this year might encourage some investment in that area.

 

[texbender]

Hats off to this team for an unbelievable season. There were many opportunities for them to fold throughout the season, but they stood strong, and really only had 1 bad game at Duke.
As someone commented, they're a lot like KState in football...achieve a lot with lesser talent. Kudos to Brey & staff.
Going forward, would be nice to up it a notch or two with the momentum, great BB conference, etc., but ND will always be about FB, and academics will limit the kind of player ND can recruit. The ace ballers are many times inner city kids from schools that are not academically challenging a student destined for ND. But Irish success and Brey style should be more attractive, along with playing in the ACC.

 

[Dizzyphil]

Ok, now THAT may be the biggest win in ND history...that's up there with 78 DePaul...

Agreed...Those last two games were an absolutely a blast to watch! let's go Irish!

Mine is still knocking UCLA off the mountain in '74.....

Diz

 

[Buster Bluth]

This is the part I don't understand. The Irish are well-positioned geographically to attract great basketball players in a state that's basketball-crazy. Heck, MSU, Illinois, Purdue, Louisville, and Indiana all do it. Is there anything in our way besides facilities? I hope that a good run this year might encourage some investment in that area.

ND will never take a kid trying to jump to the NBA after a season or two, so that limitation will always be there.

They could really step their scheduling game up though. If they put football's Shamrock Series game in November (which it is this year), they could schedule a basketball game for the Friday before and get the team one-game unique jerseys. If recruits like it for football, they'll be all about it in basketball.

 

[Irish Insanity]

ND will never take a kid trying to jump to the NBA after a season or two, so that limitation will always be there.

Duke was that way once upon a time.

 

[NDPhilly]

ND will never take a kid trying to jump to the NBA after a season or two, so that limitation will always be there.

They could really step their scheduling game up though. If they put football's Shamrock Series game in November (which it is this year), they could schedule a basketball game for the Friday before and get the team one-game unique jerseys. If recruits like it for football, they'll be all about it in basketball.

We were going pretty damn hard after Caleb Swanigan before he cut us

 

[Irish#1]

I've been watching ND basketball for a long time. When Digger was hired things suddenly changed. FB was still king, but he was able to bring in top flight talent. Beating UCLA to end the 88 game win streak is still the biggest win in Irish history. Making the final four was the greatest accomplishment.

I don't know if it is just Brey or the facilities, but you can get top kids to play at ND. Kelly proved the naysayers wrong. Brey doesn't have to find nearly as many to fill a roster.

 

[Crazy Balki]

We don't need 5-star studs across the boards, but in basketball more so, kids need to understand the value of a ND degree. In football, yeah, theres a very good chance that you can get drafted and cash in a big pay day. In basketball, those chances are SEVERELY slimmer. NFL draft has 7 rounds and several undrafted slots, whereas the NBA has 2 and the 2nd round rarely yields anybody worth keeping for more than pre-season camp.

Sure there are those select sure-fire 1st round guys that'll go to UK, Kansas, Duke. But outside of that, you aren't guaranteed sh*t in basketball.

 

[PerthDomer]

With the Atkins/Connaughton class we started filling our roster with 100ish rated guys. We've continued that and lo and behold we're getting athletic. This happened to coincide with the Purcell renovation. If we go on a tear we could start getting mostly 30-80 rated guys and be really good. You don't need the 5 stars.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Hats off to this team for an unbelievable season. There were many opportunities for them to fold throughout the season, but they stood strong, and really only had 1 bad game at Duke.
As someone commented, they're a lot like KState in football...achieve a lot with lesser talent. Kudos to Brey & staff.
Going forward, would be nice to up it a notch or two with the momentum, great BB conference, etc., but ND will always be about FB, and academics will limit the kind of player ND can recruit. The ace ballers are many times inner city kids from schools that are not academically challenging a student destined for ND. But Irish success and Brey style should be more attractive, along with playing in the ACC.

I would compare ND bball to Stanford fball...not KState. Stanford (under Harbaugh/Shaw) achieved a lot w/ lesser talent due to academics just like ND bball. I'd say Iowa State is the basketball version of KState. They both succeed by loading up on JUCOs and transfers which is fine for them and it has produced success.

 

[jspags10pg]

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[NDGOLDEN]

I feel like this thread should be titled ACC Tournament Champions with a million explanation points

 

[RDU Irish]

What a night. I'm still on a high from it (even after the predictable NCAA crap draw). Loved watching UNC fans start clearing out with 3 minutes left. Some fans, giving up on their team that easily. Haven't they seen us play all year? In the end, 1000% pure awesome.

Got some sweet pics of the guys taking down the nets, my son with the Leprechaun, Zach Auguste, Horace and Harvey Grant and Steve Vasturia.

Auguste is coming on at the right time. When his head is right, he is a force on both ends. Played his best two games of the season IMO. I think Bonzi takes a lot of pressure off of him. Zach accepting Bonzi's roll is a deal, I got the feeling he was threatened by him and now sees that they can compliment eachother.

I initially didn't get the Grant for MVP, thought it was just a makeup call by the sportswriters for wrongly giving the regular season MVP to Okafor. Re-watched the UNC game yesterday an really saw how instrumental Grant was on both sides of the floor. Scoring is only part of the story with him and he opens up so much for everyone else. I think his jumper was little off most of the weekend and he could feel that so didn't force much, instead pushing to the paint and drawing fouls. A lot of that was welcome game plan of attacking the rim but being there Thursday in particular, he just never seemed to get into his shooting groove and was frustrated by it.

Vasturia just quietly destroys other teams. Defensively his guy always underperforms. Offensively he is sneaky good. Doesn't seem to waste any motion and almost looks like he isn't trying but always just out of reach of the other team.

DJ is a boss. Really coming on at the right time. LOVE the screaming dunk on the steal. He looks ready to take over leadership of our team next year.

PAT was red hot the team did a great job fueling that fire last night. What a monster down low for his size.

BREY was the most pumped up I have ever seen him. He wanted this BAD. Not only the emotion but the game plans were phenomenal vs UNC and Duke. Out coached two hall of famers in back to back nights, not to mention every commentator who thought one-on-one with Okafor was suicide. I have had reservations about Brey but I can say he earned a lot of respect in this tourney.