#3 Notre Dame vs. #7 Wichita State (Sweet 16)

[Irish#1]

If ND can out hustle WSU they will win - if they aren't willing to mix it up, dive for loose balls and basically scratch and claw til the end of the game they wont. Simple as that. Grant is the most talented player on the court but Van Vleet is a floor general and a true leader that's been in this game before. Van Vleet, Baker and Cotton have been major players for WSU ever since their final four run.

Butler showed that you don't have to have the most talented player be be a very good team. It really comes down to who players better as a team. ND & WS both built they're programs around guys that aren't one and done and understand how to play as a team. They know each others strengths and play to them. Having said that, it could come down to the most talented player like it did with Grant hitting that tough bank shot to seal it.

I am hoping the mentality changes to that of playing with house money. Northeastern and Butler we never really clicked on all cylinders.

Against Northeastern I thought we just weren't totally dialed in. In the second game I think Butler had a lot to do with that.

 

[woolybug25]

I think we will win this game, but I am just happy that we got this far. What a terrific season. Even if we got beat by Wichita St, we really accomplished a lot this season.

I think there's still a lil magic left in the tank though.

 

[Henges24]

ND has the most W's against Sweet 16 teams with a record of 7-1. MSU worst at 0-4

 

[Circa]

2015 March Madness Predictions | FiveThirtyEight

fivethirtyeight gives us a 53% chance of winning against Wichita State. They are usually very accurate.

same as they gave Kansas. Tough sleddin here with these hyper predictions. We got 2 big reasons this year for our Mother to shine through for all of us. Go Mike! Go Father! Go ND!

 

[heygipper]

GKIrish and I got shut out in the sale today at noon for tickets. We are looking for 3 or 4 tickets (would take a pair though) for Thursday and/or Saturday. If anyone hears of anything and wants to shoot us a PM, we would both greatly appreciate it. GK will be making the trip from out east and I'll be coming up from Columbus for both games

 

[Ignats]

As good as VanVleet and Baker are, I think this matchup plays right into our strengths. Our two best defenders (DJ and Steve) can step right up and guard those two. The way Steve shut down Kellen Dunham was amazing and if he does that to Baker, I'm not so sure that Wichita State will have the offense to beat us unless they have guys like Wessel draining 3's.

Looking forward to traveling to Cleveland for this game and hopefully Saturday!

 

[GATTACA!]

As good as VanVleet and Baker are, I think this matchup plays right into our strengths. Our two best defenders (DJ and Steve) can step right up and guard those two. The way Steve shut down Kellen Dunham was amazing and if he does that to Baker, I'm not so sure that Wichita State will have the offense to beat us unless they have guys like Wessel draining 3's.

Looking forward to traveling to Cleveland for this game and hopefully Saturday!

I love how all of the media is already talking about Wichita St vs Kentucky......bitch at least menton us.

 

[RDU Irish]

GKIrish and I got shut out in the sale today at noon for tickets. We are looking for 3 or 4 tickets (would take a pair though) for Thursday and/or Saturday. If anyone hears of anything and wants to shoot us a PM, we would both greatly appreciate it. GK will be making the trip from out east and I'll be coming up from Columbus for both games

Stubhub starts at $210. Good luck!

 

[NDPhilly]

ND has the best record against Sweet 16 teams at 7-1. MSU worst at 0-4

well except you know Kentucky since their like undefeated

 

[RDU Irish]

I see they played UNC and Louisville. Maybe the stat is the most wins versus Sweet 16.

You would think with a 7-1 record against the field we might get a smidge more respect.

 

[Henges24]

well except you know Kentucky since their like undefeated

Correct. Way to ruin it.

Kentucky is 3-0, where they beat UNC, UCLA, and Louisville in back-to-back-to-back games.

Do we really count them in this situation? They are practically an NBA team.

ND has the most wins. Will fix above.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Wichita St has an excellent HC. Marshall is already being mentioned for openings but the thought is he will will wait for one of the "bluebloods" to have an opening. Unless it's crazy money, he won't settle for Alabama or the like.

If ND doesn't play better than the first two games, they'll loste to the Shockers. ND survived and advanced but they haven't found that gear they were in at Greesnboro. Find that & the sky is the limit. GO IRISH!

 

[RDU Irish]

Wichita St has an excellent HC. Marshall is already being mentioned for openings but the thought is he will will wait for one of the "bluebloods" to have an opening. Unless it's crazy money, he won't settle for Alabama or the like.

If ND doesn't play better than the first two games, they'll loste to the Shockers. ND survived and advanced but they haven't found that gear they were in at Greesnboro. Find that & the sky is the limit. GO IRISH!

Agree 100%. This also exemplifies the importance of getting a high seed. It allows you to win without playing your A game. If we were a 4 or 5 seed we might have had a different outcome in our first game.

 

[Irish#1]

Wichita St has an excellent HC. Marshall is already being mentioned for openings but the thought is he will will wait for one of the "bluebloods" to have an opening. Unless it's crazy money, he won't settle for Alabama or the like.

If ND doesn't play better than the first two games, they'll loste to the Shockers. ND survived and advanced but they haven't found that gear they were in at Greesnboro. Find that & the sky is the limit. GO IRISH!

He'll have plenty of competition. There are a number of excellent coaches ready to take the next step.

 

[irishfan]

2015 NCAA Tournament Opponent Preview: Notre Dame vs. Wichita State - One Foot Down

Game preview from OFD. They had us losing to Butler last week, but having us win 77-72 tomorrow.

 

[IrishLax]

Don't see how we score 77 points on Wichita State, but then again I didn't see us blitzkrieging Duke in Greensboro either.

 

[Cackalacky]

SIAP and I dont know if you guys recall this but Gregg Marshall coached Winthrop the year they beat ND in 2007.

 

[dang227]

For those coming into town
http://www.cleveland.com/marchmadne...t_16_fan_guide_the_in.html#incart_maj-story-1

 

[dang227]

#3 Notre Dame vs. #7 Wichita State (Sweet 16)

SIAP and I dont know if you guys recall this but Gregg Marshall coached Winthrop the year they beat ND in 2007.

A friend of mine, who coached at WVU in 2007, is friends with Marshall and said at the time Mike Brey teams are some of the easiest to prepare for because they are so simplistic. Now this was eight years ago but he said Marshall was very confident back then and called the Winthrop upset. Hope things have changed.

 

[Ignats]

A friend of mine, who coached at WVU in 2007, is friends with Marshall and said at the time Mike Brey teams are some of the easiest to prepare for because they are so simplistic. Now this was eight years ago but he said Marshall was very confident back then and called the Winthrop upset. Hope things have changed.

In a way they are "simplistic" in that they aren't going to throw a curveball of a gameplan at you but the days of the burn offense and relying heavily on the 3 ball are gone.

 

[ACamp1900]

In a way they are "simplistic" in that they aren't going to throw a curveball of a gameplan at you but the days of the burn offense and relying heavily on the 3 ball are gone.........

,....Until next year.

 

[Irish#1]

Nice article by Greg Doyle of the Indy Star.
Doyel: Connaughton, Grant are Irish superheroes, friends

 

[irishfan]

We need our bench to step up tonight. 10 cominbed points in our two Tournament games for them. I think we have the stronger starting 5, but WSU definitely has the better bench. Need to get some great minutes from VJ and Bonzie.

 

[heygipper]

If you still need tickets, try the Q box office asap: (216) 420-2200

 

[Irish#1]

We need our bench to step up tonight. 10 cominbed points in our two Tournament games for them. I think we have the stronger starting 5, but WSU definitely has the better bench. Need to get some great minutes from VJ and Bonzie.

Colson's play has slipped a little in the tournament which is no surprise for a freshman. Having played a couple of games now I hope he's over his jitters, but the stakes are even higher now, so.....

 

[AgentJ]

being a deep team is overrated. obviously having more than one big would be nice and sets us back, but barely going 7 deep is fine IMO. there is enough rest time and stoppages to have your best players on the floor 90% of the game. why would u want to put a worse player on the floor? makes no sense.

the thing about this nd team is the team offense. one one night, grant goes for 25. on another its connaughton. sometimes its jackson. auguste has his nights too. and even if u stop all of them, vasturia can score 20. the offense flows so well that one guy is going to have a night every night that will keep u in the game. for this team, its about stops and defensive rebounding. they survive sometimes on being pesky and getting out on breaks by forcing turnovers, but sometimes u have to lock down for 35 seconds without giving a good look.

should be a great one tonight. i dont think connaughton or grant will let us lose.

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

being a deep team is overrated. obviously having more than one big would be nice and sets us back, but barely going 7 deep is fine IMO. there is enough rest time and stoppages to have your best players on the floor 90% of the game. why would u want to put a worse player on the floor? makes no sense.

the thing about this nd team is the team offense. one one night, grant goes for 25. on another its connaughton. sometimes its jackson. auguste has his nights too. and even if u stop all of them, vasturia can score 20. the offense flows so well that one guy is going to have a night every night that will keep u in the game. for this team, its about stops and defensive rebounding. they survive sometimes on being pesky and getting out on breaks by forcing turnovers, but sometimes u have to lock down for 35 seconds without giving a good look.

should be a great one tonight. i dont think connaughton or grant will let us lose.

Having a shallow bench is somewhat limiting on defense. Even though the Irish have a really nice ball pressure guy in Jackson, they can't truly set him loose or run half court traps because he needs to be out there for close to 40 minutes.

And of course, it's rather limiting in your ability to mix and match.

I like Brey but his short benches sometimes drive me nuts. Mind you, I'm not clamoring for any particular guy to spend more time out on the floor but it's a systemic weakness of his teams which seems easily resolved.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Let's Go Irish!

 

[Jackalope1977]

Good start. I'm still terrified.

 

[Cackalacky]

Let's go boys!