ND Men's Basketball 2015-2016 season

JD Irish

JD Irish

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I think we will be a scary team in March. I am optimistic that we can make it to the Sweet Sixteen with how we are playing. The last few games have been phenomenal.
 
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texbender

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Great win vs UL, and previously vs UNC and CU. Impressed with Brey, he seems to get the most from his team. Hope Irish finish strong and have a fun run through the NCAA.
 
fightingirish26

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I'm still not sure if this is a sweet 16 team, but Brey does more with the team than I expect him to year after year after year.
 
JD Irish

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One thing I was just thinking about that has been hugely important, and especially the last two years, is the leadership that Brey develops. It really shows. I can't ever remember a team that responds so well when facing a double digit deficit in the second half. I don't know if there is a team that has been able to do something like that so consistently. It is a true testament to the leadership of the players in this program.
 
irishfan

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JD Irish said:
One thing I was just thinking about that has been hugely important, and especially the last two years, is the leadership that Brey develops. It really shows. I can't ever remember a team that responds so well when facing a double digit deficit in the second half. I don't know if there is a team that has been able to do something like that so consistently. It is a true testament to the leadership of the players in this program.
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Agreed. Last year we would go down by 10+ points and I would still be full of confidence. We seemed to have so many come-from-behind wins. This team is starting to play the same way with 0 panic out there. They are very fun to watch.
 
House16

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JD Irish said:
One thing I was just thinking about that has been hugely important, and especially the last two years, is the leadership that Brey develops. It really shows. I can't ever remember a team that responds so well when facing a double digit deficit in the second half. I don't know if there is a team that has been able to do something like that so consistently. It is a true testament to the leadership of the players in this program.
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It's interesting because we clearly have great leadership, but I'm not sure I can pinpoint who the leaders on the team are. Jackson is one (although I'm not sure he's to the level of Grant/Connaughton). Otherwise, Vasturia seems pretty quiet and Auguste would seem to be too up and down. Not sure Colson or Beachem strike me as leaders either. Maybe the team as a whole is just really emotionally resilient?
 
FightingIrishLover7

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House16 said:
It's interesting because we clearly have great leadership, but I'm not sure I can pinpoint who the leaders on the team are. Jackson is one (although I'm not sure he's to the level of Grant/Connaughton). Otherwise, Vasturia seems pretty quiet and Auguste would seem to be too up and down. Not sure Colson or Beachem strike me as leaders either. Maybe the team as a whole is just really emotionally resilient?
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Bonzie is very vocal, and emotional. He's going to be a captain, guaranteed. He's still a sophomore though, so he's waiting for his time.
 
Ignats

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JD Irish said:
One thing I was just thinking about that has been hugely important, and especially the last two years, is the leadership that Brey develops. It really shows. I can't ever remember a team that responds so well when facing a double digit deficit in the second half. I don't know if there is a team that has been able to do something like that so consistently. It is a true testament to the leadership of the players in this program.
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You're right. The 2013-2014 team had no leadership at all and was his worst team. Connaughton and Grant really set the standard last year that I think will be passed down.
 
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texbender

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gkIrish said:
A bit low I think. We should not be behind Louisville, Oregon, or Purdue IMO.
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It may be a bit low, I agree. But I think ND suffers from a longstanding (since post Digger) perception that they disappear in crunch time and in the tournament. They do lay eggs more often than you'd want. If they had taken care of biz vs IU, Bama, and Monmouth then you could feel better that they are a legitimate team. I'm ok at 19 for now, lots of room to go up if they take care of biz, and they should end up ok with a decent tourney seed.
 
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NDGOLDEN

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texbender said:
It may be a bit low, I agree. But I think ND suffers from a longstanding (since post Digger) perception that they disappear in crunch time and in the tournament. They do lay eggs more often than you'd want. If they had taken care of biz vs IU, Bama, and Monmouth then you could feel better that they are a legitimate team. I'm ok at 19 for now, lots of room to go up if they take care of biz, and they should end up ok with a decent tourney seed.
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Ya agreed and that's why if you see some bracketology they have ND at a 5 but duke at a 4 but we are higher ranked so
 
JD Irish

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I think we are really getting some good attention. I am watching Virginia vs. NC State right now, and Sean McDonough, who called our game against Louisville, is really pumping us up. When talking about the strength of the ACC overall, he spent the most time talking about ND and our recent play. Then, when an ESPN graphic for player of the year was displayed, he immediately mentioned how Demetrius Jackson should have been included in it, and Dorris Burke, the color analyst, agreed.
 
irishfan

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If you're curious as to why Demetrius Jackson is considered by some NBA scouts to be a first-round NBA draft pick this summer, look no further than Saturday, when he played 40 minutes and scored 27 points (on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, 6-of-12 from 3, and 7-of-7 from the line) to lead Notre Dame to a 71-66 home win over Louisville. One reason coach Mike Brey might feel his players are underappreciated is how much this team has snuck up on everyone in ACC play. Think about it: The Irish's nonconference losses -- to Monmouth, Alabama and Indiana -- came when those opponents were significantly less heralded than they are now. Notre Dame's big nonconference win -- over Iowa on Nov. 27 -- came when no one knew how good Iowa would become. Since then, Notre Dame has won at Duke, taken down U of L and UNC, and started to remind people of the way last year's Irish could be brilliant on the offensive end but also extremely pragmatic in their approach to close games. We'd call this a fabulous turnaround, except it's starting to seem like this team was always this good in the first place.
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Good write-up from ESPN. They don't have us as a "lock" yet, but we're probably 1-2 wins away. Everyone seems to have us as a #5 seed at the moment.

RPI: 19
SOS: 13

College Basketball Bubble Watch - Why does the RPI love the Pac-12? - NCAA Men's Basketball - ESPN
 
Blaise

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gkIrish

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If we only lose 1 more regular season game and win 1 game in the ACC tourney I think we will be a 4 seed at worst.
 
irishfan

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gkIrish said:
If we only lose 1 more regular season game and win 1 game in the ACC tourney I think we will be a 4 seed at worst.
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Agreed. Our computer numbers are great, and a top-4 finish in the ACC along with a spot in the ACC semis seems like 3-4 seed territory with our resume.
 
RDU Irish

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Brey has us in perfect position to play the underdog card for the rest of the season. Love how these guys are looking right now.

Announcer was driving me nuts talking about how Vasturia "developed his game since last year" when he went on his rampage to start the second half. He had all those move last year, just used more sparingly because he knew his roll! Steve was straight up assassin on both sides of the ball last year when his number was called and got next to zero credit.

Agree with Beachem - kid looks like all the tools are there but just disappears for such long stretches. Worries me that he is not a better FT shooter (61% comes to mind) when he is leaned on as a 3pt threat - maybe he isn't that pure of a shooter? His blocked shots this year have been pretty sweet though and stay optimistic that he will be ready to fill some big offensive shoes next year. Definitely a great role player in this offense and good to seem him do more than spot up 3s.
 
irishfan

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4th place right now in the ACC and 1 game back. Going to be tough to stay in the top-4, even with our easy-ish schedule to end the year. Still holding out hope though for 5-0 and a 1st place finish...

UNC (10-3)
Miami (10-3)
Virginia (10-4)
Notre Dame (9-4)
Duke (9-4)
 
gkIrish

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irishfan said:
4th place right now in the ACC and 1 game back. Going to be tough to stay in the top-4, even with our easy-ish schedule to end the year. Still holding out hope though for 5-0 and a 1st place finish...

UNC (10-3)
Miami (10-3)
Virginia (10-4)
Notre Dame (9-4)
Duke (9-4)
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Miami has a ridiculously difficult schedule. I think they play all the teams listed above plus Virginia Tech. I think they will be lucky to win more than 2 more games. UNC and Duke play again so that's another loss for one of them. I think if we go 5-0 we definitely win the ACC. 4-1 I think we #3 at worst.
 
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arrowryan

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In case anyone is curious, here are the remaining opponents for the teams ahead of Notre Dame in the ACC standings.

Miami
@ North Carolina
Louisville
@ Notre Dame
Virginia Tech

North Carolina
Miami
@ NC State
@ Virginia
Syracuse
@ Duke

Virginia
@ Miami
North Carolina
@ Clemson
Louisville

Louisville
Duke
@ Pitt
@ Miami
Georgia Tech
@ Virginia

Duke
@ Louisville
Florida State
@ Pitt
Wake Forest
North Carolina

Notre Dame holds tie-breakers against North Carolina, Duke, and Louisville
 
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irishfan

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arrowryan said:
In case anyone is curious, here are the remaining opponents for the teams ahead of Notre Dame in the ACC standings.

Miami
@ North Carolina
Louisville
@ Notre Dame
Virginia Tech

North Carolina
Miami
@ NC State
@ Virginia
Syracuse
@ Duke

Virginia
@ Miami
North Carolina
@ Clemson
Louisville

Louisville
Duke
@ Pitt
@ Miami
Georgia Tech
@ Virginia

Duke
@ Louisville
Florida State
@ Pitt
Wake Forest
North Carolina

Notre Dame holds tie-breakers against North Carolina, Duke, and Louisville
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Louisville is also self-banned. So, they won't matter from a pure seeding standpoint for the Tournament.
 
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