#18 ND @ St Johns 2/25/12 NOON ET

[HereComeTheIrish]

These kids need to learn to crash the boards. Cooley's the only kid showing any heart under the bucket.

 

[IrishLax]

I honestly cannot believe that over the back call on Cooley when they haven't been making that call all day on St. John's.

This game has the eerie feeling of point shaving.

 

[BGIF]

We'll take the tip!

 

[BGIF]

Martin fighting for the ball with 4 fouls

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

That's the other thing... He can't be real aggressive with the foul trouble.

 

[BGIF]

MOMENTUM!

 

[D-BOE34]

Damn, St.Johns is quick!

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

nail biter...

 

[BGIF]

Cooley with the Double D.

I'd trade it for a steal and a layup.

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Live by the three, die by the three... enough said. Been this way for years

 

[military_irish]

I don't know what they were thinking that last possession. They have almost 9 seconds with a time out instead they rush it and throw up a poor 3.

Not too upset because this loss really doesn't effect much, they still have the potential for a double bye and the season is far from over.

Just a really bad game from start to finish, it happens

 

[Irish4Life09]

that is just an absolutely terrible loss

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Did Brey think that he could roll that last time out over to the next game? WTF?? They looked like chickens running around with the domes lopped off. Set something up, Mikey!!!

 

[IrishLax]

Should've fouled the bad FT shooter down 1 rather than let them milk the entire clock and attempt a FG. Do the math. Sigh.

 

[Woneone]

4-31 from 3 will do that to you.

Let's be honest, we were due for something like this to happen.

Sucks, but overall, even as bad a loss as this is, I'm actually ok with this type of shooting game happening now rather than when it really matters.

 

[gkIrish]

4-31 from three.

At least we expect this team to win games like this now. Wouldn't have 2 months ago

 

[BGIF]

JSU 61- ND 58 Final

JSU 61- ND 58 Final

ND Team Stats
Points 58
Field Goals 25-67, 37%
Free Throws 4-7, 57%
3-Pointers 4-31, 12%
Off. Rebounds 13
Def. Rebounds 16
Total Rebounds 29
Assists 16
Blocks 5
Fouls 16
Steals 5
Turnovers 7

SJU Team Stats
Points 61
Field Goals 22-47, 46%
Free Throws 14-21, 66%
3-Pointers 3-11, 27%
Off. Rebounds 9
Def. Rebounds 25
Total Rebounds 34
Assists 8
Blocks 4
Fouls 13
Steals 5
Turnovers 15

 

[returnofthemack]

That was pretty ugly. On the plus side, this is exactly what usually happens to ND in the tournament, except today, we had a legitimate shot to win if not for bad time management by Brey. Ugly game overall, but if they had kept the streak into the BE tournament, they would've been complacent. None of this will matter if ND gets far in the Tournament. That's all that matters, and frankly, the lower ND's seed, the more comfortable I'll be.

 

[DillonHall]

Should've fouled the bad FT shooter down 1 rather than let them milk the entire clock and attempt a FG. Do the math. Sigh.

Hindsight is 20/20, but you never foul someone on purpose when you're down by one and you're going to get the ball back.

 

[IrishLax]

Hindsight is 20/20, but you never foul someone on purpose when you're down by one and you're going to get the ball back.

What if you're only getting the ball back with ~8 seconds? And what if you can put a ~65% FT shooter on the line in a 1-and-1?

I bet if you do the math, you have a much higher chance of winning not letting a team shooting 46% from the field take a shot and getting the ball back with 8 seconds.... versus putting that guy on the line and getting the ball back with 30 seconds.

 

[anarin]

What if you're only getting the ball back with ~8 seconds? And what if you can put a ~65% FT shooter on the line in a 1-and-1?

I bet if you do the math, you have a much higher chance of winning not letting a team shooting 46% from the field take a shot and getting the ball back with 8 seconds.... versus putting that guy on the line and getting the ball back with 30 seconds.

Doesn't change the fact that dragicevich is horrible. You NEVER want him shooting the ball last.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Live by the three, die by the three. Pretty cliche but also pretty true.

It's probably not too bad for this team to get embarrassed once before tournament time. Any extra motivation helps.

Go Irish! Beat Georgetown!

 

[BGIF]

Doesn't change the fact that dragicevich is horrible. You NEVER want him shooting the ball last.

So who did you want shooting the ball?

Connaughton who was 1-9 shooting 3s was on the bench with 5 fouls.

Grant was 0-5.

Martin was 0-4.

Atkins was 1-5.

Drag was 2-7 when he launched the shot. As "horrible" as you feel he might be, he was considerably less horrible from 3 pt range than anyone else on the team today.

 

[BGIF]

Live by the three, die by the three. Pretty cliche but also pretty true.

...

As bad as they shot, they lost on the foul line. ND was averaging 15.5 ppg from the line but managed only 4 FT pts against SJU. ND had less than a 1/3 of their usual 21.5 FTA/game.

ND committed 16 fouls but JSU converted 14-21. JSU fouled the Irish 13 but ND only got 7 shots scoring 10 fewer points from the line. Cooley was 4-5 and Atkins 0-2 but no one else got to the line. Grant is a 80% FT shooter and averages around 4 pts a game from the line.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

So who did you want shooting the ball?

Connaughton who was 1-9 shooting 3s was on the bench with 5 fouls.

Grant was 0-5.

Martin was 0-4.

Atkins was 1-5.

Drag was 2-7 when he launched the shot. As "horrible" as you feel he might be, he was considerably less horrible from 3 pt range than anyone else on the team today.

Jerian has been clutch, he has a short memory.

I would want him for sure.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

It's probably not too bad for this team to get embarrassed once before tournament time. Any extra motivation helps.

No, you want to be on a streak going into the tournament. If you need "extra motivation" for the NCAA Tournament, you are less motivated than high school dropouts and should not be playing a D1 sport. Butler was on a 14 game winning streak going into the national championship game while UConn won the Big East Tournament in amazing fashion. The year before Butler was on a 25 game winning streak going into the championship game while Duke was on a 9 game winning streak and was 17-1 in the 18 games before the championship. Losing before the tournament is never a good thing. Momentum means everything in college basketball. Notre Dame needs to win these games in late February, and they'll need to have a huge run through the Big East Tournament to prove March legitimacy.

 

[BGIF]

As bad as they shot, they lost on the foul line. ND was averaging 15.5 ppg from the line but managed only 4 FT pts against SJU. ND had less than a 1/3 of their usual 21.5 FTA/game.

ND committed 16 fouls but JSU converted 14-21. JSU fouled the Irish 13 but ND only got 7 shots scoring 10 fewer points from the line. Cooley was 4-5 and Atkins 0-2 but no one else got to the line. Grant is a 80% FT shooter and averages around 4 pts a game from the line.

More on the Free Throws, it was ND's lowest FT and lowest FTA of the season.

 

[Irish Fam]

No, you want to be on a streak going into the tournament. If you need "extra motivation" for the NCAA Tournament, you are less motivated than high school dropouts and should not be playing a D1 sport. Butler was on a 14 game winning streak going into the national championship game while UConn won the Big East Tournament in amazing fashion. The year before Butler was on a 25 game winning streak going into the championship game while Duke was on a 9 game winning streak and was 17-1 in the 18 games before the championship. Losing before the tournament is never a good thing. Momentum means everything in college basketball. Notre Dame needs to win these games in late February, and they'll need to have a huge run through the Big East Tournament to prove March legitimacy.

Im guessing he meant going into the Big East tourney...

 

[Irish Fam]

We took alot of threes and missed alot of threes. I will bet anyone on here 300k that we don't have another poor shooting performance of this magnitude the rest of the year (including both big east and ncaa tournies).

I like what I saw from the team today. We went down by double digits midway through the second half and kept fighting. Crashing the offensive glass and waiting for good looks in our possessions. We are in good shape going into the post season. I guarantee no team is looking forward to playing Brey's squad.

 

[DillonHall]

Momentum can be overstated in sports, especially in a single-elimination setting. Teams that win the Big East tournament almost never make it to the final four (UCONN was an exception, not the normal trend).