2024-2025 Notre Dame Women's Basketball

[BuaConstrictor]

Could it be they were so run down from playing so many minutes in games they should have been pulled earlier.

No. They hadn't played a game in nearly a week. TCU uses shorter benches than ND. Prosper played 20 minutes off the bench for ND yesterday.

 

[Irish#1]

When Hidalgo couldn’t hit the side of a barn as in a number of games down the stretch of the regular season, and the sweet sixteen game( most of the team), a different shot strategy could have been employed. Maybe penetrating and taking 8 footers or driving in the paint and increasing free throws.

I’m not coaching them daily, but you should have an alternate strategy when your normal shots aren’t falling.



I

When shots aren’t falling sometimes it’s fatigue. The bench was getting minutes toward the end of the season, but Ivey should have been doing that all season.

 

[MacIrish75]

Great teams finish. I spent yesterday at the IHSAA (Indiana) Boys Hoops state finals. Four very competitive ballgames. The common thread for each champion was that late in the fourth quarter/OT they each had player(s) step up and make key contributions in crunch time. Veterans. Seniors. Vocal leaders. Dudes who finished it off for their squads.

This iteration of NDWBB wasn’t great. They were talented. They had potential. They were good. But not great. Not championship caliber. It’s easy to beat outmatched teams by 30. It’s hard to beat good teams in close games.

Coaching only gets you so far. Yeah maybe Ivey could’ve spent another TO or two…but the players were in the spots and had the chance to make plays. They just didn’t. Doesn’t mean they aren’t extremely talented players. They just don’t (yet) possess that championship mentality.

 

[ndfanatic78]

No. They hadn't played a game in nearly a week. TCU uses shorter benches than ND. Prosper played 20 minutes off the bench for ND yesterday.

Dude you are such a contrarian. This team was exhausted. This was managed incorrectly through out the year. If you want to continue to sunshine pump everything go for it but Ivey failed this year and everyone knows it.

 

[ndfanatic78]

Great teams finish. I spent yesterday at the IHSAA (Indiana) Boys Hoops state finals. Four very competitive ballgames. The common thread for each champion was that late in the fourth quarter/OT they each had player(s) step up and make key contributions in crunch time. Veterans. Seniors. Vocal leaders. Dudes who finished it off for their squads.

This iteration of NDWBB wasn’t great. They were talented. They had potential. They were good. But not great. Not championship caliber. It’s easy to beat outmatched teams by 30. It’s hard to beat good teams in close games.

Coaching only gets you so far. Yeah maybe Ivey could’ve spent another TO or two…but the players were in the spots and had the chance to make plays. They just didn’t. Doesn’t mean they aren’t extremely talented players. They just don’t (yet) possess that championship mentality.

And that is on the head coach to instill or find players that have that drive.

 

[BuaConstrictor]

Dude you are such a contrarian.

I'm not sure you know what this word means. It's not "contrarian" to disagree with an idea that is wrong.

This team was exhausted. T

No, they weren't. You're seeing what you want to see to blame the coach. This team wasn't exhausted when it blew UM off the floor 6 days prior and were up by over 30 in the 4th quarter.

If you want to continue to sunshine pump

You clearly haven't been reading what I've been posting. It's not "sunshine pumping" to point out the team wasn't tired. Your idea is wrong and I'm pointing it out.

Ivey failed this year

I've said multiple times in this very thread that the team underachieved.

 

[arrowryan]

Who’s returning besides Hidalgo and Prosper?

 

[ozzman]

I expected more out of a 5 star than what they got out of koval. The back court was as advertised most of the time, but if they had a true go to post player, it would've made them more complete as a team

 

[arrowryan]

I expected more out of a 5 star than what they got out of koval. The back court was as advertised most of the time, but if they had a true go to post player, it would've made them more complete as a team

Koval’s conditioning was so bad the entire year to the point where it’s fair to question their S&C program

 

[ozzman]

Koval’s conditioning was so bad the entire year to the point where it’s fair to question their S&C program

We went to the Cal game, and I was surprised by how thick her lower body was in person. She's a Mack truck. If they can get her in shape, she could be a force if she gets better at finishing. She had some good moments

 

[irishandy]

If there was someone I wanted ND to send packing home it was Hailey Van Lith, she is a good ball player, but I dislike her more than Angel Reese beause of her attitude.

The good from yesterday's game: Liatu King, she will be missed, she was a great addition to this team & hopefully Ivey can find a similar player in the portal.

The head scratcher from yesterday's game: Citron was doing a great job guarding Van Lith, she should've guarded her the rest of the game. I agree with everyone's assessment about the officiating.

The bad from yesterday's game: Hidalgo shooting 3-19, she needed to be better and raise her game at this time of year like Van Lith.

For everyone questioning Ivey- she won a championship as a player, as an assistant coach, and she is an alumm. ND WILL NOT GET RID OF HER.

I hope to see ND bounce back next year instead of backwards. It will be Hannah's team again.

Go Irish!

 

[BuaConstrictor]

Who’s returning besides Hidalgo and Prosper?

In the portal era..who the hell knows.

KK and Kylee can return. Miles can too(but she'll go to the league)
Risch can return. Koval...as you mentioned Hannah and Prosper.

 

[arrowryan]

In the portal era..who the hell knows.

KK and Kylee can return. Miles can too(but she'll go to the league)
Risch can return. Koval.

Yikes

 

[BuaConstrictor]

I expected more out of a 5 star than what they got out of koval. The back court was as advertised most of the time, but if they had a true go to post player, it would've made them more complete as a team

I think a lot of what you posted above ended up being the fatal flaw of this team. The roster construction(which is on Ivey) was sub-optimal. They put way too many eggs in the "Koval can/will play major minutes for us" basket. You can tell they abandoned that plan early on at times. During certain stretches and games Koval was nearly unplayable. She look really overwhelmed and unsure of herself..and as a result..a step slow.

At the other post spots I think there was a lot of redundancy. Karlen and Westbeld are really kind of the same player. Lu King is also a lot of the same player as them..with just a little less range. ND was really limited in mixing and matching lineups during the season. We lacked a lot of length. We need more posts and wings with frames like Prosper or a Kiki Iriafin at USC. We seemed a long post short all season (RIP Kylee's knee) or an underrated loss IMO was Nat Marshall. Basically we were short a long athletic big to run the floor and stretch things out when we needed to play teams like TCU where our natural counter was to run Prince to death.

 

[ozzman]

I think a lot of what you posted above ended up being the fatal flaw of this team. The roster construction(which is on Ivey) was sub-optimal. They put way too many eggs in the "Koval can/will play major minutes for us" basket. You can tell they abandoned that plan early on at times. During certain stretches and games Koval was nearly unplayable. She look really overwhelmed and unsure of herself..and as a result..a step slow.

At the other post spots I think there was a lot of redundancy. Karlen and Westbeld are really kind of the same player. Lu King is also a lot of the same player as them..with just a little less range. ND was really limited in mixing and matching lineups during the season. We lacked a lot of length. We need more posts and wings with frames like Prosper or a Kiki Iriafin at USC. We seemed a long post short all season (RIP Kylee's knee) or an underrated loss IMO was Nat Marshall. Basically we were short a long athletic big to run the floor and stretch things out when we needed to play teams like TCU where our natural counter was to run Prince to death.

Can you say what ND is doing to address the roster construction? Will Hannah stick around if the supporting cast isn't there next year for her last season?

 

[BuaConstrictor]

Can you say what ND is doing to address the roster construction?

The body of this season is still warm, but ND is obviously aware of the roster construction issues. Obviously the portal will be leveraged heavily.

Will Hannah stick around if the supporting cast isn't there next year for her last season?

I'm always hesitant to say a player will stay or go...especially 24 hours after a season ends. What I am about to say is based on nothing but my own understanding of Hannah's relationship with Ivey, the University, and players on the team. I would be shocked if she left.

 

[Irish5Saint]

The body of this season is still warm, but ND is obviously aware of the roster construction issues. Obviously the portal will be leveraged heavily.


I'm always hesitant to say a player will stay or go...especially 24 hours after a season ends. What I am about to say is based on nothing but my own understanding of Hannah's relationship with Ivey, the University, and players on the team. I would be shocked if she left.

I know you and Merck have said that changes have been made to make undergrad transfers easier…… but I’m in a wait and see it mode. My reading of some of these things is that they technically did make changes but the hoops are still hard to jump through.

 

[IrishTusker]

Olivia Miles is apparently transferring. The wheels are coming off the program more quickly than expected.

 

[phillyirish]

Olivia Miles is apparently transferring. The wheels are coming off the program more quickly than expected.

I can also see her making a lot more from NIL than she would on rookie contract.

 

[Irish5Saint]

Olivia Miles is apparently transferring. The wheels are coming off the program more quickly than expected.

@BuaConstrictor Alright spill the beans here

 

[IrishTusker]

I can also see her making a lot more from NIL than she would on rookie contract.

Definitely, but that's presumably a reason to stay at ND. Either someone else offered more or there are internal problems with the program so she left for the same/less money.

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

Definitely, but that's presumably a reason to stay at ND. Either someone else offered more or there are internal problems with the program so she left for the same/less money.

I’d have to imagine she’ll get more conversations being in the portal. Starts a bidding war.

 

[BuaConstrictor]

@BuaConstrictor Alright spill the beans here

I have way too much respect for Miles to do so. As of yesterday, the assumption was that she would go to the league.

 

[BuaConstrictor]

People framing this as a "program" issue are off-base. Miles is universally loved in the locker room and in the ND community and SB/Mishawaka at large.

 

[sfk324]

She and Hannah are redundant, and frankly, she doesn't do anything that Hannah doesn't do, but Hannah does something (i.e., play defense) that Miles doesn't. From an optics standpoint, it's obviously a problem, and I also get that you never want to lose talent. But from a purely objective team makeup standpoint, it's not a big deal.

 

[irishff1014]

People framing this as a "program" issue are off-base. Miles is universally loved in the locker room and in the ND community and SB/Mishawaka at large.

Cya good bye don’t come back.

 

[arrowryan]

People framing this as a "program" issue are off-base. Miles is universally loved in the locker room and in the ND community and SB/Mishawaka at large.

So they have a NLI problem?

 

[BuaConstrictor]

I’d have to imagine she’ll get more conversations being in the portal. Starts a bidding war.

Worth noting:

 

[BuaConstrictor]

So they have a NLI problem?

No.

 

[arrowryan]

No.

Well there’s a problem(s) somewhere.

A school like ND should never lose a player like Miles to the portal