2025-2026 ND Basketball Thread

[laughingirish92]

Yeah, from everything I've seen he was at least a two year NCAA guy.

i'm okay with that because he looked pretty good in the second half

 

[BilboBaggins]

You are. I hate to be THAT guy but I honestly can't see this team winning more than 15-17. I would be surprised.

1-2 more years I think. I could be wrong

Agreed. They would be punching above their weight to get to 20 wins. Next year should be a quality team though.

 

[CTIDANDREW]

+3500 on DraftKings to make the Final Four if you're feeling lucky.
Boy how the mighty have fallen.

It would be nice to just go 3-0 this year into the Ohio State game and see how the boys look.
Hopefully avoid another ELON or Western Carolina embarrassment early on as the previous two years.

Step 1: Avoid an embarrassing early November loss (Complete)

Step 2: Compete against a top 30 power rated team on the road early in the season.
My hunch is Vegas will likely have us around an 8-10 point dog in Columbus. Torvik has it OSU -10
We shall see if this group of boys has more to offer then the first two years of Shrews ball.

I don't think it is hyperbole to say this is the biggest game of his coaching career at ND to date.
3-0 with a chance for a Quad 1 road win.

If he cannot get the boys up for this opportunity, then we're likely in for another long season of outside the bubble meaningless basketball.

 

[Henges24]

I can see anywhere from 5-7 more wins this year based on scoring alone.
The first half of yesterday’s game seemed a little worrisome but they came out and played much better in the 2nd. The freshman look impressive, for freshman, and ready to contribute.
Towt has magnets for hands. Cant shoot a lick but loose balls end up in his paws.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I can see anywhere from 5-7 more wins this year based on scoring alone.
The first half of yesterday’s game seemed a little worrisome but they came out and played much better in the 2nd. The freshman look impressive, for freshman, and ready to contribute.
Towt has magnets for hands. Cant shoot a lick but loose balls end up in his paws.

Towt’s rebounding was refreshing when I watched them Friday night. Made all his put backs too

 

[irishandy]

Looking at ESPN top 100 NBA draft prospects for 2026, I don't see Harelson on there anywhere. Is the thought at ND that we could have him for more than one year?

Having Harelson & Burton for next year would huge for ND, Blake Wesley should've stayed 1 more year, and could be a good sell to keep Harelson from being a 1 and done.

 

[notredomer23]

Today will be a good gauge of what they can do this season. OSU was projected as a mid table team for the Big 10 which would translate to a top 5 team in the ACC. 12:30 on FS1

 

[drayer54]

Good enough start. This is encouraging

 

[notredomer23]

Some of the best defending I’ve seen by an ND team in the last 5 years or so. The amount of points in the paint they’re getting is very encouraging too. Biggest concern continues to be the turnovers.

 

[sportallyr]

Very solid first half. Crazy to see an ND team dominate the paint vs a solid team...but that's exactly what happened in the 1st half. Haralson is very impressive on both ends of the court. Liking what I'm seeing so far!

 

[BilboBaggins]

Burton just driving and lobbing the ball at the basket is... not a great offense.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Terrible final 3 possessions. Burton trying to play hero ball and settling for terrible shots. Shrewsbury was the hot hand in the 2nd half and didnt get a single touch? Brutal.

 

[sportallyr]

Last 3 drives cost the Irish a win. Each time it was basically Burton going 1-1. That wasn't what got them the lead and it likely wasn't going to get them the win (which it didn't). Would have liked to see more ball movement on those final possessions. Regardless, I saw enough from this team to believe they have a realistic chance to make the tourney.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I almost forgot: fuck Ohio State.

 

[notredomer23]

Disaster class game by Burton. The rest were fairly impressive besides the foul shooting.

Terrible move by Coach Shrews to end the game with 3 timeouts. Draw up a play!

I don’t think they played even close to their best and almost won on the road. Simply can’t shoot FTs that poorly. Simply can’t turn it over how they did on the road.

All that to say, there’s a lot to be encouraged by in this game. Those predicting 15 wins, I’d happily bet the over on that.

 

[IrishTusker]

The poor late game-management, amazing inability to close out games, and blowing second-half leads are not new; they are patterns.

Those are two lousy teams, but whatever. It's time for Shrewsberry to put up (i.e., make the tournament) or for us to move on.

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Incredibly disappointed how that last few possessions went, and wish the move for Shrews was to not just play Burton hero ball….but it’s been a bleak half decade of ND basketball.
It just felt good again to care.

Hopefully the boys can learn from this, and give Kansas a good game in a few weeks as well.

 

[NDPhilly]

OSU was a 8.5pt favorite fwiw. Good showing despite the shitty end of game.

Thornton likely going to be an All American.

 

[IrishBryan77]

I'm glad to see a lot of you enjoy participation trophies.

Aren't you tired of the same shit different day? It's like you reward them for sucking. 👍

 

[stpeteirish]

Burton missing the last shot of a close game has become a feature of our program. Shrews is in charge, he needs to change it up. Run a play for someone else. Burton isn't wired to pass. That needs to change.

 

[irish4ever]

Last 3 drives cost the Irish a win. Each time it was basically Burton going 1-1. That wasn't what got them the lead and it likely wasn't going to get them the win (which it didn't). Would have liked to see more ball movement on those final possessions. Regardless, I saw enough from this team to believe they have a realistic chance to make the tourney.

Agreed, Burton made it all about himself. He really fucked this one away at the end on offense.

 

[irishandy]

This Irish team has potential. For Burton's first 2 years he didn't have a supporting cast, I think this year he does.

This game was winnable, they didn't finish, and like everyone has said it was a poor executing last possesion.

 

[dublinirish]

Zona in Ireland squad for EuroBasket pre-qualifiers Zona in Ireland squad for EuroBasket pre-qualifiers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[stpeteirish]

Lost to Kansas by 10 in the first game in Vegas. Play Rutgers tomorrow and a third game Weds. Weds opponent will be based on w-l in the first two plus point differential.
We couldn't handle KUs bigs who are very good but the real problem was we couldn't hit a 3 to save our lives. They were there for the taking.

 

[irishjim]

Yep. We’re a big and a sharpshooter from being a top contender in ACC. Burton is all American, Harelson will be all ACC next year but rest of team is mid. Towt is tough but it’s just not enough

 

[notredomer23]

Yep. We’re a big and a sharpshooter from being a top contender in ACC. Burton is all American, Harelson will be all ACC next year but rest of team is mid. Towt is tough but it’s just not enough

He still makes too many bone headed plays as a result of him trying to do too much. The series of him getting stuffed from 3, Kansas getting the bucket, his flagrant foul resulting in 2 foul shots and the ball. That 6+ point swing in a matter of 3 seconds was essentially all the difference.

I get Kansas is a tough match, but they need to show us something against Rutgers

 

[anarin]

Good but ugly win today. They went from blowing them out to trying to give the game away.

They have to clean up a lot of things, one being spacing in the lane, and another being full court pressure from the other team.

 

[sportallyr]

Good bounce-back win after yesterday's tough loss. Haralson is a stud. You can see him getting more and more comfortable and I think he, Burton and Shrews are a solid 1-2-3 punch. Still concerned about the supporting cast, although Towt has been better than I expected (and a big improvement over Kebba). There is shooting talent on the team, but outside of Shrews, I haven't seen anyone else be able to hit consistent 3's yet. Sundra and Imes both missing the front end of 1-1 free throws during the last minute were unacceptable and almost cost the Irish the game. Looking forward to seeing who they play next. Finishing 2-1 with this quality field would be a great outcome in this tournament!

 

[notredomer23]

ND gets #3 Houston at 330 EST as their final match up of this

 

[CTIDANDREW]

ND gets #3 Houston at noon as their final match up of this

Amazing opportunity to get a quad 1 win versus a team that will likely based on projections be at worst a #2 seed come March, unless they have an unexpected poor season.

Houston did not come to Vegas to be playing in a consolation game, so hopefully ND can catch them sleep walking a little bit.
Torvik has Houston as a -9.7 point favorite, lets see if our boys can pull off the huge upset.