Very ugly loss at Georgetown tonight. A hard crash back to reality after living in tall cotton for more than a month..
This one reminded me of the FSU loss in the tournament last year. Georgetown was faster and longer than us on defense and we couldn't get into any type of offensive rhythm. I don't know the heights but GT looked taller and more athletic than we are inside, Jack Cooley had no chance. Overall a good season though, much better than anticipated.
Women do their job tonight, taking down UConn. They are now the first team to beat UConn three straight times since Pat Summit and Tenn did it years ago. Big East title for the Irish and #1 seed in the Big East Tourney. Keep it going ladies!
Man what a difference between the press conferences of the losing coaches last night. Brey was complimentary of Georgetown and Geno was a total ass, said he didn't give a flip about the BE Tourney and that he didn't care if he didn't tie ND for the reg season title, said nobody comes to UConn to tie Notre Dame. He never said one good thing about the Irish win.
Irish close out the regular season with a win on Sr. Night and the night that Adrian Dantley was inducted into the Ring of Honor. They had a big lead midway through the 2nd half and then started coasting a little to early, Providence then cranked it up and made a much tighter game than it should have been. But a win never the less. Next up will be the BE Quaterfinals. As being one of the top 4 seeds (#3) they get byes for the 1st 2 rounds. Much better season than anybody expected after the injuries early and some bad losses esp the one to Gonzaga. Go Irish.
Women took care of business last night in the Big East Quarters and beat DePaul, next up is West Virgina the only team to beat them in the Big East this year. The other half is UConn vs St Johns. Most likely it will be UConn vs ND again for the Big East Tournament Title. Right now it looks like Baylor, Stanford, UConn and ND will be the #1 seeds. But I wouldn't be surprised if UConn slips to a #2 with another loss to ND as Duke and Maryland are nipping on their heels. I think ND would be safe even if they lose to UConn in the Finals.
Irish lose BET Champ game to UConn tonight, they came out and played great defense and we were really out of sync shooting partly of course to their excellent defense. While I certainly wanted to win, I'm not bummed by the loss. Last year Baylor beat Texas A&M twice in conference play and in the B12 Champ game, they played a 4th and A&M won and went on to win the NC.
I can't say last nights win vs USF was a riveting great game, but we did persevere and win. We really started cold and were down by 12 at one point in the first half but rallied to lead at half time. It's was a low scoring grind it out game through out. We didn't score for like 9 minutes of the second half and were still only a couple of points behind. I thought for sure we were done with less than a minute to play but USF made some mistakes and we took them to OT. The replay of the final play of the 2nd half showed that Cooley was mugged not tied up and should have been going to the foul line for the win...but we went to OT instead. Eric Atkins who had been ice cold all night hit the big 3 pointer to give us the final lead in the game. I hope we play better against Louisville who looked very good beating Marquette. We played them last year in the Semi's and their guards just killed us, and I see that one guy who was esp tough on us is still there Siva. I don't think we can beat them unless our 3pt shooters are all on.
I watched the 2nd half and OT in silence. We were terrible, turnovers and bad decisions galore. Thanks to USF's meltdown at the end of regulation and at the end of OT, and thanks to Atkins' 3-pointer, we pulled it out of our you-know-whats. I'm not a negative guy where ND BB is concerned, but if we don't do a complete 180 from last night, Louisville will run us out of the gym.
That was painful to watch. Our ladies team is more athletic and entertaining to watch. If they were a horse they'd be taken behind the barn and put down.
My worst fears coming to pass...Siva eating us alive and shooters can't hit anything and we are sloppy. Same as last year vs Louisville in the Semi's. Can't see much changing in the 2nd half.
If you emotionally invest in ND basketball you are a foolish investor. MIght as well have bought ENRON stock or Greek bonds.
It seems like our style of basketball with our emphasis on 3 pt shooting, and not so much on interior offense bites us when we face a good and quick defense that can harass our 3pt shooters. Last year's loss to Louisville in the Semi's was a mirror image of this years and the loss to FSU was also the same, they harassed our guys who couldn't spot up and get their shots and were turnover machines when they tried to take it to the hoop. That said overall it was a good year, we could win a game or 2 in the NCAA's if we don't face a team with quick/fast defense. Or we could be out in the first round. Next year we should be a better team.
Irish vs Xavier. I guess it all comes down to whether or not Xavier has the kind of quick defense that will harass he ND shooters. If not we should win easily.
If I have read the brackets correctly, the Tennessee women and the ND women cannot meet until the final game if both make it there. Hope that happens.
If we both make it to the Championship game, Tenn would have knocked off Baylor just to get there that would be the upset of the tourney...actually anybody beating Baylor is going to be a huge upset.
ESPN Insider on the future of ND Mens Basketball. 7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish What they're losing: Notre Dame had to adjust to the loss of Tim Abromaitis a year earlier than expected when the fifth-year senior went down with a season-ending injury just two games into the year. With that lesson already learned, Scott Martin is the lone departing player for all intents and purposes, leaving the rest of nucleus intact for next year's campaign. What they're adding: Notre Dame's recruiting efforts have been gradually progressing under Mike Brey, and the 2012 class is no exception. Three players signed in November, beginning with ESPNU 100 swingman Cameron Biedscheid (St. Louis/Cardinal Ritter), a big and versatile wing who has some star potential down the road. Zach Auguste (Marlborough, Mass./New Hampton) and Austin Burgett (Avon, Ind./Avon High School) are also on board and will be the interior tandem of the future. What it equals: This is a Notre Dame team that exceeded expectations after Abromaitis went down this season and is now poised to return a young, but also experienced, nucleus of Jerian Grant, Jack Cooley, Eric Atkins, Pat Connaughton and Alex Dragicevich. In other words, the days of Notre Dame sneaking up on people to challenge in the Big East are done for the foreseeable future, as the Fighting Irish are well-positioned to contend for the next few years.