Well with Spring Drills coming this week, Kelly will be holding a Press conference and all. I don't really expect any big announcements. Obviously a lot of questions to be answered. Wimbush, Defense, are the top of my list. I've read some really good things about Brandon Wimbush and his leadership. In fact it seems like the whole Jr Class is a good bunch and a lot of leaders will be coming out of this bunch. Brandon is apparently extremely well organized, very committed to academics and is an Accounting Major which is not easy. Lot's of other things going on this Spring as well. Men's and Women's basketball have locked in NCAA bids, now it's about seeding. Women should be a #1, Men probably would have to win the ACC tournament to get to a #3 seed. More likely in the 5-8 range. Softball doing pretty well, have some good wins. Baseball is in free fall and if they were a MLB club a lock to lose a 100 games. Both Lacrosse teams are good, men are currently #1. Tennis and Golf ..I have no clue. Track and Field... I have no clue. I think we're middle of the pack in the ACC.
Article on Mike Brey http://www.mensjournal.com/sports/articles/48-hours-with-the-most-underrated-coach-in-college-basketball-w470597
There's no question in my mind that he has evolved into one of the elite coaches in the country. This season is a prime example.
Kelly Press Conf is done. Nothing earth shattering. 1. Long will have full control of offense. 2. Nick Watkins fully healed 3. Shaun Crawford still not 100% but will do more in the Spring than they thought. 4. Alex Bar's could be either Guard or Tackle depending on the competition between Hoge/Kraemer/Bivin/Eichenberg. He liked the way Jimmy Byrne looks...not sure what that means. 5. No big position shifts 6. QB reps will be 60/40 between Wimbush and Ian Book 7. Lots of comments on how he likes the team, how they've worked in the offseason, the leadership, etc. Proof will be in the Fall when we take the field. 8. I forgot, he said Daniel Cages is full go for the Spring. He's been in a concussion protocol for seemingly 6 months.
ND <t>Listening to Kelly today I'm really starting to believe that he is giving full control of the offense over to Long. Hopefully so.</t>
Last year we had a monstrous defensive line and they were shoved all over the field. This year there is great concern about depth and experience. I am going to say coaching is the problem. Let's see how it proves out. D-Line and QB are the big question marks going in.
I would agree Krebs...we've got good LB's and the DB's should be good ...if the DL can be good then this can be a very good defense. A lot of people question Jerry Tillery, his immaturity (USC game) and his desire. This is the year for him to step up and be the player he can be. Great win for the Irish last night at the ACC tourney. I liked this write up of the win. Bonzie was pretty chippy last night, he's fired up and looks to me like a real team leader. That's what made the 2015 team that lost to Kentucky in the Elite 8 special, Grant and Connaugton were great leaders..wouldn't accept anything but 100% from the guys. I like this write up. http://www.onefootdown.com/2017/3/10/14879052/notre-dame-fighting-irish-dominates-virginia-cavaliers-three-things-we-learned-bonzie-colson-beachem
I didn't figure we had much of a chance last night vs Duke, but after a slow start the Irish battled them all the way to the end. They just have too much talent for us when they are playing well. They had 8 McDonald's AA's last night suited up against us. But this has been an enjoyable season for us, and I think we have a shot at getting to the Sweet 16, beyond that who knows.
Terry, I did not watch the game, but from all accounts, I have read the Irish held their own and really made Duke work had for the victory. This has been a good and entertaining team for this season!
Team was better than expected Don, thought to be a middle of the pack ACC team. Naturally I hated to lose, but Duke is so talented and so well coached, and they made the plays late and we didn't. We get seeded #5 in the Gonzaga region and it's a very reasonable senario for us, obviously we'll have to play well but Sweet 16 is not out of the question. What I don't understand is how FSU got a #3 seed when we barely lost to them at the buzzer at FSU, beat them handily at home and then beat them in the ACC tourney. I guess it's one of those metrics RPI, RIP or something like that. :roll: Irish Hockey sweep #10 Providence and are into the Hockey East Semi's. Irish Men's lacrosse went to Denver and lost on a last second goal to a very good Denver squad. Softball loses 2 out of 3 at Ga.Tech Baseball is swept at Clemson...long slow death march for the Coach. This team is terrible.
Bonzie and Farrell ACC 1st Team All-Tourney, Vasturia 2nd team. Women's Bracket will be announced Monday night. I'm not sure why the women are waiting till Monday night, they could have done this last week since the conference tournaments were done already. I guess the women are struggling to find their space in the media/TV. They will work their tournament around the men's tournament and try to avoid conflicts as much as possible, fanbase for the women's game is much smaller.
ND/Princeton noon today. I hope the Irish can come out and get a good lead early and have the luxury of not needing Bonzie Colson in the 2nd half and getting Torres and Geben a lot of playing time. Bonzie is saying the ankle is fine, but then that's what they always say no matter what, some extra rest would be helpful because we'll need him a lot for W.Va. Assuming we both win our first round game. Nothing going on with football, team is on Spring Break. I keep reading good things about Wimbush, not just his arm but his leadership. Also off season conditioning seems to have been really good with the new staff. I've read FR TE Brock Wright from the Houston area has really turned some heads and is likely to see the field this fall. Claypool also looking very good as are Alize Jones and E.St.Brown.
Irish Women cruise over #16 seed Robert Morris, next up is a Sunday match up with Purdue. Purdue is a 9 seed and naturally the Irish are favored, but I would imagine Purdue will come ready to play and bring a lot of fans to South Bend. I expect a tough game for the Irish. Men are up tomorrow with West Virginia. We will have to play very well to beat them.
Someone on the Purdue list mentioned how they used to look forward to playing the Irish. But not this time! :shock: :?
Purdue has the lead in the all time series, Irish have won the last 6 or 7. I expect a tough game and a great atmosphere at the Joyce Center for this game tomorrow.
ND Center and All American, Brianna Turner just went down with what looks like a bad knee injury. Purdue played us very tough to start the game, but we got going in the 2nd period and have a solid lead at half. Loss of Turner though changes everything, we might beat Purdue but I can't see us advancing past the sweet 16 without her. I just hope it's not an ACL, but I fear it might.
Purdue made a big comeback in the 2nd half and forced the game to OT before losing to the Irish women. Glad for the win of course, but without Turner we are in trouble. Katheryn Westbeld is gimpy on an season long ankle problem and Kristina Nelson is a nice young lady in a big body but is very limited in what she can do. Erin Boley is a freshman and not really a post player. Will be very tough to advance vs Ohio State next weekend. Turner is having a MRI today or tomorrow, but I can't help but think the best is that she has a sprain and while that means rehab instead of surgery still she's not likely to play again this year. It's too bad, she's battled back from a year in which she endured a shoulder problem that required Surgery after last season and was finally really healthy at the end of this year. Now this. On the football front, Brandon Wimbush and the Irish are back at it today. Wimbush spent his spring break with QB guru George Whitfield. I'm glad he worked on his game and all, but I'm not sure about these QB guru's. They are popular but Everett Golson spent his suspension working for and with Whitfield and I didn't really see much difference if any at all.
Terry, The lady buckeyes had one of their better games yesterday in Lexington. We have never been very succesu=ful in the NCAA tournaments, nothing beyond the sweet 16. I too question the value of some of these QB gurus. Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett did not gain that much improvement.