Basketball Articles
Notre Dame Preview/In Game…Hoops
Posted by Trips Right on November 25th, 2008 under Basketball
After an impressive 18 point win vs. St Joe’s, the Longhorn’s will face their first true test of the young season when they battle the fighting Kelly Tripucka’s at 6 pm tonight. After smothering the St. Joe’s Hawks yesterday, the Horns will find the defensive task much more difficult when the Irish and Big East MVP Luke Harangody take the floor. The 6′10″ junior has averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds in 3 games this year, and has added perimeter shooting to his arsenal of offensive weapons.
Kyle Ayers is Notre Dame’s most dynamic perimeter player.
Junior lead guard Tory Jackson is the straw that stirs the drink for the Irish. Jackson averaged 6 assists to just 2 turnovers last year. He’s super quick and can get into the lane to create looks for teammates, but he’s still athletic enough to be a finisher at the rim if teams don’t play him honestly. The senior guard’s achilles heel is his shooting ability, however. Jackson shot a putrid 36% from the field last year and just over 50% from the line. Defensive teams can gameplan to limit Jackson by keeping him out of transition and providing on-ball cushion to limit his drive and dish/kick game. Enticing jumpers from the 5′11″ guard should be job 1.
Senior guard Kyle McAlarney is the antithesis of Tory Jackson. He’s a threat to hit from deep the second he steps on the floor. Defenders must get on his shooting hand as he crosses half court and play help defense accordingly. In other words, don’t help off him. When he has the ball, however, McAlarney can be pressured into turnovers when forced to handle the rock. It wouldn’t shock me to see some traps and double teams McAlarney gets the ball, especially if the trapper comes from Jackson’s man.
Ryan Ayers is the slashing hybrid guard/forward that can shoot from deep and slash to the goal with equal effectiveness. The senior is the most dynamic perimeter player the Irish have. He’s a smoother Damion James with less athletic ability and better shooting touch.
Forward Luke Zeller is Notre Dame’s answer to Connor Atchley in that he rebounds in a complimentary role to Harangody, but can still step out and hit 3’s at an outstanding percentage (38% last year).
Power forward Zack Hillesand provides rebounding and interior scoring depth inside.
As a team, the Irish can be had on the defensive end. With the exception of Jackson, Notre Dame struggles to guard M2M and that’s saying a bunch in the normally shooting deprived Big East. Teams with quick frontcourts gave the Irish fits last year, and based on this year’s personnel group I don’t see that changing a whole bunch.
Offensively, however, Notre Dame really has no peer nationally in terms of putting shooters and scorers on the floor 1 through 5. A lineup of Jackson, Ayers, McAlarney, Harangody, and Zeller are unzonable, even if you’re Syracuse. If you man, you better be athletic and deep enough in the frontcourt to handle Harangody down low. Trying to bring help on the talented center is a recipe for disaster given the shooting talent the Irish can deploy. Harangody is quick enough to slide between double teams and a good enough passer to find open shooters. If you sleep on him at the arc, he’ll drop trey’s on you as well. He’s a great player.
Junior Luke Harangody has added a 3 ball to his offensive arsenal.
Keys to the game…
Texas must play tough M2M not only because it’s Texas’ identity, but mainly because the Irish can shoot the hell out of the basketball. If I’m Barnes I deny the wings like its beachfront real estate. Easy ball reversal means easy buckets, drawn fouls, and open kickout 3’s that run through Harangody. I play soft on the ball vs. Jackson once he crosses half court. Press and retreat on him in hopes of forcing turnovers or quick shots. Allowing him to penetrate and break down your half-court defense has the same effect as pop-rocks in spit. In certain instances, however, it’s okay to help off of Jackson as long as you recover back to him under control inviting the jumper.
Offensively, Texas needs to maximize its quickness advantage at every position. I expect the Irish to play a ton of zone and our personnel groups better be tailored to attack accordingly. This isn’t a game to experiment with Varez Ward and Dogus Balbay on the floor simultaneously, unless we can endure 4 or 5 empty possessions. Big Dex, Chapman, and Wangmane need to be ready to board weakside vs. a rebounding vulnerable zone that lacks block out assignments if they want to be involved in the offensive boxscore. The post up game will be limited to flashes to the high post and duck-ins in the lane.
Gary Johnson should put his playmaker hat on, because he should be able to find space in the paint from the high post down given his quickness. Notre Dame’s defense is soft and we need to take advantage of it by not settling for quick jumpers early in the offense. I’m looking at you AJ, but I’m talking to Damion. In a nutshell, Mason and James should be looking to slash and kick to Atchley and Abrams with one of the bigs prepared to be a cockstud on the weakside glass. All other offense needs to come from open transition 3’s or layups.
It’ll be fun to watch that’s for sure. A good test of what this team is made of defensively and what kind of decision makers we have on offense without DJ. I’m interested to see the answers to the following two questions.
If we can’t score on the Irish who can we score on? If we can defend the Irish who can’t we defend?
Thoughts?
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coloradoag:
First of all, I’ve very seriously thought your proposal #9 over. See: Calipari, John. People don’t seem to care if you buy basketball players. Only if you do it blatantly (USC) or you call/text them too much.
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Ha ha ha ha! It’s Joel Osteen’s world. You just live in it.
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admin commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The South is a Bear of a Bracket 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
Ha ha ha ha! It’s Joel Osteen’s world. You just livesin in it.
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admin commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The South is a Bear of a Bracket 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
Ha ha ha ha! It’s Joel Osteen’s world. You just live sin in it.
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“And I can understand the Longhorn fan thinking mighty Baylor goes all the way. After they bitch slapped the Horns three times this year, they are the basketball equivilent of the three foot long rat my wife saw in the garage.”
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Ag_in_TX commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The South is a Bear of a Bracket 3 hours, 8 minutes ago
Of course not.
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Ag, cool, I agree with pretty much everything you say except your claim that you dictated tempo to UNM. But no biggie.
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I’ll say the same thing I did at March to March…
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post We talkin’ ’bout brackets 3 hours, 39 minutes ago
I’ll say the same thing I did at March to March…
I love this Baylor team. They’ve got all the pieces for a run and they’re in a ridiculously underwhlemingly regional, BUT…
It’s Baylor. They haven’t won a tournament GAME since I think 1950…now we’re expecting them to go out and win 4 in a row?
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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The South is a Bear of a Bracket 3 hours, 53 minutes ago
Speaking of history, when was the last time Duke got out of the round of 16?
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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The South is a Bear of a Bracket 3 hours, 57 minutes ago
Ag in TX, have you watched them play?
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The South is a Bear of a Bracket 3 hours, 57 minutes ago
Exactly, HipHop. It’s a brand recognition issue.
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texasengr commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 4 hours, 29 minutes ago
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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The South is a Bear of a Bracket 4 hours, 30 minutes ago
Why? Three seeds make it all the time? Put them in a bracket with the weakest 1 seed and one of the weaker 2 seeds and they have a great shot. Especially with two games in Houston.
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dutchhorn commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 4 hours, 36 minutes ago
nordberg said:
March 16th, 2010 at 8:32 am
“Sometimes, I watch the 4th quarter of the title game.”The best is when it’s tied at the end of regulation, and they have a shoot-out. And if they’re still tied at the end of that, they play an extra 18 holes the next day. “Extra innings” is what they
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 4 hours, 37 minutes ago
Fire Bob Wetlick!
NY Horn said:
November 25th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
What’s up with the ’straw that stirs the drink’ phrase? Is that the ‘mark it down’ of 2008?
MIA said:
November 25th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Keep your drink stirrin straw in yer pants.
RRR said:
November 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Thanks Trips. Great test for UT and I think they should dominate the boards. Attack the zone with effort.
UT defense should limit ND if they play it like you suggest.
You’ll be saying Uh-oh if the Horns get lazy on the offensive boards or lose focus on those ND shooters.
Me, I just want to see a UT-UNC matchup. Talent on Talent.
HenryJames said:
November 25th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Who are we going to put on LaPhonso Ellis?
Kansas Horn said:
November 25th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I thought John Paxson would be a tougher draw defensively than Ellis
Trips Right said:
November 25th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Or david rivers?
Trips Right said:
November 25th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
thank god doug gottlieb transferred.
Vasherized said:
November 25th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I’m looking at you AJ, but I’m talking to Damion.
Exactly. Damion is a little jumpy right now but he can still go off for 30/15 on any night. He better. Hear that, Damion? That’s right.
I’d like to see Barnes cut back the 11 man rotation to 8-9 to see if the guys can gel better and help limit the idiotic turnovers.
Mason needs to step it up. The three game waiting period is over. Mase can get to the rim against their relatively unathletic frontcourt and Hakim Warrick won’t be flying in from the elbow to swat shots into the mezzanine. Neither will Laphonso Ellis. Dude’s an accountant now.
HenryJames said:
November 25th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
We need to make Dantley and Tripucka work on defense.
dedfischer said:
November 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
“Neither will Laphonso Ellis. Dude’s an accountant now.”
There’s one thing I’ve learned from experience with accountants and lawyers. Neither is worth a shit at helping you unless they’re a little shady.
srr50 said:
November 25th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I can’t wait to see what kind of Hawaiian shirt Digger wears.
SL Xpress said:
November 25th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I like how they’re letting Tory Jackson settle for jumpshots. Dude can’t hit nuttin’.
Trips Right said:
November 25th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
If Tory Jackson beats me with the J, so be it. It’s better than him getting into the lane, and I’m pretty sure the remainder of the season will bare that out. That said, get out on that motherfucker.
Trips Right said:
November 25th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Halftime thoughts. Our defense is fine. We’re rebounding well and they’re hitting shots they won’t hit the entire game. Harangody is a virtual non-factor on the low block.
Offensively we let them off the hook by settling for shots early in possessions. Three passes and/or some dribble penetration each possession and we’d be in the fifties at halftime. The Irish get so out of position that they can’t possibly close out misses if we run offense even a little bit. They’re a horrible rebounding team when there aren’t four guys in the paint, all with block out position.
Their early man to man surprised me a bit. We’re much too quick for them and if we’d just be patient we could exploit that advantage. We can run them out of the gym if they keep taking those shots, and if we’d just be the least bit patient on offense.
Trips Right said:
November 25th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Our jackassery on the offensive end continues unabated. The Irish are switching every screen and we’re settling for 25 footers. AJ Abrams should call himself the Professor. Damion James can be Hot Sauce.
RansomStoddard said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
We’ve got some guys who think they should be auditioning for the NBA scouts. And, so much for our vaunted defense. Just got shredded by a slightly above-average ND team. Lots and lots of work to do before March
kevwun said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Slightly above average? They’re a top 10 team for fucks sake.
Trips Right said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Our defense was fine. It’s concerning that we never got into the bonus in the second half against what amounts to college basketball version of Texas Tech. We have alot of work to do offensively. Half court is our kryptonite.
anonymous said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Trips,
Should we really look for the half court offense to improve that much? We seem to lack a true point that can break people down of the dribble. That is a real problem with the Barnes offense no?
Kansas Horn said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Maybe we don’t have a guy to break somebody down off the dribble….. but shit could you at least drop it in the post a time or two. That may help you get an open shot. No DJ to drive to the middle and drop off for a easy layup or open 3. So at least you could go to the post were I don’t have a problem with any one of our bigs going one on one down low… Get a couple of buckets that way and you can now get open looks outside off of doubles down low…. I caught the game at the 14 min mark of the 2nd half and not once did we enter it into the post.
dick said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Sucks about that half court prayer going in. I agreed about Harangody, I didn’t even notice him being a factor and he ended up with great stats.
They hit a lot of tough shots so I tip my hat to them. Our offense is pretty rough, very spoiled from the past two years. I trust Barnes to figure something out and get us to improve. He always seems to tinker at the beginning of the year.
Kansas Horn said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
We outscored ND 22-6 in the paint in the first half…. Didn’t see it so I don’t know if we completely changed our gameplan or what. Did we at least go down low in the 1st half? I am not a some huge you have to go down low everytime kind of guy, but it got frustrating watching them switch everything and we are stuck launching long shots with hands in our faces
I did love the Mason throwdown.
8straight said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Damion lost the handle on way too many balls under the basket. We are not a top ten team with him shooting mid range jumpers. He has to use his Sergio K type of athletic ability. We did close well. We have won our share of these type of games.
Evil E said:
November 25th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Notre Dame’s defense is soft and we need to take advantage of it by not settling for quick jumpers early in the offense. I’m looking at you AJ, but I’m talking to Damion.
Too bad Damion didn’t listen.
The fact that Abrams’ Hail Mary was 9 inches from going in and winning the game is encouraging, if only because we have so much room to improve. A 1-point loss to an experienced, Top 10 Big East team is acceptable in November. We have much more room for improvement than the Irish.
Trips Right said:
November 25th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I’m all for pressing and shooting 3’s all game if we don’t have to watch the abortion of a halfcourt offense we saw in the second half. Tory Jackson played the most low post defense he’ll play all year, and we couldn’t draw one post foul? It’s early but my lord. How are we going to score on oklahoma if we can’t get good looks against Notre Dame.
Kafka said:
November 25th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
The horns showed a lot of heart and never gave up. It would have been nice if they could have taken a time out at the end of the game so they could have passed it up court. ND would probably have given a foul so maybe it did not matter.
Notre Dame reminded me of Wisconsin and Michigan State. They are all teams that are not that athletic, are well coached, play smart and run an efficient offense. They remind me of these teams from Europe and Argentina that give the USA so much trouble in the Olympics.
One thing that really encouraged me is that Mason seemed to flip a switch at the end of the game and got much more aggressive about penetrating, finishing, and taking charge. If Mason can turn himself into a point guard, it will really help the horns. He had 16 points and 7 assists. I wish one of the coaches would take a moment and tell Mason that you don’t throw the post entry pass from up top but instead you have to throw it from the side.
Even with Abrams getting hot at the end of the game, he still only hit 8 of 26 shots. When one guy is taking more than 1/3 of your total shots and he hits less than 1/3 of the shots that he takes, it is extremely difficult to win. ND hit nearly 46% of their 3s!
The announcers made a good point that the horns should have simplified their D scheme by simply sticking with the man you are guarding and not focusing nearly as much on helping out. When you have a big advantage in speed, you ought to be able to stay in front of your man without help. This approach would have cut down on ND’s 3s.
If the horns will get the ball inside once per possession, it will lead to lots of easy buckets inside and even make the outside shots less pressured.
Considering that the horns jack up outside shots early in the shot clock, don’t know how to make the post entry pass, and their main shooter was ice cold, they actually did OK on offense. Not including Abrams, the horns made 24 of 49 shots (i.e. barely under 50%).
Dex did pretty well while he was playing but he had 4 fouls in 5 minutes of PT. I realize that he sometimes gets reamed on calls but (if he wants to play) he really has to focus on avoiding fouls that can be avoided.
Great night of rebounding (12) by Damion (and the rest of the horns).
Another excellent night from Gary.
Mack Brown's 10 win season streak said:
November 25th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
no duh comment but abrams will continue to be a liability on defense all year against any guards taller than 5′10″. Can we please get the next Royal. it’s tough for a 155 lb abrams to get through screens. Then if he isn’t hitting his shots, he’s totally worthless on the court.