T1B

Anybody have any thoughts on Brey? I vacillate back and forth on this guy so much it's not funny, so I just wanted some feedback from some people who have a little more distance, and by extension, perhaps a little more objectivity when it comes to ND's program.

Where ND is now, as objectively as I can make it out, is a middle-of-the-pack Big East team that, in any given year, is probably good for something ranging from a one-and-done in the NIT to a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA. Of course, that's a pretty significant range, so it does allow for some vacillation in talent, performance, etc.

Thing is, I can remember a time when ND was much better than that. I was reading a ND board today and learned that we made 7 Sweet 16 appearances in an 8-year span from 74-81 (did not know that until today, although I did know that our basketball program was a damn sight better back then). It seems in a way that Danny Ainge dealt our program a blow from which we have yet to recover.

I will say that Brey is probably the best coach that ND has had since the first half of Digger's run at ND, although that's not necessarily saying much. And Brey is a product of the Krzyzewski coaching line, most of whom have looked much better than they turned out to be as coaches (see Amaker, Tommy and Snyder, Quin). One concern with replacing Brey, though, is who do you hire to replace him? ND got embarrassed, big-time, in their coaching search after Digger left following the '91 season, when Krzyzewski, P.J. Carlesimo and Bobby Cremins all said no, then Pete Gillen, a former ND assistant, also said no (fwiw, I advocated going after Gillen from the get-go, he had turned down the Virginia job only one season earlier, conventional wisdom was that he wanted the ND job, but his interest might very well have waned after he was effectively told that he was the fourth choice. History might have been different had the administration been a bit more realistic.)

I know some of the ND fans are very optimistic about next season, but I honestly don't know what to think. We lose Falls and Carter, and that scoring will be awfully tough to replace. On the bright side, we do have some returning experience next season, and ND apparently is going to let McAlarney return next year, which is a huge boost for the team. I figure we'll start McAlarney, Jackson, Kurz and Harangody. The fifth starter is anyone's guess, although the leading candidates probably would be Zellars, Hillesland and Ayers. Throw in Peoples, and that would be the 8-man rotation that figures to see most of the playing time next season.

I would love to see us get back to where we were from 74-81, but I'm beginning to doubt whether we'll ever do that. In this day and age, the blue-chippers probably see education as secondary to the NBA contract, as well as something that'll always be there (and I can't say for certain that they're wrong in that perception). That takes away a huge advantage from ND's perspective, and the way the McAlarney situation was handled this year may give the impression that ND tends to overreact to disciplinary issues (although the decision to allow him to return next year helps, in that it shows that a deserving person will get a second chance). But in any event, that run ended long before today's college kids were even born, so ND doesn't mean much to them from a basketball standpoint. And the basketball world has changed so dramatically since those days that I'm not sure ND can ever return to that position.

Can ND return to that position? And if so, is Brey the guy to help them do it? If Brey isn't, who is? The guy I'd like to get, in an ideal situation, would be Tom Crean. But I'm not sure Crean would jump to a conference rival. Also, he'd be leaving a school where basketball is king to go to one where it'll take a back seat to football. So I'm not sure that's a realistic option for us.

it's funny, i was actually going to ask you about Brey last night.

i follow ND hoops out of the corner of my eye since one of my college buds is a big Irish fan...and he's from NYC so nothing will ever be good enough for him.

the times i've seen ND play, i think Brey is a good coach. it just seems to me that ND has a hard time getting real athleticism on the floor at 5 positions.

and the Big East is tough....if only because there are so many good to very good teams every year. you just going to lose to DePaul's of the world on the road sometimes. to me, the hoops BE is too big.

Terry in Crapchester wrote:vacillate

Is this word part of your normal day to day vocabulary or did you just put that in to sound smart? I had to look it up.

IndyFrisco wrote:

Terry in Crapchester wrote:vacillate

Is this word part of your normal day to day vocabulary or did you just put that in to sound smart? I had to look it up.

I wouldn't say I use it every day, but I'm familiar enough with it not to have to look it up, either.

King Crimson wrote:the times i've seen ND play, i think Brey is a good coach. it just seems to me that ND has a hard time getting real athleticism on the floor at 5 positions.

Brey isn't a horrible coach. And he deserves some credit for getting us out of the funk we were in during the 90's. But the more I watch him, the more I'm starting to believe that he's not the guy who can take us to the next level. The question I have is whether we're capable of getting to that next level in the first place.

From a tactical standpoint, my main criticism of Brey is that he is too wedded to the 3-point shot, and I think that affects the way he recruits, moreso than whether ND can get real athleticism at all five positions. Don't get me wrong, I love the 3, and it's a huge weapon, particularly when you're behind. But when a team is consistently hoisting up more attempts from 3-point range than from 2-point range year after year, something is wrong. And we all know that the teams that live and die with the 3 ultimately die with the 3. That's been ND's story the last several years.

and the Big East is tough....if only because there are so many good to very good teams every year. you just going to lose to DePaul's of the world on the road sometimes. to me, the hoops BE is too big.

Speaking of DePaul, to me they belong in the "sleeping giant" category. They're located in a major metro area, there's no football team, which means that basketball is king at the school (the downside, however, is that there's less money for the athletic department), and they now play in a power conference. DePaul was a basketball monster during ND's heyday. I think both schools were hurt by coaches who overstayed their welcome by a few years -- Digger at ND, Ray and Joey Meyer at DePaul -- and that neither has yet fully recovered from that. But that was a long time ago, and at this point it's not an excuse any longer.

I agree that the Big East is probably too big in hoops, but I think the current alignment was necessary in the short term due to changes in the landscape of college sports. I predict that the basketball conference will split in a few more years along football/non-football lines.

I think you should try out for the Illuminatti Team.