After a year that had plenty of ups and down for the Notre Dame men's basketball program, they will start their season in a few weeks with a clean slate in a weird season that could get even weirder in the blink of an eye. The Irish have been on a rollercoaster over the past few seasons, and after years of falling short of the NCAA tournament, Mike Brey and his team should have and will have one main goal this season...
Make The Tournament
Since the season's abrubt end in March, a lot has changed in the Notre Dame basketball program, the team and coaching staff went months without access to each other or Rolphs athletic hall, they lost an assistant coach, and three of their best players. But all this time the goal has remained the same. Mike Brey said it best in the simplest terms possible, " we can't miss another NCAA tournament". Three years ago the Irish had the injury excuse, two years ago it was a rebuilding year, and last year was progress toward a tournament birth. But now the next step for Mike Brey and his team is making the NCAA tournament. With the Irish's highly touted 2018 recruiting class becoming upperclassmen, it is time for them to finally go dancing in March. Anything more than that should be a bonus for a team that is set to get even better after this season. With a group that has little to no postseason experience, it will be crucial that the Irish make the tournament this season to set themselves up not only for this year but for the future of the program. While the ACC is expected to be much better all around than last year, the Irish definitely have the talent to compete well enough to hear their name called on selection Sunday. While Notre Dame hasn't made the tournament in years and are losing their two leading scorers, they have the talent to earn a tournament birth but they will need to do a few things to get there.
Finish Games, Especially Versus Ranked Teams
Last season the Irish proved they can compete with most of the top teams in the ACC, but they have absolutely nothing to show for it. In their six ranked losses, four of them were decided by 3 points or less, which once again goes to show how close they were to some of the top teams in the ACC. Whether the problem was the lack of shot creators, the lack of depth or a little of both, Mike Brey and his team have to finish games if they are going to go dancing in March. In order to do this the Irish will need a few things to go their way that didn't last year, but if they can pull out close games against good teams it will make it way easier to have a successful season.
Get Contributions from the bench
Heading into fall practices, one of if not the biggest question marks for the Irish was the bench. This question is even more relevant now with with the injury of athletic guard Robby Carmody, who was set to be the sixth man. While Carmody will only be out for a few months, Mike Brey will likely need to fill Carmody's spot in the rotation for a few crucial early season non-conference games, which may be a tough decision considering the wide variety of skillsets and experience on the bench. After fading down the stretch multiple times in big games last season, Brey may end up going with an 8 man rotation as opposed to a 7 man which he ran last year. If the "all hands on deck" proposal that Mike Brey is pushing for which would allow for all transfers (even Trey Wertz who is set to sit out) to play this season without using eligibility. With how hard Brey is pushing for this rule to go through, it seems like Wertz, if eligible, will take over as the sixth man or as a starter this season. The rest of the rotation is up in the air for now. We could see any of Nik Djogo, Elijah Taylor, Matt Zona, Tony Sanders, and Elijah Morgan crack the rotation and if Wertz is ineligible and Carmody is out for an extended period of time we could see up to three of the guys listed above getting minutes. Whatever the back end of the rotation ends up looking like, the Irish will need contributions from them in order to reach the tournament.
Emergence of a second and third scorer
After losing their two leading scorers in T.J. Gibbs and John Mooney, the Irish are left with only two double digit scorers from last season in Prentiss Hubb and Dane Goodwin. In order to make a push for the tournament, two or three players need to step up offensively. The good thing for Mike Brey and his team is that there are a lot of guys who have more than enough talent to make this jump offensively. Cormac Ryan, Trey Wertz (if eligible), Nate Laszewski and Juwan Durham are both prime candidates to breakout offensively and become double digit scorers. If Ryan and Wertz are both eligible they would give the Irish a huge boost in scoring as they are both good shooters who can both create their own shot and make plays for their teammates. Nate Laszewski is set to make his third year leap and if he is able to live up to the hype he will be one of Notre Dame's best players if not the best. Juwan Durham has been extremely underrated defensively throughout his career at Notre Dame but we have only seen flashes of what he can be offensivley. The fifth year senior has a lot of offensive potential if he can be more consistent and extend his range out a bit farther than it was last season. Laszewski and Durham will have a big role now that John Mooney is gone and it is up to them to step up and fill his shoes offensively. Lastly, Dane Goodwin is another prime candidate to make strides offensively after T.J. Gibbs' departure. In 2019-2020, Goodwin played his role well as the sixth man, but wasn't able to consistently have big nights offensively. With the junior slated to be in the starting lineup (for now) he will have a bigger role offensively this year and could take a big step up if he is able to be more consistent and create his own shot with more frequency. With all of this talent on the roster, Prentiss Hubb should have a lot of help offensively and if all goes well he will be challenged as the best player on the team.
It is crucial that the Irish to make the tournament this year for a variety of different reasons and to get there they will have to beat some of the ACC's best teams but if they do all the things above they have a chance to be playing in March.
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