Notre Dame suffered yet another close, heartbreaking loss today which begs some questions and concerns. Here are three quick takes from their sixth loss of the season.
At Some Point these Close Losses can't be attributed to bad luck
Over the course of the 2019-2020 season Notre Dame was seriously hindered by close losses and blown leads. Out of their twelve losses eight were decided by five points or less. At the time a lot of this was attributed to bad luck and some of those games were lost due to bad luck. However, after all six of Notre Dame's losses this season were decided by less than ten points it is fair to wonder if there is more to these narrow defeats than just bad bounces. Based on how close these games have been it is hard to argue that the Irish don't have the talent to pull these wins out, but outside of a few games late last season they just haven't proven that they can do it.
At this point it is really difficult to write all these losses up as bad luck. This Notre Dame team is one of the most talented and experienced groups in the entire ACC, but they just may not know how to win yet. A reason for their struggles could also be due to the lack of a closer, Nate Laszewski has hit a few huge shots throughout his career, but to this point nobody on the roster has shown that they can get themselves or somebody else a good look at the end of games. Brey also hasn't been able to draw up many good looks in crunch time either which has led to heartbreaking losses at the buzzer like we saw this afternoon. Their struggles could also be just as mental as they are physical. At the end of these games the Irish seem to get in ruts offensively and can't seem to pull away.
There are a lot of valid explanations as to why the Irish can't finish games and at this point it is hard to give them the luck excuse.
Mike Brey Should Keep experimenting with lineups
Another huge reason for the Irish struggling late in games is their lack of depth. The five starters have been forced to play more minutes than they are used to which has led to them losing their legs at the end of close games. Today with Trey Wertz' unavailability Brey had to get creative with his lineups and turned out to be a good thing. Each member of Notre Dame's roster checked into today's game and most of them had a meaningful impact. Early on this season Notre Dame's rotation has gotten as small as six which has limited their pace and limited what they are able to do on the defensive end.
Today Freshman forward Matt Zona helped to defend North Carolina's bruisers down low and contributed on the boards which were both things that many others didn't do which ultimately cost them. Sophomore guard Elijah Morgan also saw some of the first meaningful minutes of his career today, when the walk on was in the game the offense flowed well and the ball moved well. Mike Brey also spoke highly of Morgan's defensive ability and toughness in his radio show this week. Notre Dame's team is full of talented guards but Morgan could see more playing time over the next few weeks.
Junior guard Robby Carmody is expected to return later this month which will likely push the rotation to eight but until then it would likely be beneficial to experiment with different lineups and players to see if something can stick as we delve into conference play.
Nate Laszewski Is Dangerous when properly Utilized
Heading into this season the expectation was that Nate Laszewski would make a big leap in multiple areas just like many other big men under Mike Brey. The Junior forward has met those expectations so far and maybe even exceeded them. Today was yet another example of how good the big man can be when properly utilized. Laszewski finished today's game with 25 points on 64.3% shooting from the field along with 9 rebounds and a block. Early on this season Laszewski was underutilized as he took less than ten shots in five of Notre Dame's first nine games, but now that he is getting more opportunities, he is taking advantage of them. The 6'10 forward took over the game at times during the second half and kept Notre Dame in it all afternoon. If Laszewski keeps up this kind of production it will be hard to keep him off of an all ACC team.
Notre Dame will return to action Wednesday in another winnable game against Georgia Tech, they will need that one badly to bounce back and make a run in conference play.
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