ESPN's Take on RU/ND

[Colbert17!]

From the article "All You Need to Know About All 68 Men's Teams"

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Mike Brey is the MacGyver of veteran coaches.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Rutgers isn't usually the subject of a history-making event.

 

[Plum Street]

Good outside shooting teams are a problem for us

 

[blueoyster]

Fair assessment on RU.

 

[anon1753890747]

Sounds like a bad matchup for us also the play time and the travel really a disadvantage to us

 

[GM]

Second I saw us paired against an ACC team I got excited. Now, afterwards, a bit scared of the SEC and Big 12, but I think we at least make a trip to San diego

 

[RutgersMC]

It looks like they primarily play only 7 players (that have played in almost all of their games), so if they get in some foul trouble, that could bode well for us. And maybe we press more this game.

 

[RedTeamUpstream94]

Fair assessment on RU.

actually if you read it carefully it was slanted in a negative way

“Losses to DePaul, Lafayette, UMass, Minnesota and Northwestern drove the team's NET up to the 70s leading up to Selection Sunday. “

The way it written makes it seem like those losses happened at the end of the season - as in “leading up to” selection Sunday - when in reality as we know they were many months prior.

Even pointing out the 2-3 finish was cherry picked (particularly if you consider who we played)

it is what it is. But it wasn’t written to be fair. It was cleverly slanted

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Good outside shooting teams are a problem for us

Disciplined teams who don't turn the ball over much are a foundational problem for us, and when they hit their threes the problem intensifies. When we turn the ball over less than 6 times in the first half we are on good footing. 8+ turnovers and we dig a hole.

 

[MLBash93]

Sounds like a bad matchup for us also the play time and the travel really a disadvantage to us

Yea Newark to Dayton is a whole 1.5 hr flight

 

[GORU2014]

Excited to see Caleb shut down Goodwin & co.

 

[rob kight]

When we get by ND, we have Alabama waiting. The good news is Alabama is a fairly poor 3 point team ( a big nemesis for us all year) and they commit a lot of turnovers. This means we have a reasonable chance to get to 2nd round. Playing late Wednesday and early Friday is a negative against us. Let’s go RU.

 

[Rutgers25]

ND shoots a ton of 3s and they are balanced. 5 guys have attempted more than 100 this year. No team in the B1G has more than 3 guys over 100. So everybody will be chucking including one of their big guys. So if we are doing our normal pinching down to double and then scramble, we are at risk of getting abused from outside if ND passes the ball well. Will be interested to see how Pike addresses this…

 

[Colbert17!]

ND shoots a ton of 3s and they are balanced. 5 guys have attempted more than 100 this year. No team in the B1G has more than 3 guys over 100. So everybody will be chucking including one of their big guys. So if we are doing our normal pinching down to double and then scramble, we are at risk of getting abused from outside if ND passes the ball well. Will be interested to see how Pike addresses this…

Don't know anything about ND but I'd be willing to let Cliff play the low post one on one and not abandon the 3 pt shooters. After the beasts he's had to cover this year during the season I'm sure he'll be up to the challenge.

 

[anon1753890747]

Yea Newark to Dayton is a whole 1.5 hr flight

Logistically difficult you play in Dayton Wednesday night win and play in SD on Friday
Thursday do you fly from Dayton to SD “cross country different time zone” or is Thursday back to Newark then to SD?
No matter how you slice it that’s a long travel day on Thursday before a Friday game with a 3 hour time difference
Certainly not advantageous, Bama will probably get to SD Wednesday rested and ready for Friday!

 

[rob kight]

Maybe a chance to show some minutes of Cliff and Threber in second half together assuming neither in foul trouble. Prefer Reiber subbing for Ron vs Hyatt.

 

[anon1753890747]

Yea Newark to Dayton is a whole 1.5 hr flight

Sorry should have been more clear not just looking at the ND game but actually playing in the field of 64 and winning a game

 

[RedChucken123]

Just watched the first half of the Iowa game because I missed it live and decided to watch it to see how we lost our early momentum. Probably was mentioned in the original game thread, but…

We suck against the zone. If anyone has a half-decent zone, we’re in trouble. Paul was mitigated after the hot start because he’s hanging out on the wing and he’s too slow to penetrate by himself. He probably should have been the person in the middle. Only Geo was doing a half-decent job of penetrating somewhat. Hyatt was trying too, but he kept missing some easy shots. If ND watched any of the recent film, wouldn’t be surprised if they would consider it. In game commentary said Pike was stressing more authoritative passes. That would help, but if they can’t pass authoritatively at this point, something is wrong. Pike needs to find a more reliable solution, but I’m not sure what that is at the moment. (More shooters on the floor, more effective penetrators?)

 

[Caliknight]

It looks like they primarily play only 7 players (that have played in almost all of their games), so if they get in some foul trouble, that could bode well for us. And maybe we press more this game.

Press the hell out of them. They seem like a very poor man’s Iowa. With less players and talent.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Hopefully Caleb draws a ton of fans for us from his hometown to neutralize ND fans driving to the game.

 

[zappaa]

Just watched the first half of the Iowa game because I missed it live and decided to watch it to see how we lost our early momentum. Probably was mentioned in the original game thread, but…

We suck against the zone. If anyone has a half-decent zone, we’re in trouble. Paul was mitigated after the hot start because he’s hanging out on the wing and he’s too slow to penetrate by himself. He probably should have been the person in the middle. Only Geo was doing a half-decent job of penetrating somewhat. Hyatt was trying too, but he kept missing some easy shots. If ND watched any of the recent film, wouldn’t be surprised if they would consider it. In game commentary said Pike was stressing more authoritative passes. That would help, but if they can’t pass authoritatively at this point, something is wrong. Pike needs to find a more reliable solution, but I’m not sure what that is at the moment. (More shooters on the floor, more effective penetrators?)

Agreed,
We have got to address and solve the zone D against us.
ND will play zone against us.
The inferior teams we played early and struggled with used a zone against us.
Pike addressed the zone last year by setting up Myles at the foul line,
Myles made good passes from there

 

[DHajekRC84]

Jay Bilas had us beating both ND and Bama in his comments. Actually said we were under seeded.

 

[JudgeSmails56]

It looks like they primarily play only 7 players (that have played in almost all of their games), so if they get in some foul trouble, that could bode well for us. And maybe we press more this game.

They don’t call fouls on our opponents.. just on us

 

[rufeelinit]

Against the zone we need to move the ball inside and out and make shots. You can get shots against a zone but you need to take them with confidence particularly on the perimeter. Sometimes I think we over do it with shot fakes against a rushing defender. On the other end, maybe a little less help defense and hope we can play tight man to man on the perimeter and dare them to beat us off the dribble. I don't know enough about ND to know whether they have guys who can drive finish or dish. We cannot give up many second chance opportunities and there will likely be some long rebounds if ND is chucking up a lot of 3's.

The travel schedule plus the possibility of 3 games in 5 days is challenging. We should not be playing an early game on Friday. There is no way that jet heads back to Newark if they are fortunate enough to win Wednesday night. Having said that, the initial travel is no excuse for a possible negative outcome on Wednesday,

 

[RUJMM78]

Teams that are in play in games not only have to play a additional game but then have to travel to the next location with little time for rest.Rutgers can't complain because their resume put them in that position.The tournament is one and done for teams that lose .Notre Dame is a favorable matchup for Rutgers because they aren't a high scoring team.Rebounding will be key against a opponent that shoots plenty of 3 pointers.The fact that Rutgers is a slight favorite is a indicator that both teams are evenly matched.

 

[Plum Street]

What is the consensus here ? Bad matchup or good matchup for us ?

 

[BellyFullOfWhiteDogCrap]

For those saying we struggled against Iowa's zone... Did we get good looks? How many times did a wing flash to the middle of the paint, receive a pass, only to miss a wide open 8-10 ft shot?

The problem wasn't our offensive sets. It was knocking down very makeable shots.

 

[bethlehemfan]

For those saying we struggled against Iowa's zone... Did we get good looks? How many times did a wing flash to the middle of the paint, receive a pass, only to miss a wide open 8-10 ft shot?

The problem wasn't our offensive sets. It was knocking down very makeable shots.

I agree we missed a bunch of easy shots and good looks. Bottom line is you need to make shots at some point. We have guys that can shoot. They just need to relax and play.

 

[cubuffsdoug_rivals]

I'm not as concerned with ND's ability to shoot the 3 as much as I'm worried about Rutgers beating their zone.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

Does ND typically play zone? I haven’t watched much of them.

 

[kcg88]

Notre Dame is kinda Iowa Lite. Everyone can shoot.

 

[BuggsyRU]

If we play defense like we did against Iowa earlier this year, or Wisconsin, or Purdue....contesting every shot taken....than we win this one by 10. If ND is counting on winning from three point land, and we are in their faces, it's game over and we win.

 

[BellyFullOfWhiteDogCrap]

I agree we missed a bunch of easy shots and good looks. Bottom line is you need to make shots at some point. We have guys that can shoot. They just need to relax and play.

And once Geo hit a few three's, Iowa went back to m2m

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

I hope Pike is planning on a applying a good amount on full court trap pressure. Especially late in the first half when he brings our subs in. Dean and Hyatt are at their defensive best when we press.

 

[rutobs]

Against the zone we need to move the ball inside and out and make shots. You can get shots against a zone but you need to take them with confidence particularly on the perimeter. Sometimes I think we over do it with shot fakes against a rushing defender. On the other end, maybe a little less help defense and hope we can play tight man to man on the perimeter and dare them to beat us off the dribble. I don't know enough about ND to know whether they have guys who can drive finish or dish. We cannot give up many second chance opportunities and there will likely be some long rebounds if ND is chucking up a lot of 3's.

The travel schedule plus the possibility of 3 games in 5 days is challenging. We should not be playing an early game on Friday. There is no way that jet heads back to Newark if they are fortunate enough to win Wednesday night. Having said that, the initial travel is no excuse for a possible negative outcome on Wednesday,

Agree with this, and also, Cliff has to stop going out to set up a high pick when they are playing zone. He has to jump into the middle of the paint and demand the ball, then he can make the decision to take it to the basket, or kick it back out. You need to one of the other zone defenders to collapse down, which can then open a cutter to the hoop. Iowa killed us, because we never really looked inside once they set up the zone, and just passed the ball on the outside until the end of the shot clock. Can't do this on Wednesday.

Let's just win on Wednesday, and worry about the travel schedule after that. Go RU!!

 

[RUtrumpet92_rivals498139]

We don't know if Cliff has the vision and ability to make good decisions from the high post against a zone, and I don't think he should be driving to the basket against it from there. Ron and Paul, absolutely. Particularly with Cliff lurking near the baseline as a potential cutter that the defense must respect.

 

[Mr. Magoo1]

What is the consensus here ? Bad matchup or good matchup for us ?

Bad matchup. We are a better team. However, they shoot a lot of 3s, our offense against a zone is terrible and it’s more of road game for us than them.

 

[toby83]

Jay Bilas had us beating both ND and Bama in his comments. Actually said we were under seeded.

Rothstein also has us getting two wins

 

[BIGRUBIGDBIGredmachine]

As many others have said, if we hit our makeable shots, we'll win. If we miss the close-in shots again and can't throw the ball in the ocean from 3, we'll lose.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Rothstein also has us getting two wins

Pat Forde and Dan Wetzel too. Not that I've read everything but I haven't seen anyone pick ND yet and not sure if anyone didn't also have us beating Alabama.

 

[hoquat63]

Pat Forde and Dan Wetzel too. Not that I've read everything but I haven't seen anyone pick ND yet and not sure if anyone didn't also have us beating Alabama.

Dickie V bracket shows AL beating ND in first full round