Mike Brey confirmed on Sunday that there will be some changes to the Notre Dame starting lineup for Monday’s game against Marquette according to Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune.
“We’ll think about (changes),” Brey said after that game. “I’m not going to knee-jerk because I’d like to see if we can get in a flow and steal a league win right now. But it’s something to evaluate, but you have to evaluate quickly.”
And evidently he did. As for what changes might be under consideration, Brey’s biggest concern Saturday was that his team needs to “put the thing in the basket.” The most replaceable cogs in the starting lineup likely are seniors Zach Hillesland (19 points total in his last six games) and Ryan Ayers (1 of 10 shooting against Connecticut). As for who might replace them?
Sophomore Tyrone Nash scored eight points in the last two minutes of Saturday’s game, hitting all four of his shots from the field and bringing a palpable energy to the floor. Against upcoming opponents Marquette and Pittsburgh, both of whom start no one taller than 6-foot-8-inches, the 6-foot-8-inch Nash may offer a spark and athleticism without giving up much size-wise. But he is extremely untested.
I would love to see Nash get the opportunity to start and see more minutes. I’ve been saying all year long that Nash needs to see more playing time because he brings a lot of athleticism to the floor and that is an area the Irish starting lineup is short in.
Notre Dame’s lack of athleticism was on full display Saturday. This team has lived and died by the three for a while, but lately that has been the case even more so. The Irish are just 19 of 51 from three point range the past two games – both loses – and have been getting beat on the boards. Putting in someone like Nash who has shown an ability to rebound well whenever he’s played could help get the Irish shooter some more open looks.
Starting a reserve that hasn’t seen much playing time might be a bit of a gamble, but with the Irish on a 3 game losing streak and sitting at just 3-4 in league play after coming into the season with such high expectations, isn’t it about time to roll the dice?
Brey needs to start Zeller over Hillesland. HIllesland is utterly incompetent most of the time–it seems that in Big East play he misses nearly all his shots, and every time he dribbles the ball goes off his foot and out of bounds. Overall, he looks awkward with the ball in his hand. Zeller provides a little more height at 6’10 and is a legitimate shooter (and a crowd favorite). Forget Nash, he is too inexperienced to plug into a big game tonite against Marquette and we need Ayers in the lineup to make three’s (around 45% on the year)–he’ll come around, every shooter goes through slumps
I was at the game. Great atmosphere, in fact maybe too over the top for the players. Brey commented that they were tight. Well, I’d say that and more. Harangody is a stud. I felt bad for him because the rest of the team is not following his lead or work ethic. That’s the crticism of Brey’s teams. There are usually two great guys, and the rest of the team seams passive.
Passive is how I would describe the players other than Luke and Kyle McAlarney. Kyle went cold which a three point shooter will. Luke got tired and worked too hard. The rest of the team only played hard for a few minutes each. Otherwise guys seemed to be waiting for someothing to happen. UCONN didn’t look great, but the size down low was intimidating. I will say, a better inside outside game would have spread the floor somewhat nullifiying the height down low.
One thing is for sure. Brey needs to motivate the rest of the team to get through whatever mental blocks they have. Otherwise, ND won’t win more than one or two conference games because teams will focus on Harangody and McAlarney. I’m just glad it’s happening now because if they do come up with a new look that works, they will turn the tables and keep their opponents guessing the rest of the season.
ND Student section was hopping. They are the best!