Notre Dame is an excellent team. They're big, strong, quick, and, yes, very well coached. And one cannot miss the determination with which they play. They remind me more of the Stanford teams than the UConn teams, however, Stanford is always big and strong, while UConn is the epitome of finesse.
Notre Dame is ranked first in no small part because of those twin peaks inside who are averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds together. Ogunbowale is amazing, and with Mabrey back, they have a dead-eye outside shooter who could go toe to toe with KLS.
ND blocks out well, swarms for rebounds, plays tenacious defense, and pounds the ball inside to their bigs. Oh, and their bench can score and rip rebounds as well.
Let's face it: there's a reason ND garnered all first-place votes in the poll. They won the NC last year, and they're better this year.
I'm rooting for our guys, but we have to remember that we don't automatically win NC's, and without a first-rate post player, we are always playing at a disadvantage. We got to the FF last year due to serendipity: Azura Stephens' arrival as a transfer. She was critical to UConn's success last year. Were she here again this year, the story and prospects would be completely different. But she's not.
Fingers crossed. But let's not delude ourselves: Notre Dame is a tremendous basketball team.
