Notre Dame 2024-25 Season

[Reypl21]

I'd immediately start Koval and use Westbeld as a sub to give Soni, King and Koval short rests. Maddy's main strength is as a jump shooter. So, with Soni out she can get 3pt shots off of the guards making teams collapse. With King out she could ball screen and hit pop out jumpers. With Koval she's the last resort along with Karlen, neither of whom can defend true bigs. The reason I'd start Koval now and play her a lot is that we have to have her in games where elite teams have great bigs. So, she needs all the playing time she can get immediately.

I agree with you that Koval needs to play more, but I don't think Niele will start her. She seems to be stuck at the end of the bench. I can only hope she gets more minutes. We could really use her for +15 minutes a games at the 5, preferably more. But I don't see Niele changing.

 

[Frankus]

I agree with you that Koval needs to play more, but I don't think Niele will start her. She seems to be stuck at the end of the bench. I can only hope she gets more minutes. We could really use her for +15 minutes a games at the 5, preferably more. But I don't see Niele changing.

I'm beginning to think that NI's thinking right now is similar to Muffit's , "we"ll out score you with better outside shooters in transition" school. Unfortunately, like the 2019 NC game etc, dominant bigs that score and slow down the game can spoil that strategy

 

[Frankus]

Florida State loss thoughts:

I thought we stayed in the zone too long. MM talked about a lack of defensive effort at half. That started with the zone, giving up easy 3's and then transferred to man with a lack of help defense.

I've been around ND a long time: Players whining to referees has never been the norm. NI needs to put a stop to it. The more HH puts up wild shots and misses, the more she whines. It's immature and a bad look.

We're in a collective shooting slump. Having an offense more sophisticated than picking for guards, who then freelance 90% of the time, would help. If our guards don't shoot better, I'm not sure if we have an answer this late in the season.

At the very time we should be looking like we're peaking, we're slumping. It's NI job to solve the problem. Let's hope she does.

Kudos to both NC State and FSU.

 

[Puppy Love]

First…love the play of Sonia Citron. She’s all business, and she’s very, very good. She seems to keep her head about her even when things go wrong.

Not so much on Hannah Hidalgo. All that emotion is good for the team when things are going well. When things aren’t going well, I think she needs to learn to rein it in. If I were Coach Ivey, I might be inclined to let her sit for a half deliver that message. I know it’s really too late in the year for that, but with so little time left, she needs to get the message across.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

The epitome of bad reffing happened a couple years ago to UConn. Two UConn players were going for a rebound, no opponents were close, and one Husky got called for fouling her own teammate. It was the strangest thing I’ve seen in a basketball game

HuskyNan- - -The worst I've seen was in 2001-2002 at HCC, UConn vs OKLA ref's called 52 fouls, 27 in the 1st 1/2!
At the time UConn was #1 and OKLA was #2!
They would meet in the NCAA FF Finals!

 

[Dillon77]

Florida State loss thoughts:

I thought we stayed in the zone too long. MM talked about a lack of defensive effort at half. That started with the zone, giving up easy 3's and then transferred to man with a lack of help defense.

I've been around ND a long time: Players whining to referees has never been the norm. NI needs to put a stop to it. The more HH puts up wild shots and misses, the more she whines. It's immature and a bad look.

We're in a collective shooting slump. Having an offense more sophisticated than picking for guards, who then freelance 90% of the time, would help. If our guards don't shoot better, I'm not sure if we have an answer this late in the season.

At the very time we should be looking like we're peaking, we're slumping. It's NI job to solve the problem. Let's hope she does.

Kudos to both NC State and FSU.

Not entirely true about the collective shooting slump: Citron was 8-14 and King 8-15. Koval even shot 3-6 last night. Our other two guards, you bet. Much more in another post.

 

[Dillon77]

Upon further review (and a night's sleep), this game was tight in a lot of ways. Kudo's to FSU for pulling off their first win at ND...ever.

.But it was decided by a shot here and there. As "Nothing but Net' panelist Kelly Gramlich said, ND still scored 81 point, but they gave up 86, which is way above what the Irish have surrendered. I'm going to list some last night stats and then come back later with some suggestions in another post, so I don't wear out sore eyes and/or bi-focals.

Score: FSU - 86 ND - 81
FG % 42% 43%
3-Pt % 35% 31%
FT's 17-21 19-23
Latson: 9-10 Hidalgo 8-10
Reb. 15(O)-28=43 11(O)-28=40
2nd Chance 12 pts, 13 pts,
Scoring % 50% 50%
Turnovers 12 12
T/O % 16% 16%
Assists 14 17
Layups 14-27 11-26

- Up until the last two games, ND was holding teams to under 60 ppg, save for Louisville (71). What do NC State and FSU have in common? Speed and the ability to hit both the three and layups.

- And if you look at how close these game stats were, it's the last line that stands out: those three layups = 6 pts. And they probably belong to Latson, who blew by (even) Citron to score them, with nary a challenging back-liner.

- NC State shot 50% in 3rd quarter and 53% in the 4th, while the Irish were at 40% in the third, but 50% in the fourth. That's how close it was -- some finished layups here or an earlier three there.

- Overall, ND's just got to get back to the film room/white board to:
--- study the scout (who drives to what strong side/strictly three-pt. shooter or combo scorer?)
--- note differences in man-to-man and zone defense. (Keep player in front of you in zone. Discipline)

If the Irish run into FSU again:

• This is the third straight year Timpson has had double-doubles against the Irish. She does it against virtually everyone, but we usually counter with someone. Liatu King had 17 and 11, but Timpson's hoops were well-timed and seemed to kill Irish momentum.
• Latson distributed in the first half and drove in the 2nd. Might want to give on-ball defender some back-line help.
• Citron led with 8-14 and 3-5 from three for 21 pts. King also went 8-15.

 

[BRS24]

Hey @Dillon77 - we only caught a tiny bit of the 3Q last night, and saw a very demonstrative HH complain to the ref and then display some verbal and physical things on the bench that we had not seen before. There are times where HH has reactions to shots made, fouls caused, and although I'm not a fan, her passion is unquestionable. Were the flashes of negativity last night a one off (due to the closeness of the game), or something that happens more than we know, as we're not ND fans?

 

[Dillon77]

Hey @Dillon77 - we only caught a tiny bit of the 3Q last night, and saw a very demonstrative HH complain to the ref and then display some verbal and physical things on the bench that we had not seen before. There are times where HH has reactions to shots made, fouls caused, and although I'm not a fan, her passion is unquestionable. Were the flashes of negativity last night a one off (due to the closeness of the game), or something that happens more than we know, as we're not ND fans?

What's that Graham Parker lyric, "Passion is no ordinary word?"
And Hannah Hildalgo is, indeed, a player who plays passionately and intensely. My wife has noted -- correctly, I believe -- that this intensity is both a positive, but it can be a negative. It allows her to just keep going on both ends of the court, but it can impact her decision-making, which I believe we saw yesterday, when she kept going to the basket in an attempt to draw fouls rather than score and/or pass to open players.

On the positive side, she still kept hustling on defense and open-ball situations. That said, I thought her frustration -- perhaps for the first time -- impacted the Irish from continuing a comeback that was largely led by Citron and King.

Hidalgo has been off a bit in her shooting since suffering a lower leg/ankle sprain and missing two games. While nothing is being said, you can tell her shot is a bit off. I think her coach and mentor, Niele Ivey, will need to make sure she gets that intensity and passion moving forward on its positive axis. Another person who helps her -- via her mere presence -- is Sonia Citron. I'd like to see "Soni" just add her "not get too high or low" perspective.

 

[BRS24]

What's that Graham Parker lyric, "Passion is no ordinary word?"
And Hannah Hildalgo is, indeed, a player who plays passionately and intensely. My wife has noted -- correctly, I believe -- that this intensity is both a positive, but it can be a negative. It allows her to just keep going on both ends of the court, but it can impact her decision-making, which I believe we saw yesterday, when she kept going to the basket in an attempt to draw fouls rather than score and/or pass to open players.

On the positive side, she still kept hustling on defense and open-ball situations. That said, I thought her frustration -- perhaps for the first time -- impacted the Irish from continuing a comeback that was largely led by Citron and King.

Hidalgo has been off a bit in her shooting since suffering a lower leg/ankle sprain and missing two games. While nothing is being said, you can tell her shot is a bit off. I think her coach and mentor, Niele Ivey, will need to make sure she gets that intensity and passion moving forward on its positive axis. Another person who helps her -- via her mere presence -- is Sonia Citron. I'd like to see "Soni" just add her "not get too high or low" perspective.

Appreciate the response. What I bolded is what I thought, as I've seen her on tv a number of times in the past two seasons, and yesterday was the first time that I saw a sustained level of frustration.

 

[Dillon77]

Appreciate the response. What I bolded is what I thought, as I've seen her on tv a number of times in the past two seasons, and yesterday was the first time that I saw a sustained level of frustration.

Yes, as you also read in my response, yesterday was the first time I've seen Coach Ivey take her out specifically to address the frustration. She has made note of exercises and routines she does to "chill out," such as lying on the floor, exhaling and getting her breathing into rhythm.

I need to remember she's still very young and in this day and age when hoops is a big business, she's being subjected to pressures that I can't really imagine.