Notre Dame 2025-2026 Regular-Season Thread. | Page 6 | The Boneyard

Notre Dame 2025-2026 Regular-Season Thread.

Dillon77 said:
My take on Hannah's jumpers: it's her legs and perhaps her concentration....she's doing so much and being attacked so much by hordes of defenders that jumpers looked misaligned or just off. When she drives, her instincts just take over and that can be helpful.
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Geno knew that and tried to take advantage of it

 
HuskyNan said:
Geno knew that and tried to take advantage of it

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Bingo.
  • Like so many great players, Hidalgo played with great/very good players who allow(ed) her to do her thing. Note Geno used "two years" and the players with her both those years: Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld. No such fear -- nothing personal -- with most of the current teammates. (The good news is that could change with next year's incoming class.)
  • Deb Antonelli preaches the rules of the court when Hannah is on defense: pass, don't dribble; have a secondary ball handler and if Hannah is on the other side of the court, don't throw the ball over there. Geno's second half displayed all those elements (and more).
The weak-side cuts on ND's undersized frontcourt were tactfully spot on.

Thanks for sending along.
 
Dillon77 said:
Bingo.
  • Like so many great players, Hidalgo played with great/very good players who allow(ed) her to do her thing. Note Geno used "two years" and the players with her both those years: Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbeld. No such fear -- nothing personal -- with most of the current teammates. (The good news is that could change with next year's incoming class.)
  • Deb Antonelli preaches the rules of the court when Hannah is on defense: pass, don't dribble; have a secondary ball handler and if Hannah is on the other side of the court, don't throw the ball over there. Geno's second half displayed all those elements (and more).
The weak-side cuts on ND's undersized frontcourt were tactfully spot on.

Thanks for sending along.
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Dillon, meh. I don't think Geno made a single adjustment to their offensive flow in the second half to account for Hannah Hidalgo's defensive presence. Nor in the first half for that matter.

Deb Antonelli's wisdom might be applicable to mediocre teams, but is certainly not applicable to the better teams that have Sweet Sixteen aspirations. And especially not for any elite program that wants to be known for developing WNBA-level players (I can't think of a single example where a WNBA team adjusted their game plan to avoid an extremely good defensive guard).

Pass don't dribble; have a secondary (and tertiary) ball handler on the court; move the ball around; draw the defenders towards you to open up passing lanes; throw the ball to the open man, etc., are what all good teams do.

Rather than suggest nonsense on how teams should deal with an elite defender such as HH, Antonelli would better serve her younger audience by explaining why high-performing teams should NOT alter their offensive strategy in the manner she suggests.
 
YKCornelius said:
Dillon, meh. I don't think Geno made a single adjustment to their offensive flow in the second half to account for Hannah Hidalgo's defensive presence. Nor in the first half for that matter.

Deb Antonelli's wisdom might be applicable to mediocre teams, but is certainly not applicable to the better teams that have Sweet Sixteen aspirations. And especially not for any elite program that wants to be known for developing WNBA-level players (I can't think of a single example where a WNBA team adjusted their game plan to avoid an extremely good defensive guard).

Pass don't dribble; have a secondary (and tertiary) ball handler on the court; move the ball around; draw the defenders towards you to open up passing lanes; throw the ball to the open man, etc., are what all good teams do.

Rather than suggest nonsense on how teams should deal with an elite defender such as HH, Antonelli would better serve her younger audience by explaining why high-performing teams should NOT alter their offensive strategy in the manner she suggests.
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  • Regarding your second sentence: Did you listen to what Geno just said in his presser? Hannah's (over) use was scouted, both offensively and defensively? If so, he admits to putting it in the game plan. And, being the excellent coach he is, he probably did have some things to say on what was working. That is what good teams do...see how game plans are going.
  • I'm not an agent or PR board for Debbie Antonelli by any means, but I will remind you her comments were pertinent last night because Miami is, in fact, a mediocre team. And the fact that they didn't score a basket for 7 minutes in the fourth quarter largely by dribbling in front of Hidalgo and Vanessa de Jesus. lends credence to her point that Miami wasn't following that. In no shape or form was the WNBA brought up: you're bringing an orange into this when an apple was the sole subject.
  • Remember, she was commenting on the ND vs Miami game last night, not the UConn-ND or UConn-Michigan. And where was the WNBA brought up? You're bringing an orange into this when an apple was the sole subject.
  • Lastly, if you want to have a discourse on commentators, why not start a thread?
  • Speaking of pro's though: It's interesting, I just listened to former player and coach Bill Cowher commenting on how he would take input from key players at halftime to see if what they were playing and seeing was matching up with what he was perceiving from the sidelines. Based on that, he might stick to and/or adjust coverages, even the ways defensive backs were matching up.

Have a good weekend and hope you aren't in a snow-affected area. I am, so need to go do some things before full-blown panic sets in tomorrow.
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DefenseBB said:
No way, Duke is not going to lose 7 more…😜
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You are correct about that. On the other hand, Notre Dames remaining schedule has 2 possible 3 more sure wins. (SMU, Wake Forest, and probably VPI). They probably will beat Clemson. Beyond that, a bunch of dog fights .
 
They
HuskyNan said:
KK Arnold got a big hug too
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'They've known each other a long time and probably spent a lot of time with each other on U.S.A. trials, camps and teams.
You may remember that ND was heavily going after both of them...ND was Arnold's other finalist. Think it worked out for all concerned 😉
 
triaddukefan said:
You are correct about that. On the other hand, Notre Dames remaining schedule has 2 possible 3 more sure wins. (SMU, Wake Forest, and probably VPI). They probably will beat Clemson. Beyond that, a bunch of dog fights .
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Never expected anything less with this team.
The West Coast trip to Cal and Stanford will be big...ND needs to get a split out there.
 
Dillon77 said:
  • My take on Hannah's jumpers: it's her legs and perhaps her concentration....she's doing so much and being attacked so much by hordes of defenders that jumpers looked misaligned or just off. When she drives, her instincts just take over and that can be helpful.
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I've watched her 3 times live and last night vs Miami.

Even early in the game before she is fatigued she has a noticeably higher arc this year on her 3's. She also seems to be rolling the ball off of her ring and pinky finger. It's a very odd shot and I could tell from the minute it left her hand it wasn't gong in, and most weren't even close. My take is somebody messed with her form and she's concentrating more on her form than her eyes looking at the rim.
 
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Dillon77 said:
  • Regarding your second sentence: Did you listen to what Geno just said in his presser? Hannah's (over) use was scouted, both offensively and defensively? If so, he admits to putting it in the game plan. And, being the excellent coach he is, he probably did have some things to say on what was working. That is what good teams do...see how game plans are going.
  • I'm not an agent or PR board for Debbie Antonelli by any means, but I will remind you her comments were pertinent last night because Miami is, in fact, a mediocre team. And the fact that they didn't score a basket for 7 minutes in the fourth quarter largely by dribbling in front of Hidalgo and Vanessa de Jesus. lends credence to her point that Miami wasn't following that. In no shape or form was the WNBA brought up: you're bringing an orange into this when an apple was the sole subject.
  • Remember, she was commenting on the ND vs Miami game last night, not the UConn-ND or UConn-Michigan. And where was the WNBA brought up? You're bringing an orange into this when an apple was the sole subject.
  • Lastly, if you want to have a discourse on commentators, why not start a thread?
  • Speaking of pro's though: It's interesting, I just listened to former player and coach Bill Cowher commenting on how he would take input from key players at halftime to see if what they were playing and seeing was matching up with what he was perceiving from the sidelines. Based on that, he might stick to and/or adjust coverages, even the ways defensive backs were matching up.

Have a good weekend and hope you aren't in a snow-affected area. I am, so need to go do some things before full-blown panic sets in tomorrow.
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Dillon, as always I respect your posts and your responses. Thanks for the clarification about DA's rules for the court pertaining to HH's defense came out against Miami. My response had no consideration for the ND-UM game whatsoever - I didn't even watch it. My comments were solely centered on the relevancy of DA's "rules" to UConn and their game versus the Irish , of which you made the connection.

FWIW, I did indeed listen to all of the pre-game and post game comments from Geno and the UConn players, as well as from the UConn beat writers. Geno's postgame allusion to Hannah's extended use, coupled with the scout that UConn has had on HH for the past two years, had nothing to do with avoiding HH when the Huskies had the ball nor with steering the ball to the side of the court away from her defensive presence. Rather, by referring to HH extended use and her having different (and fewer) teammates to work with this year, Geno was being respectful of HH (and the entire Irish team) while avoiding anything that could be spun negatively. After all, she is a great player, and the Notre Dame personnel situation is what it is.

But knowing what was said (or implied) postgame is just part of the reason I stand by my conviction that Geno would consider DA's "rules" to be off-base. The larger part of the reason is he just doesn't teach his players to alter the UConn offense in order to stay away from a defensive player. Never has. Even during Britany Griner days.

First, there is no need to. His teaching of the UConn"read and react" offensive schemes already takes into account what quality defenders are doing. Second, and this is the reason I brought up the WNBA, teaching DA's philosophy doesn't play out on the professional level after the Huskies' UConn days are behind them. So why would he teach it or alter his proven offense? It would be counterproductive.

Please don't take away that the staff doesn't provide a scout for opponents, or that they don't review the defensive tendencies of their opponents, especially elite defenders. Of course they do. We (UConn fans) will see that come into play next Saturday as Huskies get ready for the Tennessee press and their coach's hockey line rotations. But that is different than changing the offensive scheme to incorporate temporary "rules" aimed at a single player.

Lastly, I will leave any thread about commentators up to our other Boneyard colleagues - they have already shown a desire to opine about them on several occassions (much like your compadres over on the Bench). For the most part, I try to tune out the insights/opinions of Debbie A and a few other TV analysts as well. Not worth the aggravation.

Have a safe weekend as well. Most of my family lives in NoVA and New Jersey, so my thoughts will be with them as I bike the trails of Tampa. Cheers!
 
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YKCornelius said:
Dillon, as always I respect your posts and your responses. Thanks for the clarification about DA's rules for the court pertaining to HH's defense came out against Miami. My response had no consideration for the ND-UM game whatsoever - I didn't even watch it. My comments were solely centered on the relevancy of DA's "rules" to UConn and their game versus the Irish , of which you made the connection.

FWIW, I did indeed listen to all of the pre-game and post game comments from Geno and the UConn players, as well as from the UConn beat writers. Geno's postgame allusion to Hannah's extended use, coupled with the scout that UConn has had on HH for the past two years, had nothing to do with avoiding HH when the Huskies had the ball nor with steering the ball to the side of the court away from her defensive presence. Rather, by referring to HH extended use and her having different (and fewer) teammates to work with this year, Geno was being respectful of HH (and the entire Irish team) while avoiding anything that could be spun negatively. After all, she is a great player, and the Notre Dame personnel situation is what it is.

But knowing what was said (or implied) postgame is just part of the reason I stand by my conviction that Geno would consider DA's "rules" to be off-base. The larger part of the reason is he just doesn't teach his players to alter the UConn offense in order to stay away from a defensive player. Never has. Even during Britany Griner days.

First, there is no need to. His teaching of the UConn"read and react" offensive schemes already takes into account what quality defenders are doing. Second, and this is the reason I brought up the WNBA, teaching DA's philosophy doesn't play out on the professional level after the Huskies' UConn days are behind them. So why would he teach it or alter his proven offense? It would be counterproductive.

Please don't take away that the staff doesn't provide a scout for opponents, or that they don't review the defensive tendencies of their opponents, especially elite defenders. Of course they do. We (UConn fans) will see that come into play next Saturday as Huskies get ready for the Tennessee press and their coach's hockey line rotations. But that is different than changing the offensive scheme to incorporate temporary "rules" aimed at a single player.

Lastly, I will leave any thread about commentators up to our other Boneyard colleagues - they have already shown a desire to opine about them on several occassions (much like your compadres over on the Bench). For the most part, I try to tune out the insights/opinions of Debbie A and a few other TV analysts as well. Not worth the aggravation.

Have a safe weekend as well. Most of my family lives in NoVA and New Jersey, so my thoughts will be with them as I bike the trails of Tampa. Cheers!
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This does seem to be a megastorm, does it not? In any case, best to you, your family and all those who post on these threads.
Best to all.
 
ND starters aren't gonna have any legs left for the ACC and NCAA tourneys. 25 vs 9 fouls, 9-12 vs 22-33 FTs.

Hey @Dillon77 - I've not been watching ND much, so here's a Q for you: who would play a bulk of PG mins if HH fouls out?
 
ND is currently listed as a 9-seed in Charlie Crème’s latest bracketology update that was released today. The Irish are currently 13-8 and perilously close to not being invited to the Big Dance.

Furthermore, many of the lower seeded teams will be AQ’s from mid-major conferences. There is a practical limit to just how low an “at large” team from a P4 conference can be seeded in the Big Dance before it is confronted by a bunch of AQ’s, and ND is just about there.
 
oldude said:
ND is currently listed as a 9-seed in Charlie Crème’s latest bracketology update that was released today. The Irish are currently 13-8 and perilously close to not being invited to the Big Dance.

Furthermore, many of the lower seeded teams will be AQ’s from mid-major conferences. There is a practical limit to just how low an “at large” team from a P4 conference can be seeded in the Big Dance before it is confronted by a bunch of AQ’s, and ND is just about there.
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It takes a fall to about NET 44 though that could be less when Quads and MAP are figured in. Late season losing streaks can be a subjective factor for the committee. Ivey definitely needs to right the ship
 
While ND's schedule isn't exactly murderers row, they do have some very capable teams left in front of them:

@ Stanford (NET 36)
Va Tech (43)
@Virginia (37)
NC State (28)
@Wake (120)
@SMU (182)
Syracuse (40)
@Louisville (9)

SMU is really bad, Wake is bad, but everyone else is certainly capable of beating ND based on what we've seen so far. Looks like 5-3 or 4-4 the rest of the way? Not absurd to think 3-5.
 
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FanInNC said:
While ND's schedule isn't exactly murderers row, they do have some very capable teams left in front of them:

@ Stanford (NET 36)
Va Tech (43)
@Virginia (37)
NC State (28)
@Wake (120)
@SMU (182)
Syracuse (40)
@Louisville (9)

SMU is really bad, Wake is bad, but everyone else is certainly capable of beating ND based on what we've seen so far. Looks like 5-3 or 4-4 the rest of the way? Not absurd to think 3-5.
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They lost to Georgia Tech. Wake is not a given.
 
Sorry for being a tad late on this post. I wasn't able to watch the game on Thursday night, which was probably a good thing for my REMs 😉 , but I did watch first thing Friday morning, which wasn't so good for my breakfast. Some thoughts:

As noted, you look at a lot of the stats and think ND would've been right in this game (save for one big one I'll get to later). Tied Cal in rebounds and had 15 (!) offensive boards, which shows they were hustling.
  • The trouble was ND couldn't take advantage of the extra possessions. How many second shots rolled off rims? Specifically, Cass Prosper was missing chippies all night long.
  • Iyana Moore shot well (7-14 overall, 5-10 from three), as did Malaya Cowles (4-7), but Prosper (4-14) and Hannah Hidalgo were most certainly off (8-20, 7 turnovers). After a good start, Vanessa de Jesus went 3-10 and couldn't buy a three pointer (0-4). Many of those were wide-open looks.
+
The team, for better or worse, is what it is now: a post, a stretch forward and three relatively short guards.
  • They play a lot of minutes. Too many minutes, but Ivey is going with these six (only) until KK Bransford comes back.
  • This is what probably led to the key (as in not good) stretch. ND started the second half in man-man coverage and promptly kept Cal from shooting a three, let alone making one. Then after a timeout, Ivey switched to zone, probably to save energy and/or fouls. What happens? Cal goes on an 8-0 run to finish the 3rd up by 10, which is how they started. Once again, I kinda get it, but it's not as if Cal was wearing ND down...it was the other way around. Took the pedal off the metal.
  • As noted, Cal shot 10-14 (71%) from three. That's great. Heck, shooting that percentage wide open is fine. Unfortunately, there were often wide open against ND's alleged zone defense. On the other hand -- credit where credit is due -- Cal nailed these. Both Twidale and Maul went 3-5, which is actually under the team average.
  • Gosh knows, center Malaya Cowles knows what to do and tries so very hard, but her (lack of) foot/burst speed is a detriment. Virtually all of Cal center's Sakima Walker's points came off rolls to the basket when Cowles bit on an action or attempted double team. Stretch forward Gisela Sanchez's lack of physicality was exposed again.
  • Once again, Cass Prosper had 9 rebounds (4 offensive) and Hannah had 6, but Cowles only had 4.
+
  • Let's hope Stanford isn't on fire Sunday. If they're even on average, this could be tough.
  • If KK Bransford is coming back, it's got to be soon to get her in game shape and hope she can contribute to the Irish in February.
+
Looking ahead:
  • GM Pat Garrity, Recruiting coordinator Michaela Mabrey and staff -- if they haven't done so already -- should be looking at centers who might possibly transfer. Next year's team will be taller with all the small forwards, but will still need an athletic post who can clog the middle, intimidate and rebound. Man, Lauren Erbo and Kylee Watson are seeming better and better in retrospect! Doesn't need to score a lot but glue that paint.
  • While we're at it, a power forward to pair with/spell Leah Macy would be a good idea.

For me, this was always a bridge year and, quite candidly, I'm not really that surprised by what has transpired. Trying not to get too high or too low.
 
BRS24 said:
ND starters aren't gonna have any legs left for the ACC and NCAA tourneys. 25 vs 9 fouls, 9-12 vs 22-33 FTs.

Hey @Dillon77 - I've not been watching ND much, so here's a Q for you: who would play a bulk of PG mins if HH fouls out?
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If HH was to foul out, Vanessa de Jesus would take over the main point guard duties. She spells HH now during games to give Hidalgo an energy break and/or to focus the energy on scoring and stealing. VdJ is pretty good, except when doubled -- she's just not as adept as HH or Olivia Miles or KK Arnold. They play at other levels.

While the KK Bransford injury hurt ND, Coach Ivey's decision not to give Kelly Ratigan any court time once the ACC hit is a bit strange. Ratigan played a lot of minutes at Loyola (Maryland) and while she's no superstar, she was adequate enough on the zone (believe me Iyana Moore is no defender) and she can shoot from three. Moreover, she could spell any of the guards for a few minutes here or there. For whatever reason, the decision has been made she's on mop-up duty. If Bransford doesn't come back, these young women will be playing on fumes by Valentine's Day.
 
Dillon77 said:
Gosh knows, center Malaya Cowles knows what to do and tries so very hard, but her (lack of) foot/burst speed is a detriment. Virtually all of Cal center's Sakima Walker's points came off rolls to the basket when Cowles bit on an action or attempted double team. Stretch forward Gisela Sanchez's lack of physicality was exposed again.
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I can be as tough (probably too tough) as anybody on our players, but Cowles is playing with a bumb knee where she's on the bike between halfs, and hurt her ankle to boot vs. Miami. We are a seriously physically depleted team. Hopefully Bransford coming back can help us in must win games going forward.
 
I've watched coach Ivey live during timeouts during timeouts and tv breaks. Here's what I see:

She spends most of her time away from the team standing with three assistant coaches talking/listening, with Coach Ivey holding a basketball dry erase board. Then, after designing whatever she wants to convey, she talks to the team pointing to what she has designed on the erase board. The oppsing team can call a timeout after an ND run and this is what she does.

I don't know how many other head coaches have this collective coaching conference and then white board tutorial. Just passing on what I see. It seems more slanted to cerebral coaching aprach than emotional, but every coach has their own methods to what they believe will help them win. I also don't know how this compares/contrasts with Muffet's approach, or previous seasons.
 
Frankus said:
I've watched coach Ivey live during timeouts during timeouts and tv breaks. Here's what I see:

She spends most of her time away from the team standing with three assistant coaches talking/listening, with Coach Ivey holding a basketball dry erase board. Then, after designing whatever she wants to convey, she talks to the team pointing to what she has designed on the erase board. The oppsing team can call a timeout after an ND run and this is what she does.

I don't know how many other head coaches have this collective coaching conference and then white board tutorial. Just passing on what I see. It seems more slanted to cerebral coaching aprach than emotional, but every coach has their own methods to what they believe will help them win. I also don't know how this compares/contrasts with Muffet's approach, or previous seasons.
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It's a lot more common than you think actually. A lot of coaches I've watched on TV and in person do this to an extent.
 
.-.
ND Pulls Away at Stanford to Defeat Cardinal, 78-66

This was not a pretty game. At one point, both teams were 0-16 for three points attempts. In fact, ND didn't hit one the entire game., which was odd because going into the game they were one of the leading three-pt. shooting teams in the ACC.

- At the end of the first half, both teams' shooting percentages had sunk below 40%. As noted, no three-pt shooting and both teams were playing pretty frenetically (particularly the Irish).

- However, ND came out in the second half and attacked the paint, as noted in the prior two posts. Cowles and Cass Prosper posted and DeJesus hit the mid-range jumper and a drive or two. As a result, ND shot 75% in the fourth quarter and 68% overall in the 2nd half, raising the overall percentage to 50 percent from the field. All that despite the 0-12 from three-pt. land.

- Meanwhile, ND continued to hold Stanford under 40 percent in the second half. Credit to the defense on heretofore Fab Frosh Lara Somfai, who was held to 2 points overall. She just couldn't get going against a combination of the ND's zone or Prosper bothering her.

- Tip of the hat to Stanford's Courtney Ogden, who has a handful for ND's smaller guards (Moore, de Jesus), scoring 23 pts and grabbing 10 rebounds.

- And, kudos once again to Hannah Hidalgo for being able to produce such great play, game-in and out. Not one three yesterday so everything we saw yesterday was in and around the lane. She finished with 37 points on 16-27 from the field and 5-5 from three-pt. range. It's simply stunning how she can get through cracks of double teams and then get that shot off over/through taller people. And the moon-ball, mid-range jumper was on. I saw a few Stanford kids on the bench just shaking their heads.
While Prosper came alive in the second half, this game -- and I suspect every game thereafter -- is dependent on Ms. H.

- Lastly, KK Bransford did make her return and, yes, she was rusty, both offensively and defensively (got ball watching a few times).
However, when ND went man-to-man, she'd be inserted to match up against some of the taller Cardinal guards. That's ultimately where she can make a difference.
 
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