Notre Dame Under Water (5-6)

[EricLA]

Getting back to ND - very interesting game Wednesday. UCONN plays Depaul right after Depaul faces ND. We should have a decent feel for what Depaul will be like if we watch ND-Depaul. Looking forward to seeing how ND fares. Hope they lose by a good 10-15 points.

 

[Plebe]

Getting back to ND - very interesting game Wednesday. UCONN plays Depaul right after Depaul faces ND. We should have a decent feel for what Depaul will be like if we watch ND-Depaul. Looking forward to seeing how ND fares. Hope they lose by a good 10-15 points.

I hope DePaul rains 3s on them like James Harden and Steph Curry on their career best nights. And turns them over so many times that Muffet feels like a tall stack of pancakes. And beats them by 50. That would really trigger the anticipation for the UConn-DePaul game.

 

[DefenseBB]

So Geno has two Rubicon’s: Get past the Final Four game and DON’T go into overtime. Other than those items, UConn would be awesome

But as Eric said, back to the thread: ND has 4 easy games of its next 6 (DePaul/Syracuse) then has a series of game that could go either way for them, then the 3 cupcake ACC games and then again a bunch of competitive games. What I found interesting was MM said something the other day that maybe THIS team was not ready for the type of schedule that she put together. MASSEY has them Ranked at #35 right now, firmly in the 64 team bracket. But would some “softer teams” build confidence, maybe allow injuries to heal and develop a better offense and defense?
I think ND has 5 walk ons on their roster plus the injured players. That’s why she only played 8 yesterday.
If Miami, Ga Tech, Va Tech and Duke are for real this year, “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” and ND could miss the big dance come March. That would be delightful...

 

[triaddukefan]

I hope DePaul rains 3s on them like James Harden and Steph Curry on their career best nights. And turns them over so many times that Muffet feels like a tall stack of pancakes. And beats them by 50. That would really trigger the anticipation for the UConn-DePaul game.

One thing I've noticed the past couple of years..... you're not much of a fan of Notre Dame.

 

[Plebe]

One thing I've noticed the past couple of years..... you're not much of a fan of Notre Dame.

 

[DefenseBB]

I would also add that maybe this is
A) Karma for Arike antics of past years
B) payback for allowing Shepard immediate eligibility AND an NCAAT
Either way, yes, I am enjoying this.

 

[Kaizen]

ND is not even in Charlie Creme's new bracketology list.

Women's Bracketology: LSU, Iowa open on top line, but UConn is No. 1 overall

LSU and Iowa open as top seeds along with UConn and Utah. The Huskies are No. 1 overall in our first projection for 2023-24.

www.espn.com

 

[oldude]

ND is really in a difficult situation. When you subtract transfers who left, ND is made up of at least 3 relatively weak classes in a row. (I’ll withhold judgement on the freshman class for now). If Jackie Young had not left for the W, she would be the sole recruited senior left on the roster. As it is, there are 0 recruited seniors on the roster.

Mikayla Vaughn is the only recruited junior on the roster, and she’s out with an injury, after missing all last season with an injury. There are a few more recruited players in the sophomore class: Gilbert, Prohaska (out indefinitely) & Cosgrove. But none of them are elite players IMO. As for the freshman class, SB & Peoples are certainly getting plenty of minutes, and it remains to be seen just how good they will become, but I note that before she went out with an injured knee, SB was largely contained by Kyla Irwin.

To fill in the roster ND suits up no less than 5 walk-ons. Next year, ND appears to have a solid class of 4 incoming freshman. But the highest ranked player in that group is #22 Maddy Westbeld, who’s sister Kat was a solid forward at ND. The Irish missed on all of the elite recruits in the 2020 class, including a talented pg from nearby MN.

The recent combination of recruiting misses and high-profile transfers, all while competing in an extremely tough conference, makes me wonder if ND hasn’t reached a kind of tipping point in WBB, that previews a potential decline in the program to a 2nd tier status. Yes, MM has been incredibly successful and ND has enormous advantages as one of the premier universities in the country. But things change, as former elite WBB programs USC, LA Tech, TX, TN and others can all attest.

 

[MainefanSC]

Doing a pretty quick scan, the last OT win I could find was January 4, 2003 -- a 63-62 win over Tennessee at Gampel.

Yeah, remember that game well. The wife and I always had season tickets and that game, we gave our tickets to our daughter & son-in-law. They were expecting our grandson who eventually was born Feb 1st. He almost came during the game. Although he WAS born the day we went to Cameron and beat the Dukies while the crazies mocked Geno with wait staff paraphernalia. So, it's fitting that my grandson has been to the last few with me since the wife has decided that travel is out of her recent plans.

 

[CocoHusky]

Recruiting and transfers. Bring back Jordan Nixon, Ali Patberg, and Danielle Patterson, and MM has more depth at PG, G, and F (the last of which she especially needs). I don't think any single one of them was a game changer, but the Domers are truly effed if Brunelle and Vaughn are both out because then they'll have only a single starter over 6 feet tall...

You are forgetting Jenna Brown who decommitted and Erin Boley.

 

[meyers7]

To fill in the roster ND suits up no less than 5 walk-ons. Next year, ND appears to have a solid class of 4 incoming freshman. But the highest ranked player in that group is #22 Maddy Westbeld, who’s sister Kat was a solid forward at ND. The Irish missed on all of the elite recruits in the 2020 class, including a talented pg from nearby MN.

Eh, the class is better than that. If you use composite rankings
Allison Campbell - #17
Natalija Marshall - #19
Madeline Westbeld - #22
Alasia Hayes - #51

They also have a 3 star recruit in Amirah Abdur-Rahim (6-2 F)

 

[oldude]

Eh, the class is better than that. If you use composite rankings
Allison Campbell - #17
Natalija Marshall - #19
Madeline Westbeld - #22
Alasia Hayes - #51

They also have a 3 star recruit in Amirah Abdur-Rahim (6-2 F)

Again, my evaluation is a solid class with no elite players. We will see how they develop. I watched Marshall play twice last season and she was not particularly impressive at 6’5”. She is athletic enough, but plays like a wing who spends most of the time on the perimeter.

 

[Waquoit]

Make that 5-7.

 

[enigmatic]

I may not like the ND program and am admittedly savoring their losses but as much as they are going through some real tough growing pains right now I helluva respect MM's coaching ability and I wont be surprised if the Irish are a different team by the time the ACC tournament begins. There's no way I'm counting them out of the mix.

 

[JSB60]

I of all people certainly mean no slight on Geno. I just find it statistically bizarre. No need for umbrage.

I'm not sure it's a statistical anomaly. Geno plays his best players longer minutes and is more aggressive playing his better players through foul trouble than other coaches. I think that works, they win games that might otherwise have been losses because the better players are on the floor for more minutes, but on the rare occasions a game goes to overtime, the players are more fatigued. Not a criticism, just an observation.

 

[EricLA]

Again, my evaluation is a solid class with no elite players. We will see how they develop. I watched Marshall play twice last season and she was not particularly impressive at 6’5”. She is athletic enough, but plays like a wing who spends most of the time on the perimeter.

I tend to agree with you. If you look at the 2015 class, Ogunbowale was #10, Mabrey #24, Patberg (transfer) #13, Turner #2, Shepherd #3, Young #11.

So they had quite a bit higher rated talent then they have now and coming in. They lost Boley (top 10), Patberg (top 20) and Patterson (top 30) and Nixon (top 40). Vaughn who is out is better than thought as she was #56. She was part of the 2017 class.

2017 - Vaughn (56)
2018 - Gilbert (27), Cosgrove (63), Prohaska (73)
2019 - Brunelle (6), Peoples (18)
2020 - Westbeld (23), Campbell (25), Marshall (32), Hayes (44), Abdur-Rahim (NR)

Did I miss anyone? Muffet is terrific at getting the most out of her talent, but frankly, that's not a lot of top talent. Yes a lot of kids in the 20-40 range, but frankly, not enough to get them into the top 10 or to compete against top teams... We will see though...