View From The ND Newspaper

[JordyG]

They usually have been a 40-minute team. One of the best.

It's harder to repeat than folks think.

As we've been saying since they won. Winning is easy, repeating is the hardest thing in sports.

I actually think that Muffet found out her team is exactly as bad as she's been trying to convince them they are.
The players, meanwhile, finally learned that you can't just give the other team a lead and expect that you can come back to win in the second half. You actually have to play well all 40 minutes.

I just don't think they're as bad as she may be trying to convince them. I don't think ND is bad at all. I just believe it's what I've said all along. Repeating isn't about recreating that moment, that season, that feeling, those wins. As Geno has said, every team every year in WCBB is different. When you have a team as talented as ND is it's all about mental toughness, mental discipline and discarding any feelings of expectancy. The battle becomes not with any opponent, it becomes a battle within yourself, each individual on the team. The worse thing a team that has won a championship can have is doubt which leads to a loss of trust in each other. It happens to almost every team that has won a championship. This is what makes repeating the most difficult thing to do in sports.

 

[Orangutan]

I just don't think they're as bad as she may be trying to convince them. I don't think ND is bad at all. I just believe it's what I've said all along. Repeating isn't about recreating that moment, that season, that feeling, those wins. As Geno has said, every team every year in WCBB is different. When you have a team as talented as ND is it's all about mental toughness, mental discipline and discarding any feelings of expectancy. The battle becomes not with any opponent, it becomes a battle within yourself, each individual on the team. The worse thing a team that has won a championship can have is doubt which leads to a loss of trust in each other. It happens to almost every team that has won a championship. This is what makes repeating the most difficult thing to do in sports.

Well, Muffet has been complaining about defense all year and they finally ran across a team they couldn't simply outscore. That's what I'm talking about. They got away with letting DePaul jump out to a lead. The got away with letting Oregon State get out to a lead. They didn't get away with letting UConn jump out to a lead and spent the whole game unsuccessfully chasing.

So I feel like Muffet will point to this game and say "See, we actually have to play team defense and team offense for 40 minutes in order to win".

 

[Carnac]

We hear that McGraw is surprised and disappointed about the lack of mental control and lack of execution but we don't see anything about her being the cause of it by allowing it. She could have easily stopped it. You simply tell your players that if anybody opens their mouth to a referee or opposing coach, or throws a cheap shot or undercuts somebody, they'll sit next to you for the rest of the game. Or you tell them if you don't start getting the ball into the post, I'll get somebody else to and you'll sit next to me until you understand what I want. Not that hard. But her players know she'll allow it so they do it. That's her tough luck.

Best post I’ve read today!!! Thanks BobbyJ.

 

[Carnac]

As we've been saying since they won. Winning is easy, repeating is the hardest thing in sports.

I just don't think they're as bad as she may be trying to convince them. I don't think ND is bad at all. I just believe it's what I've said all along. Repeating isn't about recreating that moment, that season, that feeling, those wins. As Geno has said, every team every year in WCBB is different. When you have a team as talented as ND is it's all about mental toughness, mental discipline and discarding any feelings of expectancy. The battle becomes not with any opponent, it becomes a battle within yourself, each individual on the team. The worse thing a team that has won a championship can have is doubt which leads to a loss of trust in each other. It happens to almost every team that has won a championship. This is what makes repeating the most difficult thing to do in sports.

The question is often asked, what is harder to do, win a national championship, or win two in a row?

 

[JoePgh]

I remember that when UCONN played ND when Marina Mabrey was a freshman, she got frustrated with Mo Jeff guarding her and pushed off and got called for a foul. In that game Muffet sat her for the rest fo the game. Maybe she needs to extend that to upperclassmen and not just freshman to get the point across.

My recollection is that she pulled Mabrey from the game after she got that foul and had her sit for a while to cool off, but not for the entire remainder of the game. When she came back, she was better behaved.

She might have done the same thing on Sunday if she had anyone on the bench who was capable of playing in that game, but she didn't.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The question is often asked, what is harder to do, win a national championship, or win two in a row?

How about winning four in a row? Or 111 games in a row?

 

[HuskyNan]

Uhh. How many times have we heard Geno say "we didn't run a single play we called in the 1st half?"

I remember after one of the UConn-Tenn championship games Geno was asked if he out coached Pat and he said, “No. I’ve called plays and then the kids go out on the court and do things I’ve never seen before. Sometimes kids just lose their minds”. Its one of my favorite Geno quotes

 

[huskyd]

A little reported aspect of this game was the signaling system the ND coach devised to communicate with her team. It went, like everything else, "bad." (The offense, defense, composure, all BAD according to Muffet.) Her signaling system was to tug on an earlobe. Right ear tug was SCORE, left ear tug was DEFEND. Unfortunately, the signal needed to pass trough too many people. Muffet tugged her ear, Marina tugged her ear, Turner tugged 'Phee's jersey, Arike tugged Crystal's pony tail. Chaos ensued. "All bad," said Muffet. So much work to do . . .

 

[JordyG]

The question is often asked, what is harder to do, win a national championship, or win two in a row?

Well, plenty have won championships, few have won more than one. The fewest still two in a row. That pretty much sums it up. Again, the hardest thing for any team to do is repeat as champion.

Some here blame Muffet. Why didn't she see this coming? Why didn't she stop it? Doesn't she understand the nature of her players? Her team? People seem to forget history. Does anyone think Doug Pederson wasn't excited to win a championship with his back up quarterback, knowing his ace would return for the next season along with his entire team? Why didn't he stop what has happened? Why didn't he see 6-6 coming? For all the greatness of the Patriots even they struggled to win back to back, and that was 13 years ago. Is it Bill's fault they've failed to repeat since? Or threpeat then? Does anyone not think Muffet and her staff did everything they could to prepare this team to repeat? When the personnel remains the same, or even improves, repeating in sports is never about talent. It's always about the mental and psychological ramifications of success. Always. That my friend works on the individual, granular level. That is hard to pull back together and make work.

From my vantage when you reach a certain level the mental aspect of sports is far more the important thing. A well structured culture wins championships, but doesn't guarantee success. Year to year everything changes, and the human mind the most of all. This past game Arike, Mabrey and yes, Muffet, showed themselves victims of their own success. Championship teams face different hurdles than contenders and it has always been that way. Ask any member of any winning team why they failed to repeat and you'll get a million different reasons. If ND fails to win this year, and past is clearly prologue here, it won't be Muffet's failure, but rather the vicissitudes of human behavior when facing new challenges, new failures and new understandings in familiar,well worn environments. For this reason and this alone, Geno is the greatest coach in CBB history.

 

[Dillon77]

My recollection is that she pulled Mabrey from the game after she got that foul and had her sit for a while to cool off, but not for the entire remainder of the game. When she came back, she was better behaved.

She might have done the same thing on Sunday if she had anyone on the bench who was capable of playing in that game, but she didn't.

Point taken. However, in the minds of more than a few ND fans, MM could've put Abby Prohaska in for a bit and the world wouldn't fallen apart. Not only could the upperclassman chill out a bit, but also could've seen a bit more consistent effort on the defensive side.

I would not at all be surprised that this is being (has been) covered in film sessions and in practice. That Toledo game on Saturday can't come quickly enough for the Irish

 

[Carnac]

Well, plenty have won championships, few have won more than one. The fewest still two in a row. That pretty much sums it up. Again, the hardest thing for any team to do is repeat as champion.

Some here blame Muffet. Why didn't she see this coming? Why didn't she stop it? Doesn't she understand the nature of her players? Her team? People seem to forget history. Does anyone think Doug Pederson wasn't excited to win a championship with his back up quarterback, knowing his ace would return for the next season along with his entire team? Why didn't he stop what has happened? Why didn't he see 6-6 coming? For all the greatness of the Patriots even they struggled to win back to back, and that was 13 years ago. Was it Bill's fault they've failed to repeat since? Or threpeat then? Does anyone not think Muffet and her staff did everything they could to prepare this team to repeat? When the personnel remains the same, or even improves, repeating in sports is never about talent. It's always about the mental and psychological ramifications of success. Always. That my friend works on the individual, granular level. That is hard to pull back together and make work.

From my vantage when you reach a certain level the mental aspect of sports is far more the important thing. A well structured culture wins championships, but doesn't guarantee success. Year to year everything changes, and the human mind the most of all. This past game Arike, Mabrey and yes, Muffet, showed themselves victims of their own success. Championship teams face different hurdles than contenders and it has always been that way. Ask any member of any winning team why they failed to repeat and you'll get a million different reasons. If ND fails to win this year, and past is clearly prologue here, it won't be Muffet's failure, but rather the vicissitudes of human behavior when facing new challenges, new failures and new understandings in familiar,well worn environments. For this reason and this alone, Geno is the greatest coach in CBB history.

Thanks Jordy, Great post. An interesting look at some of the underlying reasons for the Irish's being out of sync Sunday, and perhaps this season.

 

[Carnac]

Point taken. However, in the minds of more than a few ND fans, MM could've put Abby Prohaska in for a bit and the world wouldn't fallen apart. Not only could the upperclassman chill out a bit, but also could've seen a bit more consistent effort on the defensive side.

I would not at all be surprised that this is being (has been) covered in film sessions and in practice. That Toledo game on Saturday can't come quickly enough for the Irish

There's never good time to play ND. But for the Toledo Rockets, playing ND after they're coming off an 18 point loss at home to arch rival UConn is the pinnacle of bad timing. ND is going to take out all of their anger and frustrations out on the Rockets in an attempt to cleanse their mind, body and soul of a bad and humbling experience endured in front of a sold out partisan crowd at home, and a national TV audience. They'll go into that game with two thoughts in mind: "right the ship", and get back in sync. Good luck Toledo, you're going to need it. [/QUOTE]

 

[Carnac]

How about winning four in a row? Or 111 games in a row?

I like your thoughts, and you're right! It's not impossible to win two NC back-to-back. But you made reference to two records in WCBB that will NEVER be matched or broken. Not even by UConn!!! There are a lot of WCBB records that will never be reached or broken.

These two are on top of that list!!! It's not often one gets to witness history being made. As we watched UConn amass these two streaks, we indeed witnessed history being made, and we knew it once the streak passed 91, and as they won NC #3, and as they were en route to #4.

 

[hoopsfan22]

There's never good time to play ND. But for the Toledo Rockets, playing ND after they're coming off an 18 point loss at home to arch rival UConn is the pinnacle of bad timing. ND is going to take out all of their anger and frustrations out on the Rockets in an attempt to cleanse their memory and soul of a bad and humbling experience, and "right the ship". Good luck Toledo, you're going to need it.

Holy Toledo! You're right. ND by 70 tonight?

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Wow, an honest assessment. Good to see.

Any gossip if Arike will be punished in some way for her actions? She should be and she will hopefully learn from it. The Irish can win without her for the next game (Toledo) or two (Binghamton).

 

[Tonyc]

The hardest thing to change is a bad attitude. I saw some of that in the game. Dangerfield thrown to the floor with about 3:30 left in the game and with 3 refs nobody called it. The unsportsmanlike conduct, the yelling at a coach some hands flying like it was misbelief a foul was called on them. It all comes from a bad attitude which is contagious on any team. ND lost their composure and poise because it became a one person show and their aint no "I" in team. The frustration was caused by a couple of bad attitudes. IMO in the next game sit those with bad attitudes. Teach them a lesson. They didnt do what their coach wanted. They did what they wanted to do and lost. As a coach you can not tolerate that.

One other point when posting about players. Remember they are kids and they are somebodys daughter, girlfriend or sister. Dont downgrade them. They lost their cool. They know it now and to reinforce it on the boards only makes it hurt more. Just think if that was your daughter. Be bigger then that and let the nastiness go. It will show more class.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Wow, an honest assessment. Good to see.

Any gossip is Okie will be punished in some way for her actions? She should be and she will hopefully learn from it. The Irish can win without her for the next game (Toledo) or two (Binghamton).

Probably not. Time to just forget about it. It just sucks that in the college game players like Lou will continue to get beat up, as will CW eventually, because that's the only effective defense, and there's no recourse. At least in pro sports the league looks at cases of unsportsmanlike conduct and can suspend and/or fine players unilaterally.

 

[HopJim]

Well, plenty have won championships, few have won more than one. The fewest still two in a row. That pretty much sums it up. Again, the hardest thing for any team to do is repeat as champion.

Some here blame Muffet. Why didn't she see this coming? Why didn't she stop it? Doesn't she understand the nature of her players? Her team? People seem to forget history. Does anyone think Doug Pederson wasn't excited to win a championship with his back up quarterback, knowing his ace would return for the next season along with his entire team? Why didn't he stop what has happened? Why didn't he see 6-6 coming? For all the greatness of the Patriots even they struggled to win back to back, and that was 13 years ago. Was it Bill's fault they've failed to repeat since? Or threpeat then? Does anyone not think Muffet and her staff did everything they could to prepare this team to repeat? When the personnel remains the same, or even improves, repeating in sports is never about talent. It's always about the mental and psychological ramifications of success. Always. That my friend works on the individual, granular level. That is hard to pull back together and make work.

From my vantage when you reach a certain level the mental aspect of sports is far more the important thing. A well structured culture wins championships, but doesn't guarantee success. Year to year everything changes, and the human mind the most of all. This past game Arike, Mabrey and yes, Muffet, showed themselves victims of their own success. Championship teams face different hurdles than contenders and it has always been that way. Ask any member of any winning team why they failed to repeat and you'll get a million different reasons. If ND fails to win this year, and past is clearly prologue here, it won't be Muffet's failure, but rather the vicissitudes of human behavior when facing new challenges, new failures and new understandings in familiar,well worn environments. For this reason and this alone, Geno is the greatest coach in CBB history.

Since you use the Patriot analogy, I will apply it to Muffet. Just like Belchick's goal is to have the Pats playing great by Dec and then the playoffs, my impression of Muffet is that while she wants to win every game, she is more focused on the playoffs. Some seem to be placing too emphasis much on this game. Its just one game early in the year. Particularly this year, I care less about these games and desperately want a healthy, rested team that is perfect in NCAA's.

 

[JordyG]

Since you use the Patriot analogy, I will apply it to Muffet. Just like Belchick's goal is to have the Pats playing great by Dec and then the playoffs, my impression of Muffet is that while she wants to win every game, she is more focused on the playoffs. Some seem to be placing too emphasis much on this game. Its just one game early in the year. Particularly this year, I care less about these games and desperately want a healthy, rested team that is perfect in NCAA's.

I agree somewhat. Yes, MM's goal is always to prepare her team, if they're worthy, for The Boogie. I mean, you have to get their first. But she, like Geno, understands that they have to do things the right way. Geno has said many times, and I paraphrase, I'd rather lose playing the right way, than win playing it wrong. Aside what others feel about MM's attitude and treatment of people and players not hers, I have an unabiding respect for her coaching skills and on court decisions. And I still think to some extent, Geno got out coached the last time they met.

 

[LoTrader]

Article was good, but the comments attached to the article were better. I hope those were all ND supporters calling out the poor sportsmanship. And I hope ND players and coaches read them as well. I'm not worried for ND as far as the NCAA playoffs are concerned. I'm confident that they will be there and a force to be reckoned with in March.

 

[Dillon77]

Article was good, but the comments attached to the article were better. I hope those were all ND supporters calling out the poor sportsmanship. And I hope ND players and coaches read them as well. I'm not worried for ND as far as the NCAA playoffs are concerned. I'm confident that they will be there and a force to be reckoned with in March.

Tom Noie is the head hoops writer at the South Bend Tribune and usually covers men's basketball for the paper. Since this was the SBT, I've got to figure everyone who wrote in is a "Michiana" resident, an ND fan or both. Believe me, I think Arike was called out by her coach when she was taken out of the game and in the locker room, which is why she was "facing the music" of the presser immediately thereafter. As I stated on another thread, the film room on Monday was probably not a pleasant place for the main six ND players on Monday (although I thought Danielle Patterson gave a solid 11 minutes, particularly in the 2nd quarter).

 

[vtcwbuff]

I don't want to be a pedant but you're not even getting close to her name and she's not from Oklahoma.

It's "Arike".

The cone might be too tight.

 

[HuskyNan]

Tom Noie is the head hoops writer at the South Bend Tribune and usually covers men's basketball for the paper. Since this was the SBT, I've got to figure everyone who wrote in is a "Michiana" resident, an ND fan or both. Believe me, I think Arike was called out by her coach when she was taken out of the game and in the locker room, which is why she was "facing the music" of the presser immediately thereafter. As I stated on another thread, the film room on Monday was probably not a pleasant place for the main six ND players on Monday (although I thought Danielle Patterson gave a solid 11 minutes, particularly in the 2nd quarter).

I thought Jackie Young and Jessica Shepard played fine games, too. It's not their fault the guards didn't find them.

 

[FridaFriend]

I think that Notre Dame players had a lot of pressure on them. Each of the starting players is on a watch list for best player at her position. They were playing at home before a sold out venue and defending a home winning streak. They needed to demonstrate that they were the best team in the nation and that the championship last year was not a fluke. They had lost 4 December games in a row to UCONN.

In the first quarter, the Notre Dame team members looked at Christyn and said, “Who is that girl and why is she playing today? Nobody told me to guard her.”
Meanwhile, Napheesa was pulling down more rebounds than Shepard and Turner combined. I think she showed once again why she was the last college player to be considered for the US national team.

Even with Christyn and Napheesa tearing up the court, Notre Dame kept it close until the fourth quarter. Then I think it was a combination of frustration with missing shots and with the physicality of the game that caused them to lose their composure. Olivia makes a Kiah Stokes-style block of the ball and Mabrey. Megan bumps Mabrey, who goes down hard. Turner tries to block KLS and falls awkwardly and hard herself. Arike resorts to football plays, albeit illegal football plays, targeting, clipping, hands to the face. But I must defend Arike. She had a double double. She had half of the team’s assists. And she didn’t punch Geno. So she did show some restraint. All that aside, I do still admire the force of her personality and her willingness to try so hard to win. I would like to cut her some slack on this one and see how she does down the road.