Brey Notebook: Crossroads Classic

Notre Dame (9-1) will head south to Indianapolis this weekend for the Crossroads Classic and a meeting with in-state rival Purdue (8-2). Mike Brey is well-aware that the Boilermakers present some tough challenges with their height, so it will be a good test for his undersized squad.

“We play a heck of a program and I have a lot of respect for Matt Painter and what he has done for that program,” Brey said on Thursday afternoon. “They are always going to guard the heck out of you and have built the program on solid half-court man-to-man defense. Lately, they have been huge with that front line that kind of wears you down.

“I think the thing that scares the heck out of you, is they have guys that can score around the bucket, then they have guys shooting over 40 percent from the three-point line. You can’t help too much or you get lit up from the three-point line. It’s a great matchup and a great day of basketball in Indy.”

Bounce Back Mode

The Irish dropped a tough game last weekend to No. 1 ranked Villanova, where they held the lead for a large portion of the game, but couldn’t finish in the final minutes. Brey isn’t worried about his team mentally, as the experience of the team provides the ability to move on to the next game without pushing them.

“It will come more from our group and our leadership,” Brey said of putting the Villanova game behind them. “I don’t think I have to talk a lot about it. We were really disappointed we didn’t win on Saturday. We felt we matched up great and it was a hard one to get over, because it was a great opportunity we missed on.

“Our captains and our older guys – just watching them and hearing them talk, they’re ready to play again against another potential great win that’d be on your resumè.” 

With finals week taking place after the Villanova game, Brey let his team off for a few days after the last weekend’s loss and they started prep for Purdue on Wednesday.

“I don’t think anyone was getting on anyone,” he said. “We didn’t get back together until Wednesday and we scrimmaged. I wanted us to run and play. I don’t think it is a thing where we are challenging manhood, but accepting responsibility individually and collectively on what we can do better. We’ll point that out more today in some of our stuff, but it’s more of we can do that better in a teaching atmosphere.” 

VJ

VJ Beachem struggled against Villanova, as the senior forward shot just 2 for 11 and finished the game with only four points. Brey isn’t worried about his star player, because the 6-foot-8 Fort Wayne native has matured over his career and is equipped to handle a rough game.

“I think for him, VJ is a guy that will be over analyzed the whole year,” explained Brey. “VJ is a guy that has to play longer minutes and he’s kind of a guy that can all of a sudden strike. One of the reasons you can keep him in there longer if he isn’t making shots is because he is defending better and he’s rebounding better.

“You can ride him longer, because he isn’t killing you on that end of the floor. You know at any time – he had unbelievably clean looks the other day. We have to live with it. I don’t over analyze stuff with him either.”

As a younger player, Beachem might have needed a confidence boost, but as a senior, he is able to laugh and take the missed shots in stride, but most importantly, he isn’t going to press to get out of a shooting funk.

“He’s just overall more mature,” stated Brey. “I think as a young player it was more getting him right mentally. I don’t have to spend anytime with him. Guard, rebound and cut. One of the things he’s doing is moving with the ball well. He’s helping our offense by cutting and moving more.

“He’s going to get looks. I don’t know if you want to be so tunneled vision and think ‘What do we do to get VJ going.’ Every now and then, here’s a set for VJ. Here’s a set for Bonzie (Colson). He’s going to play long minutes and he’s going to get his shots.”

Brey continued.

“The great thing about VJ is that he isn’t forcing stuff to get himself going,” said Brey. “He knows he’s going to be in there long enough where it will come around to him.

“I think he kind of smiles now these last two years. He laughs it off like ‘Man, can you believe these looks? Two of those were halfway down.’ I think as a freshman and sophomore, I had to do more work with him like ‘Hey, you’re going to be fine. Don’t look over your shoulder.’ He’s a key guy.”

Going Big

Purdue is led by big man Caleb Swanigan, who is averaging 15.9 ppg and 11.2 rebs per game, but they 7-foot-2 Isaac Haas. Notre Dame will start 6-foot-5, Bonzie Colson at power forward, so going against Haas and a 6-foot-9 Swanigan will be an interesting matchup for the Irish on Saturday.

“It’s interesting when you downshift no matter who we’re playing,” Brey explained. “I don’t want to over analyze about how big they are and have to play big the whole game. I want us to get a feel and as a matter of a fact, the two bigs only play together half a game down there. It’s a give and take and flow thing. Rex (Pflueger) comes in and is he in for a big?

“That lineup when Rex is in for Martin (Geben) has finished a lot of games for us and played well, as long as we can rebound the ball. We did not rebound the ball well enough to win with a smaller lineup last Saturday. I think my big challenge the next two days is to challenge our front line guys, Bonzie, Martinas, Austin (Torres) and Johnny Mooney.” 

Ryan and Ryan

As ACC is inching closer and closer, Brey discussed how his new assistant coaches were handling the new roles. The Notre Dame head man had nothing but good things to say about Ryan Ayers and Ryan Humphrey and it looks like Brey has made two slam dunk hires.

“They’ve been great,” stated Brey. “They have great energy. The important stuff they are doing is connecting with our guys, being an unbelievable role model and support system for our guys. It wasn’t that long ago they were doing what our guys are doing. They can interrupt stuff that maybe I am doing that maybe a young player doesn’t understand. They’ve been great with our individual instruction too.

“We lost four NBA players over the last two years and we lost two pretty good assistants. We’ve been able to keep purring and I think it’s their familiarity with things and their youthful energy. Sometimes they get a little excited in games, but that’s OK. They’re really proud to be back here.” 

Pflueger

Through 10 games, Notre Dame has had some pretty incredible stats and surprises, but none my top what sophomore Rex Pflueger is doing. The 6-foot-6 forward has yet to commit a turnover in a game and Pflueger is averaging 20 minutes a night.

“His freshman summer, he threw the ball away more than anyone I’ve ever seen,” laughed Brey “Then he gets so down on himself, he would get emotional when he made mistakes. He was playing too fast like a lot of young guys. I think he’s really learned to be – he’s actually said it, but he said he learned how to be a better basketball player.

“He has the ball in his hands, so that stat is amazing. He’s touching the thing a lot. He’s making some ball screen decisions. We like him driving into gaps and making plays. You’re going to turn it over a couple times, so it’s amazing.”

Brey experienced a turnover drought before, as guard Chris Quinn did something similar as a Pflueger on a lesser scale, but he had to be told to be more aggressive and to make things happen. That’s not the case with the California native, as Pflueger has been aggressive this season. 

“Quinn was safer than Rex,” stated Brey. “He was too safe, so I had to get on him. Rex can be a little reckless, but borderline good stuff. He puts his head down and drives it. He tries to make plays. He’s an attack guy, so I don’t have to tell him to attack.”

Indy

As with any rivalry, the big stakes are on the line and in-state recruiting will be one of those on Saturday. Purdue has yet to win a Crossroads Classic game and Brey hopes to continue that streak this weekend. 

“I’m glad we have done well done there,” Brey said of the Crossroads Classic. “When you’re trying to recruit the state like we do, it’s good to be in this thing and it’s good to play well. All the top kids come to the game with their family and the style of play is on stage for in-state kids.

“Indy knows how to do basketball.”