Mike Brey Notebook | William & Mary Win
Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey spoke following the 73-64 win over William & Mary.
On the win:
“It’s a heck of a win for us. I thought our defense was great. They were a pretty good offensive group but down a very good player. We had game pressure on us, and we had a lot of new faces out there. I thought overall all of them reacted pretty well. It’s something to grow on.”
On starting lineup:
“It’s a pretty good group. I thought DJ Harvey got us started. I’m thinking about so many guys, I substituted for him and didn’t get him back through the other night. I told the staff we can’t forget about him. He can make things happen for us. 27 minutes for him is heavy.
“Prentiss Hubb does a lot for us. He makes plays for us. John Mooney has had two really good games. He’s becoming a key guy for us. The guys off the bench gave us good stuff. I have a lot of respect for Juwan Durham. He had a couple of good workouts and a fabulous practice yesterday. If you practice well, we’re going to play you.”
On points of emphasis with Durham:
“Rebound the ball and block shots. The one thing he can do is shoot it from 5 to 10 feet. I don’t want to take it all away from him. He can put it on the floor a little bit. We can throw it into him. Not that he was going to score, but he flattens the defense because he’s a big target and he passes well.
“I look out there, and he hasn’t been in any battles or had game pressure. I wasn’t sure how today was going to go, and he was out there playing. I’m hoping it’s something to build on for him.
On freshman Robby Carmody and Dane Goodwin:
“They each played about 11 minutes. They were great defensively against a real attention to detail offense. They didn’t screw anything up. They guarded. They weren’t a liability. They didn’t play young defensively.
On TJ Gibbs:
“He got going in the second half, and that helped things. “
On defense:
“Our ball pressure - we have the ability with Gibbs, Hubb and Pflueger, we can get up and into people. I think that’s going to be something we have to look at. It changed the complexion of the game in the second half.”
On DJ Harvey:
“He hasn’t been as great with the ball, but I think he’s getting better with the ball. We have tried to coach him to be simple with it. When he’s good with it, it helps us.
“He and I had a discussion two days ago. He was confused, and I was mostly at fault. I thought he didn’t block out a little bit in the second half the other night. I told him he has to be able to play because he’s a gifted guy. I have to let him play and overlook a few things.
“I told him if I sub you out, I’ll put you back in, and I won’t forget about you. I had done that, and that was my bad. When he can play long minutes, he can score for us.”