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Notre Dame Basketball

Notre Dame Still Searching For Urgency

December 8, 2019
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Mike Brey has been a force of positivity during his tenure at Notre Dame and he continued that on Friday afternoon. 

Despite losing Robby Carmody (ACL), Chris Doherty (transfer) in the last week and combined with a disappointing loss at No. 3 Maryland, Brey believed his team was going down the right track. 

"I think we're going to make a run at an NCAA Tournament bid," Brey said on Friday. "We have eight and we can't afford any more bodies to go down.

"I think we can be in the mix. I told them they lost two games they should have lost and won the six you should have won. It's kind of where we should be right now. Let's see if we can get to 1-1 in the league and come up for air after that." 

A day later, Notre Dame fell to Boston College 73-72 and 0-2 in ACC play.

It wasn't as close as the final score or Dane Goodwin's halfcourt shot for the win. 

Notre Dame had beaten the Eagles 12 consecutive times and it was the first time Boston College beat the Irish since 2004. 

Another fun fact for perspective, Boston College hadn't won at Purcell Pavilion since 1997. 

It's clear the Irish aren't where they should be despite a 6-3 record and it starts with the head coach. 

"I think it was my worst week as a coach at Notre Dame," said Brey. "Absolutely my worst week. I told them that. I didn't do a good job preparing us for Maryland and even in the game. Then we come back on Thursday and we're moping a little bit because we got our butts whooped and we have a guy down. 

"I didn't push at it or address it. I don't think I had a really good week helping our guys. There's some leadership from within and everything, but God, we turned it over 15 times. We were throwing it all over the place.

"Nobody cares. Nobody cares if you lose a guy. Nobody cares." 

It almost seemed as Brey was giving himself a pep talk, but he's right. No one cares. 

Indiana, UCLA and the ACC aren't going to feel sorry for Notre Dame. They aren't going to take it easy because the Irish have eight scholarship players (for now). 

Notre Dame is in a dangerous spot this season and for the future of the program. 

Injuries derailed Bonzie Colson's final season. Youth was the excuse last year. This year? The head coach is blaming the head coach after talking up effort, which can't happen if you're Notre Dame. 

"I loved how we fought to come back. It was almost having a Toledo feel and we were going to steal it again. We did a really good job at that. 

"The whole first half, we were just kind of hanging. I should have addressed it more. I have to be better." 

Notre Dame starts 0-2 in the ACC for the second straight year and have almost a month to think about it before they travel to Syracuse on January 4th. 

Urgency seems to be lacking, which is concerning as the Irish had all offseason to think about the last place ACC finish a year ago. 

"They are hard to be found," Brey said of getting an ACC win. "I would defer to our leadership on that question. I've answered enough today. They're going to have to lead and do it - our three seniors and I think they will." 

Senior captain TJ Gibbs did his part on Saturday by dropping 22 points and six assists on Saturday. 

However, he left much to be desired when asked about the slow start and lack of urgency.

"It's just the game of basketball," said Gibbs. "We couldn't hit shots at the beginning. We're still figuring out how to play without Robby. But we're figuring it out. 

"I think the second half we got into a flow and rhythm of the game. We have to keep fighting. We fought to the very end. We have to keep pushing and use this as a learning moment more than anything." 

If Notre Dame is having trouble playing without a player who averaged 13 minutes a game, then it's clear the Irish need to do some soul searching before its next test on December 14th when UCLA comes to Purcell Pavilion. 

 
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