Mike Brey Notebook | Detroit Mercy Win
Notre Dame basketball coach Mike Brey spoke following the 110-71 win over Detroit Mercy on Tuesday evening.
On the win:
"I like how we responded the last two days in practice. When you get 33 assists, I don't care who you're playing. That's powerful. We shot it pretty darn well. I think we have better shooters. I don't know if we'll make 20 (3PT) every night. Maybe we can make 10-12 every night and then it's a different game for us.
"This sets up a better week for me."
On the injury to Rex Pflueger:
"He kind of strained on a wet spot and we didn't want to put him back in. He was cleared. He's fine."
On Robby Carmody's ACL surgery:
"Everything went great and according to plan. It's a long road back right now. He'll probably be in the training room on Thursday. Parents are here in town. What we thought, it was pretty clear cut. Nothing more. No nerves or anything."
On getting 33 assists:
"I told them at halftime they had 17, which is unbelievable. I told them what the record was and told them to try to get it. I kept track of it in the second half, which made them even more unselfish.
"We lead the nation in assist/turnover before night and we haven't shot it well. That's how good we pass it. We're going to be so far out in front when these numbers go in."
On having good practices since Boston College:
"When you're in the funk and over 20 years, I 've been in and out of the funk a lot. Luckily, I've gotten out of the funk quick enough to stay around 20 years.
"It's probably 1/3 teaching, 1/3 challenging manhood and 1/3 giving confidence. Sunday was probably a little more of a challenge. Monday was little more 'Let's go.'
"I think that's the balance point at any time with a team, especially when they have their butts kicked last week like we did."
On Dane Goodwin:
"I brought him and Nate (Laszewski) in on Monday. I said, 'How can I help you guys?' Dane was sitting forward in his seat across from me and he's a very intense guy. He goes, 'You need to get on me more.'
"I do ride him a little bit because he can disappear at times in practice, but I guess I have to ride him more and he loves it. You listen to your guys sometimes.
"He's a gifted guy."
On the team being loose:
"As the leader, my job is to sell them. We've moved the ball well, so just don't turn shots down and play fearlessly.
"For our three sophomores, who are such a key for us, it was a great night for them to get out of a little bit of a tough week and feel better about themselves. I think that helps us for Saturday."
On getting himself out of a funk:
"I have a good staff and I'm better because I'm a veteran coach. I'm more near the end of my career than the beginning. I was disappointed in myself and I think I had a better feel for the vibe of our group.
"At the end of the day, when all else fails, it's always good for me to go back to teaching. I really tried to do that yesterday. I was exhausted when I went home last night. It was one of those days where you were really watching and pushing."
On Sunday following the loss to Boston College:
"We didn't even go on the practice floor. I turned them over to Tony Rolinski on Sunday. Sometimes it's a better voice. We didn't even touch the basketball court. We went in the weight room.
"I texted Tony on Saturday night and told him we have to do something. I wanted him to let it rip on them.
"He had stations set up. First half, second half, two-man pairs, lifting, cardio and they had to talk. It was good and upbeat. The whole staff worked out with them. That's probably why I'm exhausted. I'm faking it for an hour on the lifecycle because I don't want to see my guys see me dying."
On film study:
"I clipped off things we needed to do better video-wise. I made them watch it by themselves and our captains talked about it. Gambles on defense, getting beat, turning down shots and 50-50 balls that we didn't have the effort to get to.
"When they talk, we have really smart guys. It's a little bit of a different routine. Yesterday, I thought we had a really good practice and we were teaching, so it was just a different couple of days."
On Saturday's game vs. UCLA
"Saturday I kicked into 'Fellas, you're going to get to be part of the UCLA-Notre Dame history. TJ Gibbs comes to me and says, 'To hell with that. We owe these guys.' That was a long flight back.
"For me, personally, it will be an awesome day. It brings back a lot of memories and it's an honor to be part of it."
On facing Mick Cronin:
"He's a good friend. I told Mick, 'You do know, Bill Walton and Digger Phelps will be on TV. They won't even know if we play, who won or who played well. They're going to talk about all kinds of stuff and they won't talk about the game.'
"It will be good to see Mick. For me, I remember the matchups. I was young watching Notre Dame-UCLA."