Notre Dame basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry spoke following the 83-56 win over Mercyhurst on Thursday evening.
Opening statement:
“We talked about before the game, we talked about at halftime, we talked about after game, just like what our standard is and what we are pushing towards every single day. I felt like at times we really were there. We were doing what we were supposed to do at all times, right? Now we got to get it where we're more consistent and doing it for 40 minutes. Just proud of these guys for how they played, how they responded in the first half and the second half. Just really fun couple of guys to coach.”
On what the standard should look like for Notre Dame:
“Offensively, you're always trying to get people into disadvantage situations. There's some teams that will do it for you. Some teams you got to work to do it, right? This team, they'll do it for you. They'll get into rotations themselves just with how they play. Just the unselfishness of these guys. I thought the way they switched Logan Duncomb, just rolling and commanding so much attention, opened it up for everybody else. He didn't say a peep about getting three shots and playing 19 minutes. He's happy for the rest of the guys. When the group came in and we started subbing late in the game, he's in the huddle talking about, hey, let's keep guarding the right way. He cares about our group.
“I think a lot of these guys care about our group. So just holding each other to a high standard on both ends of the court, playing really hard, which these guys do, and sharing the ball and playing the right way.”
On if he was pleased with Notre Dame’s effort coming off the trip to Rome:
“We've said all along we want to be a no-excuses group. I was giving them no outs. We traveled, we did this, we did that, we were back early, we were in class. No outs, and they don't ask for it. We've got a mature group, and I think they understand what it takes to win, and are willing to do whatever it takes to win. That's Logan diving all those balls. It's Braeden making plays, BK (Brady Koehler), everybody up and down the line.”
On big man Tommy Ahneman:
“I keep saying it, there's times playing Villanova in their first game in Rome on national TV, right and you just have a little bit of grace for him and Jonathan (Sanderson) when they come in. They are freshmen. This is their first game and you got to understand it. I think the more that they get a chance to play, the better that each of them get. I thought Tommy really settled in.
“It's so different for us. Playing these buy games have been a struggle for us in the past and having Logan Duncomb and having Tommy where it's like we're going to throw the ball into the paint and we're going to try and foul out whoever your center is, your backup center and everybody else that comes off the bench. We have the ability to do that and we also have the ability to keep trying to beat you up on the glass as much as possible.”
On rebounding:
“We work on box-outs a lot. I thought in the second half we gave up five (offensive rebounds). I thought some of those were us just not grabbing the ball with two hands. They were there. We had them with one hand, it slips out, and now they can get it. Something that we can go back and keep working on and keep cleaning up, but we want to be a great rebounding team on both sides.”
On the starting five meshing:
“They've been getting a lot of time together, right? All summer, we kind of split teams and did different stuff and then in the fall, maybe like a week, we split teams, but from there, like this group's played together. I've wanted them to get that chemistry playing together and I think they're starting to do it.
“I think all five guys are pretty skilled in their own unique way, where any of them can handle the ball, any of them can pass, and it helps us offensively in what we're doing. It's about mixing guys, right? We're in that mode right now of trying to find who plays best with each guy and when do we get to that set rotation. We've been like mixing different guys in, playing different guys, who's better with E-Bo, who's better with B. Smith, and like we'll find it. I think practice is really, really important for the guys that don't get to play as much because that's their opportunity to keep growing in areas where they're not quite as good as these guys.”
On the team being more cohesive than in the past:
“The maturity level of these guys. They're not really trying to prove anything. Right? Man, that's the one thing. It's like these guys just want wins. It’s like if tonight's my night, tonight's my night. If tonight's not my night, it's not my night. Right? Like B. Smith let us in scoring the other day. He had five points today. We've got a bunch of different guys that I think are capable of going off at any point. They can also do it at different times. E-Bo can get going in the first half and Braeden can get going in the second half. BK can pick it up in the second half and somebody else. I think just having that firepower, having multiple guys and nobody really cares who gets the glory. It's just about how can we help Notre Dame win.”
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