Mike Brey Notebook: Bethel
Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey was pleased with the 88-59 win over Bethel College (Ind.) on Friday night. The Irish did struggle at times, but a 24-1 run quickly put the game out of reach.
On the win against Bethel:
“It was great for our community. It was a no-brainer, and I’m excited we could do it. They were hard to deal with.
“They kept coming and running their stuff. To have a full building and having to fight through some stuff - we had to figure out different ways to score. Real games are going to be like that and maybe even in Chicago a week from tomorrow.”
On offensive flow:
“I don’t know if we will shoot it from out there like some of these other teams. We have to figure out ways we can score. Throwing it into the post will be more important than ever before. I love what Martinas (Geben) – he has to score for us. It’s encouraging he can get you double-figures and close to double-figure rebounds.
“The foul line will be important for us. We get to the bonus quicker because we’re driving it more. There is where we are scoring. We drive, we get the hand checks and stuff around the bucket. The foul line will have to be a big weapon for us, especially on nights we aren’t shooting it well.”
On forward Bonzie Colson:
“He may have been a little overexcited last week. He’s ready to play. He’s such a warrior. The guy doesn’t have a bad practice, and he wants to compete every day. If anything, you have to shut him down in practice a little bit. We shorten it up, so he isn’t on his legs for an hour and a half fighting everyone. We’re going to need those wheels as the year goes on.”
On guard TJ Gibbs:
“TJ has shot it pretty well from the three-point line. We got to have him drive. He gets fouled, and he’s automatic. He gets to the bucket and makes plays. I like what he gave us tonight.”
On guard Rex Pflueger:
“I thought Rex had a great game. We can’t worry about Rex scoring. He does so many other things for us. He’s in the middle of everything. The reason he plays the most minutes – it’s hard to take him out because he helps you flow on both ends. He just knows how we play.”
On point guard Matt Farrell:
“He got a little frustrated he wasn’t making shots, and it carried over on the defensive end. I’ve gotten on him about it. If you’re not having a good offensive flow or missing shots, you can’t hang your head and let it impact the defensive end.
“I still think we need some work on that even though we’re an old mature group.”
On freshman DJ Harvey:
“Tonight we wanted to look at that. He’s physically ready to do it. He’s had a very good week of practice. I thought he took another step away from being a young guy in the last week. He was talking more.
“He can score for us. We have to get him ready. There is too much there to work with. We have to live with some mistakes, but he’s too important for us.”
On forward John Mooney:
“I thought Johnny gave us some good stuff. He’s bouncy and active. We’re big when we rotate guys through there. Maybe we aren’t downshifting, but pounding with big guys and getting second shots. That’s something I am still trying to figure out.”
On 24-1 run in the second half:
“I thought we got the ball into the low post and then we got to the bonus quick, so we were scoring from the foul line. We defended pretty well. We changed and played some zone. They ran their stuff and were feeling good tonight.”
On schedule:
“I feel we could use one more exhibition. It’s good to play one more before we go on the road. With an older team, they really want to get to games quick. We’ve tried to change the practice plan up a little bit and bring refs into scrimmage to break it up.
“We could use one more dress rehearsal before we head over to McCormick Place.”
On what team needs to work on:
“Probably finding out who comes off the bench for us and how we use those guys coming off the bench. I think our transition defense needs work. We’ve not been good in that, and we haven’t been good in practice. We need to address that before next Saturday.”
