Mike Brey Notebook: Southeastern Louisiana
Notre Dame rolled Southeastern Louisiana 86-50 on Thursday night to head into Christmas break at 10-3. Head coach Mike Brey recapped the win and talked about getting prepared for the ACC schedule.
On game:
“It was kind of neat to see our three of our guards in such offensive rhythm. We’re going to need that on a number of nights in ACC play. We’ve been pretty good offensively the last two games on our floor. Hopefully, we can feel good about that when we come back when we get ready to play two league games.
On Rex Pflueger:
“I told him ‘Don’t overanalyze.’ We want him to take open shots and make plays. It was a heck of a night for him. He’s a weapon for us. He’s doing everything on the other end of the floor.
“We have him guarding little guy. He’s rebounding and getting his hands on stuff. He’s such a winner. He deserves it.”
He was a little calmer, and we tried to get him to play with a smile a little more.”
On Pflueger overthinking on offense:
“I think sometimes he has turned some shots down. If you have an open shot, shoot that thing. Hopefully, he can build off of this. He just means so much to us because he does so many little things.
“He was so unselfish tonight too. He made some great passes. It was good for those three guards to all get rolling together.”
On bench rotation:
“DJ (Harvey) and John (Mooney) are the guys I think about. I like what Elijah (Burns) can do when he rebounds. (Austin) Torres is still a specialty guy. Nic (Djogo) was sick tonight, or he would have gotten some minutes.
“We have to keep searching and throwing them in there. We have to keep trying. You hope someone plays well on the 30th and against NC State and all of sudden you have a guy off the bench playing better than he’s ever played. They have to get an opportunity."
On hitting free throws the last four games:
“We’re starting to inch that thing back to 80 percent, which we led the nation in last year. We are doing a good job of not putting other teams on the line. I think we’re second in the nation in the least amount of fouls. We’re not putting people on the line.”
On the impact of the win heading into Christmas break:
“You want to have guys play well before they go home. It’s always good to win this game and get out of town. You’re worried about every game. We come in for shootaround this morning, and I bring up Wofford-North Carolina.
“Guys are thinking about travel. This group is older. They got into a good offensive rhythm on Tuesday night. They were feeling good on our court.”
On rules for the team on break:
“I have two strict rule when they go home. No pickup and no one-on-one. 'Don’t you dare get in a pickup game and don’t you dare play one-on-one.'
“I had a guy at Delaware my second year and got talked into practicing with his high school team-high ankle sprain and took three weeks. He never was the same. Don’t get into that. TJ Gibbs has his brothers waiting for him, I told him ‘Don’t you dare play one-on-one. They’re coming after you.’”
On being ready for ACC play:
“We’re not ready. We need a couple of great days of practice when we get back. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel. We play how we play.
“Defensively, we’re not giving up transition because we don’t send a lot of guys to boards. We want to get back. We shoot a high clip on the first shot. We also don’t put people on the foul line. When you’re not giving up transition buckets or points from the foul line, it’s a pretty good place to start defensively. Those numbers are very good.”
On defensive rebounding:
“Our defensive rebounding will be challenged as it has always been in our program. That’s Martinas, Mooney, and Bonzie. Our guards have to help us a little more, and our block outs will become very important.
“That’s an area we have traditionally been thin at. The program isn’t built with glass eaters. We’re built with frontline guys that are basketball players, so we can have efficiency on the other end.
“Last year, we gave up 17 offensive rebounds three times. We were 2-1 in those games. That’s the efficiency on the other end – not giving up layups and not putting people on the foul line. I’d rather stay away from getting crushed on the boards, but we can absorb a little bit."