Mike Brey Notebook: 2/1

Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey gave the latest on the injury front as the Irish head to NC State on Saturday. 

On Matt Farrell:
“We would like to work him back into practice, today and tomorrow and I think he will be a game-time decision on Saturday. 

"He is better, conditioning is still an issue, but we are hoping we can get something out of him Saturday.”

On DJ Harvey:
“DJ Harvey definitely not for the next two, maybe Florida State for him is realistic.”

On Bonzie Colson:
“Bonzie has an x-ray on Monday which will tell us how the healing process is going, so that is it for our three guys on the stretcher.”

On what Farrell has been doing:
“He has been shooting; we didn’t really go live with him. Today he is going to try maybe not the whole practice, but he has been out shooting on his own. His lift looks better he was able to lift when he came back the first time, but we will see how it reacts to a half practice today, maybe a full-practice tomorrow and cut him loose Saturday and start him if he is feeling good.”

“I’d have to evaluate him for the next two days live. I haven’t seen him go five on five yet and then see how he feels. We could use that lift to have him in the lineup. Even if it is for 18 minutes just to have him in the game some that can really help us and lift us, so I am hopeful we can get there.”

On offensive outlook:
“We are getting looks; fatigue is biting us a little when we get those looks. What we have been trying to do to help ourselves offensively is offensive rebound.

“The one thing that helped us against Virginia Tech was to get to the foul-line, we drove, got fouled and got to the foul-line, and offensive-rebounding helps us with that if we can get some rebounding outlets and get some easy buckets in transition.”

“We are who we are in our motion and our movement and when guys get open looks you have to let them keep taking them and hope maybe it swings our way and a few more go in.”

On keeping Gibbs productive when Farrell comes back:
“What we would do Saturday is have Gibbs start with the ball in his hand and have Matty off the ball and let him get comfortable, even from a conditioning standpoint. Then, once we substitute get Matty back to the ball, but at least at the start of the game get the ball in the hands of Gibbs, and I think that can help him get jumpstarted since he has been so darn good with it. Then of course if we get a rebound either guy can bring it up.

“I don’t want to overanalyze it too much because they both play off of each other well, but maybe we start the game that way, and it helps both of them given their situations.”

Impact of having Farrell even with limited minutes:
“We would have another guy who can make a shot, an open shot maker. We have been getting some good looks after some good movement, but you have a guy who is a proven shot-maker, then just to substitute some guys out.”

On playing NC State away:
“That is when Matty went down, that was a special night. I thought we played very well we had great movement, it was our best offensive night in league play, and Matty only played 15 minutes of the game.

“I watched the second half of that game because I wanted to see how the group we have now played. We really moved them around, we got some drives, and some dump offs, but they’re different they’re playing great, and they have their guard back Johnson who really makes them different.”

On team confidence level:
“They’re doing great. Kids are amazingly resilient, and older guys are even more resilient. If we had a team with more sophomores and freshmen, this would really affect them, but this is a group that is older.

“I have been realistic with them about our chances and where we stand and what we would have to do to get back in the picture of the NCAA tournament. You can talk to an older group that way, and it was really digested. I told them to turn the month to February and see if our karma can swing a little bit the other way.

“I told the staff that I know tomorrow is groundhogs day, but I feel like we have been in groundhogs day for three weeks quite frankly. I have waked up every day with the same feeling, so maybe it can swing a little bit in February.”

On Martinas Geben:
“He is good. We gave those guys two days of almost not doing another Tuesday and Wednesday. Those are the things that we have to do, and then the practices can’t be very long, we will probably be out on this court for an hour. They do a good job, and Marty does a great job of preventive medicine, getting in there and icing.”

Going into the NC State game:
“Johnson is a guy who can get into the lane and make plays for them and create shots. They play faster with them, he pushes the ball this is a team that likes to play fast, we don’t necessarily want to get out and run with them.

“They’re confident right now, they just beat North Carolina, and they have won five of their last seven. They were dead in the water against Pittsburgh and came back and won, and of course, I am sure they remember what happened here a couple of weeks ago.”

“We also have beaten them twice in Raleigh, I don’t think we have lost to them in Raleigh, and right now they’re firmly in the tournament. They are playing for a lot and have firepower, they haven’t been the best defensive team, but right now we haven’t been able to take advantage of that enough, maybe we can do that Saturday.”

On foul trouble for John Mooney against Duke and staying with him:
“He was scoring for us and making open shots. He had to be on the floor, but we have to help him and coach him to be smarter when he has fouls, but the way it was going to save him for a rainy day, it may have been too late. He gets the fifth one, and we are there.”