Notre Dame, The Fall From Grace (More Than A Tough Schedule)

On Thursday night, in anticipation of what I imagined to be (and was) an easy beating of the Seton Hall Pirates, I watched the Notre Dame "Fightin" Irish.  Though, in fairness to all the other players that have worn the uniform in years past for NBC's team, the term 'fightin' is to be taken quite lightly.

They'd wind up losing to West Virginia, never getting much closer than 10 or so points.  They started the game down 17-2, and from there things rarely got better.

Earlier in the season, I'd say around the first week of January, I made a bet with a kid from work about Notre Dame.  Having travelled to the Joyce Center last year, having seen them destroy Syracuse not only that time but on many other occasions, I was convinced that this year the Irish would again, easily, make it the NCAAs.  No questions asked. 

My friend was sold that they wouldn't make it.  Convinced he was the fool (how stupid I turned out to be only amazes me), I bet him five dollars Notre Dame would make the tourney.  If I'd had a million dollars on me, I'd have bet that much.  I was that sure.

What followed you already know.  They lost their Top 25 ranking soon thereafter (a seven game conference slide will do that to you), and even found themselves losing three conference games at home this year after having won 20 Big East home games in a row.

And so, each time Notre Dame got a chance to play a big time opponent, which seemed to be every other night, I kept thinking that this was the night they'd turn it around.  The trouncing of Lousiville really had me thinking they righted the ship, but a road loss to, conveniently, WVU derailed any serious momentum.

Watching on Thursday, I tried to see what went wrong.  Besides a tough schedule (as Mike Brey will have you believe was the only reason), Notre Dame just didn't have it this year. 

What was it?

It was rebounding, outside of Luke Harangody.  It was anyone that could consistently get their own shot off, outside of big Luke.  It was a true point guard (sorry, Tory Jackson).  It was top notch effort (the defensive switches and rotations were generally pathetic).  It was Kyle McAlarney, who for the life of him couldn't get open.

McAlarney was really the main issue.  Statistics won't bear it out (ppg, 3PT% and 3PT made were all up this year from last), but he seemed to randomly drop in and out of games.  West Viriginia's game on Thursday as a microcosm of the whole season, McAlarney showed a few things.  One, that if he's face guarded, he's going to have a hard time getting open unless there's two or three really good screens set.  And two, he can't shoot off the dribble.  Oh, oh.  Sorry, and three, when he's out of sorts, he's generally worthless.  Then again though, most streak shooters tend to be.

Still, while I for one will never feel bad for any Notre Dame failing sports team, this one has to go down as one of the more disappointing seasons for an Irish basketball team in quite a while. 

The schedule was certainly rough, but Louisville, Syracuse, Marquette, Connecticut and Villanova were able to handle it.  Maybe they just weren't that good.

Hump Day Headlines

In this week's version of Hump Day Headlines, we discuss someone you probably hadn't heard of until yesterday, the Braves newest Lowe, the Giants wanting Plax back, and a magical night for Orlando...

• America, meet Jodie Meeks.  The six-foot four inch junior from Norcross, Georgia now holds the University of Kentucky's record for most points in a single game.  With his eye-popping 54 point effort yesterday against Tennessee, Meeks broke Dan Issel's 39-year school record.  And by the way, UK beat the #24 Volunteers 90-72.  (Issel set the previous record with 53 points at Mississippi in 1970.)  This achievement, while astounding, is not completely surprising.  Entering last night's game Meeks was averaging 24 points per game, and was shooting a nice 46% from the field.  In fact, already once this season Meeks flirted with history, when he dropped 46 on Appalachian State December 20th.  Meeks ranked 5th in the nation in scoring entering last night's contest, and will likely move up after his historic night, considering he was just 0.6 points behind Notre Dame's Luke Harangody for fourth in the country.  And maybe most impressive about this night for Meeks?  He shot a whopping 68% from the field, 15-22, and hit TEN three pointers.  Yes, 10-15 from beyond the arc.  (Imagine if Marv Albert had called this game.  Meeks, from downtown, YES!)  He didn't miss a free throw either, going 14-14 from the line, and had eight rebounds and four assists to boot.  Who says Billy Gillispie couldn't turn Kentucky around?  At 13-4, and 2-0 in SEC play, this team has rebounded from it's annual season opening shocker when it lost to Virginia Military in game one.  With Meeks leading this bunch, they could be scary come tourney time.
• Quietly, or maybe not so much, the Atlanta Braves are becoming a legitimate team to compete for the division that they once won 14 times in a row.  After losing John Smoltz to the Red Sox, General Manager Frank Wren spent no time trying to acquire another pitcher.  Derek Lowe is set to sign a sixty million dollar contract with the Braves that keeps him in the A-T-L for the next four years.  The 35-year old sinker baller went 14-11 last year with the Dodgers and had a nice 3.24 ERA, but was absolutely nasty down the stretch.  He allowed 3 runs just twice in his last thirteen starts, which included the playoffs, and won six of his last seven regular season decisions.  He'll be at the top of a rotation that now includes Javier Vazquez, who they acquired from the White Sox for four prospects, and Japanese All-Star Kenshin Kawakami.  The NL East may very well be the best division in the National League this year, and now the defending champion Phillies and the paper champion Mets may have another serious contender to deal with.  And we haven't even mentioned the Marlins.
• Sometimes athletes, even when they're complete morons, are still valuable despite their off field problems.  The Giants passing offense was dreadful without Plaxico Burress.  They were 11-1 with the man who shot himself in the leg, and then dropped three of four without him to finish the season and were erased from the playoffs by the Eagles last week at Giants Stadium.  And over those four weeks prior to the playoff loss, Eli Manning had a QB rating of 69.8 (bad) and threw just two touchdowns in that stretch.  Now he and his teammates want him back, despite all the off the field garbage they dealt with.  "I think he will be back," tailback Brandon Jacobs said after the team lost to the Eagles Sunday.  "I think he should be back.  I don't think he has a bad bone in his body, and I think everyone deserves a second chance."  Translation:  we don't have any good receivers other than Plax, and without him, we're not any good!  With Plax, the Giants passing offense averaged about 1.6 touchdowns per contest.  Without him, it averaged just over half a pass TD per game.  And, since you can't throw half a touchdown, the Giants offense was pretty darn bad without him.  So, Mayor Bloomberg, if you're a Giants fan, let Plax off the hook so he can revive the Giants passing game!  Oh, and by the way, he's in court again because a car he leased was impounded with damages in Pennsylvania.  So I guess letting him off the hook now may not be so easy.
• While Jodie Meeks was making the headlines in college buckets, the Orlando Magic made the headlines in the professional ranks.  The Magic made an NBA record 23 three point shots in a 139-107 blowout of the lowly Sacramento Kings.  Jameer Nelson hit all five treys he attempted, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu each hit three of them, and J.J. Redick and Keith Bogans hit four each off the bench to contribute to the mark.  (NINE Magic players hit at least one three-pointer.)  The Magic are an impressive 31-8 this season, and coming into last night's game ranked third in the NBA in 3-point percentage (39.3).  With this kind of shooting, they're definitely going to be a force in the Eastern Conference and contend for the Finals.    And, lost in this incredible shooting night, the Magic got another typically great performance from Dwight Howard, who poured in 25 with 15 rebounds.   Howard shot 80% from the field, hit 9-11 free throws, and also had four steals.  What a Magical night for Orlando in Sacramento.