AKA Mike Brey's PR firm, wrote an article in the SBT today suggesting ND's non-conference schedule was too tough He used DePaul and Delaware as examples because they are on the road. Both suck, as we know. And ND's non-conference schedule under Brey has been an embarrassment. So Noie is doing some front-running here. Talk about fake news.
not sure why you keep up with the Mike Brey denigration. He's greatly improved as a game day bench coach and subsequently recruiting has been trending north as well. Yea, there was a time a few years back that I was hoping for a coaching change, but I am way past that and the back to back elite eights are enough to keep me coming back for more. He seems to be very likable, both by his players and the sports media/colleagues.
I have been somewhat critical, in general, of his not playing a deeper bench, but, often, the pickins' have been rather slim.
Is there something personal with you and Brey? Just curious, SWT.
Just cannot abide studied mediocrity. Notre Dame is a place, and a brand, unlike any other. It is a place that deserves a great coach, and by no means is Brey great. Brey has been there 17/18 years (can't remember exactly), and I agree he has gotten better -- remember the old country song "Been down so long it looks like up to me"? -- but anyone with that many years of OJT is bound to get better. Why not a coach of the pedigree that matches the University's?
I resent his years of self promotion for truly mediocre performance. 2 Elite 8's are swell, but zero Final 4's, zero national finals, and of course no NCAA Titles.
One (count 'em, ONE) league championship in 2 decades???? And let's be candid: that second Elite 8 was more a result of everyone of the good teams in the bracket getting upset, than it was for ND being that good.
Tom Noie is a shameless Mike Brey fan (sort of the opposite of me, a shameless critic). This latest piece is yet another in a series of articles where Noie pre-excuses potential losses, and over-glorifies potential wins.
DELAWARE??? They lost 20 games last year.
DEPAUL??? They lost 22 last year.
C'mon. Noie spent 9 paragraphs in his article posing them as non-conference toughies, when they are, in fact, just another couple of jokes as opponents.
I think it important for ND to excel to prove to the rest of America that a university can excel academically, morally and athletically. Maybe that will make a small dent in the sewer that college sports has become. That's all.
Your post was fair and thoughtful, however. I appreciate the questions.
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Only way ND is going to start winning multiple national championships is renting players. Based off of your comments, I don't think you want Notre Dame to make that sacrifice.
I think Kentucky is the epitome of what is wrong in college BB.
But Villanova won an NCAA championship -- with a coach ND could have hired when they hired Brey -- without renting players. And Butler went to consecutive Final Fours without, I think, renting players.
But your point is a good one. It will be tough to compete against teams with one-and-dones. I think ND can do better than it has.
essentially a road game against IU (in Indy).
I don't think this non-conference slate is too difficult, but given the trend, it's not an unreasonable assessment. You're stretching to come up with something to complain about. It isn't 2001 anymore. The program does not need a stack of good non-conference wins to get into the Tournament if it has 12/13/14 conference wins.
I did not "conveniently leave [out] Michigan State. One game does not make a tough non-conference slate.
I said -- you can read it in black and white -- that Noie used Delaware and Depaul as examples, which is precisely what he did.
He referred to the Big 10 challenge (MSU), the opening Maui tournament in single sentences.
He spent NINE (9) paragraphs on Delaware & DePaul.
I commented on your post, which neglected all mention of MSU and IU, for obvious reasons.
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