#246 R.P.I.  Notre Dame vs. #66 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball be hoagies.

The Hokies be back to being… rolled. And this time by an impoverished-looking, triskaidekaphobia, 13-L and still south of .5oo buncha Bo.College F’n Eagles; @… home! I repeat, @home, by a team that had been All Championship Conference totally smoked in-League runs by: –16, –15, –2o, –16, –22, and another unsweet –16. This is from the very same triskaidekaphobia -13-point underdog on the you barely win 3 in 10 A.c.c. road. As it was our Hokiebird who got rode hard and hung up nearly 20-point point-spread points swing, wet. Or in final words… BeeCee-18.5 pays how much out on the Vegas big board? ’cause there comes a point in time that you be who your record says you be. No mo’ Aunt Kim and Uncle, Tim. A solid C+++ from this him. Now, however, we sojourn to the furthest ‘go west’ A.c.c. hoops game vs. Notre Dame. The F’n Irish dot the marker at: 1o up vs. an eerily similar BeeCee 14 down; (.153 or 2-11 in A.c.c. ‘ball). And I warn thee now… N.Dame plays a similar game to Wake, BeeCee, and Klempson, albeit prolly the lowercase squadron in metonym gone hoopologist synonym terms. Nevertheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much, rights? So, read on… to find, out!

Notre Dame Head Coach: Michael Paul Brey: Age=63, 581–323 (.643) overall,
482–271 (.64o) at Notre Dame.
$2,120,177.oo

Baller Brey graduated from the legendary scholastic hoop factory DeMatha Catholic High School in 1977. As a two-year letter winner under all-everything coach Morgan Wootten, Brey helped the team to a 55–9 mark. He enrolled at Northwestern State University, where he played varsity basketball -as a Forward- for three years (1977–1980). Brey was a standout guard in his collegiate playing days, competing for three seasons at Northwestern Louisiana State (now Northwestern State) from 1977-80. He led the team in assists and steals all three years and still ranks among the top 10 in career assists at Northwestern State. He played his final collegiate season at George Washington in 1980-81 after sitting out the 1979-80 season as a transfer. He averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Colonials, serving as team captain and eventually earning the team’s Most Valuable Player Award.

Coach Brey returned to his former high school, becoming an assistant coach under Morgan Wootten. In 1987, he was hired by Duke to assist under coach K, and in 1995 he took over his first head coaching job at Delaware. Brey guided the Fightin’ Blue Hens to a pretty flighty looking 99–51 record over five years | leading Delaware to two America East Conference Championships and subsequently two trips to the NCAA Tournament. After that, in 2ooo, he got the big whistle job for the Notre Dame Irish. Notre Dame had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1990.

Brey led the Irish to the NCAA tournament in his first three years as head coach (2001–2003), notching a Sweet-16 appearance in 2003. He has led his team to tournament appearances in 13 different seasons at two different schools. He has won six conference championships, four Conference Coach of the Year awards, and five National Coach of the year awards (all for the same season: 2o11). Good for two Elite-8s and three Sweet-16s overall. Coach Brey has only suffered one negative (<.5oo) L’ing season in 21 years. And his teams have enjoyed a post-season in all less than three months of March. Coach Brey’s teams attend with an overall skillful, offensive, and shooter’s marksmanship rep’.

Brey serves on the Coaches vs. Cancer National Council and has helped raise over two million dollars for the organization; felicitations on that.

Peep Brey was born on March 22, 1959, Brey is a 1982 graduate of George Washington with a degree in physical education.

(Rare divorcee) Daddy Brey has two children – Kyle and Callie – and a granddaughter, Olivia Marie.
Kyle was a Te/Fb for the University of Buffalo from 2006-09.

Brey’s late mum (Betty) only held the world record in the butterfly events and competed for the
United States at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. God Bless.

(UPDATE: only has a few more games to coach either way— having already stepped down so the Coach Next search can begin. Godspeed on the rest of the Game of Life @Coach Brey!)

Notre Dame at a glance:

• 5th fewest in fouls ‘whistled’ against!!! (NOT: an uber physical team on tape).
• 27th best in Assist:Turnover ratio!!
• 28th best in FT percentage!!
• 34th most 3-point makes/game!! (They outside bomb away & home in here).
  (BONUS: Only 326th most in raw FTAs, again, they ain’t that chummy/near the hoop).
• 51st in 3-point percentage itself!
• 327th best in FG percentage defense allowed!! (VERY user-friendly club).
• 339th most in SPG!! (Play the man, not the ball).
• 343rd best in offensive rebounding!!!
• 2nd from last (349th) in Benching PPG!!!
• A couple of dents and dings alike are listed here. Coach God bless!

Returning Starters=3*

N.Dame Strengths:

• Lindy’s says N.Dame fields Top-5 A.c.c. Talent. (Not sure Eye sees it, tho’ those in the know say that they do… so give a listen…)
• * (Lindy’s Best A.c.c. Shooter!) (Lindy’s 2nd-string All-A.c.c.!) 6′6″, 214 lb., 5th-Senior year, and now: Graduate Dane Goodwin… is a worker bee who ground his way to Most Improved last year. This year he’s all the way up to a pretty dang nifty-looking and likewise improved to scoring silver-medalist status at: 11.9 ppg; as less was expected here. Ditto finding his way to a nifty 5.3 rpg or 2nd-best in carom collections. And yet Goodwin’s goodwill delivered mo’… would that we could all say the Game of Life, same. This ‘good’ if not “great” Dane has had a Ragnar typea thing for V.Tech has he has lit the Hokies up a couple of times along the way. This from a kid who was only: the 2018 Ohio Mr. Basketball, only: the 2018 Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year, and only: the 2018 USA Today Ohio Player of the Year. That’s all. That and he was also only: the 77th ESPN national recruit and he only first-team all-state Golf as well. So, he has some skills, what with masterful shooting (was: 5th best in NC2A terms… 94% FTA’s and 46% from behind the arc last year) and to be able to play the alpha technically proficient dimpled-ball sport itself at a teed-up all-state level. (’23 now: 83.8% FTA’s and 39.1%). Which only afforded Dane being Honored on the floor of the Ohio state Senate on May 16, 2018, for his overall elite athletic accomplishments at Upper Arlington. Can’t say I’ve biographically read that one before. Dane’s old man (Damon Goodwin), is the all-time winningest head coach at Capital University (a Division III school located in Columbus, Ohio, suburbs). After he only played basketball at the University of Dayton from 1982-83 through 1985-86 and was only a seventh-round draft pick of the Phoenix Suns in 1986. All his sisters are collegiate volleyballers and all his brothers are college hoopsters. So, you know the coach’s son-type head-game metrics should be firmly in place here. Now mix in 2.3 apg, a swipe (.9 spg) and then mix in right at a 15 lb. plate of right mass or much-needed sinew suddenly found you’ve got a very technically proficient textbook shooter on your hands with an all-around game. I’d say that semi-sharp shooting, counts. And this is prolly a fringe overseas guy for it to boot.  As Dane has found a bit more muscle, again and yet his metrics are all down a bit this year. Maybe something of a Ken Oxendine in hardwood bulked up too much terms?
• * (Lindy’s A.c.c. 3rd-string pre-season) P/F, One #14, Sr. year Nate Laszewski is a 6′10″, 23o lb. somewhat string-bean looking though springy P/F frontcourt baller from Jupiter, Fla. Nate nets you a most useful and now team-leading 14.2 points with nearly 7 rebounds and a swat per a reliable looking ~53% from the floor (see: pic). Accordingly, you were prolly professionally intrigued by what this thin big man can be if his body every big-baller fills out. As Nate added a 25-lb. ferrous plate last off-season and he prolly could add close to one more. So, this year he added another 1o-lb. plate. Last year Nate led N.Dame in FT-shooting and from a big that is never a bad thing;  this year he is at: 86.7% on the charity stripe which leads N.Dame in free-throwing again. Lasz’ was ESPN’s no.51 baller nationally and he sure set a buncha New Hampshire scholastic 3-point shooting marks as a Euro-type Four. And oh by the way… Lasz’ is only splashing home a mind-boggling 55.1% of his three’s last campaign. Now down to a (still) very reasonable 4o.7% long. Like last time I checked even Adrian Dantley did not net 6 outta 10 for N.Dame way way back when. And that’s a lotta long-range cheddar from a kid who only wore a 2-level scoring tag (down-low & mid-range) coming into last season. That, and Nate has been showing some warming signs of late on top of all that. This is a good player here, at least an overseas professional.
• J.J. Starling is a Lead-G playing Qb1 at: 6′4″ and 2oo rookie or nugget voting year lbs. J2 hits you with: 11.9 ppg with 3.o rpg, on 1.2 apg, and o.8 spg.  “Steady” and “improving” are the signature tags here. There are worse tags for a One to be sure too. Said to be a ‘charismatic’ kid and a Natural leader for it to boot. Energizer bunny kinda poster-boy; does a little bit of every round-ball thang. ***** or penta-star guy who got you just south of ~30 ppg in NYC terms and ‘hood ballers up there do tend to be legit when they make that much. Alpha (i.e., #1) baller in-state— though, J’s did not win much of anything in scholastic terms and that can turns one off a mite. As this is N.Dame’s first five-star guy in a while, or in a decade itself. Starling drops 31.3% from behind the arc is okay, and the 43% overall is getting there as netting there goes. The book here says this is a lowercase Showtime combo-G who prefers -if not needs- a faster tempo’. Driver, who makes most of his plays inside the paint; transitional player, who plays a: ‘good-decision’ caliber game. Has been a total Smothers Brothers yo-yo’ routine unto himself this year {sic: 2o23 itself}. Very lowercase single-digits or lowercase to middlecase 20s and not much in between. Seems a little lower or cooler of late and is a bit handsy or personal-foul prone at this early stAGE of his collegiate career. That all being squarely struck; most teams would love this kid’s problems, (63% on FTA’s). As you cannot spell Starling sans the “star” himself. And Starling is prolly not less than an overseas star.
• * Stanford transfer, (now): Graduate, and last year’s necessary sit-down Cormac Ryan is a 6′5″, 195 lb. Junior/Senior reclassified baller with rulebook (now apparently) resolved eligibility issues. Tho’ his current So.Bend averages of: 11.5 ppg with 4.2 rpg and 2.5 apg. This on: 41.5% shooting from the floor and 36.9% from downtown seem relatively rural to me. The rep’ here says that Cromac (cool name) is a high-pressure defender who can shoot and that’s not the worst scorers-table medicine coming in off your bench let me tell you. 82.5% on the FT line is not a guy to horse around with after practice, either. Curiously enough… Cormac is a little down shooting-wise, and yet a mo’ than a little up on his scoring thus far this year. 3rd straight season as the “C” or team Captain and 2nd straight year as: A.c.c. Academic Honor Roll. So, that checks out swell enuff. This from the **** or 68th (247Sports) guy in all the land a ½ decade back. Lindy’s however deigns to call Cormac a: “lights out shooter”, so that counts. As does Mister Ryan’s penchant for raising his post-season game and ridin’ clutch in key moments. This kid is a fringe export baller, as someone could possible user a shooter who can go 3-n-D and represent a bit locker room-wise in ’24 terms.

  

F‘n Irish Weaknesses:

• Lindy’s says this is an inexperienced Irish team and one that may need a minute or three to cook or reload synergy-wise.
• 6′4″, 215 lb., Robby Carmody (St.Nikon bless) is OUT for the year (AGAIN, back2back, ouch2ouch); with a cracked kneecap. Dang… also out for the year would be his 5.4 ppg on a nice looking 50% overall with 1.6 rpg. This was after he blew his left-A.c.l. back in 2019. (St.Culbreth also bless). This after a shoulder injury (St.Christopher help) and this after a concussion (St.Blaise bless). Dang some more… as this former 2018 Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year and 81st-ranked kid nationally (ESPN) would have no luck if not for bad luck itself. Poor guy… as this was a lowercase 30-something PPP scorer in the Keystone State when he was still 5×5 physically. Dang, dang, dang… tough one to write up here. (UPDATE: poor Carmody is now listed as “OUT” and “IDLE” with a patella or kneecap itself injury… dangnation… po’ kid and St.Nikon helps!)
• 6′1o″, burly 268 lb., Dom Campbell, a backup P/F or Four is sidelined with an inflamed Achilles, and he is expected to be out of the lineup for at least a few weeks. St.Achilles bless! Not a good thing to muck around with either. Also, out a few weeks would be Don’s: 1 ppg and 2 rpg in spot-minutes subin’ in. Don is said to be a steady low-post scorer who has step away from the basket game. Rebounder with good footwork and hands as well. **** Rivals 96th ranked baller in the Nation. Maine kid by way of a really blew-up A.A.U. career. Sturdy Four or P/F at least, who prolly did have the metrics downloaded and full-installed to bail the bench out near the bucket. Godspeed!
• J.R. Konieczny is a: 6′7″, 2o2 lb., true-Soph. season homespun (So.Bend, Indy) baller. J.R. has (self)-decided to use the 2o22-2o23 season as a redshirt year after some dingy foibles earlier on. Do like the Alice wants her mop-(top) back hair-swagg here. 1.6 Irish ppg last year and not being included in my pre-season magazines this year might just be a… clue.
• As you will next see… this is not a very deep squadron.
  (Conditioning could very well be late-game, key)!

Domer Bench: (depth=was 4, now closer to 2)

Trey Wertz is a 6′5″, 193 lb. Sr. year and now Graduate off-G by way of Santa Clara. Where he netted you a credible-looking 11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game with an engaging 40% from deep. Or at least he was… this year Trey is Qb2 down to: 8.7 ppg on 2.8 rpg and 3.2 apg. Father, Langston Jr., is a sports reporter for the Charlotte Observer— doubt that hurts, and Trey had good N.C. H.S. numbers. Good, not great or epic. Tho’ this season’s 39.7% from the floor and 33% from threeland reveal a kid who has missed a couple of games and been dinged up a bit this campaign. Coach God Bless on dat. As Trey is ‘whispered’ to be a pure shooter and yet he has just been plain down/off since mid-January. Trey is better than this… in particular on trey’s themself.

Niagara Transfer: 6′3″, 173 lb., Marcus Hammond is an interesting off-G when he gets it: ‘falling’ from the outside. (Too much ¦ too punny?) Anywho… Hammond is yet another NYC inner-city flavored baller on the Irish hoops roster. He keeps a left earring (which one is The Last of Us, which these days?). This after he was only 3-time: All-M.A.A.C. when over a barrel up @Niagara. These days… Marcus is getting you: 8.9 ppg on 2.6 rpg with 1.5 apg in backcourt relief. Up at Niagara, he was hitting for:  18-n-change ppg on a rangy looking 40.1% from trifectaville. Said to be a 3-level (inside, mid-range, and outside) scorer who can still dish (4 apg @Niagara). Did Eye mention he is from: Niagara, yet? ‘casue frankly, mo’ may have been expected here, as there are those who prolly did expect Marc’ to export himself for some foreign balling this time last year. He is a good baller (for N.Dame 43% regular and 41% long) who suborned himself here when he coulda done mo’ elsewhere.

Haitian/Floridian native Ven-Allen Lubin is a 6′8″, 226 lb., debut-year baller with a play-right-away physique. The tag here reads: that this is an athletic mid-man who can get to the rack and finish well. Something of a slasher from the outside or an overload coverage-wise for most traditionally made Threes (S/F’s). V-A.L. is also one of the few 2o23 myspacebook era kids to earn a: ‘unselfish’ merit badge. Who right now finds his way to: 6.1 ppg married to 4.5 rpg off the pine. The 58.2% attests to his ability to ‘finish’ near the ring and yet his 12.5% when dialing long-distance does not pass the eye test unselfish or not. This from Rivals **** and the 63rd-rated baller overall who is said to be developing a post-up game as well. The Ven-Allen Belts (astrophysics attempt at satire insert here: ____ check), did net a AA or double-A bling down in Orlando and he sure looks the street or hardnosed pugnacious part on tape. This one is an intrigue to me men… if/when Lubin develops even complimentary range, he is gonna lubricate more than a few box scores on athleticism alone before he is Golden Dome, done.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Irish who could c.bomb @Tech=handful, maybe 6 even.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is…

…that… it is hard, like a Bo Derek Mohs Hardness scaling -hard- to know which way which one will go.

All the mo’ so with Maddox still: “QUESTIONABLE” in officially listed terms. As you have to begin to question just how much further our Top-2 in extreme particular; and our (remaining) Top-4, can go and just how much they will have closing time left.

As in… in the A.c.c. hoops is as easy as A.B.C.

• Always,
• ….Be…
• Closing!

Do not let teams that do not need to hang around, hang; …around.

---

---

Witness our start vs. (seemingly) lowly BeeCee last time out…

…as in… we/VeeTee were up a quite reasonable looking 13-7; having outscored upstart/upset-minded BeeCee nearly 2:1 in the first third of the 1st-half. Then you ask? Well, then we let them hang around and they nearly hung us out to dry going up by as many as 15 points numerous times as a freakin’ 13-point A.c.c. road-dog.

Now, Bostonian preview-review and recall this…

Did you, or do you now see what Eye mean?

What Eye means is… you cannot under-condition kids -as they do now- ask them to play 85% of the game as our Top-4 went, and then 99% of the game as our Top-2 was spent.

All Conditioning Case,
…closed.

😴😴

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for a very likely entirely umpossible 68-point Tech Triumph in this one here. Here however it is beneficent to take the Forum Guide in pro rata terms… which then calls for a vastly more conceivable 9.71 VicTory dance per game here. However, the squirrely thingy is… the Forum Guide was not only 1 single solitary point removed from a perfected 1:1 correlation— a lot of it woulda been an |absolute value| or Yield Curve inversion correlation here. As in… both teams have been beaten by the same opponent over and over and over and over and over. Literally. It is just that one team {sic: N.Dame} was beaten up by mo’ (points) vs. common opponents. Meaning… these are two weak-sauce-looking teams in League play. It is just that one plays a bit saucièr while still getting beaten in League terms {sic: VeeTee}. Thus, making for one of the most unusual quantified Fourm Guides, ever.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VeeTee is up a useful looking +6% in shooting percentage margin (from: being close to 3% N.Dames superior on O and again on D alike); VeeTee finds itself up a nominal looking +1% in 3-point percentage margin (due to: being a bit better on 3-point D and yet N.Dame is a little better on 3-point O), and yet VeeTee is up +4 misses lassoed in rebounding margin for the duration. (This however was an |absolute value| or somewhat hollow victory as the Hokies are at equilibrium here whereas the Irish are –4 rpg trading underwater. We are so-so and they are a no-no in rebounding itself).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… the Hokies are now up a visible +7% in shooting percentage margin (per: mostly being much warmer on O than the Irish and just a scosche thriftier over on D); with the Gobblers now up a similar +6% in 3-point percentage margin (of: mostly the same as overall before, VeeTee is outshooting N.Dame on 3’s and yet nearly the same in defense of 3’s themselves), and then we see that the F’n Irish are now up +1 in |absolute value| rebounding margin. This is seen because both teams recently went negative in caroom collections. Both are getting out-rebounded off the glass; it is just that the Techmen are a little less girly in Windex Wipes in the last fortnight of balls here.

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

Eye don’t write fluff… though I will apologize. As I looked everywhere and never found anything neat-o-kool Modine as Streaking or on-trend or whatever went here.

Two very uneven teams in two for it too.

N.Dame is up a healthy +7 in R&R.
N.Dame is up +2% at the charity stripe for the year.
N.Dame is a .625 host; whereas V.P.I. is .ooo as a guest.

The Call…

No.55 Net Ranking Virginia Tech @ no.196 Net Ranking Notre Dame:

The VerdicT:

A word to the wise… so, in the aforementioned most recent 5-game trend terms… N.Dame is only off +/- 1 or 2% max’ everywhere I looked. Kinda near even overall or a canceling effect in aggregate terms.

The Hokies however are netting well of late.

Both on Overall and on 3’s.
They ain’t defending the same hardly at all; however.

’cause allowing a mind-boggling: 41.2% of your opponent’s 3’s to tickle the twine would not only rank you an entirely rank looking -and last place- 351st outta 351 2o23 D-1 men’s teams… it would rank you an entirely rank looking -and last place- 351st outta 351 2o23 D-1 men’s teams… by a most disturbing and frankly unfathomable virtual –5% worse than the current last place team (Ron Burgundy or San Diego)!!!

–oOo–

Now re-read what I wrote pre-game vs. BeeCee @home.
(Where you really should net better than out on the A.c.c. road).

…what happens when all those 3 just so happen to, miss?

Now give the N.Dame national rankings another once-over…

• The Irish throw a lotta three’s up and at the rack.
• They have some 3-point mud in their eye, too (51st best overall).

Then Eye ran the Home/Away splits and found this…

• N.Dame -surprisingly- only nets +1% better from the floor and from 3-ball range @home. Seems okay enuff; n’est-ce pas?
• Vah.Tech however only nets a paltry 29% of their 3’s out on the Always Challenging Conference road, or… 337th best in shooting 3’s @Away! And, and, and, they rate 332nd best in defense of 3’s as the VisiTor!

Guess where this 547-mile Nor-by-Nor-West contest is being… contested?

The closer:

"He who liveth by the 3-Pont-sword shall (Robert) Parrish by the same."

Pretty much, right?
And ‘aye’, I do feel this team is roadie due.
Outta 12-15 games Away from Home you just gotta net one jus’ right; right?

Nonetheless, how do you pick an o’fer the year (o-7) hardwood team out on the you barely win 3 in 10, A.c.c. road?

I do feel VeeTee would get this one @Home inside our very own cooling and Super Snow Party Cassell. Although this one is over in So.Bend, see… and if I see precious little R&R for four of our 1’s in-game and then I see our One and our Two plum 3-ball tuckered out?

🍀 ≅ 🏀 ≅ 🦃

Eye will see VeeTee go from within N.Dee’s reach to within N.Dee’s grasp.

(Coach Robert Browning b-ball 1o1… from… 3!)

 

(5o% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=77, Notre Dame=79 (OT)

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**