Notre Dame Virginia Tech basketball preview

 #111 R.P.I. Virginia Tech @ #39 R.P.I. Notre Dame:

The team that everyone wants to play -in particular in football- and yet does not often get beat -in either sport- is up next and on O&M tap.Irish hoops logo

Notre Dame checks in at 12 up and 5 down overall and 3-2 in A.c.c. play.

And I’d have to say that is 72 golf or just about on par with where most of my pre-season magazines tabbed the Irish this time out. As a solid, maybe even good mid to lower mid-tier Atlantic Coast program this campaign.

The Irish are well rounded, they do not make mistakes, and you will have to go to South Bend and carpe de game. As Christmas is over, Winter is setting in, and this is typically not a team that is in a giving mood.

Nevertheless, this is also a team that is not quite as good as it was last year; and that does bring Notre Dame within range; if barely.

Read on to find out if this one will be,… rangy enough?

Notre Dame at a glance:

  • 4th fewest turnovers (9.29 tpg)
  • 7th in FG percentage (49.9%)
  • 25th in 3-point percentage (39.3%)
  • 68th in rebounding margin (+4.6 rpg)
  • 331st in defending the 3-ball (38.8% allowed)
  • NO injuries listed (thank God!)

n.Dame Returning Starters=3

Notre Dame Strengths:

  • epic balance: 5 guys between 11 and 17.5 ppg with one who is closer to being the necessary Alpha (or closer). A.B.C. Always Be Closing.

    FLEXible, 1o1...
    FLEXible, 1o1…
  • Junior year, #11 Demetrius Jackson is the Latin Alpha I’m rapping about here, though he has help on the inside where it counts; most. Jackson is a super strong, Strong-Safety or stud Tb looking lead-G at 6’1” and 2o9 totally brawny looking lbs. A talented, versatile One who has range, who can penetrate and defend and who has to -sometimes- be encouraged to be more aggressive in terms of taking his own shot(s). How often do I get to still refuse to facebook.com on that?!? The team leader at 5.4 apg and the gold medal in steals (1.2 spg) to go with 49% overall and 39% from range does not suck. Neither does 17.5 ppg with 3.6 boards.
  • #3o Zach Auguste: Z’ was the guy that most of my pre-season mags had a bit ahead of Jackson in terms of replacing Grant and Connaughton listed below. Zach is a 6’10” legit back-to-the-basket 244 lb. P/F Center combo with internal game. A gifted athlete who is not soft and does play above the rim; makes for a hard Four spot opposing match-up for Irish opponents. 13.6 ppg and 9.8 boards along with a block on 54% shooting. A powerful finisher who could have gone early last season; does not have a ton of range, although you are not asking him to play that stretch-4 game, either. Runs the floor and has surprisingly soft-hands; could have been a ginormous Te in another life.

    will throw-down!
    will throw-down!
  • 6’5” 211 lb. Jr. 2-guard Steve Vasturia; 6’5” 225 lb. soph. swing Bonzie Colson; and 6’8” 199 lb. beanpole third year S/F V.J. Beachem; all tally between 12.5 and 11.5 ppg respectively and deserve some measure of mention here. Stevie and VeeJay are the shooters here, 40 and 44% from deep says so. Bonzie gets you 7.7 rebounds and a team leading 1.2 swats and 58% with better range than you might think.
  • smart-cookie shooters, same as coach Beilein at wvu, coach Mike Brey at Notre Dame always seems to conjure coachable, heady, system style kids who can flat out shoot that rock.

Notre Dame Weaknesses:

  • j.Grant and t.Connaughton took about 30 and 10 with them last year.
  • don’t wanna say this is a nonathletic team, because ultimately it is not. However coach Brey team’s have not be the best rebounding teams I’ve ever seen historically; either.
  • Irish defense entirely plays the man and not the ball, not a very aggressive team in terms of going for the steal; although the lack of whistles against the Irish reflect this as well.
  • this is an above average Notre Dame team, it may very well still be a post-season Notre Dame team, although I serially doubt it is still an Elite-8 Notre Dame team.

Fighting Irish Bench: (depth=2 and change, Colson and 6’6” 198 lb. rookie year mid-range s/f  Swing Rex Pflueger are mostly what you’ve got and and yah; Colson starts and stars at V.Tech)

ND match ups

VT's 4-1 half game outta A.c.c. second place record is honestly code for what?

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Illation, conclusion (s) and OPT digits:

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is… Notre Dame is a pretty tough team to beat in their own barn, as most great shooting teams are. Gotta invite them to your house and bushwhack them out on the road where their sharpshooting snipers are less familiar more often than not.

Saturday Night Live anyone?
Saturday Night Live anyone?

Our most recent five game spits do not look that favorable no matter how twice full of the O&M kool-aid you may be.

As Notre Dame courts a 9% aggregate shooting advantage overall, a 8% 3-point shooting edge to go with 5% from the charity-stripe and a +10 rebounding margin check-mark since both teams entered A.c.c. play. That’s not good sports fans and rain still=wet.

However, I just do not see this Notre Dame team as being unbeatable as I have in years past.

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide posits a 28 Irish car bomb shellacking and aye, that seems vastly outta favor to me. Nevertheless, try as I might, I just could not find a credible winning peg upon which to rest my Hokie hat in this one.

And yet, there is nothing all that awesome sauce and a snap about this 2015-2016 Notre Dame men’s hoops team either.

***

Or in other words, although I really do not know how; I’ma gonna pick Tech in the upset in this one and leave the rest up to coach Buzz, and our newfangled Hokie hooping swag’.

Here’s hopping that I’m right…

(39% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech
=77, Notre Dame=75

LETS GO!

Hokies!

 bourbonstreet**

baby its cold outside