Mike Brey Notebook: Nov. 5
Mike Brey and Notre Dame will enter some unfamiliar territory in the 2018-2019 season with six new faces on the roster.
In reality, junior guard TJ Gibbs and senior guard Rex Pflueger are the lone players with more than one season of significant experience under their belt.
Junior forward John Mooney played sparingly as a freshman before becoming more a factor last season. Senior forward Elijah Burns saw action in just 11 games (4.0 minutes on average) in his sophomore year, which followed a redshirt season, before averaging 10 minutes played in almost 30 games in 2017-2018. Junior wing Nik Djogo redshirted as a freshman before seeing action 32 games (15.7 MPG) last year while sophomore wing DJ Harvey enters year two.
After that group, Brey and company will rely on five freshmen and junior transfer Juwan Durham, who did not play a ton of minutes in his one year at Connecticut before moving on.
The inexperience is why Brey isn’t sure who will make up the starting rotation on Tuesday night in the season opener outside of Gibbs, Pflueger and Harvey.
“You have two locks in our old guards, and then it has been a revolving door,” Brey said Monday afternoon. “We have played five games if you add the Bahamas, exhibition and the scrimmage. That’s 10 halves, and we’ve started 10 different lineups … That may be who we are. If some group grabs it, great. I don’t feel we have to…It could be night to night.
“We’re trying to figure out who will finish for us. With this group, how you play in the first 36 minutes will determine if you’re one of the five finishers. That’s really where we are. It’s exciting, anxious and everything for our group tomorrow night.”
There is a possibility that one of the freshmen group — guards Prentiss Hubb, Robby Carmody and Dane Goodwin and forwards Nate Laszewski and Chris Doherty — could earn a start with the first four being much more likely.
“If we start a freshman, it would be the first freshman that would start the first game since Torin Francis,” Brey noted. “I guess that’s the old ‘get old, stay old’ philosophy to a tee. It also probably keeps me in a job that we haven’t had too many first game freshmen.”
Notre Dame is coming off a 76-54 exhibition win over Central State last Thursday.
“We’re still trying to get new guys comfortable and confident,” Brey said of the emphasis in practice following the exhibition. “I thought we settled for some jump shots early. Can we drive it a little bit more if we have areas to drive? Still defensive communication - anytime you’re working new faces in, young guys tend not to talk enough. Old guys in the program are better talkers. Just emphasizing some of these new faces being better communicators.”
UIC & OFFENSIVE GAME PLAN
Blue & Gold Illustrated will have a deeper look into UIC tomorrow, but Brey touched on the strengths of the group before the matchup.
UIC finished 20-16 a year ago advancing to the finals of the CIT. Steve McClain’s group returns four of their top six scorers including three on the perimeter in Marcus Ottey (13.8 PPG), Tarkus Ferguson (10.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.0 APG) and Godwin Boahen (8.9 PPG).
“It’s a great challenge right out of the gate,” Brey explained. “They have old guards, and they won 20 games. We have a heck of a challenge. We need our fans and our students. This group needs help, especially to get started here against some of these teams.”
Even with the chance of using multiple lineups and changing up the rotation at different points, Brey knows where he wants the ball to be to open games.
“I think we try and do more with TJ Gibbs,” Brey stated. “We want the ball in his hands to start games. That’s one conclusion we’ve come to. He has to have it in his hands. When he wants to get off the ball, he can give it to a Rex , Prentiss or a Dane. He has a confidence coming up the floor and talking about our stuff.
“DJ Harvey is a weapon for us. We’re kind of an open motion group where we share it and move it. As we figure out more strengths of guys and of new guys, this is a good set for us to take advantage of a DJ Harvey, a Prentiss Hubb, a Laszewski sharing the floor or a Carmody drive. That’s something we have to figure out the first six weeks.”
BREY HOPING 'LIGHT BULBS' GO OFF EARLY FOR FRESHMEN
It is no secret that the Irish will need some help from its talented 2018 freshman class. Whether it is Hubb at the point guard spot, Carmody or Goodwin on the wing or Laszewski or Doherty in the front court, Notre Dame’s ultimate success could be heightened by how well the group acclimates to the college game in year one.
Brey is looking forward to the challenge of working with a younger team overall and watching the freshmen develop. He is hoping it is sooner than later.
“You’re trying to see of the new faces who can emerge,” Brey said of the early season. “I thought Dane Goodwin had a great presence with Robby during the game the other night. Can someone really blossom? Can Nate Laszewski take another step forward? That’s the neat thing about having a young group. They’re talented, and they want to be good. When will the lightbulbs go on for one or two?
“They don’t have to wait for me. If your lightbulbs want to go on tomorrow night, let’s go. We also know there is some patience involved with this group.”
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook.