I thought Brey did a couple of smart things. First he was early deliberately getting and keeping his team old. And I think he did some good things with offensive schemes. But he didn't develop leaders, he was lucky or unlucky. But probably his biggest weakness he thought was his strength: He waited for players to tell/show him what their strengths and weaknesses were and how they could play. There is SOME wisdom in that, BUT . . .
Basketball requires strength and endurance and toughness. Those can and must be developed in the strength and conditioning program. IMO, NDBB needs its own strength and conditioning coordinator. If they have one, they need a new one.
Most obviously, basketball is a skill game, a big, complex skill game. Complex does not mean that it is intellectually difficult. It means that it has a lot of parts. Not just passing, but all kinds of passing in all kinds of situations. Not just dribbling, but all kinds of dribbling in all kinds of situations. Not just shooting, but all kinds of shooting: Catch and shoot, catch step and shoot, catch step step back and shoot, catch drive stop and shoot, catch drive take it to the hoop and shoot from different relationships to the defender(s) and the hoop.
Players can work on all of these skills alone or with just one other player. They need to play five on five to perfect them, and that is the really fun practice that they can find almost anywhere. The more they have worked at what is hard, the better they will play when it is fun.
What's cool about basketball is that no sport is easier and more fun to practice. But that is also the problem for players and coaches. Basketball is fun to play and too many players spend too much time playing during the off season. Players must make hard decisions to get better. They must work on their whole game, all facets of passing, all facets of dribbling, and all facets of shooting. This used to be true for 1s, 2s, and 3s. Then Bird and others made it true for 4s. Jokic is demonstrating the value of a 5 who can do it all.
This is the greatest challenge and opportunity Micah Shrewsberry has at ND. Can he develop a culture in which all of his players work hard all year at everything they need to do to be great, complete basketball players: tough, fit, and skilled in all facets of the game?
If he can and does, ND will be great, recruit great players and will win huge. It's simple but not easy.
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