ND basketball forecast--2015-16?

[BGI User 348]

I admit I am not an avid follower of MBB. I see that the entire roster played this season but at tourney time only 7 played. Can someone give a quick snapshot of the ND roster & recruits looking ahead to next season? Jackson, Auguste, Vasturia, & Colson look like a good nucleus. Any more "assassins" on the roster?

Congrats to all & GO IRISH!!!

 

[KJ23]

Reality will set in next year. Losing pat and Grant will be tough. I'm thinking a top 5 finish in the acc will be a good season. This was a special group that we may not see again for quite awhile.

 

[Grotto_22]

D. Jackson
Vasturia
Auguste
Colson
Beachem

Those 5 will be solid. You cant replace Connoghton and Grant. Beachem really needs to take that next step. Tons of potential, but plays soft.

Hopefully Torres can make that leap that Auguste made.

I am expecting big things from Ryan and the 6-4 SG out of California that is a 4 star.

 

[BGI User 348]

Grotto......does that mean no real contributors sitting on the bench???

 

[WhySeperateKnob]

348 is looking for that Cousy-like guard with a solid two-handed set shot..........

 

[coolirish9]

we got maybe the biggest steal in recruiting coming in next fall which will help. can't remember the kids name but he got hurt during his junior year I believe and had to miss doing the summer aau thing. have read that if healthy at the time and doing the aau thing that just about every major power would have offered kid

 

[uncleboiler]

Originally posted by coolirish9:

we got maybe the biggest steal in recruiting coming in next fall which will help. can't remember the kids name but he got hurt during his junior year I believe and had to miss doing the summer aau thing. have read that if healthy at the time and doing the aau thing that just about every major power would have offered kid

Matt Ryan

 

[stu4don]

We need to put Bonzie on a rack and get him to 7 feet!

Man, our kids played with real heart last night. It will be hard to replace Connaughton's rebounding ability but Brey is a damn good coach. And I think we will be very competitive with Vesturia and Jackson -- both of whom stepped up in very big ways this year! And Zach became a force during the tourney.

We need to develop another big body underneath, that was clear last night!

 

[jr97]

It will be strange to not see Pat out there. It seems like he had been there forever. Grant was the AA but Pat was the MVP of this team. At 6-4 he guarded guys 6-8 or bigger and was a monster on the boards. IMO Bonzie will become the vocal leader and play the 4 spot that pat did but Pat is a quicker rebounder and defender . Bonzie has game though just needs to get better and he will . I like the inside game with Zack and Bonzie. Replacing Grant is really tough because it puts Vasturia in the 2- guard position. Not sure if that is a good spot for him but unless Phugler from Cali comes in and starts then Stevei V goes to the 2 guard and VJ the 3 . DJ and Stevie V are a really good backcourt . The 2 players I am curious to see are Geban and Torres . Their improvement on the frontline are very important . To have 2 guys come off the bench that are 6-10 and 6-7 is important . Zach could not defend because of foul trouble last night. Those 2 guys have 10 fouls to give between them and should use that next year. From what I hear Ryan and Phugler are bigtime sharp shooters. THis will be a better 3 point shooting team next year then this year . But that does not mean they will be a better team tough. hats off to the Pat and Jerian . 2 great leaders and players.

 

[Buguit]

Originally posted by BGI User 348:


Grotto......does that mean no real contributors sitting on the bench???

If history is a strong indicator there will almost surely be a player next year who we did not see anything from who shows he can flat out play

Brey has buried talent on the bench every single year he has been here .... it is part of his formula for the coaching awards he has won (albeit in absentia)

The preseason rankings rate ND very low because their best players graduate and they have seen nobody else play .... then magically someone who has had zero playing time gets playing time and is awesome .... then they are suddenly overachievers and win more games than expected

If this doesn't happen next year it will be a first .... I'm hedging my bets on Torres and Beachum being solid contributors

 

[hoopsstar12]

Why can't we get a 5th year transfer from another school like Kelly does? we need an experienced impact player to add depth.

 

[justacollegefan]

Originally posted by BGI User 348:

I admit I am not an avid follower of MBB. I see that the entire roster played this season but at tourney time only 7 played. Can someone give a quick snapshot of the ND roster & recruits looking ahead to next season? Jackson, Auguste, Vasturia, & Colson look like a good nucleus. Any more "assassins" on the roster?

Congrats to all & GO IRISH!!!

I am the same... have followed ND sports all my life, mainly football of course, but never went out of my way to watch the mens basketball team. I did some research, posted it in a separate thread, about how average our recruiting is with regards to this team. In the past 6 seasons we had 1 top 20 class, ranked 17th in 2013. Next years class is the next highest ranked around 35th but does have some decent players so that is good. However other than that our only other class ranked in the top 40 was the one with Grant in 2011.

It has always left me perplexed as to why ND couldn't recruit like other bigger programs, I mean even getting close would be nice. Our biggest recruit in a long time was Jackson in 2013 and he was ranked 37th on Rivals. This compared to teams like Kentucky or Duke which get 2 or 3 top 10 players every season. So the following are the main reasons I came up with about our recruiting issues.

1... Always academics! There are definitely schools around like Stanford which get decent recruits and I would have mentioned North Carolina but considering they have classes made up for their kids to pass is a freaking joke. Anyway I am sure there are other higher academic schools getting good players but not a lot when you look at the top 150 recruits listed on Rivals. I mean I checked 2016 for example and I kid you not, Ohio st. has given out letters to 3/4 of the top 60 players... I don't even know how this is possible?
2... Tradition is not big at ND for basketball except now on the ladies side and that is still dominated by Uconn each year, which is why they continue to win national titles. Really the parody in women's college basketball is terrible, almost sad to be honest. You have Uconn getting the best players... then the Irish coming in a little behind... then the rest of decent teams like Stanford, Baylor, etc..
3... 1 year players want to play at the biggest basketball schools before hitting the NBA
4... ND isn't cheating

The one thing I will say about college basketball though is that all any school needs is that 1 big time stud, surrounded by some decent athletes, and you can go far. It is similar in football with teams getting that special QB with average recruiting classes, like Oregon and TCU as examples... but with basketball on a different level since you only have 5 players on the court which makes the one player able to win games by himself.

 

[Yooper Irishfan]

I'm pretty confident we'll be a tourney team but we won't match this year's team. You really couldn't hand pick better players for Brey's system than this past year. Pat was the matchup nightmare for everybody, because he was a power forward that could shoot the 3. Grant was the best slasher and distributor.

Beachem's improvement will be the key, and the difference between an above average team and a very good team. I do not think we will be great like we were this year though.

 

[ArmyWildcat81]

NIT

 

[IrishHerb]

Originally posted by Yooper Irishfan:
I'm pretty confident we'll be a tourney team but we won't match this year's team. You really couldn't hand pick better players for Brey's system than this past year. Pat was the matchup nightmare for everybody, because he was a power forward that could shoot the 3. Grant was the best slasher and distributor.

Beachem's improvement will be the key, and the difference between an above average team and a very good team. I do not think we will be great like we were this year though.

I sort of agree.

In basketball chemistry is important. Grant and Connaughton apparently bought into the "share the ball" philosophy and were the vocal leaders that got the whole team to play that way. Which was good for the team due to their physical limitations.

With them gone next year, I have no idea how the team will play. Assuming Bonzie and VJ take over the vacated positions, we should still be good, but probably won't match this year's team unless someone else rises off the bench or some newcomers really shine.

 

[jacksondomer]

Herb....From all accounts Connaughton was also a "rip your heart out on the floor" kinda player. That element will be hard to replace in the program. Coaches live for guys like that in practice and on the floor. I think Pat C. got Auguste to step up his game as much as anyone. I have a feeling that Vasturia has some of that same quality in him.