Conversation with Mike Brey

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to chat with Notre Dame's head basketball coach Mike Brey.

Notre Dame loses quite a bit from last season. Gone are Kyle McAlarney and Ryan Ayers, two of the most dangerous three point threats in the Big East last year. Gone are forwards Luke Zeller and Zach Hillesland.

But that doesn't mean the Irish will be devoid of talent.

Mike Brey is in his tenth season at the helm of the Irish.
(photo credit: daylife)

Notre Dame caught a break when all-american forward and former Big East player of the year (and BIAH's preseason player of the year) Luke Harangody withdrew from the draft. The Irish also return the underrated Tory Jackson at point. Jackson is one of the best creators in the country, a pesky defender, and a tough kid that isn't afraid to stick his nose in the paint to get a rebound. The knock on Jackson as a freshman was his inability to knock down shots from the perimeter, but he has shown a marked improvement in his time in South Bend as he shot 36% from deep as a junior.

Notre Dame is going to be a different team than last season's squad. Where the '08-'09 version relied on a high-powered offense, consisting of Harangody and a number of quality three-point shooters, to win games, this year the team is going to be much tougher, especially on the defensive end.

Ayers and McAlarney, while excellent scorers capable of going for 25 on a given night, were not known for their defensive prowess. In their absence, Notre Dame will look to senior Jonathon Peoples and Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough.

Playing behind a talented string of two-guards, Peoples has never really had the opportunity to show what he can do on the court. But he is an athletic guard that should give some of the Big East's best wings fits.

Hansbrough is cut from the same cloth as his brother - a tough kid and a smart player. Not only is he unafraid to get on and defend, but he should be able to supply the Irish with the some of the scoring and shooting that they are losing with McAlarney and Ayers graduating (he averaged 10.5 ppg and shot 36% from deep as a sophomore for the Bulldogs).

There were two players that Brey specifically mentioned being excited about. The first is Purdue transfer Scott Martin.

"He may be the most talented player we've had since Troy Murphy," Brey said.

Brey is expecting big things from Purdue transfer Scott Martin.
(photo credit: Flickr)

Martin is a 6'8" forward that can do it all. He can shoot the ball as well as put it on the floor, but also has shown flashes of being able to score in the paint against smaller defenders. The knock on Martin was that he was too thin, which was a fair assessment as the lefty came to Notre Dame checking in a 204 lb. But according to Brey, Martin put on 16 pounds of muscle as he sat out last season. That added strength will help him this season as the Irish will need his help on the interior.

Brey is also excited to see how redshirt sophomore Tim Abromaitis develops. Abromaitis came to Notre Dame in 2007 as a 17 year old still growning into his 6'8" frame. He sat out last season as a redshirt (Abromaitis signed with Notre Dame late in the recruiting process, and came with the intention of going to school for five years and earning a master's - isn't it great when you hear about true student-athletes?), which allowed him to improve his footspeed and get stronger.

Abromaitis is another kid with a good all-around game - he can score in the post and on the perimeter, and Brey said that he has developed into a "great athlete".

Also returning is junior Tyrone Nash, a gritty and athletic power forward.

"We'll have seven guys with more than two years of college basketball experience," Brey said.

Last year's Big East was, top to bottom, as talented as any in recent memory. As many as nine schools were ranked at one time, and five made it as far as the Sweet 16 (UConn and Villanova reached the Final Four).

With much of the individual talent moving on to the NBA, an experienced Notre Dame group should be in the mix atop the conference come March.

The biggest issue the Irish are going to face is on the interior. Guys like Harangody and Martin are talented, especially on the offensive end, but the entire Notre Dame front line is a bit undersized. Are they going to be able to hold their own against teams like Louisville (Samardo Samuels, Terrence Jennings, and Raheem Buckles) or Syracuse (Arinze Onuaku, Rick Jackson, and Dashonte Riley) with big front lines?