Men's Basketball: Thomas, Irish will overcome recent struggles
By: ANDREW SOUKUP
Associate Sports Editor
The frustration on Chris Thomas' face revealed more about the young point guard than the black-and-white numbers on the stat sheet.
Midway through the second half, Notre Dame's prize freshman stood clutching the basketball behind the 3-point arc without a Kentucky defender in the same zip code. Although he had missed six shots from downtown already, Thomas didn't hesitate to pull the trigger again.
Clang. Miss No. 7.
Tipped around by several players, the ball flew through the air and returned to Thomas' hands. This time, he took a step to the left, hesitated for an instant and launched another 3-pointer.
Airball. Miss No. 8.
And as Thomas ran in the same direction his shots were going — away from the basket — his gaze fell to the floor, his head shook from side to side and he seemed to be looking for a hole to crawl into.
By the time the game was over, Thomas had missed three more triples, finishing 2-of-11 from behind the arc and 4-of-15 overall. He had open looks on the perimeter and humiliated defenders as he drove to the basket, but rarely finished what he started.
That pretty much sums up the way January has been going for the talented Notre Dame rookie.
"It's been tough since the Big East started," said Thomas. "My shots are going to fall. I've been through stuff like this before. Good shooters always go through streaks like this."
But it doesn't matter whether Thomas' shooting slumps last the length of a Bun Run or five games. When Thomas struggles, Notre Dame struggles.
In the 12 games before Big East play started, Thomas was nearly unstoppable, making half of his 3-point shots and 45 percent of all his field goals. During that period, when Thomas made defenses look uglier than Lou Holtz, the Irish went 10-2.
Since the Irish began Big East play on Jan. 6, they have gone 2-3. In those five games, Thomas has shot 27 percent from the field and 26 percent from 3-point range.
From the day Thomas recorded a triple-double, he has spent his college career living up to expectations placed on him by his coach, his teammates, his fans and himself. Maybe he didn't know that freshmen weren't supposed to handle the ball like a three-year veteran, that freshman weren't supposed to hit clutch shots at key points in the game. Or maybe he knew, and just didn't care.
When he started embarrassing opposing point guards with ankle-breaking crossovers, the freshman seemed to be playing like a junior. Now, with his recent struggles, the freshman is playing, well, like a freshman.
"You do [take him for granted] because he does himself like an older guy," Brey said. "Our expectations are high for him. His expectations, I think, are higher."
Thomas' greatest asset is his creativity. When Notre Dame falls behind, Thomas tends to bring the Irish back in the game himself. Usually, he damages opposing teams with his flashy moves and pinpoint shooting. But sometimes, like Saturday, that creativity can hurt the Irish.
He caused problems all afternoon for Kentucky's Cliff Hawkins by driving right past the Wildcat point guard at will. But when he released the ball, his shots bounced off the rim rather than floating through the net. So he resorted to outside shooting. And as everyone in the Joyce Center saw, that didn't work either.
"I just don't want him down," Brey said. "I'm not down on him. I love him. He's the greatest thing that happened around here in a long time. If he needs a massage, I'll give it to him."
Brey can't afford to take the ball out of Thomas' hands. He can't even afford to take him out of the game. When Thomas headed toward the bench with 2:37 left in the first half, the Irish trailed by one point. When he returned a minute later, the Wildcat lead had stretched to five points. Notre Dame would never get within one point again.
Thomas is the heart and soul of the Irish offense. When he's hitting jumpers, David Graves and Matt Carroll find themselves a lot more open. When he's driving through the lane, he can dish off to Ryan Humphrey for a rim-rocking dunk or kick it out for a 3-pointer.
Basically, when Thomas clicks, the Irish click.
"We still have to keep him in an attack frame of mind," Brey said. "There'll be times where we'll say, `Chris, make something happen.' Most of the time it's been good, sometimes he's thrown it away, but we're going to keep doing that."
A month and a half ago, when the Irish lost their first game of the season to Indiana, Thomas scored his 22nd, 23rd and 24th points on a shot taken five feet behind the 3-point line with two defenders hanging over him.
"You knew I was going to shoot that," the freshman smiled after the game. "And you knew it was going in, too."
Thomas needs to get that swagger back, and he will. He'll get it back by staying in the game and playing 40 minutes a night. Something from his game might be missing now, but he can't keep missing shots forever.
And when — not if — his shots stop rolling off the rim, then the Irish will — not might — roll right into the NCAA tournament.
Contact Andrew Soukup at asoukup@nd.eduj. The views of this column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 21, 2002
