MEN'S BASKETBALL: Slumping Irish face tough Pirate backcourt
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Associate Sports Editor
Don't think. Just play.
That's the mantra Notre Dame basketball players keep repeating as they prepare for Saturday afternoon's game against Seton Hall.
"We've tried everything in the book, different tactics, strategies, this and that," guard Matt Carroll said. "You almost get caught up in thinking about it too much. Maybe there's not really an answer, it's just a matter of pulling guys together and saying, `Amen.'"
But the Irish, who are 12-6 overall and 2-3 in the Big East, are having a tough time figuring out how to break out of a slump in which they lost their last three games and five of their last eight. Although they just wrapped up a difficult stretch in the schedule that included games against Top 25 foes Pittsburgh, Kentucky and Syracuse as well as tough games against Villanova and Georgetown, the recent struggles are causing head coach Mike Brey to consider making changes to the starting lineup.
"Anything's open to evaluation over these next two days of practice," he said. "When you haven't played as well and you've had disappointing losses, anything's open."
If Brey decides to make a change for Saturday, he might replace David Graves with Torrian Jones. Graves has shot just 27 percent overall in his last five games and only scored five points in Monday night's loss against Georgetown.
"My confidence just isn't there," Graves said. "I'm questioning what I'm doing, I'm waltzing on defense É I just have to come out and play, and play like I know how to play."
After Monday's loss, both Brey and Graves criticized the senior forward's defensive effort. That's why Jones, who has never started but is one of Notre Dame's top perimeter defenders, would be a logical choice if Brey decides to make a change. Jones could provide a strong defensive spark to keep the Irish in the game early. That's a problem that that has plagued the Irish this year. In their 18 games, the Irish have trailed at the half nine times by an average of 8.4 points. They've only come back to win three times.
"We always seem to get down early because we tend to feel teams out early and don't attack them the way they attack us," he said. "It's not so much as changing the lineup as it is getting a different mindset going into the games."
"He's done a great job off the bench," Brey said. "Whatever we ask him to do, play more minutes, play less minutes, start, he always gives us energy and does whatever we ask."
While Graves admits he's been struggling, he thinks he shouldn't be pulled out of the starting lineup. Last year, after the Irish lost their third game in four tries to Kentucky, Brey benched Graves and started Harold Swanagan to give the Irish a different look. Then, Graves said he was hurting the team and he shouldn't be playing. But he knows that's not the case this time around.
"Regardless of how I've played in the last five games, you have to look at the whole picture," said Graves, who is averaging 14.2 points per game. "I don't think I have anything to prove to anybody. It's not how hard you fall, it's how high you bounce."
Regardless of who starts Saturday, the Irish will face a talented Seton Hall backcourt. If the Pirates, who are 10-8 overall and 3-3 in the Big East, hurt an opponent, they tend to do it with their perimeter players. Guards Andrew Barrett and Daruis Lane enter Saturday's contest averaging 17.2 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. Forward Jon Allen is third on the team in scoring and also averages 5.2 rebounds per game.
While the Irish aren't approaching Saturday's game panicked, several players said they feel a sense of urgency to find the style of play that allowed them to cruise to easy victories earlier in the season. And the only way they know how to do that is to simply go out and play.
"You can practice hard and say the right things and do all the things you need to do," Jones said, "but when the lights come on and the fans are out there, that's when it really counts."
Notes:
u Brey said Swanagan's status for Saturday's game is still questionable.
"He's better, but I think we'll make a decision tomorrow," the coach said. "I think we're still sticking with our philosophy of we want him closer to 100 percent."
If Swanagan's ankle injury keeps him from playing, Jordan Cornette appears to have an edge over Jere Macura to replace Swanagan in the starting lineup.
"We'll evaluate [who starts] over practice, but I'm very happy with Jordan Cornette," Brey said. "You feel pretty consistent about going back that way."
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 25, 2002
