u Wednesday's win
By Tim Casey
Assistant Sports Editor
PISCATAWAY, N.J.
About three minutes before the beginning of the second half, as the Irish players emerged from their locker room, a trio of Rutgers students greeted New Jersey native Troy Murphy.
"Where's your Valentine, Troy?," the threesome screamed.
Murphy ignored the "insult" and an injured Ivan Kartelo glanced straight at the student section. Kartelo, dressed in a navy blue Notre Dame warm-up suit, a white T-shirt and low-top adidas sneakers, smirked, said nothing and casually strolled back to his permanent seat on the Irish bench.
Those two responses symbolized the growing maturity and increasing Confidence of the Big East West Division's leading team. In the past three months, Notre Dame has gone from a streaky squad to a consistent crew.
And last night, the Irish surge continued with a convincing win over Rutgers, their eighth straight victory.
On Tuesday, Murphy viewed the tape of last year's game at Rutgers. In that contest, he shot just 5-for-16 from the field and fouled out in 31 minutes of playing time. Murphy was also whistled for a technical after shoving Scarlet Knights' forward Rashod Kent.
"I watched it to see how far I've come," Murphy said. "I kind of watched the way I acted, my demeanor on the court, the way I let the fans get to me, the way I let get Rashod Kent's physical play get to me. We have a lot more at stake (this year) than having me try to look good in front of a bunch of people."
But the problems did not miraculously disappear when Matt Doherty bolted for North Carolina. As recently as the Kentucky game, the Irish were an inconsistent team with a 9-5 record, a squad on the verge of missing the NCAA's for the twelfth straight year.
Following the 82-71 loss to the Wildcats on Jan. 13, Harold Swanagan entered the locker room, flipped over a table and heaved a Gatorade bottle on the floor.
"Harold came in there and kind of questioned everybody and said we were a bunch of punks," Murphy said. "And we were."
Murphy had alluded to Irish problems after their loss to Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 9. He mentioned that the Irish did not deserve to be ranked in the top 10 and questioned whether the early season wins over Cincinnati and Vanderbilt gave his team a false sense of confidence.
"We didn't know how to handle all the attention," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "We got thrust into the Top 20 and I don't know how deserving we were of that. You look at all the other preseason Top 20's, they were regulars to the NCAA tournament. We were a little bit of imposters. It wasn't real. It was a circus."
The inconsistency plagued Notre Dame last February as well. The Irish recorded wins over conference heavyweights Connecticut and Seton Hall but also lost to Big East cellar dwellers Providence and Pittsburgh. Every victory seemed to shock the Irish and caused the them to overreact.
"We weren't a good team last year," Murphy said. "This year we're a real good team. It's nice to look in the newspaper and see Notre Dame in first place because I remember when we got our heads handed to us."
During the second month of 2001, the Irish have won all four games, including the last two in hostile road environments.
The talent has not changed but the attitude has.
That's not to say that students should book their tickets to the Sweet 16 or the Final Four. Several questions still remain. Last night, Murphy struggled, shot just 3-for-8 from the line and committed four turnovers. And even though Brey referred to Murphy as the definite choice for Big East Player of the Year
after the game, don't expect the Irish to beat a formidable conference opponent when their star puts up similar numbers.
The Irish frontcourt also had trouble stopping the Rutgers forwards and centers from getting good looks at the basket. Twelve of the Scarlet Knights' first 15 points were scored from within five feet of the basket. And Martin
Ingelsby still has difficulty in on-ball defense, guarding quick point guards.
But at least now, a Big East win does not cause the Irish players to celebrate like they just won the NCAA's.
"With each game we win, the bullseye gets bigger," Murphy said. "It's a blessing. But it's also a scare."
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 15, 2001
