‘Have to have some hope’: How Notre Dame basketball is confronting its disappointing reality

Even Mike Brey, the ever-upbeat leader who has orchestrated his share of in-season turnarounds, can see Notre Dame men’s basketball is quickly taking on water. And he’s not sure he has enough plugs for all the holes.

Notre Dame stepped into 2023 with a stumped head coach, a scuffling roster and more questions than can fit in the cargo hold of the team plane to Boston College and North Carolina this week. The Irish are 8-6 overall and 0-3 in the ACC heading into that two-game road swing, which begins Tuesday vs. the Eagles (7 p.m. ET, ACCN). They own zero victories over teams ranked in the NET top 65. Four losses to teams ranked 120th or worse are blotches on the résumé.

“We’re in the hole now,” Brey told reporters Dec. 30.

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A chance to add a top-35 NET win came that day when Miami rolled into Purcell Pavilion. The Irish displayed some urgency and held a one-point halftime lead. Then two familiar bugaboos arose: A defense that struggles to guard the dribble and an increasingly turnover-prone offense. They walked off their home floor with a 76-65 loss added to their ledger and a prime opportunity gone.

It all has combined to sink Notre Dame to 173rd in the NET.

“We’re digging, man. We’re digging out of it,” Brey said. “But fellas, we turn that ball over [17] times, you’re going to be free for spring break. You’re going to be able to go to Florida.”

And not to Orlando, one of eight first- and second-round sites this year.

Notre Dame, with its rotation that is older than a few of the starting lineups employed by an NBA team this year, set its sights beyond the first weekend after tasting a March run last season. The Irish are running short on time to pull the wheel around and even shorter on answers.

“They’re disappointed,” Brey said. “I’m disappointed, and responsible. I don’t know if I’m helping them enough. That part of it is real. We accept it.

“But we have to have some hope too. Let’s go see if we can win one. I’ve been in some weird situations coming out of a hole where all of a sudden, you win a game and feel something. But we’re searching for it now. Flat-out searching for it.”

Perhaps Notre Dame has a fix for helping its guards stay in front of ball handlers or a way to provide more resistance in the post. Maybe there’s a fix for an offense that has coughed up the ball at least 15 times in two of its last three losses. But defensive issues and stilted stretches on offense aren’t exactly new problems. They’ve been around all year. If they haven’t been fixed in 14 games, how likely is it Notre Dame can create an antidote now?

Brey isn’t throwing his hands up in defeat. But he’s down to what ought to be the last motivational ploy he wants to use: selling hope.

Showing his team examples of turnarounds requires them to be, well, in a slump. He’s right that this group pulled it together before. The core of this year’s roster started 2-6 in ACC play three years ago. So did Virginia Tech, last year’s ACC tournament winner.

The margin for error is thin, though. The 2019-20 Irish weren’t bound for the tournament before it was canceled. Virginia Tech likely would not have earned an at-large bid if it lost in the ACC tournament.

“It’s not like these guys haven’t been in the hole,” Brey said. “They were 2-6 as sophomores and finished 10-10. You have to give them some hope. But we’re struggling, confidence-wise, no question about it.”

Notre Dame has also been here before with its on-court issues, though. Shouldn’t it be better-equipped to handle tight on-ball defense and pressure? Last year’s team found a way to generate enough stops with personnel that wasn’t conducive to an elite defense, part of which can be attributed to a 2-3 matchup zone. Yes, on-ball stalwart Blake Wesley is gone, regression to a No. 205 ranking in KenPom’s defensive efficiency is beyond the worst case anyone envisioned.

Forget ball security or defensive problems for a moment, though. Shouldn’t a team with five fifth-year players in its seven-man rotation be beyond bouts with a lack of confidence?

“Yes,” Brey said. “We’re very disappointed we haven’t been more consistent.”

And because of it, he wants Notre Dame to play its last 17 games as if it has nothing to lose. Because it doesn’t – unless that’s a spring break trip to Florida.

“We have to play like that, not ‘Oh my god, we have 17 games left,’” Brey said. “That’s when we get uptight. We have serious kids who hate to fail. They get uptight. I’m trying to balance between loosen them up and hold them accountable. I have not walked that line very good to date.”