What Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry said before Miami game

Notre Dame head men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry spoke to reporters Tuesday as the Irish get set to take on Miami. Here’s what he had to say.

On how Notre Dame is better since the last time it played Miami

“A lot of ways. You go back and watch us, right, I focus on a lot defensively and how we’re doing and how we’re playing. We look unrecognizable. We were all over the place. Just simple things, simple coverages. We’re going underneath flare screens and they’re stopping behind, making threes. We’re going under ball screens, they stop and they make a three. They’re getting into the dribble weave, we got two guys running with somebody without the ball and nobody’s guarding the ball.

“We were a disaster, so I hope we’ve improved in that area. That’s kind of the biggest thing. You can see where we’ve grown, especially on the defensive end, being able to handle things on the fly. We can kind of talk through things a little bit better.”

On what he’s seen Notre Dame do better aside from defense

“Everything’s been a little different, like with who we’re playing and the game plans, but if you go back and look at the teams that guard similar to Miami, I think we’ve had some success against those teams. I thought we did good things against them in the first game, but we didn’t make shots from three. We were like 6 for 32 from three. And then we didn’t score the ball at the rim. We got to the rim a lot, too, and we didn’t score from there. That’s where it’s really gotta improve for us, like we’ve gotten better at getting to the rim but we’ve got to the free-throw line a lot more.

“We got to the rim a lot and didn’t shoot very many free throws the first time against them. That’s something we’ve learned from, we’ve gotten better, now we’ve gotta capitalize. We got 15 offensive rebounds against them in Game 1 and we scored like 11 second-chance points. I think we’re getting better in that area as well. So, really capitalizing on the easy opportunities that we get.”

On managing the nine-day break

“I think No. 1, that time off gives you a chance to get some guys back healthy. At this point in time, everybody’s a little banged up in the season. They’ve got something going on. So we’ve had some days off where guys had been able to get healthy a little bit, or as close as they can get to healthy. So that was a good part of it, but then really focusing on the offensive side, really cleaning up some situational things that we haven’t been able to go through and do since fall practice. So really working on those things as well.

“And then yesterday started game prep again, so we ratchet up the intensity, like, here’s the level that we need to pay on the defensive end. I thought our guys really responded, really came out with great energy, really guarded at a high level, so that gives you a good sense that we could do those things without taking a step back.”

On how he keeps the staff encouraged after close losses

“I think there’s still a carrot out there for you. If you’re just coming in every single game, you’re getting your doors blown off, that gets discouraging. It gets discouraging because we wanna win, but we know that we’re close enough and if we keep doing the things that we’re doing, we have a chance to win. Now we gotta get better in certain areas so we can, but we’re starting to see it.

“We’re seeing the work that we put in as staff, as players, coming through the right way. And now it’s like, ‘Alright, one small tweak here or there, maybe these are the things that push us over the top.'”

On if he went out and recruited during Notre Dame’s de facto bye week

“Yeah. I was gone — shoot, just last week alone — Tuesday, Friday, Saturday. It gives you a chance to go and do that. I don’t get the opportunities during the season because you’re constantly in practice or going from game to game. I don’t get those opportunities, so when you have breaks like this, you gotta do it. You gotta get out and you gotta do it. I enjoy it. I love recruiting, so it’s not that big a deal to me, but getting a chance to get out, and like — everybody loves our assistant coaches.

“We got a great staff. But people really respond when the head coach walks in. That’s part of my job, those are things that I need to do and this break gave me an opportunity to really get out and see some kids.”