Notre Dame Prepares to Play No. 6 Georgetown

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team has a huge task set before them. They must travel to Georgetown to face off against the No. 6-ranked Hoyas, a team that was in the Final Four last year, a team that many feel will be there again. The game is going to be played on the road in hostile territory, and since Georgetown is a Big East team, the stakes are even higher. If Notre Dame can come away with a win, they’ll again capture the attention of the national pollsters. If they lose like they did against Marquette, getting a national ranking will take that much more work.

Georgetown is coming off of a loss to No. 16 Pittsburgh on Monday, so you know that the Hoyas will be anxious to get back on track. If you check out the mini summary that the ESPN Hoyas team page has, you can get an idea of what the Irish will be up against. Notre Dame is scoring with more ease, but the Hoyas have been playing better defense, averaging only 56.7 points per game compared to ND’s 63.9. While Roy Hibbert, the 7-foot-plus star center for Georgetown, gets much of the media attention because he will end up in the NBA next year, there are many players on the team who can score, including several players off the bench.

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Permalink - Posted in General on January 17, 2008 - Post a comment

Irish Keep Streak Alive at Home

The Notre Dame Blog was wrong yesterday. We should never have questioned the strength of the Irish playing at the Joyce Center. Instead of winning by single digits, the Irish men’s basketball team beat up on Cincinnati 91-74. Notre Dame blew past the Bearcats by scoring 64 points in the second half- 25 of which were Luke Harangody’s. It seems that there was no lag in effort from this team as they rebounded nicely after their last loss to Marquette.

The Irish are now 13-3 overall and have added another important conference win. Cincinnati falls to 8-9. This is a good win for Notre Dame because it proves that they have a mental toughness that they will need in their harder games down the stretch. Cincy was staying with Notre Dame until about seven minutes to go, when the Irish clamped down on the defensive end to put the game out of reach.

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Permalink - Posted in General on January 16, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Set to Play Cincy Tonight

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team is set to host the Cincinnati Bearcats at home in the Joyce Center tonight. The Big East matchup comes on the heels of a Notre Dame blowup versus Marquette. However, the Irish are playing at home in this game, and they bring a 30-game home win streak into the contest. Cincinnati is a good club with a lot of history, but the Irish should do well with their excitable home crowd behind them.

As usual, the Notre Dame official website has the game analyzed down to the fifth decimal. You should heck out all of the information that they have about the past games between these two teams, the numbers trends and the rest of the hype before you go to the JC to see it. The Notre Dame blog is going to pick the Irish to win this one by four points. It will be close, but playing at home and wanting to rebound from the Marquette loss will have the players hungry for a win.

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Permalink - Posted in General on January 15, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Falls to Marquette on the Road

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have suffered one of their most crushing defeats this year, losing to Marquette on the road this past Saturday. You’ve got to give Marquette credit where it’s due. They played an awesome game, they are a ranked team and probably deservedly so. They pounced on the Irish early and never let up, controlling the game for a relatively easy 92-66 win. Luke Harangody led all scorers and tied his own personal best with 29 points on the game, but the rest of the Irish couldn’t muster the firepower to keep with Marquette on a night that they shot .466 for field goals and made 12 three pointers.

The most disappointing thing was the way that Notre Dame lost. Losing to a team like Marquette isn’t the end of the world, especially at this point in the season, but to get blown out is another thing altogether. The Irish were just this close to getting a national ranking. They needed to either win or play well, and unfortunately neither happened. There’s a chance to rebound from the loss tomorrow night, but we’ll get more into that in tomorrow’s blog.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 14, 2008 - Post a comment

Fighting Irish Baskeball Team Set to Play in Ireland

If you haven’t already heard, there ’s some exciting news about the Notre Dame basketball team. They will be traveling to Ireland to play in a new event this August. The first ever Emerald Hoops Program is intended to help develop a relationship between American and Irish college basketball programs. In addition to playing teams from Ireland and Poland, the Fighting Irish players and coaches will take part in clinics and various other camps.

This sounds like a great bit of fun for all involved. Traveling to another country is important for young people to do, so the players should be excited for the opportunity. Bloggers like myself can cherish the fact that in a few months we’ll be getting to make constant reference to the fact that the team called the Irish is actually playing in Ireland, against Irish teams. I think the irony is already boring, so maybe it’s not much to look forward to. You can, however, look forward to the Domers’ game versus Marquette, coming up really soon.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 11, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Ready to Play, Ready to Study

As you well know, the Notre Dame basketball team has a big test coming up against the No. 15 Marquette Golden Eagles this Saturday. Marquette comes into the game with the same record as the Irish, 12-2, however, they’ll also have a sweet number before their name on the scoreboard when you watch the game on TV. All signs point to a great, hard-fought game. You can check out a myriad of stats and pre-game analysis at the Official Notre Dame Athletics website.

Another thing to note (that’s also mentioned in the pre-game article) is that this Irish team is doing very well, academically. As the commercials tell you, the vast majority of NCAA athletes will be going professional in something other than sports when they graduate, and these athletes will have a real leg up on the competition. You can see the GPA of several of the players, but the big thing is that the average score of the men’s basketball team is above 3.0. Congratulations on the hard work and great studying, guys!

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 10, 2008 - Post a comment

Get to Know Irish Guard Kyle McAlarney

Are you interested in getting to know the back story of the Notre Dame basketball players? Well, you could get a really good look at the past of guard Kyle McAlarney when you take a look at an article written about him by Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune. It’s a long read, but well worth it. The gist of the story, if you aren’t already aware, is that Kyle was a great player on the Notre Dame team before he was kicked out of the school for disciplinary reasons. As you are surely aware, he’s back on the team. The road to redemption was filled with difficulty, and it appears that he’s come out of the whole thing with a great appreciation for his second chance. It’s a must-read if you’re a Domer Basketball fan.

In other news relating to the Big East, West Virginia just beat Marquette in a conference game. This is good for Notre Dame, because they have already beaten West Virginia. By the transitive property of equality (you’ll have to check that because the last math class this blogger took was about a century ago) Notre Dame should be able to beat Marquette. The Irish are set to play Marquette later in the week.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 9, 2008 - Post a comment

Basketball Hype and Football All-Stars

The second day of the work week is going to net you loyal readers two good finds from CBSsportsline.com. The guys at CBS have been pretty good at supplying the Notre Dame Blog with some fodder for the news and rumor mill, and today is no exception. If you look at the NCAA basketball front-page, you’ll notice that CBS has a highlight video that features the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. You can check it out at their video page. It’s titled “In The Paint 1/7.” The video says some good things about the Domers that you probably already know: great frontcourt players, winning streak at home, on fire right now, you know the drill.

The second find at CBS comes from the Notre Dame football page. As with numerous fan pages, this one has user comments and a discussion board. On the board today (though updated a few days ago) is a nice review of all of the Notre Dame football recruits that are playing in the High School All Star Game. The Irish have plenty of players in the game, as their recruiting class his year is one of the deepest, if not THE deepest in the nation.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 8, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Basketball Climbing into the National Spotlight!

We knew Notre Dame was good this year, but now we’re getting even more proof. The Irish just beat two conference teams, West Virginia and Connecticut, moving their chances of getting into the AP and Coaches Poll up dramatically. In fact, this week Notre Dame received 74 votes in the AP Top 25 Poll, just 11 short of making the No. 25 spot. While the AP and Coaches can be guided by perception, there are all sorts of numbers-based rankings that have the Irish high on the national scene. Right now Notre Dame is on top of the standings in the Big East, with a great early record of 12-2.

The biggest test of the year will come on Saturday when the Irish are set to play the No. 16-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles. One has to wonder. If the Irish can beat Marquette, what is there keeping them from getting a spot in the AP Poll? Already Notre Dame is just a two spots away. Root for the Irish this Saturday, and we may get a number by our name just yet!

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 7, 2008 - Post a comment

Ranking Notre Dame Basketball

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team is having a great year so far. With their most recent win, a 69-52 solid W over West Virginia, the Irish have moved to 11-2 overall, 1-0 in the Big East, and the number two spot in the conference standings. It would be fair to assume that they will get some sort of mention in the next AP or Coaches Poll, either a spot in the top 25 or a few votes at least. As yet, however, the Irish are unranked nationally. But that won’t stop us here at the Notre Dame Blog from trying to determine their position in our own poll. Well, actually, we’re going to use Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings to set Notre Dame as the actual No. 17 team in the country. Check it out. According to Pomeroy, the real poll should look like this:

NCAA BASKETBALL PYTHAGOREAN WINNING PERCENTAGE RANKINGS

1. Kansas
2. Duke
3. Marquette
4. Wisconsin
5. Memphis
6. North Carolina
7. Xavier
8. West Virginia
9. UCLA
10. Texas A&M
11. Georgetown
12. Washington State
13. Michigan State
14. Clemson
15. Indiana
16. Arizona
17. Notre Dame
18. Oklahoma
19. Tennessee
20. Texas
21. Drake
22. Stanford
23. Pittsburgh
24. Gonzaga
25. Mew Mexico

Of course, this list is only accurate through yesterday, so it doesn’t count the fact that Notre Dame just thoroughly beat the (hypothetical) No. 8 team, West Virginia. Just imagine what the Monday rankings here will look like.

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Permalink - Posted in General on January 4, 2008 - Post a comment


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