Notre Dame vs Bama

[Mayor McCheese]

Notre Dame giving Alabama a run for their money, makes the Big East look good, and good for Marquette

[NYWarrior]

ND sure is much improved from last year....didn't expect it to be honest

[Wade for President]

Hard to believe that they lose their floor general in Quinn and the rebounding force in Francis...and are better.  Thanks going to be one tough game in South Bend for us...especially with payback on their mind.

[Big Papi]

They have reinvented their offense and now play a much more up tempo game.  Initially the loss to Butler was viewed as bad but it doesn't look so bad now.  If the Irish hold on against bama, I can see them ranked next week.

[spiral97]

ND beats #5 Alabama (and not by a small margin either - 99-85)!!!

disgusted that I am happy about this...

[HoopDreams]

Notre Dame still sucks..in every sense of the word.

[rocky_warrior]

Saw the end of that game. ND had them at 85-75, then let them back in it at 85-80.  My immediate thought was...oh boy, there goes ND with another close loss.  But, to my surprise they turned it back on and NEARLY (if they hadn't missed 2 FTs in the last seconds) hung 100 points on 'Bama.  Last year they still had a very good team, but just couldn't close.  If they continue to close like they did last night, they'll be very dangerous.

going to be one tough game in South Bend for us...especially with payback on their mind.

Agreed!  We'll see how they do up to that point, but their ball handling seemed a little suspect when 'bama put the pressure on.  I'd like to see us give 'em lots-o full court pressure and see if we can force more TOs than 'bama did.

[MarquetteVol]

ND was actually a 2.5-point favorite in this game. I should realized something was odd given that spread, but I couldn't resist and took Bama plus the points. Going to have to win my money back tomorrow on MU!

Both teams actually looked excellent. Bama had some butterfingers down the stretch and in the last ten minutes ND finally adjusted and packed the midddle on D. Alonzo Gee is the real deal. He had a couple of dunks in traffic that were mind-boggling. Russel Carter is much, much improved and could be a very tough matchup for us.

[Harrison]

ALabama has never impressed me.  Yes they beat us in the NCAA but I really attest that more to a terrible half by MU and a once in a life time day by a role player for them.  Additionally, MU's fault for letting him go off like that.  Alabama showed up for the first 10 minutes..hustled, ran the court played defense and built an early lead.  After that they stood around and played lackluster basketball and stood long range jumpers off the dribble.  A top ten team playing another capable team on the road cannot stand around and expect to win due to a ranking.  In fact you cannot do that at home either.  See MU/NDSU.   Also, I had seen alot of LUke Harnagody in AAu and was never impressed.  BIg tough kid but seemed way too slow and unathletic to make a difference at the High D1 level.  he made a couple moves last night though that were really impressive.  Middle of the first half made a spin move baseline and did a reverse layup.  The layup was ultimately block on a helpside rotation but the spin from about 12 feet finishing with a reverse layup right around a Bama defender for a kid 68 and 260 was lighning quick and smooth.  he made a coauple fo other moves thta were equally impressive.  All the games i had seen previously he just took up space, although he has always had a nice little touch.   

[MarquetteVol]

I was shocked to see him steal the ball and dribble it nearly 3/4 court for a lay-up. Looks like a good player and has a nice nose for the ball. Brey may have enough talent this to make the tournament and save his job. Maybe he'll finally feel financially secure enought to spring for a collared shirt to go under those nice sportcoats he owns.

I consider myself to be a pretty good judge of talent, but sometimes, I guess like everyone else, I just miss the boat. Harrison, did you see Deonta Vaughn, now a freshman at Cinci, play in high school? I saw him in an all-star game that DJ was in, and couldn't believe Indiana offered him. He looked slow, overweight and undersized in terms of height. He couldn't really shoot, either. I forgot about him until I saw recently he scored 27 in a game a couple of weeks ago and was named BE freshman of the week. He must have prepped and maybe he got a lot better, but I'm really shocked he seems to be a legit BE guard. That said, after five minutes of watching DJ, I knew he was an NBA-caliber player. The first time I saw him put the ball on the floor and make a move to the hoop, it was easy to see that there aren't a lot of guys out there quick enough to stop him. If you've never seen DJ's first step from up close, you won't believe it. It's just lightening.

[Harrison]

yes, I saw Vaughn play quite a bit, Indianapolis Arlington, if I recall I am bad with remembering those things.  he originally signed with IU.  I lost track of what happened with him.  my recollection though was grades and he went to prep school.  I always liked him.  Like james a really strong gaurd, very strong with the dribble and really athletic.  While I think he might have gotten buried a little on the IU bench with their guards I think he is not only a good player but also benefits alot by the fact that if he does not handle the ball and shoot it at Cincy who will?  Akin to Brian Wardle at MU ...a fine player but would he score 19 a game on a top 15 team?  Great situation for Deote at this point projects to be a 4 year starter and hopefully he can help lead Cincy back to respectablility.  Like Wardle he might end up having some huge career numbers while not necessarily being one of their all time players.  A good to very good college player vaughn will be . not a pro., but I hope he proves me wrong for his sake.

[MarquetteVol]

I think you're right, I recall seeing he was from Arlington. Maybe I caught him on a bad day and those all-star games can be such a crapshoot. I'm interested to see him on TV. Looks like a physical players, which will suit him nicely in the BE.

[Harrison]

Your comments about DJ are funny.  Yes, from the first moment many of us saw him we knew he was a pro.  The best guard to come out of Indiana since Gardner( arizona) was the prevailing thought back then.  I actually liked him even better due to his athleticism.  Why was he only a top 40 type ranking I will never know.  Gardner was Mcd's AA . Zeller?  Zeller was the third best player in Indiana and not even close to #1 and #2.  He hits a 3/4 shot at the buzzer to win a very tight vote and got enough votes to win Mr. Basketball. In the old days Mr. Basketball was voted before the playoffs and he would have come in 3rd or 4th. 1 shot? Also Zeller was from a smaller school in southern Indiana many had seen McRoberts and James and were torn.  Then Zeller gets this AA hype, for some unknown reason, and hits a shot and got some votes, enough to win.  he got the southern vote, and I think many of the people who had never seen him defaulted to him becuase they heard the hype and then he wins state on a shot.  Why James was not Mc'Ds or a top 20 type recruit I will never know.  I watched the same games all the coaches did.  And the scouts I talked  to all loved him.  Now I will say his team did not do some of the biggest AAu tourneys and he played primarily two guard in AAU but so what?!!  We all knew this after his sophomore and junior years.  I still find the Scout board funny as IWB, who has all these contacts  , declared him a great player after seeing him the spring of his senior year, 5 months after he had signed.  Comparing his quickness to Cordell Henry!  Are you kidding me, I love Cordell, but that is like comparing a Ferrari to a Pinto.  Great assesment and evaluation!! Well I guess that's worth $150 a year!!

[mugrad99]

he had the benefit of having a better team than James his junior year when they played.  He was very inconsistent, as I remember him. I know one of the All Star games in 2005 he had 26 points (North v South).

I think IU may have been glad he didn't sign, since I think Armon Bassett is a better player than Vaughn.

[Nukem2]

Ronalsd Steele, Bama's excellent PG, is playing on bad knees this year.  Some pundits have already questioned how good the Tide will be if Steele does not get healthy. (And, of course, they lost Felix to graduation .

[Harrison]

speaking of misses or guys signing with another school.  lance Stemler would be lighting it up fo MU.  Boy what a miss!