Opening Day

Baseball is back, and it couldn't arrive soon enough.

The Tribe started the season off with a ridiculous game against the hated Chicago White Sox. C.C. Sabathia didn't look overly impressive, the bullpen wasn't particularly sharp and the Tribe blew a 7-2 lead before nearly allowing the go-ahead run to score in the 7th and 8th innings.

But, when it mattered, the Indians got key outs and a clutch 3-run double from Casey Blake to hold off Chicago 10-8. Joe Borowski had a typical Joe-Blow outing, allowing a home run and the tying run to reach the plate before recording the final out to nail down a save.

Tuesday is a day off before Fausto Carmona faces Javier Vazquez in game two Wednesday evening.

Game Wrap and Box Score here

Wazzu'd

Since I was in Phoenix last weekend, I didn't get a chance to write about Notre Dame's 61-41 season-ending loss to Washington State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. While I wasn't surprised the Irish fell to the Cougars, I was very disappointed in the way they were defeated. In all my years watching Notre Dame basketball, I can't remember the Irish looking worse than they did last Saturday. Washington State completely and totally dominated the game, starting on the defensive end. Notre Dame shot less than 25% from the field for the game and took far too many contested shots.

If you looked at the computer numbers before the matchup, it was clear Washington State was the better team. This game was a contrast between how the computers saw our team and how the analysts show our team. Most computers downgraded Notre Dame for its average defensive statistics while rewarding Washington State for its defensive efficiency. In contrast, analysts focused more on Notre Dame's ability to score and ignored its defensive ability. Obviously, we saw which party was correct. You must play good to great defense in the Tournament, and Washington State did. Additionally, Pomeroy's rankings had Washington State a 68% favorite based on the numbers.

Anyways, since I was very late in posting about the game, there's really not much else to say that hasn't already been said. Notre Dame stunk and finished a very successful season on a down note. With only Rob Kurz graduating, the Irish have the opportunity next season to be very talented and successful in the Big East and hopefully the NCAAs.

Meet George Mason

After a disappointing early exit in the Big East Tournament, East Region No. 5 seed Notre Dame looks to rebound in its NCAA Tournament first round matchup against No. 12 George Mason. If the Irish can win this first game, they will face the winner of No. 4 Washington State and No. 13 Winthrop.

And if the Irish advance to the Sweet 16, they potentially face overall No. 1 North Carolina in Charlotte.

Big East Tournament Bracket

No. 8 Villanova vs. No. 9 Syracuse

No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Providence

No. 7 Pittsburgh vs. No. 10 Cincinnati

No. 6 Marquette vs. No. 11 Seton Hall



No. 1 Georgetown vs. Winner No. 8 vs. No. 9

No. 2 Louisville vs. Winner No. 7 vs. No. 10

No. 3 Notre Dame vs. Winner No. 6 vs. No 11

No. 4 Connecticut vs. Winner No. 5 vs. No. 12

Outperforming Expectations
Picked 9th in preseason poll, Irish finish tied for 2nd place with 14-4 Big East record

At the beginning of the 2007-08 basketball season, Notre Dame faced the daunting task of replacing its top two scorers in Colin Falls and Russell Carter. The Irish had a cast of young, fairly inexperienced players and a lone senior. They were starting four sophomores, including a guard that had played in just 12 non-conference games the year before. And they had the challenge of facing stiff competition every week in one of the country's most difficult conferences.

So, it's no wonder the Big East coaches looked at Notre Dame and slotted the Irish 9th in the preseason poll.

After two close losses to Baylor and Georgia Tech in the Virgin Islands, Notre Dame appeared in trouble for the much more strenuous Big East schedule. But a win over Kansas State and two strong showings against West Virginia and Connecticut to begin conference play catapulted the Irish to an all-time best 8-2 start. From there Notre Dame never looked back.

In an earlier post I talked about the importance of winning your conference home games and stealing a victory on the road. Accomplish those two objectives and you should be in great shape come tournament time.

The Irish certainly held serve at the Joyce Center, becoming the first Big East team to ever finish back-to-back season undefeated at home. However, they fell short of stealing a big road game by losing all four of their marquee matchups -- Marquette, Georgetown, Connecticut and Louisville -- away from the JACC.

But Notre Dame made up for those losses by taking care of business against lesser opponents on the road. That enabled the Irish to finish 5-4 in conference road games and avoid embarrassing, RPI-killer upsets.

The most exciting part of this very success season is that the top eight players all significantly improved. Coach Mike Brey has been criticized (whether justified or not) in the past for not developing his players on a consistent basis. But this year Brey got the most out of everyone.

Obviously, Luke Harangody made an incredible leap from solid freshman to likely Big East Player of the Year. Kyle McAlarney has evolved into one of the best 3-point shooters in the conference. Ryan Ayers and Zach Hillesland continue to get better and play more minutes. Tory Jackson was the team MVP for a good chunk of conference play, while Luke Zeller finally emerged as contributor with his 3-point shooting ability and rebounding. And Rob Kurz had a very good senior season to cap off a solid collegiate career.

No matter what happens from here on out, the Irish certainly enjoyed one of the best seasons in their basketball history.

Now Notre Dame focuses on the Big East Tournament and a chance to improve its seeding in the NCAA bracket. As of today, Notre Dame should be solidly slotted as a No. 5 or No. 4 seed. Ideally, the team will move up to a No. 3 by having a strong showing in the conference tournament. If the Irish lock down a 3-seed, they will face an easier first round opponent, and more importantly, avoid a No. 1 seed until the Elite Eight.

As the Big East No. 3 seed, Notre Dame will play the winner of the No. 6 vs. No. 11 matchup between Marquette and Seton Hall. The Irish split the regular season with Marquette and beat Seton Hall in their own game against the Pirates. As long as they keep winning, the Irish will play each night around 9 p.m. EST.

After three years of coming close but just missing the NCAA Tournament in 2003, 2004 and 2005, Notre Dame finds itself in a position to focus on earning a better seed, rather than sweating out the Selection Committee's choices next Sunday.

For a team picked in the lower half of its own conference, that's got to be a pretty sweet feeling.

Changing Topics Just For a Moment

I have never in my life heard these comments said about the Browns. Especially the last 10 seconds. Ever.

Tables Turned
Irish feel what it's like not to cover the 3

Feel sick today, so this will likely be a short post.

I mentioned in an earlier post this season that Notre Dame's biggest weakness is perimeter defense. At the time Notre Dame was ranked in the 160s for opponents' 3-point shooting percentage. Heading into the Louisville game Notre Dame had improved to 134th in D-1, which is still not very good. Simply put, the Irish have failed to effectively defend the 3-point shot.

It killed them Thursday.

The Cardinals made six of their first seven 3s and finished the first half 7-of-11 en route to building a 42-27 halftime advantage. Luke Harangody and the Irish battled back but couldn't overcome several huge deficits and, ultimately, lost a golden opportunity to put themselves in pole position for the Big East regular season title.

The biggest difference in the game was how each team defended the 3. Louisville extended its 2-3 zone and bottled up Kyle McAlarney, not allowing the sharpshooter to get even a peek at the basket. McAlarney nailed 9 3s against Syracuse, but he didn't have a chance against the Cardinal. They simply took him out of the game.

That would be OK, if fellow guard Tory Jackson had stepped up. But Jackson probably played his worst game of the season. Not only did Jackson struggle shooting, he failed to create baskets for his teammates. Almost every time he penetrated to the paint, he was forced to dish the ball or take a low percentage shot.

Harangody obviously carried the Irish offense from start to finish, scoring 14 of the Notre Dame's first 18 points, and finishing with a career-high 40 points including the first three 3s of his career.

But besides Harangody and Ryan Ayers, who came off the bench to score 17 points, Notre Dame's offense struggled. Yes they scored 58 points in the second half and 85 for the game, but remember 57 of those 85 came from just two players. The guards combined to shoot 4-of-21 and, despite some open looks, Rob Kurz finished a meager 1-of-5 from 3-point range. And while the Cardinals were shooting better than 63% from 3 in the first half, the Irish made just 1-of-9.

Meanwhile, Louisville showed the difference between a team that effectively extends the 2-3 zone and a team that doesn't. Syracuse struggled to stop Notre Dame from getting open looks, while Louisville did not. By taking away the 3-ball, the Cardinals ensured that the Irish would not have a chance to overcome an early deficit with a barrage of long 3s.

The Irish did finish the game 12-of-29, but many of those came at the end of the second half during Notre Dame's furious rally that cut a 19-point deficit at the 5:41 mark to seven points with three minutes remaining. However, the game was effectively over at half thanks to the distinct contrast between each team's 3-point shooting.

If the Irish do not improve their perimeter defense, they are leaving themselves vulnerable in the NCAA Tournament. Every team in the tournament will have shooters who can drain open 3-point looks. And so far this season, many teams have gotten open looks against the Irish. It's this team's fatal flaw.

Until the Irish significantly improve their 3-point defense, they are, to a great extent, at the mercy of their opponents' 3-point shooting.