SB Nation User Blog: CW

Raking The Muck: There's A Man Coming Round Taking Names

CW — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:05:22 -0000

Good morning, readers. As the football team reports to campus for the start of summer classes, Rakes of Mallow reports back to duty. While the summer months of yesteryear used to be full of free time for blogging and merriment, the crippling depression of post-graduate life and a general dry-spell of Notre Dame news has caused this once booming site to atrohpy. But no more! Rakes is back, and we'll start to cover all the exciting fun-time action as we wind down to kickoff versus Nevada (a scant two months away).

The biggest news around the Irish program over the weekend was the transfer of tight end Joseph Fauria, who I am going to assume is a victim of ResLife's draconian policies regarding everything. Now, it's very possible Fauria did some terrible stuff and deserved the suspension, but I'd say the odds are about 3% for that and 97% that the University is attempting to make some kind of example out of him. It's always sad to see somebody transfer (Oh, Konrad...), because you spend so much time thinking about how this high school player, known only through creepy old man stalking and grainy YouTube videos, is going to fit into the Irish system and justify the hours spent following his every dropped hint. We obviously wish Fauria the best, and he leaves with some nice quotes regarding everything about the team and University save for ResLife, which I'd say is how most students feel upon their departure from South Bend:

"I can't say enough about coach Weis, tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee, the guy who recruited me - coach Brian Polian - and the players, too.

"I know coach Weis can't come out and support me publicly because of protocol, but I know how he feels, and that's all that is important. It was an honor to be coached by him. I love him. I'll miss him. I still consider him a part of my family. It's sad to leave everyone, but I feel I was mistreated by the school and that the punishment didn't fit the crime."

"The people who are close to me know what it is, and they couldn't believe this is happening," he said. "I'm a good guy, a fun-loving guy. I have a 3.0 GPA. My team won Bookstore Basketball. I had moved up to No. 2 tight end. I was on Cloud 9. And then it all came apart."

Emphasis mine because holy crap, ResLife you are the worst. I will always have the utmost respect for Kyle McAlarney for coming back to Notre Dame after they totally overreacted for the most minor of minor violations. Here is my question, for those of you more familiar with NCAA regulations: If Fauria had been suspended for the semester but not played, could he have redshirted, or would he have had to waste a year of eligibility? Regardless, best of luck to him. An unfortunate situation that could have probably been avoided with some common sense and a reasonable discussion, something the Powers That Be aren't exactly known for.

Speaking of Kyle McAlarney, he, Luke Zeller and Rob Kurz will all be participating in the NBA summer league this July. K-Mac will be running and gunning with the Clippers, Zeller trying to make it onto the Bulls so Aaron Gray has someone to go to the movies with and Kurz is taking another crack at starting the season on the Warriors' roster. Have I mentioned lately how happy I am that Harangody is coming back? I don't think so, so let me repeat it: I'm very happy Luke Harangody is coming back for his senior season.

One of the highlights of every summer is when the kids get their new numbers, and this year is no exception. The best news is that if you invested in an Armando Allen jersey, it's now doubly awesome, with Manti Te'o also donning the cinco. Shaquelle Evans takes David Grimes' number eleven (both wide receivers, but of slightly different body dimensions).

We've established many times over Blue Gray Sky is the class of the Notre Dame internet (their latest contribution is the Polo Grounds, a messageboard discussing college football that doesn't make you want to murder someone, which I didn't even think was possible). One of their recent posts looks at the oft-cited stat regarding offensive line starts (oft-cited in the Irish blogosphere because Notre Dame has a whole whole bunch and we like to talk ourselves into things), but then turns it around and looks at the number of starts on the defensive line.

BGS's conclusion? There are not a lot of experienced defensive lines facing the Irish this season, thereby making it even more important for everyone (players, coaches, sanity of fans) that the offensive line make considerable progress from the dark periods of the last few years. I would need to look at other teams, but having sixty-plus starts sure seems likes a lot for a position where there's a lot of rotation and freshmen seldom contribute right away. If you weren't already concerned about the Stanford game (with Toby Gerhart, the added pressure of being the regular season finale with a shiny bowl potentially waiting, Jim Harbaugh's shouty craftiness, PAC-10 replay officials), this is just another reason to worry a bit, as the Cardinal lead Irish opponents with 67 starts on the defensive line.

The Good Doctor Saturday makes the case that Notre Dame's schedule is not as bad as many would have you believe. While there are not a lot of top-tier teams facing the Irish this season, there are a bunch that should be qualifying for bowls and fielding perfectly competitive squads (this is a lot different than say, playing a pair of D-II teams and some MAC bottom feeder). The Irish schedule is certainly not tough, but do me a favor and randomly select another BCS school's schedule to look at (say, one in the Big Ten not named Ohio State). Not many are going to jump out at you as a death march. With the eight home games and no reason not to schedule four absolute cupcakes to get yourself two-thirds of the way towards a bowl berth, you just won't find many super competitive slates. Southern Cal, Oklahoma and Ohio State are generally some of the better programs at scheduling at least one big-time opponent out of conference, but even they play San Jose State, Idaho State and New Mexico State (respectively) this fall.

So while Notre Dame's is not as tough as some previous years, it's not any worse than any other schedule you'd randomly stop and look at while flipping through Phil Steele. Go ahead and try it.

One of our SBN Rock M Nation brethren takes a look at Nevada. In the coming days, I'll be looking specifically at Wolfpack QB Colin Kaepernick, our first Profile of Fear of 2009. Early returns? Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

Luke Harangody To Return To Notre Dame For His Senior Season

CW — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:41:54 -0000

Per the most reliable source I know - Mike Brey's Twitter account - the two time All-Big East first teamer is coming back to South Bend for one last go-around.

Coach Brey simply puts it:

Gody to return to the Irish!!

I'm surprised he only used two exclamation points.

via media.wsbt.com

Luke Harangody's Big Decision: Draft or Golden Dome?

CW — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:31:16 -0000

One of my favorite things - sports or otherwise - is the NBA Draft. We've celebrated it at the Wilson Ranchero in grand fashion for the last half dozen summers, gathering in late June to enjoy fancy suits, crying moms, overwhelmed translators and the beauty of potential unfettered by the chains of reality and the regular season. The NBA's draft is so much better than any drafts that you almost can't compare them. Unlike baseball or football, you don't have to worry about giving giant contracts to players who haven't proven anything at the professional level (but good luck with Matt Stafford, Detroit!). Rookies can have an immediate impact (this does happen in the NFL, but almost never in baseball - plus you can't trade picks in baseball), and as soon as their names are called, you can envision the prospect filling a role for whatever team just staked part of their future in them. Unlike the NFL, where there are so many players sprawled across the country and so few games relative to basketball, you've seen most of the players at the top of the draft play multiple times. Raise your hand if you watched a lot of Eugene Monroe over the course of his career.

The NBA draft is of particular interest to Notre Dame fans this year because one Mr. Luke Harangody, former Big East Player of the Year, is testing the waters. If you've been checking on on Mike Brey's Twitter feed - highly recommended, funnier than any fake Brey Twitter we could drum up - then you realize Luke's been participating in all sorts of workouts for the league. Due to the fact he didn't sign an agent, Big Luke has until June 15^th to decide whether or not he wants to stay in for the festivities ten days later (I'd just like to thank the NBA and MTV for arranging the premiere of Real World: Cancun and the draft on back-to-back nights, which is all one could ask for in life).

There's been a lot of debate among Irish fans about whether or not Harangody could make it in the league, but as someone who watched him play for three years and follows the NBA about as closely as one can, I think it's safe to say with some confidence that he can fit into the pros quite nicely. Is he going to be an All-Star? No, certainly not, but Harangody's got far too many skills that can work on the next level to not make a team in some capacity.

Perhaps the skill that translates best from college to the pros is the ability to rebound, a trait which Harangody obviously possesses, regardless of whatever size limitations some would like to point out (more on this in a bit). Luke also has done a great job of developing his jumpshot, especially when you consider the progress of his face-up game from the start of his career up through the end of last season. If you can bring a big man off the bench who can knock down open shots, rebound and annoy the hell out of the other team with his effort, I think that's a nice piece to have in the rotation. Whether he's more of a Matt Bonner/Brian Scalabrine or Chuck Hayes/Craig Smith (or somewhere in between), there is a place on a NBA roster for ‘Gody.

Oh, don't believe me? Let's take a look at what some of the preeminent draft sites around the internet are saying. First, let's look at NBADraft.net and some of the combine measurables:

A big man that helped himself a lot is Luke Harangody. He turned out to be the strongest player at the combine (23 reps) while posting solid numbers in the sprint and agility tests.

Obviously the league is more about how you can perform in some random exercises, so how is he looking in workouts? DraftExpress, go!:

The two things that stood out the most about Harangody were his conditioning and overall skill-level. He appears to have dropped a decent amount of weight and looks to be in very good shape now, even if he's clearly not the most athletic power forward you'll find in this draft. He may very well be the best shooter, though, at least from what we could see here-he was knocking down NBA 3-pointer after NBA 3-pointer with unorthodox mechanics but a very quick release. Harangody's scoring instincts shine through even in a setting like this, he has great touch around the basket and can even make some shots of the dribble it seems. Teams will want to get a better read for how he projects defensively at his position, which is not something we could really evaluate in this particular setting.

I think it should go without saying I want Luke Harangody to come back to Notre Dame. I'd love to see a starting line-up of Tory Jackson, Ben Hansbrough, Scott Martin, Luke Harangody and Ty Nash taking it to a depleted Big East (Harangody would be the only player returning from the All-Big East First Team). I think another year at school could only help his status, as a solid round of workouts would have NBA GM's following him all of next year, where he'll get to show off what I presume will be a sleeker frame and extended offensive game. But obviously, if Luke's dream is to play in the NBA and there's a good chance he's going to go in the first round and guarantee himself a roster spot, who are we as Irish fans to wish him anything but the best?

Andy Katz had a rather extensive piece earlier in the week regarding the pros and cons of Harangody's choice. His main point is that by returning to Notre Dame, the big man has a chance to set scoring and rebounding records not just at the school, but for the entire Big East conference. Katz's piece sort of angers me because it really dismisses Gody's chances at the next level ("Or he can choose a more pedestrian career route relative to his hoop world" - I'm not even sure that's a real sentence). He makes a big deal about size, but unlike a certain 1998 summer blockbuster, size isn't the end all and be all in the pros, plus Katz is just cherry-picking certain numbers to fit his theory. If you did want to push Katz back on that one way of assessing viability in the League (and it's a pretty crappy way to do assessing), Harangody's standing reach is an inch higher than that of soon-to-be number one overall pick Blake Griffin and only two inches below presumed lottery pick Jordan Hill. Much like DeJuan Blair dominating Hasheem Thabeet both times they matched up last season, if you can rebound you can rebound, no matter what the tape measure says.

Not suggesting in any way that Harangody will become Charles Barkley, but they didn't call him the Round Mound of Rebound because of his towering height. Plus , "The Warrior." Enjoy.

So with less than two weeks to go before he makes his choice, it's safe to say it will be coming down to what Harangody feels is the best choice for him. Etch your name in Irish lore forever, or get to your dream one year earlier? Neither choice is a bad one, but it certainly would be a difficult one. Brey's being supportive (as he should be), and I think the NBA front office folks are only going to become increasingly impressed as additional workouts are completed. Best case scenario for Irish fans? No one at the bottom of the first round can guarantee ‘Gody that they'll take him, leading to an angry, even more determined LFH making his way back to campus for one more crack at a Big East title. Worst case? You get to see ‘Gody suit up in the NBA along the likes of Troy Murphy, Rob Kurz and Chris Quinn next season. All in all, a win-win situation for those involved.

Mr. Obama Goes to South Bend

CW — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:46:39 -0000

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Fetalmania

thedailyshow.com

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Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Raking The Muck: Four Down Football

CW — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:04:47 -0000

More photos » by Joe Raymond - AP

2 months ago: Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist hands off during the Blue Gold football game on Saturday April 18, 2009 in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Browse more photos »

Thinking Outside The Box: Malcolm Gladwell has an entertaining piece in one of the more recent New Yorker magazines about underdogs, Lawrence of Arabia, fancy battleship simulations, slingshots and perhaps most importantly, full court presses. I will admit in advance that I tremendously enjoy almost everything Gladwell churns out, and find one of the most recurrent criticisms against him ("He's just saying the obvious, only very eloquently!") can be chalked up to a very simple, ivy-colored human emotion ("Why in the world didn't I just do some research on youth hockey programs and write Outliers?"). Three things need addressed from the piece. First off, a Digger sighting:

In January of 1971, the Fordham University Rams played a basketball game against the University of Massachusetts Redmen. The game was in Amherst, at the legendary arena known as the Cage, where the Redmen hadn't lost since December of 1969. Their record was 11-1. The Redmen's star was none other than Julius Erving-Dr. J. The UMass team was very, very good. Fordham, by contrast, was a team of scrappy kids from the Bronx and Brooklyn. Their center had torn up his knee the first week of the season, which meant that their tallest player was six feet five. Their starting forward-and forwards are typically almost as tall as centers-was Charlie Yelverton, who was six feet two. But from the opening buzzer the Rams launched a full-court press, and never let up. "We jumped out to a thirteen-to-six lead, and it was a war the rest of the way," Digger Phelps, the Fordham coach at the time, recalls. "These were tough city kids. We played you ninety-four feet. We knew that sooner or later we were going to make you crack." Phelps sent in one indefatigable Irish or Italian kid from the Bronx after another to guard Erving, and, one by one, the indefatigable Irish and Italian kids fouled out. None of them were as good as Erving. It didn't matter. Fordham won, 87-79.

Secondly, and this has been stated in various places across the Internets, Gladwell uses a horrible example of a scrappy underdog team pressing to their advantage with the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats. Despite saying only one of the players on that team went on to be a NBA star (Antoine Walker), Gladwell neglects to mention that the team was absolutely stacked and marked the beginning of a mini-dynasty that was an overtime (and Miles Simon) away from a threepeat. There are a few times where teams that are at a talent disadvantage need to press, but more often than not, that's the territory of more athletic teams who want to increase tempo and use their horses to their advantage.

Finally, I think the most important point Gladwell makes in the piece is that there is often an advantage to thinking outside of the box and eschewing whatever the majority is doing. As we look forward to football season, I think that means abandoning some traditional thinking that hasn't been necessary in practice for years (I'm looking at you, old school fan, for your constant harping about getting quality fullback play) and screwing some conventional wisdom (punting each and every fourth down). As Cal economist David Romer wrote a few years ago and Gregg Easterbrook harps upon every week during the NFL season, far too many coaches are way too willing to constantly punt (despite compelling evidence to the contrary). Consistently, the man is trying to even keep gamers from exploiting alternative philosophies:

I'm not advocating going for it in the shadow of your own goal line, but imagine the psychological implications of committing going for it on fourth down once you cross midfield. The stress on your offense is reduced on second and third downs (you actually have four plays to move it ten yards instead of just three) while the defense can never, ever relax. Easterbrook is wise to point out that coaches tend to punt in close situations because if they boot it away and the opposing offense gets a first down, it's the defense's fault (they were just following The Unwritten Rules of Football!), while a failure to convert the fourth down try will come back to them in the postgame breakdown. When it comes down to job security, coaches don't want to take any chances that might make them look worse in the week after the game.

Think of two of the most consistently successful coaches in college and the pros - Carroll and Belichick - and how they always seem to take that extra chance on fourth down to drive a stake into the heart of their opponent. If all talent is equal on the field - and no one has a decided schematic advantage - then it comes down to who is able (and willing) to take the smart, calculated risks. When the Weis offenses of 2005 and 2006 were humming, there wasn't any doubt Brady Quinn would be in the huddle on any marginal fourth down plays. That's what I want this year: an offense zipping along so crisply that the opposition knows it needs four stops - not three - to get off the field.

I'm going to be optimistic in regards to the Notre Dame offense this season, because important indicators suggest I should (Although one question: Do you get credit for a start when you spend the majority of your energy that game helping the quarterback up to his feet?) . There will be a lot of pressure on Weis to win, so there's no reason to think he won't roll the dice as much as possible, since a middling season will probably have the same effect on his job status as a bad one.

Here and there:

Michael Rothstein digs up some odd, but not wholly surprising comments, from Tim Brown about Al Davis. . . Hinton's got your congressional BCS inquisitions covered in-depth. . .Southern Cal/Notre Dame tickets for this October are already going for close to $300. . .we didn't spend time on spring practice (it's a fun oasis in the offseason desert, but you can't glean that much from it), but BGS has a comprehensive recap. . .the deadline for Luke Harangody to decide if he's staying or going by June 15, but that deadline will be a heckuva lot earlier for debating college players next year....

Live From New York, It's Tuesday Night!

CW — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:23:35 -0000

Instead of 30 Rockefeller Center it's the Garden, but Notre Dame's got a late night date in the city that never sleeps nonetheless. The Irish take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second of two NIT semifinal games (guesstimated tip around 9:30 Eastern). It should be a really fast-moving, entertaining game, as neither team gets to the line very much and both shoot the three ball pretty well. The Irish are going to need to defend the three-point line well tonight, although I'm not sure who on the Nittany Lions is stopping Luke Harangody. The winner will play for the NIT title on Thursday night.

I asked my friend Dill, a Penn State grad from last year, to give us all a quick preview of what to expect this evening. His words are after the jump.

Go Irish, Beat Nittany Lions.

Much like Joe Paterno's men on the gridiron, Ed DeChellis and Penn State basketball had a somewhat unexpected rise to the top of the Big 10 Conference this year, only to have bigger hopes derailed on the road in Iowa. The Nittany Lions looked to be a lead contender for one of the final NCAA Tourney spots before the heart-breaking double overtime loss. However, the team has recovered nicely and has averaged 77 points in the NIT after averaging 67 points in the regular season.

Main Contributors:

Talor Battle - Big 10 first team performer who was third in the conference in scoring with 16.8 ppg. He takes a lot of questionable shots, but a good percentage of them go in. He's a typical New York point guard even though he's from Albany

Jamelle Cornley - Team's leading rebounder and second leading scorer at 14.2 ppg. He has a partially dislocated left shoulder, but he still got 23 and 12 at Florida on Tuesday.

Stanley Pringle - Led the Big 10 in three point shooting percentage at 47% on 151 attempts. His 5 for 9 three point shooting at Florida was key in the victory.

Andrew Jones/David Jackson/Jeff Brooks - No disrespect, but I look at these big guys like one person. They're all similar in stature and rotate in and out without you really knowing it. Two of them are usually on the floor at the same time and they combine for about 15 points and 12 rebounds per game

Danny Morrissey/Chris Babb - Morrissey is a senior who has shot 3's well in the past, but not so much this year. Babb is a freshman who has showed flashes of brilliance at times, but my guess is that Morrissey will take the bulk of the minutes between these two reserves.

Style of Play:

With a 38-33 win over Illinois in the regular season and an 83-72 win over Rhode Island in the NIT, Penn State can obviously play two different styles. We usually let the other team dictate to us how the game will be played. So my guess is that the Irish will try to make it a higher scoring contest.

Defense:

DeChellis usually starts with a man to man, switches to a 2-3 zone for about five minutes at some point and plays man the rest of the game. Penn State has also displayed an effective full court press at times this year to try to get back into a game or get some momentum going. But the press is usually not used.

Offense:

It's all about the big three of Battle, Cornley, and Pringle. Battle has the ball in his hands most of the time and you never quite know what he's going to do. Cornley spends a lot of time around the foul line early in possessions to run pick and rolls and also possesses a sneaky good mid-range game. A great percentage of Pringle's points come in transition and broken plays, so the Irish need to watch him running to the 3 point line on the secondary wave of a fast break.

Congress to probe BCS

CW — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:39:14 -0000

Congress to probe BCS

Which will lead to punditry everywhere asking why the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee isn't just focusing on fixing the economy.

Fightin' Irish Advance to the NIT Semifinals

CW — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:47:54 -0000

Or Final Four, if you will. Congrats to Mike Brey and his team for rallying after a disappointing regular season to advance to the Garden, where they'll face Penn State next Tuesday evening. I can only imagine that Penn State basketball fans are as genial and clear-headed as their football counterparts (their non-conference schedules are certainly similar!), so this will be a good time.

I love how this picture makes it seem Luke is bopping Billy Clyde in the head.

I was wondering how Notre Dame was possibly going to stop Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson, but I should have been wondering who was going to stop Luke Harangody (30 points on 22 shots, 2-4 from 3, 8-11 from the line, 11 boards). If this loss cost Billy Gillispie his job, hurray for Kentucky fans, because I know rabid fanbases love nothing more than a good coaching hunt.

Another candidate Virginia might look at could be Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, a former Duke...

CW — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:42:57 -0000

Another candidate Virginia might look at could be Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, a former Duke assistant. On Tuesday, ESPN college basketball reporter Andy Katz speculated that Brey would be interested in the UVa opening.

Clearly, Brey — whose team plays Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the NIT this evening — wouldn’t have the cachet of a Smith or some of the other candidates. The move would likely be viewed as not that much of an upgrade from Leitao, who, like Brey, came from the Big East (DePaul).

Cavaliers' Search Offers Few Answers

Brief Bracket Preview: Midwest Region

CW — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:12:20 -0000

Most Intriguing First Round Game: Utah vs. Arizona. Utah maybe had the better season, but I'm not sure anyone would say that the Utes have more talent than the Wildcats. A lot of teams were bitter about Arizona's inclusion, but Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger are lottery pick talents, while Nic Wise is no slouch at guard. Luke Nevill is heir to the Andrew Bogut crown inside and the Mountain West champs can shoot the three, so count on this being your typically entertaining 5-12 game.

Best Possible Opening Weekend Showdown: Ohio State/Louisville and Kansas/WVU. The Cardinals will obviously advance to the second round - not so sure about the Buckeyes against a very intriguing Siena team - but while Louisville isn't that far from Dayton, this will still be Buckeye territory. Evan Turner is a multi-faceted monster, BJ Mullens will be a lottery pick some day and Mark Titus will be blogging the entire thing. Kansas wasn't supposed to be here a year after losing most of their championship roster, while West Virginia has young talent of its own with Devin Ebanks, Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones.

Potential Sleeper (5 seed or higher): West Virginia. There is clear Big East bias on this blog, but it's somewhat understandable when you consider how good the conference was all year. West Virginia, under both Beilein and Huggins, has had a lot of success in the tournament that always ended in soul-crushing defeats (Louisvile in '05, Texas in '06, Xavier last year). They have a top fifteen offense and defense ( per KenPom), and are the sixth best offensive rebounding team in the nation.

Trendy Pick (4 seed or lower): Michigan State. Well, this is the time of year where everyone says "I hate to say it, Michigan State always turns it on in the tournament!". Shall we investigate? Their last few tournament finishes:

2008: Sweet Sixteen

2007: Second Round

2006: Lost in First Round

2005: Final Four

2004: Lost in First Round

So do they always turn it on? Not really, but their draw isn't that tough. You shouldn't take Izzo's bunch just because "they always go well in the tourney," but hey, if you like them, there's no discernable trend that should stop you.

Why The Favorite Could Fall: Louisville lost to Notre Dame by 33 points. That would be reason enough to doubt the Cardinals, but they haven't lost since then, winning the regular and postseason crowns of the best conference in the land. Louisville's problems stem from the fact they can get extremely stagnant on offense if they fall in love with the jump shot and can't get any easy buckets off turnovers. Again: they lost to Notre Dame by 33. They don't get to the line a lot and when they do, they miss a lot of freebies. We're nitpicking here, but that's the point of this category.