ACC Preview: Notre Dame’s Burning Question
Posted by Brad Jenkins (@bradjenk) on October 28th, 2014This team preview is part of the ACC microsite’s preseason coverage. You will find a list with links to all the team previews on the ACC Microsite Preview Page, located here.
Will the Irish get enough production from their big men?
Notre Dame’s inaugural season in the ACC was a rough one, as the Irish snapped a seven-year streak of 20-win seasons and instead finished with the first losing season of Mike Brey’s coaching tenure in South Bend (the six ACC wins were also a conference low for one of his Notre Dame teams). A big reason for the fall was the December suspension of the team’s best player, guard Jerian Grant, for academic reasons. Grant returns for his senior year, a huge addition, but the Irish must also find a way to replace the inside production of the graduated Garrick Sherman.
Is Junior Zach Auguste Ready to Step Up his Production? (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune)
In each of the last seven seasons, Notre Dame has had a big man who averaged over 13 points per game. In all but one of those years, that post player also pulled down at least seven rebounds per game. When Brey looks at his returning roster, he only sees two bigs with any collegiate experience. With no incoming post players to count on, the 14-year Notre Dame coach has to hope one of his veterans can make a big jump in production. The most logical choice is 6’10” junior Zach Auguste, who averaged 16 minutes per contest last year. One thing in his favor is the recent history of Irish big men developing to provide big jumps in production. The table below shows that Auguste’s two post predecessors came through with solid years when they received a corresponding increase in minutes. The other semi-experienced returning big man is junior Austin Burgett, who averaged 15 MPG in 28 games, but was not very productive (3.0 PPG, 1.8 RPG) when on the floor. Perhaps 6’9″ freshman Martin Geben can have an impact. According to scouts, he has a reputation of being physical and fundamentally sound, and may be ready to contribute right away.
Grant’s return should give Notre Dame one of the best perimeter players in the ACC. Also returning is versatile 6’5″ senior Pat Connaughton, who last year ranked in the top-20 in the ACC in points, rebounds and assists. Not only is Connaughton a versatile player, but he is also a highly efficient one. His KenPom offensive rating of 123.8 was the highest in the league among players using more than 17 percent of their team’s possessions. One positive outcome of Grant’s suspension was the corresponding increase in playing time available to two of last year’s freshman, Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia. Jackson will be expected to take over the starting point guard spot from the graduated Eric Atkins, a third-team All-ACC performer. He had a shaky year both on and off the court, seeing his playing time fluctuate and missing two games in February for academic reasons. Vasturia was not expected to contribute much as a rookie, but the 6’5″ wing guard took advantage of the extra minutes available and got better as the season progressed. An interesting statistic concerning Vasturia is that for a young player, he surprisingly seemed to raise his game as the competition got tougher. Four of his top five scoring games of last season came against ACC teams that went on to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Mike Brey Hopes for a More Successful Second ACC Season. (AP)
Notre Dame was one of several college teams that took a foreign trip during the offseason. Brey took his squad on an August tour of Italy for educational as well as basketball team-building reasons. One of the interesting takeaways from that week in Europe was that in all four games (big-margin wins against weak competition), Brey started a lineup featuring Auguste and four perimeter players. As the only big man on the floor, it’s even more imperative that Auguste is productive and that either Geben or Burgett provide strong support for him when he’s out. Connaughton’s rebounding ability (7.1 RPG last year) will help, but Notre Dame cannot afford to get dominated inside while relying on the perimeter to win the game. It will take some measure of balance for the Irish to make a climb up the standings in their second go-round in the ACC.
