SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The loosest coach in America remains the loosest coach in America, in the estimation of Notre Dame guard Alex Dragicevich. But it may just be vintage January or early February loose for Mike Brey, because that is how his club has to play to advance in March.
A desperate Notre Dame team ran off nine wins in a row. A less-than-desperate Notre Dame team has been uneven since, losing three of five. This week’s preparation for the NCAA tournament matchup against Xavier in Greensboro, N.C., has focused on channeling the former.
“One thing I’ve noticed, we’re trying to get back to the mode of where we were at with the nine-game winning streak and get back to that type of groove,” Dragicevich said.
“It could be a lot of things — maybe just our mentality. When you win that many games in a row, we might have laid back a little bit as opposed to feeling as hungry as you were at the beginning of that nine-game streak. We’re trying to get back to being hungry again.”
As of the start of practice Tuesday, there had not been much discussion about Xavier or its personnel or film dissection of the opponent. Center Jack Cooley didn’t have any scouting report to give on 7-foot, 275-pound Kenny Frease manning the middle for the Musketeers.
The Irish have gazed inward, and for Brey that began with sparking some aggression in his group.
“We need to watch some film of how we played in that stretch in February to be a reminder of the attack frame of mind we were in,” he said.
That win streak all but guaranteed Notre Dame’s inclusion in the NCAA tournament field. But nothing beyond Friday is guaranteed at all, which the Irish hope rekindles the urgency that served them well before.
“During these last couple losses, we slipped a little bit on having hunger every single possession,” Cooley said. “During the streak, we would go 110 percent on every single possession. We wouldn’t take any off. During this little streak, I think we let some mental lapses occur at some key times. Now we have to get back to realizing we can’t have any lapses, we have to stay focused, stay hungry.”
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