Spent a few moments with Notre Dame coach Mike Brey this morning, along with a few other esteemed sports journalists, in advance of Wednesday’s game against UConn.
For starters, it looks like Luke Harangody won’t play because of the bone bruise on his right knee that has kept him on the sidelines recently.
“We’ll see how he is out on the floor,” Brey said of practice Monday and Tuesday. “We’re preparing like we’re not going to have him.”
Harangody was in line to become the Big East’s all-time leader in points and rebounds (in league play) but those are afterthoughts now. It’s even possible he doesn’t come back at all this season.
“There’s improvement but not to the point where he can play,” Brey said. “But we’re going to keep trying and keep seeing. We’re almost week-to-week instead of day-to-day now. Obviously there’s not a lot of weeks left.
“We’ve been playing for a while without him and that’s got to be our mindset,” Brey continued. “If something changes, my gosh, that would be a nice thing.”
Apparently it’s just a matter of waiting the injury out.
“A bone bruise just takes time. There’s no structural damage,” Brey said. “We really dodged a bullet. There’s no structural, ligament or cartilage damage.”
– ND, of course, has been playing pretty well without Harangody. The Irish nearly knocked off Louisville in Freedom Hall, then beat Pitt at home and Georgetown on the road.
Now they’re in decent shape for an NCAA berth.
“The power of the league certainly has helped improve our chances,” Brey said. “Obviously we still have work to do.”
And obviously both teams (UConn and Notre Dame) want Wednesday’s game badly.
“We’re going to get a team coming in here that’s really motivated,” Brey said. “We’re motivated.”
– Brey is wary of the way UConn has been playing, despite its loss to Louisville Sunday.
“Jim (Calhoun) being back and Kemba Walker playing the best basketball of his career,” Brey said. “Those are the things that strike me with them lately.”
– F Tim Abromaitis, the Farmington High grad and son of the former UConn player, has shouldered plenty of the load with Harangody out. And the opposition has taken notice.
“The one thing I noticed on Saturday (against Georgetown) was that he was really the focal point of the defense. They really came after him,” Brey said.
- Neill
