Feb. 16--College basketball doesn't have an All-Star break, but this past week sure seemed like one for Notre Dame.
After concluding a stretch of playing seven games -- five on the road -- in 20 days, the Irish finally got a break in their schedule, allowing some time to recharge physically and mentally headed into the final six weeks of the season. They resume play after a week off on Tuesday against Wake Forest.
For as good as Notre Dame has played this season, the Irish haven't had much time of late to sit back and enjoy the ride.
"It refreshed our bodies and refreshed some of our habits we covered during our training season mode and during the offseason," guard Demetrius Jackson said. "It was good to get back to those things and it was good to refresh. It gave us time to refocus, talk about some our goals. Sometimes, you can lose sight of those things."
The goals haven't changed -- continue to improve defensively to maximize the potential for a deep run into March. The Irish survived the most grueling part of their schedule having gone 5-2 and are still sitting pretty in second place in the ACC standings.
With just five conference games remaining, most against teams from in the middle and bottom half of the league, the Irish are in the driver's seat to receive a double bye in the conference tournament next month.
"What's great is you're able to practice more," coach Mike Brey said. "We talked about February improvement, and you can't really improve in February unless you have time to practice because you're not playing as many games in a short period of time."
Time and lack of rest won't be an excuse the rest of the season. The Irish have another break coming at the end of the month. They used this one to tweak all facets of their game. Defense was high on the priority list, but so was fine-tuning the offense, despite the gaudy numbers the Irish have put up this season.
One area of concern was the Irish's free-throw shooting. For as good of an offensive team as Notre Dame is, the Irish's free-throw numbers have been lacking in conference play. The Irish rank 10th in free-throw percentage at 69 percent -- perhaps as a consequence of the schedule.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame's offense seemed off key from its pitch-perfect opening to the season, sophomore V.J. Beachem said.
"We haven't been clicking as much the past couple of weeks as we were in the beginning of the season," Beachem said. "Off-the-ball movement and movement of the ball -- those were things we were doing earlier in the season. ... Lately, we've gotten a little stagnant."
But not all stagnation has been bad. The pause in the schedule gave a gassed Irish team a chance to refuel.
"We definitely needed it," Beachem said.
chine@tribpub.com
