Behind Enemy Lines: 5 Questions For Irish Maven's Bryan Driskell

The Jackets & Irish tipoff tomorrow at 8:30.

After playing 6 of their last 7 games away from McCamish Pavilion, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are back home for the week starting with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tomorrow night at 8:30pm EST.

Ahead of tomorrow's conference matchup, SI's Jackets Maven sat down with SI's Irish Maven's Bryan Driskell to find out more about the Fighting Irish.

1. How is it that Notre Dame is so good at taking care of the ball? (i.e. low turnovers and high assist numbers) 

This has always been a staple of Mike Brey basketball at Notre Dame. The Irish are never going to have a roster filled with lottery picks or former five-star recruits, so maximizing possessions is of the utmost importance. 

2. John Mooney isn’t even the tallest person on the roster, but leads the nation in rebounding. What makes him so good at crashing the boards? 

He’s really smart and aggressive on the glass. Mooney understands positioning as well as any big man in the country. Whether that means boxing out or cutting to the glass on the offensive end of the court. He gets great reads on shots and where they are going to fall off, and his timing as a leaper is outstanding. 

3. Notre Dame is top 25 in the nation in both made and attempted three point shots. What makes them so deadly at the perimeter? 

Well, it depends on the game. When Notre Dame is knocking down shots they can compete with top teams, as we’ve seen this year. But when the shots are falling they can go very, very cold. Usually that results in slumps during games, but there have also been stretches this season where they couldn’t knock down shots. For me it’s a confidence thing. When the ball movement is sharp and the shooters are playing with confidence they can get hot. What tends to happen, however, is the guards start doing too much dribbling and the ball stops too much, and there are also times when shooters are unwilling to take shots unless they are wide open. But when this unit is moving the ball and playing with confidence they can be dangerous. 

4. In his pregame media availability, GT coach Josh Pastner said that Mike Brey is a Hall of Fame coach. Do you agree? 

Absolutely. To me being a Hall of Famer isn’t just about national championships. I also think it’s about longevity, consistency and maximizing what you can get from your program. I believe Mike Brey has done that. He’s been at Notre Dame for 19 years and he’s the school’s all-time leader in wins. He had the Irish near the top of the Big East standings for almost a decade during a time when the Big East was considered one of the best - if not the best - leagues in the country. He won an ACC tournament title in his second year in the league. For his entire career he has 526 wins, which is more than Nolan Richardson, Rollie Massimino and John Chaney among other coaches who are in the Hall of Fame. I think Brey’s reputation for doing it the right way in an era where that is rare is something that also should boost his stock in the eyes of those making such decisions. 

5. The Irish are 10-6 overall but 1-4 in ACC play. What has gone wrong for the Irish in league play thus far? 

They haven’t been able to finish. They had second half leads at North Carolina, at NC State and against Louisville, but in each game they failed to hold on late. A late comeback against Boston College fell short as well. Notre Dame has a very short bench, which was made even shorter by the season-ending injury to Robby Carmody. They seem to run out of gas late in games, and shots that were falling early stop falling. It goes beyond just ACC play as well. Notre Dame blew a 5-point lead against Indiana in the final minute. This team battles, but they just don’t have that guy like Jerian Grant or Pat Connaughton that can take a game over or make that big stop down the stretch.

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @GeorgiaTechSI

Twitter - @GeorgiaTechSI and Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp