Everything Notre Dame Basketball Said Ahead of Facing Alabama

After downing Rutgers on Wednesday evening, the Fighting Irish will face 6-seed Alabama on Friday afternoon.

SAN DIEGO — Ahead of his 11-seed Notre Dame's Round of 64 game against 6-seed Alabama in the NCAA Tournament, Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey alongside players Nate Laszewski, Dane Goodwin, Paul Atkinson, Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan took questions from the media on Thursday afternoon outside of Viejas Arena.

Brey and Notre Dame took down Rutgers on Wednesday night in a play-in game to determine who would play the Crimson Tide. After defeating the Scarlet Knights in double overtime in Dayton, the Fighting Irish boarded a plane and landed in San Diego at approximately 4:30 a.m. PST.

Here is everything Brey and Notre Dame said ahead of their matchup with Alabama:

Transcript: Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

Opening Statement

“My second press conference today. So I want to be consistent and wish everybody a happy Saint Patrick's Day. We're thrilled to be here. Last night was just an amazing evening for our young guys, and we're hoping it gives them some confidence as we play against a very good Alabama team. Watching film of them on the plane all night is very sobering after a big win. They're really gifted. But we're excited about the challenge tomorrow."

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Q: Talking to Coach Oats earlier, he likes the fact that you guys are on a short rest, and the less depth than his team has. What's your answer to that when he says something like that?

“Thank God the timeouts in the NCAA Tournament are almost a minute longer than -- and the halftime is five minutes longer.

“We feel our guys are in pretty good shape. Old guys know how to play long minutes. And our older guys know how to do that. And I've actually, this year at times, used timeouts to rest people, which is what they were invented for in the first place, way back in the day.

“But you know, our seven are our seven. Those are the guys we've ridden to this point. That is a concern. I think we've got to keep an eye on maybe — actually in the second half yesterday we subbed, again, not more than seven but we rotated guys a little bit more. That's probably what we have to do tomorrow.”

Q: Was there Irish whiskey on the plane flight?

“Can you believe they froze me out of the Irish whiskey? I think it's a conspiracy because they know I wouldn't have made this or the practice and I maybe would have made the game tomorrow.

“So no, that's a good thing because we were able to prepare a little bit. And we got here 4:30 a.m. We were up and out quick. And thank God young people are young people. I told our guys — and I told them, sleep's very overrated during the NCAA Tournament. You just keep going on fumes.”

Q: You said you watched film of Alabama on the flight. The film is a lot clearer, concise, and strategy was good then?

“That was a better strategy than opening up some Jameson. But I'm going to get to that.”

Q: You're spending the day in lovely San Diego weather after a double-overtime win in the tournament. Where does it rank amongst the greatest Saint Paddy's Days of your career, and will you wear a green jacket?

“I think we'll stay with our uniforms being our blue, our road uniforms. But I had to go back and watch a little bit of last night. I forgot, there were so many great plays, and I've been in a few of those games. You've got to go back and look at it a little bit — and fearless plays by our kids. And that's the thing where you hope that gets you over the hump in a close game again.

“We did play in a lot of close games during the season. And we had different guys finish for us. But when you wake up after maybe three, four hours of sleep and it's 80 and you are looking at the water, it's pretty good because South Bend probably has lake-effect snow but I'm afraid to look what's going on back there.”

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Q: You kind of talked about a lot of this, but people love to call you the loosest coach in America blah, blah, blah. How much do you think that plays into sort of your ability to kind of roll with this? A lot of people in your position would be kvetching about what the NCAA did you to you. That doesn't seem to have crossed your lips yet?

“Maybe earlier in my career and back in the Big East days, I would get more anxious about, oh, our seed and we deserve this and this should be that. I'll tell you what, on my house in Sunday you could cut the tension with a knife.

“I've been in some tense locker rooms but nothing like my house waiting for us to show up because we went from, I think we're in great shape to, man, maybe we're not in great shape. And I was trying to come up with a speech if we didn't get it. And I didn't have one.

“Which is why I said the other day, there was no way this team would have played in the NIT. We would have flat out turned it down. We chased this as a goal for so long. And NIT is good for some rotations, but not this rotation.

“But yeah, I think they take the lead from me, too. And one of the things I told them, you just want access this time of year. You've got to have access to the tournament. Forget the seeds. And I talked a lot about UCLA springboarding. And last night, they springboarded off an overtime win in — it wasn't Dayton last year, and we went overtime. So kind of sold it that way and here we go.”

Q: No shorts? Did you forget to pack them?

“I do have some shorts, but I did not bring them. Can you wear them for the game? In San Diego, could I go shorts, like coaching shorts? I'll think about that. Carolina game last year, did you see my shorts look? Or two years ago; was it last year? Two years ago we broke them out.”

Q: Without the recovery stuff that you have back at Rolfs, how do you compensate for the quick turnaround and do different stuff while you're out here with Nixon?

“We do have some road recovery stuff which has really been good. And we've had some road trips, Miami, NC State, in previous years where we've been on the road for a while. And Nixon has been fabulous, the trainer we hired a couple of years ago from the NBA, with this stuff.

So he started working on them this morning. We're not going to do much in there but let Tony stretch them and get them back and get their legs moving.

“But kids, in their AAU tournaments, they play three games a day. They play back to back. And I think we'll have our energy back by tomorrow afternoon.”

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Q: You mentioned some of Alabama's gifts. What are those gifts that scare you? And on the flip side, you mentioned UCLA kind of using that as a model. What can you take from last year's win that they had against Alabama?

“What I did was I was mentally prepared to be in the First Four. And so I had my assistant print up, not only UCLA, but other people that have moved out of the First Four to Sweet 16 — VCU went to a Final Four out of there — and I handed that out so the guys could see the perspective of it and to try to really sell that — that that can be a springboard.

“As far as Alabama goes, again, the speed and the tempo, and then the shot-making ability from the 3-point line. One of the areas we really improved on was our 3-point defensive percentage. We weren't very good there the last few years. And we really improved there. That's a challenge because they can make double digit 3s easy.

“And we've been better at making more 3s than you. And it's almost been a little bit of an analytic for us. Hold them to single digit 3s, us get to double digits, don't foul — Rutgers only shot four free throws last night in 50 minutes — don't turn it over. It's kind of how we go. But it's a big challenge because they've got so many guys firing and they fire fast.

“And then the problem is they've got such athletic ability, if they miss, when that ball comes off the back rim, the 50/50 balls are a challenge to get because they have such quick reactive guys. When you play against them, defensively, the live-ball turnovers, they can create with the activity. We've got to be really, really good with the ball.”

Q: I know you've been in Prentiss' corner for a long time. Weren't you even a little impressed with what he did against, in that environment last night, with seven assists and no turnovers?

“I thought he was fabulous. He's just really bought in after a rough start. You and I have talked about it. Just running our team. I was really happy with — those seniors have talked about getting here. Now you've got to deliver. Can you deliver or is getting in enough?

“Nate Laszewski delivered and some. Prentiss delivered and then some. Even Dane after maybe not a great first half. And I was happy for those guys. Cormac.

“They talk about — you talk about wanting to be here but can you deliver? And I think that was a big breakthrough for some young guys. I'm excited for them.”

Transcript: Notre Dame Players Nate Laszewski, Dane Goodwin, Paul Atkinson, Prentiss Hubb, Cormac Ryan

Q: The quick turnaround for you guys, how are you guys feeling? Do you think that's a disadvantage going into Bama?

PRENTISS HUBB: I don't think it's a disadvantage, I think it's a kickstart for us being able to have one game under our belt and just finding our way and just getting a feel of the court. Maybe it's not the same court but we just get a real good feel of the game.

Q: Were you guys able to scout Alabama before last night's game against Rutgers or were you solely focused on them? What have you seen from this Alabama team?

CORMAC RYAN: Our coaching staff and kind of the entire team has been really good about prepping all season and they've done the same for Alabama. So we were expecting to be here and we knew we were going to play them. And so we've got a good grasp on what they do. And going into today and today's practice and tonight we'll continue to prepare and kind of look at it in more detail.

Q: Watching the game last night during those critical timeouts at the end, it seemed Coach Brey was as much a life coach as much as an X and O. He was kind of pumping you up — I know that's how he rolls. But what does that do you to as a player in a tight situation, his attitude and how he behaves in those huddles? A lot more people would be more tightly wound, I guess you could say.

DANE GOODWIN: It's great to have a supporter like that. Obviously he's been through those situations plenty of times. He's been in the tournament a number of times as well. So just going from experience and what he's been through. Speaking for myself and all of us as well, we've been able to kind of rely on that and the coaching staff. And also rely on each other, because we need each other in those situations. But it's also great to have him as, almost as a backbone and something to look at as an example.

PRENTISS HUBB: Along those lines, with what Dane was saying, him doing that instills that confidence in us and gives us the ability to go out there and even when we mess up, do a wrong play or something like that, he doesn't really — it just makes you move on to the next play really quick and give you that confidence to go out and play your best.

Q: What was that plane ride like last night? I know your coach said he might enjoy some Irish whiskey. Did you get any sleep? Was it a raucous atmosphere?

PAUL ATKINSON: Depending on the guys, some guys slept on the plane, some guys couldn't fall asleep. People were trying to come down from the adrenaline of a long game and all the energy. I think everybody was just trying to get to San Diego and resting up.

NATE LASZEWSKI: Just getting on the plane together, there was definitely a lot of adrenaline and excitement, of course. But over the course of the flight everything calmed down. And once we got to the hotel in San Diego it was definitely a good feeling to calm down a little bit.

Q: What did you guys learn about what playing in an NCAA Tournament is all about since you guys had never done it before last night?

PRENTISS HUBB: It's anybody's game regardless of who it is. Both teams are just going to have to step on the floor and play against each other. Doesn't matter what seed you are. Coach Brey has been preaching that to us even before we even started playing that. The numbers go away now. Now it's just us versus the other team.

Q: Cormac, how deep into the flight last night did the adrenaline kind of fade away a little bit and the focus became, all right, let's start looking toward Friday and what you need to do against Alabama?

CORMAC RYAN: Obviously after the game, we were all fired up. And like Nate said, the flight was good. It was decently long flight. Had some time to cool our heels a little bit and relax, take it all in. And I think kind of as soon as we touched down in San Diego, we were all happy that we accomplished what we wanted to do in Dayton and laser focused on the task at hand coming up.

Q: Paul, after your 26 points last night and obviously the game-winner, what has not even the last 24 hours, but I guess it's been about 20 hours or so, been like in terms of text messages, phone calls, hearing from your old Yale teammates?

PAUL ATKINSON: It's been awesome. A lot of support just outside of the Notre Dame community, too. My family reached out. I had a lot of people reach out, coaches, a lot of old teammates. Just all supportive of me and just congratulating me and always cheering me on.

Q: Cormac, Paul joining the team this year, what has he brought, what's been your reaction in terms of what he brings on the court and off the court?

CORMAC RYAN: Paul, as you can see, has been a great addition. He's really anchored us in the middle. He's brought a presence in the post both offensively and defensively. And on the court, off the court, he's a competitor and a great guy. So he's also pretty handsome. But he's been great for us. And I think he's really been a key piece to the team.

Q: Just what time did you guys get in this morning? And what's kind of the morning and early afternoon been like?

DANE GOODWIN: I think we rolled in, the flight landed around 3:45 in the morning, 4 o'clock. Probably rolled up to the hotel around 5:00. And got as much sleep as we could. Got some lunch, breakfast, whatever we needed. And kind of been hanging out, watching some games today. And then we came here. So we're trying to keep up on our rest, but also get dialed in and ready to go tomorrow.

Q: Prentiss, I believe you became the first player in the NCAA tourney since 2011, maybe ever, with 44 minutes, seven assists and zero turnovers. Where does it rank in your career and how do you keep it going?

PRENTISS HUBB: I think it all happened because of our last game, the Virginia Tech game. I had five turnovers, and I really just wanted to make like a point that I'm good with the ball and just didn't want to turn the ball over as much.

I didn't even know that was like a stat, like a thing. But just being there for my teammates and just being that point-guard presence, and if I'm not turning the ball over then the other guys, we're all going to keep flowing.