Moses Wright is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top 5 in steals and blocked shots. (photo by Danny Karnik)
It may be too much to ask him duplicate a once-in-a-decade stat line, but Wright’s recent splits against Notre Dame have been impressive:
Moses Wright – Last 3 games vs. ND
- PPG: 19.3
- RPG: 6.3
- BPG: 2.0
Notre Dame no longer has double-double machine John Mooney, but 6-11 Juwan Durham gives the Irish a rangy pick-and-roll threat who also has touch from the short corner and elbows (Mooney was more of a pick-and-pop and pick-and-post guy). In many ways Durham has been an underlying key to Notre Dame’s resurgence:
Juwan Durham
- ACC wins: 15.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg
- ACC losses: 7.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Can Wright neutralize Durham when they both play the “5” Saturday? It’s a matchup worth watching.
*****
The Derby City almost sank another long three-point shooting streak.
Jose Alvarado’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer came was in dire straits Monday until the senior drilled a corner three with 1:08 to play. He now enters the Notre Dame game on a streak of 32 straight games with a three.
Dennis Scott still holds the school and ACC records with a made three in 69 straight games. His streak came to an end February 7, 1990… at Louisville.
Alvarado will lock horns Saturday with 6-3 Prentiss Hubb (14.5 ppg, 5.7 apg), a twitchy lefty and Notre Dame’s best creator off ball screens. Hubb scored a career-high 25 points at McCamish last year, including some cold-blooded buckets down the stretch.
*****
When Josh Pastner recruited Jupiter, Fla., native Nate Laszewski out of high school, he felt far more confident in his evaluation skills than his pronunciation skills.
“I could never pronounce his last name,” Pastner joked. “I just called him ‘Nate L.’”
(That’s a feature, not a bug. Pastner has a well-documented history of phonetic misadventures with players’ last names. He’s already bypassed “Gigiberia” and simply refers to his freshman forward as “Saba G.”)
One of the most improved players in the ACC, the 6-10 Laszewski is averaging 14.8 points and 8.2 rebounds on a conference-leading 50.9 percent from three. When Notre Dame plays him at the “5” he can be a particularly tricky matchup, able to run off picks or set “ghost screens” to get sneaky dive-cuts to the rim. He’s one of the cogs in a Notre Dame offense that runs plenty of four- and five-out motion, with players driving, kicking and re-attacking in search of open looks.
The Irish have revved up that system lately, shooting 54.7 percent from three in their last two road games. In spite of their 4-6 ACC record, they still rank 21st nationally in offensive efficiency. Pastner even invoked the Golden State Warriors – the “Splash Brothers” version, we presume – to describe their recent run of offense. Watch out for 6-6 Dane Goodwin (14.7 ppg last 3 games vs. GT), a streaky swingman who thrives off drag screens but can also pull up at the elbow. Can the Yellow Jackets close with high hands and win the 50-50 balls that eluded them against Louisville?
*****
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network from Learfield IMG College. See you at McCamish!
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