Notre Dame Basketball Preview: Expectations Are High For Experienced Irish

Look for Jackson to improve on his downside. That downside is in the area of shooting. From the floor, he shot 38.6 percents and from beyond the arc, he was 30.2 percent. Point guards are usually very good free-throw shooters. Jackson shot only 52 percent last season. Ideally, he needs to get into the mid-60s on free-throws and mid-40s from the field.

Kyle McAlarney (Senior, 15.1 ppg) just might be the nation’s premier three-point shooter. His range is almost to midcourt. As a matter of fact, McAlarney led the Big East in three-point shooting (46.3 percent in the Big East and 44.1, overall).

McAlarney is the perfect compliment to Jackson. He is a catch-and-shoot player. However, he is more. Underrated is the way he can drive the lane and score on the floater.

With his reputation as a long range bomber, teams might cover him outside. In that case, look for more drives this season from McAlarney.

McAlarney is also a very good free-throw shooter. Last season, he shot 82.1 percent from the line.

The Big East first teamer will be an important cog in this year’s team. With people doubling and tripling down on Luke Harangody, he might actually become the leading scorer on the team.

Notre Dame will go with a three guard lineup. The third guard is Ryan Ayers. Ayers played in all 33 games last season, starting 17 of them.

Ayers is another excellent long range shooter for the Irish. He was second on the team in 3-pointers attempted (122) and made (55) for an excellent percentage of 45.1. He is important as far as being a safety valve when teams concentrate on Harangody and McAlarney in their game plans.

Look for Ayers’ role to increase in his senior season. In Ireland, Ayers was on fire. He also seemed to take more of an active leadership role.

Ayers is also important for his defense. Much like Jordan Cornette, from a few season’s back, he is long. That really helps on defense, whether the Irish are in a zone or in man-to-man. Many times, coach Brey will put Ayers on the opposition’s best player.

Frontcourt

Projected Starters: Luke Harangody, Zach Hillesland

Off the Bench: Luke Zeller, Ty Nash, Carlton Scott

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