Saturday, December 11, 1999
Notre Dame's Doherty trying to get Irish back up
New coach looks to restore ND to top-10 status
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Matt Doherty, the man hired to rebuild the Notre Dame basketball program, is a leaf off the Dean Smith-Roy Williams coaching tree. But Doherty, who brings his Irish team to Oxford today for a 12:08 p.m. game against Miami, isn't afraid to use the Bob Huggins method of motivation.
After the Irish lost an exhibition game to Marathon Oil this year, they were scheduled to have a day off. Then Doherty saw a headline in the South Bend Tribune that called Notre Dame's effort “lackadaisical.”
That set Doherty off.
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NOTRE DAME at MIAMI
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• When: 12:08 p.m. today
• Where: Millett Hall (9,200)
• Records: MU 2-3, ND 4-4
• TV: Channel 12
• Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450), WFMG-FM (101.3)
BY THE NUMBERS
• 6.2: Number of assists per game Rob Mestas is averaging, best in the Mid-American Conference
• 15: Number of games in a row Miami has won at Millett Hall
• 15.7: Number of points Anthony Taylor's scoring average is up this season over last
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“I've been called a lot of things,” he said. “But lackadaisical isn't one of them.”
Doherty had one of his assistants call every player and tell them to report to the practice court. But they didn't practice.
“We didn't even have any balls in the gym,” Doherty said.
The Irish ran and ran and ran. It went on for 90 minutes. They players had gone up and down the court 304 times.
“I ripped them the whole time they were running,” he said. “I can't make them quicker or jump higher, but effort is one thing I can control.”
The lesson worked.
“It was just unbelievable,” Irish star Troy Murphy told the Chicago Tribune. “There were guys who were dizzy, throwing up — guys were crying. I'd never been part of something like that, it was so unbelievable. But it made us much closer. There was a total change of attitude then. We remember that. We say "304' when we're in the huddle.”
Thus motivated, the Irish opened the season with three straight wins, including a 59-57 upset of Ohio State in Columbus.
Doherty feels like the team is on the right track.
“I remember when Notre Dame was one of the top 10 programs in the country,” he said. “That's where I want to be again.”
The Irish aren't there yet. They come to Miami 4-4. The losses are to Arizona, Maryland, Indiana and Vanderbilt — four teams that are a combined 23-3. Miami will be the seventh NCAA Tournament team from last season that Notre Dame has played in its nine games this year.
Miami beat Notre Dame at South Bend 76-65 last year.
“They're a lot better,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “It starts with Troy Murphy. He's awfully good. If you had an NBA draft today, and he came out, he'd be a top-10 pick.”
Murphy is one of three sophomores who start for Notre Dame. A freshman, Matt Carroll, also starts.
So the future looks fairly bright for a program that slipped into mediocrity over the years.
The Irish haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 1990. They are 26 games below .500 in nine seasons since.
Into that void stepped Doherty, 37. Doherty was a starter on North Carolina's national championship team of 1982. He spent three years as an assistant at Davidson, then joined Roy Williams at Kansas. He was there seven years before being named Notre Dame's coach on March 30.
He has installed the Dean Smith system at Notre Dame: the motion offense, man-to-man defense, down-to-little details.
“I have the rights to a Dean Smith franchise. I just hope I don't burn the fries,” he said after he took the job.
He sees progress. But, with the schedule Notre Dame plays, talent is essential to compete. This year's freshman class, which includes Mike Monserez from Moeller, is a good one. The Irish also did well in the early signing period.
Doherty sees Notre Dame getting back to elite status.
“That's my goal,” he said. “I think we can accomplish it. We've got some good young players. With effort, I think we can get there.”
Remember, effort is the one thing Doherty can control.
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