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Will Notre Dame Basketball Fill The Right Roles?

By Chase Eyrich

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: Bonzie Colson #35 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts after drawing a foul on a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the championship game of the 2017 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at the Barclays Center on March 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: Bonzie Colson #35 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts after drawing a foul on a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the championship game of the 2017 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at the Barclays Center on March 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame basketball comes in with talent, but can they fill the right roles?

College basketball fever is in full effect. Teams were allowed to start practicing last Friday. The Irish decided to take the weekend off and get things started Monday. There is a lot of excitement behind this season and Mike Brey has some high, but maybe realistic goals.

Brey is fully confident that his team can get back to an ACC Championship as well as something they haven’t accomplished since 1978. A Final Four appearance is the new standard of this program.

Brey is confident with these goals as he should be. If you look at this roster and you’ll see why. But this talented roster is without the skill sets of V.J. Beachem and Steve Vasturia. Brey is not concerned about replacing their talent, he’s more concerned with losing what else they bring to the court.

Brey said that those two were “Smooth Jazz” for the team. Two players who could always calm down the teams’ emotions in a tense situation. Last year, Vasturia hit the game-winner in overtime against Pitt but you would not have noticed with his stone cold reaction. They were two players that you just could not phase.

Irish Passion

Now, the Irish are full of emotional players. Emotional in all the right ways though. Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell and Rex Flueger play with a true love for the game. They are passionate and it shows on the court.

But, when it comes down to it, all three believe they can dial it down emotionally when the team needs it. Farrell who became a huge voice for the Irish last season, was fully confident that if it comes down to him, he can for sure be that calming presence.

Bonzie Colson might not be as vocal on the court, but he is the energizer bunny on the team. The man just keeps going. It did not matter how late in the game or in the season it was, Colson continued to rack up the double-doubles. Colson ended the season with 19.

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Pflueger also feels like he can step up himself. Mr. Effecient himself went 218 minutes, 11 consecutive games, without committing a turnover. But, he knows the efficiency cannot just be about taking care of the ball this year. He wants to let it fly.

Pflueger knows that the Irish have lost some shooting with Vasturia and Beachem graduating, and he wants to fill that role. Something that he thinks he can do thanks to working on his shot this offseason.

Three big talents, three big roles, and three big reasons to bet on the Irish during the 2017-18 season.