Tag: North Carolina

Notre Dame Basketball Player Review: Nate Laszewski

When an underclassman comes off the bench one season, he often performs well enough that you know he’ll be starting the following year.

When an underclassman comes off the bench one season, he often performs well enough that you know he’ll be starting the following year. Sophomore Nate Laszewski has all but assured himself of that after a solid season of 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds a game while averaging 21.0 minutes. With Notre Dame set to lose senior forwards John Mooney and Juwan Durham, Laszewski’s table with the starting five is ready.

Statistically, Laszewski had his best game in a Jan. 29 win over Wake Forest, scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting while also playing solid interior defense. In other games, he proved he can handle big moments. Most notably, he hit the deciding 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds in a one-point win over North Carolina on Feb. 17. He also forced overtime Nov. 21 vs. Toledo with a buzzer-beating 3, and the Irish went on to win.

Laszewski’s only getting started with his Notre Dame story, and barring some major setback, the best still is to come.

North Carolina sports betting: Is legal sports betting available in North Carolina?

Is sports betting legal in North Carolina? We look at the latest information.

Yes, sports betting in North Carolina is legal.

Sports betting in North Carolina

North Carolina became the seventh U.S. state in 2019 to legalize wagering on sports when Democrat Governor Roy Cooper signed bill S 154 into law back in July 2019.

The legislature in Raleigh did not pass a mid-session proposal in 2019 to ban wagering on in-state collegiate teams such as Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State, Wake Forest, etc. …

Online sportsbooks in North Carolina

None.

Retail sportsbooks in North Carolina

Retail sportsbooks are limited to two State Tribal Casinos located in the Cherokee, N.C. area, which is roughly an hour southwest of Asheville, and approximately three hours west of the Charlotte area.

For more sports betting information and betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com. And follow @SportsbookWire on Twitter and on Facebook.

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Notre Dame Basketball Player Review: Chris Doherty

Chris Doherty lasted six games with Notre Dame this season before deciding to leave the program and transfer in December.

For the next 11 days, we’ll be taking a look at what each player who suited up for Notre Dame men’s basketball did on the court. Even if the season didn’t go or end as planned, let’s give this gentlemen a proper sendoff for the 2019-20 season.

Sophomore power forward Chris Doherty lasted all of six games with Notre Dame this season before deciding to leave the program and transfer from the university in December. This, coupled with Robby Carmody’s ACL tear at the same time, left the Irish with very little depth, and they didn’t have much of it to begin with. Doherty never seemed comfortable with the program, as evidenced by him temporarily leaving the team before his freshman season even began. After returning, he struggled to find minutes all that season, and that trend continued this year before he decided he’d had enough, so the writing was on the wall for some time.

What little productivity the Marlborough, Massachusetts, native and former AAU teammate of Nate Laszewski had this season came during Notre Dame’s six-game winning streak that followed its season-opening loss to North Carolina. Doherty made his only field-goal attempt and also had a rebound, a steal and a block Nov. 12 vs. Howard. In his final game with the Irish (Nov. 26 vs. Farleigh Dickinson), he scored four points on 2-of-3 shooting and grabbed one offensive rebound.

It’s a shame Doherty didn’t work out in South Bend, but we wish him well in his future endeavors.

ACC Tournament Bracket Set

The ACC regular season has come to a close and the transition to college basketball’s postseason now begins. Find out who and when your squad is playing here!

The ACC regular season has come to a close and the transition to college basketball’s postseason now begins. For Notre Dame that means the ACC Tournament which gets started in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday.

In beating Virginia Tech on Saturday, Notre Dame locked up a 10-10 ACC record and seventh place conference finish. They get a first round bye as a result and will play No. 10 Boston College on Wednesday night as tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.

If Notre Dame wins that they will play No. 2 Virginia on Thursday night at 7 p.m. and the winner of that contest will play the winner of the No. 2 Louisville, No. 6 Syracuse, No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 14 North Carolina pod.

No. 1 Florida State and No. 4 Duke sit on the other side of the bracket.

Early impressions from me are that this is as good of a draw as Notre Dame could hope for. A Boston College team they should beat, a seconded-seeded Virginia squad they should have beat on the road earlier this season and then a potential semi-final draw that wouldn’t be against the only team to really run them out of the gym in an ACC contest this year.

March Madness is upon us. Here’s to hoping for a nice run into maybe Friday night for Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Latest Thriller Beats Boston College

Can someone please tell Notre Dame it’s allowed to have easy wins that don’t induce heart attacks as it tries to keep its season alive? Then again, if the Irish somehow get into the NCAA tournament, everyone will remember moments like last week’s …

Can someone please tell Notre Dame it’s allowed to have easy wins that don’t induce heart attacks as it tries to keep its season alive? Then again, if the Irish somehow get into the NCAA tournament, everyone will remember moments like last week’s thriller against North Carolina and Wednesday’s equally exciting win over Boston College. At the very least, T.J. Gibbs has a memory that will stay with him forever. Relive the moments that defined Ash Wednesday’s incredible game here:

 

Notre Dame Basketball: Hopeful vs. Hurricanes

Notre Dame has no room for error if it wants to pull off a surprise and receive an invite to March Madness. That will be a tall order without winning the ACC tournament, especially in a down year for the conference. The strive towards perfection the …

Notre Dame has no room for error if it wants to pull off a surprise and receive an invite to March Madness. That will be a tall order without winning the ACC tournament, especially in a down year for the conference. The strive towards perfection the rest of the way begins Sunday against Miami. Not saying the chances of this scenario playing out are very good, but crazier things have happened.

After a thrilling last-second win over North Carolina, the Irish (16-10, 7-8) will look to build that momentum against the Hurricanes (14-12, 6-10), who have four of the programs’ past five meetings. Notre Dame has won only two of the seven matchups since the programs became ACC rivals.

The Irish on pace to lead their conference in fewest fouls committed for the ninth time in the past 10 times, but if the season ended today, their 12.5 fouls a game would be well ahead of the 13.1 average they accumulated during the 2017-18 season. In short, Mike Brey’s team has exceeded its reputation in one of the areas it has excelled in for the past decade.

Watch: Four Quick Thoughts on Roy Williams F-Bomb

Roy Williams doesn’t usually crack quite like that.  The only thing to come to mind for me is Bonnie Bernstein upsetting him because she dared to ask him about leaving for North Carolina after his Kansas team lost is the only to leave for North Carolina shortly after.

Roy Williams is a college basketball legend.

He’s won three national championships during his time at North Carolina, led his teams at Kansas and Carolina to a combined nine Final Four appearances and has coached 11 Consensus All-Americans.

The 2019-2020 season is another story however as Williams and North Carolina are just 10-16 after Notre Dame beat them in the final seconds Monday night.  After surrendering a 15 point lead Williams finally cracked, at least as much as he can in front of a camera.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94SKA1uF7xs?start=131&w=560&h=315]

A few thoughts on this one:

  1.  Has anyone ever apologized faster than that for letting the mother of all cuss words fly?  The apology is legit out before the f-bomb is even completed.
  2. It just breaks your heart to see North Carolina basketball going through this tough run.
  3. Roy Williams doesn’t usually crack quite like that.  The only thing to come to mind for me is Bonnie Bernstein upsetting him because she dared to ask him about leaving for North Carolina after his Kansas team lost is the only to leave for North Carolina shortly after.
  4. I am no way, shape or form offended by his honest slip-up but am offended by you if you are.

Watch: Notre Dame’s Thrilling Win Over North Carolina and Mike Brey’s Postgame

One of Notre Dame’s most thrilling games of the season came down to the wire. The Irish haven’t done well in close contests this year, but Monday proved to be the exception and not the rule. See how it went down: Mike Brey shared his thoughts …

One of Notre Dame’s most thrilling games of the season came down to the wire. The Irish haven’t done well in close contests this year, but Monday proved to be the exception and not the rule. See how it went down:

Mike Brey shared his thoughts afterward:

Notre Dame Basketball: Laszewski’s Late 3 Beats Heels

All too often in conference play this season, Notre Dame has been unable to seal the deal in close games. On Monday at least, that all changed. After letting North Carolina turn a nine-point lead into a 14-point deficit, the Irish roared back and …

All too often in conference play this season, Notre Dame has been unable to seal the deal in close games. On Monday at least, that all changed. After letting North Carolina turn a nine-point lead into a 14-point deficit, the Irish roared back and won in thrilling fashion, 77-76, after going on a 13-3 run.

Trailing, 76-74, in the final seconds, Notre Dame (16-10, 7-8) had a chance to right its wrong of failing to protect its lead from the Tar Heels (10-16, 3-12). First, John Mooney missed a game-tying basket. Rex Pflueger grabbed the offensive rebound, kicked out to Nate Laszewski, and, well, just watch:

Prentiss Hubb led the Irish with 20 points and a game-high eight assists. T.J. Gibbs scored 11 of his 14 points on four 3-pointers. Mooney got back in the double-double column with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Laszewski scored 11.

Whatever the Irish’s chances are at dancing in March (likely small at this point), this will at least keep them in the conversation for the time being.

USA TODAY’s Latest Bracketology Not Giving Up on Notre Dame Yet

One outlet that hasn’t given up on Notre Dame’s NCAA Tournament chances quite yet is the USA TODAY.

After the then No. 7 Duke Blue Devils dismantled Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon I think most Fighting Irish fans who hadn’t already, began coming to grips that this team is probably headed to the NIT.

Considering the injuries, departures and lack of a bench that’s not a terrible accomplishment.  Obviously the goals are stated higher than that but all things considered this has been an impressive team in terms of what they’ve accomplished despite often being over-matched in talent.

One outlet that hasn’t given up on Notre Dame’s NCAA Tournament chances quite yet is the USA TODAY.

The outlet released their latest “Bracketology” on Monday and Notre Dame isn’t even listed on “life support” for their chances yet.  They’re still listed in the category “Others considered for at-large bid”.

I’m a little surprised but there is still a lot ahead for Notre Dame.  Most importantly that begins in a couple of hours when a poor North Carolina teams comes to town in an absolute must-win for the Fighting Irish.

Following the Tar Heels tonight are dates with Miami, Boston College and Wake Forest which are all very winnable before a tough one on March 4 when Florida State visits South Bend.  The regular season concludes March 7 then as the Irish host Virginia Tech.

IF – and I can’t state that enough – IF — Notre Dame has a strong showing of at least 4-2 and more likely 5-1 in these next six, they’ll perhaps finish above .500 in conference play and approach the 20 win mark if not surpass it with an alright showing in the ACC Tournament.

This isn’t a team that’s by any means built to go on a deep tournament run and heck, it’s going to still take a lot of work to get there, but sign me up for even still being seen as having a chance at this point because I didn’t think there was a snowball’s chance in hell of that a few short weeks ago.

Now go beat Carolina.