Inequity. That was the first word that came to mind Saturday as I watched Notre Dame drop their fifth straight ACC contest. Each of the five losses have had their own special brand of heartbreak. The 80-75 home defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech stung because it simply felt unfair.

Unlike the UNC game that was acutely and unabashedly stolen by crooked officiating, the VT game felt different. There’s not an atom in my body that feels like VT is the better team or the better program. I’m convinced that the Buzz Williams Coaching Show ™ can’t hold a candle to Mike Brey’s program building. Notre Dame had all the pieces in place to build an ACC contender, yet there was Virginia Tech walking off the Purcell Pavillion floor victorious. The Hokies were the one getting every bounce and roll in South Bend while the home team couldn’t buy a break.

Virginia Tech shot the lights out. They had 3 players shoot 50% or better from behind the arc on four or more attempts. Senior Justin Bibbs made all four of his attempts from deep. The Hokies shot 14-25 from behind the arc (56%) to win their first game over Notre Dame in nearly a generation. That, frankly, stings too.

It stings because it never felt like a fair fight. As the father of teenagers, “Life isn’t fair,” escapes my lips on a regular basis. Honestly, it is the only equitable assessment of the 2017-18 Fighting Irish basketball squad.

You can try to get mad at TJ Gibbs’ five turnovers or 3-10 shooting inside the arc. You can want Elijah Burns to be better than 0-2. You could lament Rex Pflueger missing two big FT’s late. All of these are valid complaints. However, you’d be missing the big picture.

No team in America is built to withstand the kind of punishment Mike Brey’s squad is taking. Even the one-and-done factories, like Duke, can’t absorb three of their top guys going down. Maybe if it those injuries left the top guy or top two guys in place, you could make it happen. Sadly, that isn’t the case for ND. Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell, and DJ Harvey’s 42 points per game have been converted to cheerleading. They’re cheering for guys that no one was expecting to play the roles they’re forced to step in to.

Unsung Heroes

TJ Gibbs entered this season fitter, faster, and hungrier. He also came in expecting to play a supporting role to the ACC Preseason POY. He expected to work off the ball next to a proven senior leader. Instead, the sophomore has carried a much heavier burden. Here are TJ’s minutes in ACC play: 36, 38, 40, 39, 48, 40 40. That’s right, he’s averaging 40.13 minutes per game in conference play. He can’t realistically come off the floor. For a guy who seems to love to play tough defense, the wear and tear of carrying the offensive load every night has to be a grind. TJ is doing all of this and telling his coach that he’s upset that he can’t do more. He’s going to be a great leader on the ball for ND, and this experience is valuable. He’s been a lion for this team.

Rex Pflueger’s foul trouble against Louisville kept his minutes behind TJ’s, but the effort has been just as admirable. Another guy who was planning on moving the ball, hitting a few open shots, and playing great defense has been asked to do, and be, so much more. It is hard to imagine a guy wanting it more than Rex. He plays so hard. He’s Connaughton-like in his effort and leadership, and that is exceedingly high praise. He’s an almost perfect glue guy asked to play a leading role. You can almost see his wheels spinning a bit on offense. You want nothing more than for him to play loose and free, but in a desperate attempt to find any offense at all, he’s forced to press. He’s a warrior, and when he looked like he might be the latest victim Saturday, my heart nearly stopped. Criticize his shooting form or finishing on offense, and I’ll listen. Breathe a word of criticism of his effort, and I will seriously fight you.

Before this season tipped off, you could be forgiven if you expected little out of Martinas Geben. Brey’s recent success in “downshift” line-up’s, and the inevitable rise of DJ Harvey looked as though they might squeeze the senior out of the main picture. The big Lithuanian’s play, however, has cast him in a central role. Geben is grabbing nearly 11 rebounds per game in ACC play, second only to Duke’s Bagley. He joins Bagley, Doral, Carter and Maye as the five ACC players averaging double-double’s in conference play. Most importantly, the confidence and effectiveness Geben has shown serves as testament to Brey’s coaching ability. Geben’s progression from an bit part to a pro prospect is remarkable. Brey and his staff should print Geben’s story on recruiting brochures around the world.

John Mooney is a guy some fans will occasionally pick on. Yes, there are times he struggles on defense. There are other times the Florida sophomore looks a little sped up on offense. Saturday night, however, Mooney seemed to settle in to the pace of the game and contributed his first career double-double. I wanted Mooney to preserve his eligibility last year. Based on some of his early performances, it looked like it would have served him well to have an additional year of seasoning. However, if Mooney can continue his arc of improvement, he could be a key cog in the next two campaigns. Mooney is both learning, and demonstrating, the kind of effort and intensity required to be successful in ACC play. His future seems bright.

A month ago, Nik Djogo had to figure he was going to spend 2018 biding his time. With four DNP-CD’s on his season resume and little more than mop-up duty in his appearances, his primary role was to run the blue team. Over the last five games, the Canadian in his first year of eligibility averaged over 27 minutes per game. He’s shown flashes of athletic brilliance and moxie. He’s also shown rough edges and inexperience. Like everyone associated with the program, he’s doing everything he can to right the ship.

Emptying the Tank

That’s really the thing, isn’t it? They’re all working their asses off. Guys are playing roles they were never meant to play. Bonzie Colson is a great radio co-host, bench presence, and fashion icon. He’s a lot better basketball player, and his place is putting up double-doubles and antagonizing ACC blue-bloods. Matt Farrell’s swag and love for his team looks much better in an Irish uniform than street clothes. EVERYONE in the ND program is doing EVERYTHING they can with this crappy hand they’ve been dealt.

Listen to this and tell me they’re not going as hard as they can.

Inequity. It is that feeling when the results don’t seem to match the effort. You just can’t shake the feeling that these are good guys working hard, and the breaks haven’t gone their way. Despite that obvious injustice, not a single player or coach has been seen hanging their head. They aren’t complaining. They aren’t making excuses. Not once. There’s not a single instance you can point to of a guy dogging it or giving less than 100%. Think about that before you let a whisper of frustration towards Brey, the staff, or any player cross your lips. It is easy to be pissed off that the ACC looks there for the taking this year, and ND won’t be competitive. It is simple to look at the national picture and wonder if a full-strength ND could make an unprecedented run. It is easy to let all of that frustrate you. Just don’t let that frustration with the situation migrate its way to anyone associated with the Notre Dame basketball program. They don’t have time for complaining. It is obvious they’re using every fiber of their beings to figure out how to win. That deserves our admiration and respect, even if the results aren’t what we dared to dream earlier this season.