The End
The end to a very disappointing season came tuesday night in a 59-67 loss to Penn State in the NIT semi finals at the Madison Square Garden. No one expected us to be playing in the NIT semi finals and I don't mean that in a good way. The Irish at the start of the year seemed destined for at least the Sweet Sixteen. What went wrong? What went well?
Starters:
Luke Harangody: If someone were tell me before the year that he was going to average 23 ppg and almost 12 rpg, I would have been expecting a huge year for the Irish. The only thing was the gody's shooting percentages went down from a year ago. In the 07-08 year he shot .500 and in 08-09 he shot .459. I am guessing the one of the reason his percentages went down were because he would try to force shot and carry the team through long stretches of the game. Overall this season individually was a mild disappointment based on expectations going into league play.
Zach Hillesland: He completely failed at filling Rob Kurz spot on the starting lineup. He could not rebound at the same level as Kurz could. Which ultimately was one of the big reasons of failure this year. He was just not nearly strong enough. Overall: HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT
Ryan Ayers: Well he didnt do really good but he didnt do really bad. The only thing that stopped him from being one of the best players in the Big East was his inability to drive at the bucket. He actually shot the three worse by percentages this season than he did last. Overall: He was at best so-so this year.
Kyle McAlarney (K-Mac or McAmazing): The highlight of his year came in a losing effort against UNC in Maui when he drained 10 3's and had a career high 39 points. After that game teams started guarding him very tightly. This made it very hard for him to get open and square up towards the hoop. Overall: to me it was a disappointment I felt he could have averaged 18-20 points a game.
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Tory Jackson (T-Jack): He did pretty good at controlling the team but he did not do as well as last season when he averaged 5.8 assists. I felt he could have drove more and not have settled for so many free throw line jumpers. He improved his free throw shooting from last season but still shot 63% from the charity stripe. Overall: so-so.
Bench:
Luke Zeller (LZ): Some people might have expected him to fill Rob Kurz shoes but i definitely did not expect him to do that because that was not his role on the team. His role on the team was to come of the bench and to hit some big shots when we needed him. He only got to play 14 minutes a game but he certainly deserved to play more than Hillesland. Overall: its hard to say he did good by only getting 4 ppg and 2 rpg but its hard to say he did bad by only getting 14 minutes a game. He did so-so.
Ty Nash: I cannot wait to see what this kid can do next year. He probably should have been starting at the start of the season. By watching him and seeing his low post moves I think 
he can average 16 and 8 next season. He has to improve at the free throw line though. He definitely deserved more than a 11 minutes a game, he should have gotten at least more than 22 minutes a game which Hillesland got. Overall: He should so much potential this year i say this year he did good.
Jonathan Peoples: He came in the game when we needed him to and he either did good or alright but it never seemed like he did bad. I see him potentially competing for a starting job next year or the first guard to come off the bench. Overall: so-so
Carleton Scott: Well its hard to say very much about a guy who played 4 minutes a game. Next year he will be a key piece to the puzzle. Overall: Cannot be determined
Tom Kopko: Well he played 2 minutes a game thats pretty much all i can say. Next year i cannot see him playing any more than how Peoples played this year. Overall: Cannot be determined
Tim Andree: He played the least on the team other than the players who cannot play because they just transfered. He play under 2 minutes a game. Next year i dont see him playing very much either. Overall: Cannot be determined
