Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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school," Sherman said. "Not every night is go- ing to be like this; not every night is every- thing going to go in. I'm just trying to find my role, be aggressive and help the team." Having Sherman this season allows Cooley to be that much more ag- gressive, said Brey, who plans to rotate the two as well as play them for stretches at the same time. "I think Jack knows guard Scott Martin, who came to Notre Dame after suiting up for Pur- due in 2007-08, sat out the following season (and the next due to a knee injury), said there are aspects of the game that take a while to come back after missing a year's worth of games. "It's mainly the feel," the ball, created separa- tion with smooth hook shots and got up and down the floor well. "He's really light we've got guys coming off the bench, and it pre- sented a situation where Garrick was really able to help us and Zach [Auguste] came in, too," Brey said. Auguste, a 6-10, 230-pound freshman forward, made his Irish debut after coming back from an ankle injury. He scored four points and grabbed three rebounds in nine minutes of play. "I know Jack likes Martin said. "You lose your feel for a little bit. He got his back pretty quick. He did better than me. I think it's just kind of the rhythm of the game. It's hard to simulate that in practice — the whole 40 min- utes, TV timeouts, dead balls and keeping your- self warm. That was the biggest adjustment for me." "You can simulate as playing with Garrick," Brey added. "Those two guys like playing together. No one was more excited about Gar- rick's performance than Jack Cooley. That's how secure he is with this group." Sixth-year senior much as you want, but a game in practice is never really a game," Sher- man added. "It's never a game until you're on the floor in a game at- mosphere." Sherman, who shot 80 on his feet and crafty around the bucket," Brey said. "Scott Martin is a great team defender, and Garrick is right there with him. The two of them — the stretch they were playing together — at timeouts, they're talking about how they want to rotate and who they want to guard. "He's getting to be that guy that can come over and rotate with a big body really wisely. He's always been that way defensively from day one. He's an expe- rienced player. The of- fensive stuff he just kind of had to find a rhythm, and [against Monmouth] he did." As quickly as Sherman received the game ball, he zeroed out his emotions. "I made up my mind percent (8 of 10) from the floor, added a block and just one foul, proving he can effectively body up in the paint without get- ting in foul trouble. He went strong to the bas- ket, moved well without to be a little more ag- gressive and go out and just play my game instead of finding my niche," he said. "I played pretty bad last game, and I wanted to make a point to play better. I did that, but it's only one game." ✦