Mike Brey's motion offense gives each player the freedom to develop independently to benefit the group.

"He's a guy who definitely trusts us and in return that helps us to trust him,'' guard-forward Tim Abromaitis said.

Brey's loose approach helped Notre Dame lead the Big East in 3-point shooting (39 percent) and finish second in scoring (76.0). Bulls executive vice president John Paxson, a Notre Dame star from 1979-83, compared the way Brey corrects players to the way Phil Jackson used to wait until practices to make his strongest points.

"One thing I've noticed with Mike is when a kid makes a mistake on the floor, he lets it go,'' Paxson said. "He'll address it during a timeout or substitution. That leads to kids playing with great confidence. They believe in themselves and you see that in his teams.''