Notre Dame has been playing well as of late and has put itself in position to make a run in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. But even in victories, there have been scattered defensive issues that the Irish will have to overcome if they hope to reach a third straight Elite Eight.

1. Giving Up Offensive Rebounds

No defensive possession is over before the team grabs the rebound, and the Irish are ranked 236th in defensive rebounding (per KenPom). This will never be the team’s strength, (especially when they play smaller lineups) but the Irish can limit the damage if everyone helps out on the boards.

Rex Pflueger, in particular, has done a good job in this regard. In the first 24 games of the season, Pflueger grabbed three or more rebounds five times. In the most recent six games, he has reached that mark five times.

2. Switching Issues

As the Irish have embraced smaller lineups with Bonzie Colson as the only big man, they have resorted to switching screens a bit more on defense. This strategy has its advantages, but it can occasionally result in mismatches that can exploit Notre Dame’s lack of size. Below, Colson switches to guard Steve Vasturia’s defender, leaving Vasturia to deal with a big guy down low. He ends up just fouling to prevent an easy bucket.



The Irish have also made a few mistakes when switching screens away from the ball. These mistakes haven’t been too extensive, but they can’t afford to give up easy looks like below to quality teams



3. Rim Protection

The Irish’s lack of rim protection coincides with the rebounding issues in that they both can be explained by a lack of size in the interior. The team’s primary rim protector, Bonzie Colson, has done a pretty solid job, but when teams drag Colson away from the rim with pick-and-rolls, Notre Dame becomes very susceptible to giving up easy buckets inside.

Below, Matt Farrell and VJ Beachem do their best, but they’re only able to provide limited resistance at the rim.



4. The Athletic Driver

The Irish aren’t the most athletic team, so the defense will always struggle to deal with big athletic wings who can attack the basket.

5. Farrell The Weak Link Defensively

Matt Farrell has been extremely impressive on the offensive end of the floor this season but definitely struggles on defense from time to time. An anonymous scout called Farrell the “weak link” of the Irish defense, and they may very well be correct.