Looking Ahead To Nemesis Virginia

Notre Dame will kick off its ACC Tournament Thursday night when it takes on the winner of Virginia-Pittsburgh. Barring an upset, the Irish will take on Virginia, who came to South Bend in January and handed the Irish a 71-54 defeat. Add in the fact that it was Notre Dame’s 10th straight loss to the Cavaliers and it sure looks like Notre Dame will have quite a challenge on its hands.

Why the struggles against Virginia? It’s difficult to say, but it’s possible style of play has something to do with it. Offensively, the Irish spread the floor, move the ball, force the defense to scramble, and eventually capitalize on mistakes. But Virginia is arguably the most fundamentally sound defense in the country and rarely makes these mistakes (ranked No. 1 per KenPom).

Defensively, one of the Irish’s strengths is that they don’t give up free points at the line (20th fewest in nation per KenPom). But this doesn’t hinder Virginia’s offense at all, as the Cavaliers own the third lowest free throw rate in the nation (349 of 351 teams).

Additionally, Virginia plays at the slowest pace in the nation and prefers to just take its time and run its offensive sets (a lot of curling off screens). The Irish, who don’t pressure the ball much or try to speed teams up, generally allow Virginia to play offense exactly the way it feels comfortable.

Virginia would definitely present a very challenging matchup, but it’s worth mentioning that the Cavaliers have had some struggles as of late. After beating the Irish, Virginia went on to lose six of its next eight games. It owns a three-game winning streak currently, including a really impressive win over North Carolina, but I don’t view the Cavaliers as some major national championship threat.

So even though history isn’t on the Irish’s side, and even though the matchup itself might not be favorable, I give the Irish a real shot. I’d probably consider the game a coin flip.

Let Them Feed The Post

A lot of Irish opponents feed their big men in the post early on in games, trying to take advantage of Notre Dame’s lack of size (Bonzie Colson only 6’5). This strategy makes sense, but sometimes it actually plays to the Irish’s advantage.

Instead of running their natural offenses, teams can get out of their flow by forcing the ball to their big men. Also, a lot of these big men aren’t used to getting too many post touches and thus aren’t overly effective when they receive the rare opportunity.

The Return Of The Geben

After not playing a single minute against North Carolina State or Georgia Tech, Martinas Geben has returned. In the last two games combined against Boston College and Louisville, Geben has totaled 26 minutes, 10 points on 5-6 shooting, 8 total rebounds (6 offensive), 2 assists, and 3 steals.

He has appeared to be playing with some extra energy, which has been most evident through his offensive rebounding. Geben snagged three offensive boards in both contests, a statistic he only recorded in three of his prior 27 games.

It’s not clear how coach Mike Brey will manage Geben’s minutes in postseason play, but I think it’s safe to say he’s back in the rotation for the time being.

Two Fun “Two-Big” Offensive Sets

A product of Geben playing more minutes has been that he and Bonzie Colson have shared the floor together for some stretches. Since these lineups don’t have the Irish’s typical shooting and spacing, coach Brey has dialed up some offensive sets to try and get the offensive humming.

Here, Colson and Geben set screens on the block for Steve Vasturia and VJ Beachem. Vasturia uses Colson’s screen and Beachem uses Geben’s. Beachem gets an open midrange jumper and sinks it.

Here, the Irish start off in a “letter A” formation, and Colson and Geben again set screens for Beachem and Vasturia. Instead of passing to either, Farrell gives it to Geben and then uses his screen to get a good look from three.