Heading into Notre Dame’s game at Florida State, it was clear that it would be a challenging matchup for the Irish, but the Seminoles’ personnel and style of play presented a particularly difficult matchup. Florida State has size and athleticism both on the interior and on the perimeter, they play really solid defense, and have a high-powered offense that has the ability to shoot the three.

Although the Irish played well and really battled in its 80-83 defeat, the matchup did indeed prove difficult. The Seminoles shot 50% from the field, 7-17 (42%) from three, and Florida State’s size resulted in 11 blocked shots and 11 offensive rebounds.

The fact that the Irish put up 80 points is slightly misleading in terms of evaluating the offense’s performance. Florida State plays at the 27th fastest pace in the country, which contributed to this game having a lot of possessions. The Irish’s 76 offensive possessions were actually the most it has had in any game this season.

When one takes this into account, the Irish scored 1.05 points per possession, a pretty good number, but considerably lower than the 1.152 point per possession the offense has scored on the season.

Playing at a faster pace put the Irish at a bit of a disadvantage. Not only were the Seminoles more used to this style, but Florida State is 18th in the nation in bench minutes. This means the Seminoles continue to have relatively fresh bodies even when the pace is very up tempo. The Irish on the other hand, are 322nd in bench minutes. And although it wasn’t obvious that the limited number of Irish rotation players were getting worn down due to the pace, this likely played some factor in the game’s outcome.

Game Breakdown

Pick-and-Roll

Florida State was capable of playing lineups with four shooters and a big man, the type of lineup the Irish tend to play. Here, the Irish get a taste of their own medicine when it comes to the P&R offense of the Seminoles. The Irish send two guys at the ball handler, and VJ Beachem is responsible for the roll man. He ultimately leaves him, however, because he is worried about an open shooter. FSU gets a dunk as a result.

Florida State’s pick-and-roll defense strategy made things tough, as the Seminoles employed a P&R defense that I think is most effective against a team like the Irish. Below, Martinas Geben sets a pick for Matt Farrell, and Farrell’s defender chases him over the pick. Geben’s defender drops back, ready to contain Farrell if need be, but also never losing track of Geben.

The reason this defense is effective is that there is no need for a third defender to guard the roll man and leave a shooter open (e.g. Geben’s defender is still effectively guarding him). The Irish are great at taking advantage of teams that send a third defender at the roll man.

Here’s another example of effective P&R defense by Florida State.

I think teams should utilize this style of P&R defense more. The only potential downside is that by having the roll man’s defender drop back towards the paint, the ball handler may have room to take an open three or midrange jumper off the dribble. But for most basketball players outside of Steph Curry, off the dribble jumpers are pretty difficult and don’t tend to be very efficient.

Shooting/Turnovers

The Irish were unbelievably hot from beyond the arc, hitting 15-21 threes. Some of those were great looks, but the Irish did manage to hit some of those difficult off the dribble threes.

As good as the Irish are at shooting, this game was a bit of an outlier in terms of the way they managed to shoot the three. If they hadn’t been as hot as they were, would the game have been as close as it was?

Although the Irish would have a hard time replicating their shooting performance, the team also had an uncharacteristically high number of turnovers (18, averaging 10 on season). A lot of this could be attributed to Florida State’s length and pressure defense, but the Irish also just kind of had a sloppy night. If the game were played again, the Irish probably wouldn’t have shot so well, but also probably wouldn’t have turned the ball over so much. So maybe things would have evened out.

Taking advantage of the pressure

Although Florida State’s pressure defense contributed to some turnovers, the Irish were at times able to take advantage of it to generate open looks. Here, an FSU defender unnecessarily helps too far off TJ Gibbs, resulting in an open three.

Temple Gibbs played really well, scoring 12 points on 4-5 shooting. Maybe the most impressive thing was how aggressive he was at attacking the basket. As a freshman, Gibbs is already a valuable weapon for the Irish and he is quickly gaining confidence.

Here Farrell takes advantage of the pressure defense by using the backdoor cut the Irish are so good at. Colson delivers a nice pass.



2/3 Zone

The Irish utilized the 2-3 zone throughout the game with mixed effectiveness. The Irish showed zone with 18:50 in the first half, 5:30 in the first half, 10:11 in the second half, and 6:25 in the second half. Around that 5:00 minute mark seems to be the around the time Brey tends to call for the 2-3.

Fun Fact

The Irish were the 19th team since 2010 to make 15 threes and shoot 70% or better from three. They were the only team to lose that game.

Syracuse Game

While Florida State might have been one of the toughest matchups for the Irish in the country, Syracuse was actually a great matchup. As a result, it wasn’t surprising when the Irish won at home by the score of 84-66. Syracuse plays a 2-3 zone, a defense that requires great three-point shooting and great passing to excel against. Well, the Irish have both, with the 7th best offensive turnover % in the nation and the 7th best three-point %. Syracuse’s defense also isn’t as good this year as it has been in the past.