Notre Dame is 13-2 on the season and is now 2-0 in the ACC after solid wins over Pittsburgh and Louisville. Part of this early success can be attributed to the Irish’s consistent style and effort, but the team’s versatility on both the offensive and defensive end has been crucial as well. This was very evident in the team’s 78-77 overtime victory over Pittsburgh.

Defensive Versatility

The Irish have largely played man-to-man defense this season. This defense has struggled at times (90th nationally in defensive efficiency) but the team’s offense (9th in offensive efficiency) has led to success in spite of this.

Having the capacity to mix things up on defense might throw opposing offenses out of rhythm and lead to better results on that end of the floor, and this is exactly what Mike Brey’s squad did against Pittsburgh. For most of the first half, the Irish played man defense, and the Panthers got off to a quick start. But with about 5:30 left in the half and the Irish trailing 29-21, the defense switched into a 2-3 zone.

It’s unclear how long Coach Brey initially intended on sticking with the zone, but it produced pretty good results, and the Irish used it for basically the remainder of the game (the defense switched back to man-to-man midway through OT, resulting in another adjustment for the Panthers). Pittsburgh scored 29 points through the game’s first 15 minutes (1.93/min) but only scored 39 through the next 25 minutes of regulation (1.56/min.).

Why the switch to the zone other than to mix things up? It wasn’t as if the Irish were getting beat badly in individual matchups. Pitt didn’t have any big post guy dominating down low or guards blowing by Irish defenders off the dribble. And it wasn’t as if the Panthers had shown the inability to shoot from the outside (8-13 on long 2s/3pt jumpers in 1st half). These would have been more traditional reasons to switch to a zone.

The Panthers’ hot early shooting was led by senior 6-9 forward Michael Young (25 points on the game), who was doing a lot of his work facing up around the perimeter. Since Pitt’s starters are listed at 6-9, 6-8, 6-7, 6-8, and 6-1, Young often ends up in the power forward/center position even if he’s more of a perimeter player (42.6% from 3).

This reality led Martinas Geben/Bonzie Colson to match up early defensively with Young. At 6-10, it was difficult for Geben to get out and guard Young on the perimeter.

The Irish switched Colson on to Young as a result, who fared a bit better. Still, Colson isn’t the best perimeter defender, and Brey probably didn’t love the idea of having his top rebounder and leading shot blocker away from the rim all game. The Irish already aren’t a great rebounding/rim protecting team, even when Colson is able to man the paint.

Pitt’s last basket before Brey switched to the 2-3 came when Geben closed out a bit late on a Sheldon Jeter jumper.

So along with simply mixing things up, this could have been part of the reason for the switch to zone. Playing a 2-3 allowed Colson/Geben to stay near the paint where they are more comfortable and effective defensively

Why did the zone defense work pretty well? It wasn’t as if the Irish played some outstanding zone, and I wouldn’t expect them to considering it’s something they don’t use that often. Pittsburgh didn’t look comfortable with the 2-3, not really attack the teeth of the zone, and settled for a lot of jump shots (Irish deserve some credit for this). The Panthers ended up hitting a decent 12-31 threes (38.7%) on the game but only had average success against the zone as a whole.

Mike Brey should definitely consider breaking the zone out more moving forward. It won’t always work well, but worst case it’s easy to switch back to man-to-man.

Offensive Versatility

I wrote a past article on the Irish’s two “go-to” offensive plays: the “Matt Farrell pick-and-roll with Colson/Geben starting around the top of the arc” and the “Colson post up.”

Regarding the Farrell P&R, I talked about how it was deadly when Farrell drew the attention of multiple defenders, which would leave an Irish sharpshooter open.

Above, two defenders go with Farrell and VJ Beachem is wide open. But Pittsburgh, with its starting lineup of four guys between 6-7 and 6-9, has the size and athleticism to employ a switching defense. The Panthers switched essentially every P&R against the Irish because they were confident any one of their athletic defenders would be fine matched up against anyone.

Here’s a switch on the Irish’s first possession.

As a result, Farrell and other Irish ball handlers weren’t receiving the typical attention of two defenders on pick-and-rolls and were forced to adjust a bit. It took a little while, but they were ultimately able to do so due to the offense’s versatility.

Although the Farrell P&R “go-to play” didn’t work quite as well in this game, this was a great matchup for the Colson post up. Pitt might have been able to switch pick-and-rolls, but they didn’t have anyone big enough to give Bonzie any real problems in the post.

Here are 2 of Colson’s 21 points on 10-20 shooting.

Colson could score in the post against anyone on the Panthers, but occasionally Pitt’s switching defense gave Bonzie an even better matchup relative to the rest. Below, the Irish see this and take advantage.

The Irish also took advantage when Pittsburgh wasn’t perfect on their switches. The below plays were designed to take advantage of a switching defense and they worked to perfection, resulting in two dunks.

And lastly, Farrell still found ways to make the P&R work. Here, the defender switches, Farrell catches him backpedaling to contain a drive, and he rises up and nails a three.

And in the biggest play of the game, Farrell draws the attention of two defenders in the P&R an unconventional way by rejecting the screen and finding Steve Vasturia for the winning three.

The Irish’s versatility should continue to pay dividends as the season progresses.