Scouting Report: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Kentucky gets their first true road test of the season tonight when they take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After seven straight home games, many of which were against lesser competition, the players and fans alike are ready for a test. The Wildcats won all of those games, mostly in convincing fashion. In contrast, the Fighting Irish have lost four straight games to Division I opponents.

Notre Dame, led by head coach Mike Brey in his 22nd season, is 3-4 after last Friday’s ACC loss at Boston College. They play a tight rotation, slow things down in the half court, and try to win with efficiency. It will be up to the Wildcats to dictate the pace of the game. However, that is not always an easy task on the road in a hostile environment.

Let’s dive on in to the scouting report and get to know the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. We have a full personnel breakdown, plenty of talk about motion offense, how to attack their defense, and tonight’s key to the game.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Personnel

Starters

#0 Blake Wesley: 6’5″ 185 lbs, Freshman Guard

12.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.1 apg

Long, athletic guard. Started the last game at point guard. Play him straight up. Good shooter. Need to be tight enough to give a hard contest. No catch-and-shoot 3’s. Be active showing your hands while keeping your feet away to guard against the the right hand drive. No right hand drives. If he goes left he is going to spin or hop back to his right. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off of downscreens and flares. Athletic finisher inside. Make him score with you between him and the basket. Contest everything. Don’t help off of him. More shots than points for him. No layups.

#5 Cormac Ryan: 6’5″ 194 lbs, Senior Guard

8.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.0 apg

Shooter! No 3’s! Over half of his shots have been 3’s. Need to be there to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Not shooting a good percentage but he is a good shooter. He will drive it right once you take away the catch-and-shoot 3. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off of downscreens and flares. Do not over help when he drives. The deeper he takes it the more he is driving to pass. Make him finish over you. Don’t help off of him. No 3’s for him.

#23 Dane Goodwin: 6’6″ 208 lbs, Senior Guard

14.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.7 apg

Physical wing. Shooter! No 3’s! Need to be there to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Once you take the initial catch-and-shoot you need to decide between pressuring him or bouncing back to guard the right hand drive. You can get up and pressure him, but don’t get smoked going right. Not looking to pass as he drives it. Come help and take it off of him. Physical driver. Will use the shot fake on the perimeter and at the end of his drives. Stay down on the fakes. Will turn his drives into a post move when he gets deep. Right hand, left shoulder. Looking to spin back to his right to finish. Good offensive rebounder. Box out. Don’t help off of him. No 3’s!

#14 Nate Laszewski: 6’10” 235 lbs, Senior Forward

8.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.0 apg

Pick-and-pop forward. Shooter! No 3’s! 29 of 53 shots have been 3’s. Need to be willing to switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3’s. Be tight to him when he is out on the perimeter. They will go to a 5-out Motion when he is the 5-man and you need to be chasing him around and ready to switch. Can drive it right, but would rather him drive it than shoot the 3. Right hand, left shoulder inside. Very active on the glass. Box out! Do not help when he is on the perimeter. Switch when he ballscreens. No 3’s!

#20 Paul Atkinson Jr.: 6’9″ 230 lbs, Graduate Student Forward

11.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.1 apg

Physical post. Will spend his time around the basket. Posts up hard. Looking to duck you in at all times. Need to do your work early and fight to get him off of the block. No deep post catches. Get 3/4 of the way around in front to make it hard for him to catch it. His percentages will go down the further off of the block he catches it. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Make him score with you between him and the basket. No left shoulder baskets. Very good offensive rebounder. Be physical. Box out!!!

Bench

#3 Prentiss Hubb: 6’3″ 176 lbs, Senior Guard

7.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.0 apg

Lefty guard. Aggressive scorer. Good player that has not shot it well this season. Shooter! No 3’s! Despite his percentage you need to be there to take away the 3’s. Tight to him at all times. Pick him up in transition to take away the pull-up 3’s. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase him off of downscreens and flares. Going to drive it left when you take him away from 3. Stay on his hip and make him finish over you. Don’t help off of him. No 3’s! Coming off his best game of the season. Don’t let him get going early.

#2 Trey Wertz: 6’5″ 192 lbs, Senior Guard

4.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.0 apg

Backup guard. Will handle it quite a bit when he is in. Willing shooter but better as a driver. Just be there to give a hard contest to the catch-and-shoot 3’s. No right hand drives! Need bounce back after your initial closeout to guard the right hand drive. You can start by hoping under the ballscreens and handoffs. Stay between him and the basket. No right hand drives. No layups.

#22 Elijah Taylor: 6’8″ 242 lbs, Sophomore Forward

2.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.0 apg

Backup post player. Physical. Left hand, right shoulder in the post. Need to be physical on his right shoulder. Make him score with you between him and the basket. No deep post catches. His percentages will go down the further off the block you make him catch it. No right shoulder baskets. Box out.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Offense

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish offense is an interesting one to break down. It is a case of why watching the film will always beat studying the analytics, because some times the numbers actually do lie. Per KenPom, Notre Dame is 24th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency. However, when you watch them on film they do not look very good on the offensive end. That is somewhat backed up by the fact that their percentages are average to below average from three, from two, and from the free throw line.

So far this season, the Fighting Irish have not shot the ball well. They take a lot of threes, but have made them at just a 29.6% clip. Meanwhile, opponents are shooting a ridiculous 44.3%. That will get you beat. As discussed in the personnel section, this is a team that should progress to the mean and shoot it better throughout the season. A big home game with a great crowd could be just what they need to get going.

Under Coach Mike Brey, the Irish are a predominately Motion team. They will likely start the game in 4-around-1 Motion with Paul Atkinson Jr. inside. However, when Nate Laszewski is at the “5” they will move to a 5-out Motion to keep him out on the perimeter more. Also, they will run some Wheel Motion at different points throughout the game for another look. Regardless of what they are in, Notre Dame looks to utilize spacing and ball movement to create shots. At any given time they have four or even all five players on the floor that are capable shooters and drivers.

Cross Screen/Downscreen Entry into Motion

This clip will give you a feel for what some of their Motion looks like. The play begins with a cross screen/downscreen action as an entry into Motion. They are in a smaller lineup too with Dane Goodwin playing the “4.” With this lineup they are really looking to pound it inside to Atkinson Jr. We have to do a good job of not letting him get a catch with two feet in the paint like this. Make him come out further to catch it and be physical on the left shoulder.

X-Action into Motion

Here is a look at another entry Notre Dame likes to use to get into their Motion offense. They run an “X” action with one guard cutting off of a backscreen at the free throw line while the other guard comes off of the same backscreen to the other side. If the pass to a cutter is there they will obviously throw it, but this is really just setting up the dribble handoff. The Irish downscreen into a handoff after the initial “X” and at that point they are into their Motion.

On this possession they hit the post and screen away which opens up Cormac Ryan in a closeout situation. He swings it to Nate Laszewski who knocks in the triple at the top of the key. Chase #3 Hubb off of the handoff like Illinois does here, but then chase #5 Ryan off the screen on the wing instead of going under.

Another look at the same action as the last clip. The Fighting Irish go to their “X” entry and get to the dribble handoff once again. When they didn’t have anything the ball got kicked out to #3 Hubb up top. #14 Laszewski immediately ran into a high ballscreen and got into a closeout situation. This is why we need to switch the ballscreens that #14 Laszewski sets, especially when he is at the “5.” We can’t put our big men in this closeout situation or it’ll end up with a dunk like this.

Wheel Motion

Along with their more traditional 4-around-1 and 5-out Motion offenses, Notre Dame also runs some of these Wheel Motion. After hitting the wing they will set a pindown screen on the baseline and a flare screen up top. This is a continuity that they can run through multiple times, but usually within one or two rotations the Irish will just run into a ballscreen. That is what #14 Laszewski does in this clip. After two turns of the wheel they go to the ballscreen for #23 Goodwin to drive it right. He loves to turn his drives into a post move like this to use his physicality. Get physical with him and contest everything.

Staggered Ballscreen to Motion

One of Notre Dame’s favorite Motion entries is the staggered middle ballscreen. With this lineup in the first screener, #14 Laszewski, will pop while the second screener, #20 Atkinson Jr., will roll to the basket. Be prepared to stay tight to Laszewski as he pops and just cover the roll by dropping to the 5-man’s level. After the staggered ballscreen they are into their 4-around-1 Motion. After feeding the post to Atkinson Jr., the ball is kicked out and eventually thrown back in to #23 Goodwin. He will post up some like this if he has a matchup. Be physical on his left shoulder. You can come help some and make him kick it out.

Backscreen to Side Ballscreen

This is a set play they will run some to get #14 Laszewski into space on the wing. They hit the wing and then set a backscreen for the point guard cutting to the basket. After the backscreen, Laszewski is right into a side ballscreen. This is why we need to switch when he ballscreens. He is just too good of a shooter to give him space when you hedge.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Defense

The Fighting Irish are a man-to-man team defensively that will use their length to bother the ball and get you on their heels. They haven’t forced turnovers to this point in the season, but they try to make you work deep into the shot clock to get a shot. Look for the guards to try and keep you on a side with their defense on the wings and we may even see them “ICE” some ballscreens.

Inside, Notre Dame has the size to hold their own. They have been one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the country to this point in the season. Atkinson Jr. and Laszewski are both solid rim protectors.

We need to take them from the inside out this evening. Despite allowing opponents to shoot an insane 44.3% from beyond the arc, they have also held opponents to very few attempts. They do a good job of protecting the paint and the rim, so to get open looks from the perimeter we will need to play off of two feet inside and kick it out. Must attack in transition on any opportunity after a stop. Dictate the pace of the game. Do not drive it too deep and get into trouble with their size. Once you get a piece of the paint you need to start thinking about coming to a jump stop and kicking it out.

Keys to the Game

• Dictate the pace. Playing in transition starts with getting stops. Notre Dame wants to play slow in the half court. We want to play faster in the open floor. Hold them to below 43% shooting.
• No 3’s for #0 Wesley, #5 Ryan, #23 Goodwin, #14 Laszewski or #3 Hubb. Don’t trust their percentages. These guys are very good shooters and will keep taking them. At home, they will go in. Can’t let them get going from 3. Switch when #14 Laszewski ballscreens.
• Share the ball. Drive and kick. Be ready to dump it off as you drive to the basket. They do a very good job at the rim. Can’t over drive it and get into bad spots. Need 20 assists as a team today.
• Rebound. Notre Dame has been excellent on the defensive glass. One of our biggest strengths is offensive rebounding. Win that battle. 15 or more second chances today.