The Incredible Defense of Hannah Hidalgo: The Swiper of South Bend

"Her mindset is something we haven't seen, and I compare her to Skylar (Diggins-Smith), because that's how Skylar played. She came in as a freshman, played her type of basketball... high level, defensive-minded, competitive, really fiery... and that's what Hannah's showing me. I knew she was going to be that type of player when I recruited her, and it's like, oh my gosh, I would love to play with a player like that," says Niele Ivey.

When I was out in South Bend, Indiana for media day and to catch up with the Irish ahead of the season, Ivey illustrated with fine detail that freshman guard Hannah Hidalgo would be a program changing player.

She showed that off rip in Paris against South Carolina with a 31 point outing. Four games in, Hidalgo is averaging 25.5 points per game and 5.5 assists per game, shooting 52.9% from the field while getting to the line nearly eight times per game. However, the most eye popping number; Hidalgo is averaging 6.8 steals per game.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Every season under Ivey since she took over at Notre Dame has been predicated upon competitiveness. Her teams always scrap and fight, including the nation's 21st ranked defense last season. Yet, this season is at a different level, spurred on by Hidalgo, says Ivey.

"She ignites us, she's tenacious, she plays with a level of fire... she's the first line of defense, picking up full court, and everyone's just feeding off of that, they're just like, I wanna step up and play like that, so we haven't had that in a while."

It's simple to read a box score and make an assumption off stats, and reading Hidalgo's defensive stat lines does do her justice in a sense, but you have to watch her production on that end to get a true appreciation for that program changing ignition.

To Ivey's point about Hidalgo as the first line of defense, she is quite literally the tip of the spear for the Fighting Irish. So often, great defense is chalked up to rim protection and shot blocking, which is understandable. Most great defenses are set apart by having a game-changer on the back end.

Hannah Hidalgo is a rim protector, in the sense that she is so capable of consistently keeping the ball from getting traction downhill. No, she's not blocking shots at the rim, but with elite lateral quickness, and perhaps the best change of direction ability I've ever seen, she deters ball-handlers from even making their way to the paint.

She mirrors movements of her assignments in an almost impossible way. Have you ever seen the movie Annihilation? First off, great movie, wildly underrated and should've done so much better at the box office: If you have NOT, watch this, and you'll immediately understand what I'm getting at with Hannah. Every single game thus far, there's been a moment where you can freeze frame, screen cap, and put the "So you're probably wondering how I got here..." type of story onto with respect to opposing guards.

She's adept at cutting off lanes with her hips and foot speed, rarely if ever crossing her feet up on slides. You look to counter the next way and she's right back in front of you with that space gone. Maybe you find a gap, but it takes you a half second to find it and then Hidalgo spears the ball loose and is already headed the other way.

You don't necessarily look at a 5'6 point guard and think of the word strength, but Hidalgo has excellent functional strength, a sizable part of her ability to keep the ball in front. She takes tremendous angles and uses a low center of gravity to keep guards off balance and uncomfortable, giving her even more opportunity to poke the ball loose.

She times her pick-up points remarkably well, meeting ball-handlers at the proverbial apex where the maximal chance for success exists; she's an agent of chaos.

Her hand speed is remarkable, flicking jabs with ferocity and volume that would make Tommy Hearns grin. She's accurate, with her arms always out, shooting the gap as the final setup in her wide array of defensive tools.

What makes Hidalgo so amazing is that tenacity that Ivey alluded to and has spoken on numerous times this season. She does not stop. So much of being a great defender isn't about the turnovers forced, but about the consistent plays made to make those home run hits possible.

Hidalgo makes those third, fourth, fifth defensive efforts routinely in a play, which is often what creates that chaos she thrives upon. The freneticism and fervor of her slides and defensive get down are just soul snatching. No sequence showcases that more than this from Notre Dame's road game at NJIT.

She forces the original turnover off the inbounds, misses the layup on an awkward angle, immediately picks back up full court, slides, forces back to the middle, forces the hesitation, nearly forces the pick up, slides again and pushes back towards the middle as NJIT's guard goes behind the back.

Finally, daylight!

But, here's Hidalgo with the back tap, the ball is poked loose, she's running the other way, gets the ball and finishes the lay.

That is the Hidalgo experience for opposing guards right now, 25 seconds of hell on repeat for 40 minutes of play. Over a dozen actions and moves packed into that time frame, all strung together without rest.

That's special. The steals are cool, but again, it's the repeated efforts and attacks that make them pop.

Work the ball away from her, and she is just as pesky and in your grill.

You cannot turn your back to Hannah Hidalgo at any moment. She digs and stunts with intention, scouring for loose handles, unsuspecting bigs in the mid-post, and lackadaisical entry passes or swing passes. She's so good with her skills in recovery that she can goad opposition into thinking something is open before slinking in to pick six the ball the other direction.

She is tireless and always on the prowl.

There are a plethora of greta on-ball defenders who don't quite have the same level of off-ball aptitude, able to be taken out of a play with precise scheming, but Hidalgo's court vision, awareness, and defensive omniscience renders that moot. She is always in the play.

She's tremendous darting under screens, getting over top them, or squeezing the life out of them with her physicality and quickness. If she does get screened out (doesn't happen often), she's still not out of the play, and I think it may be my favorite part of what she brings.

So much of making switching effective, especially in late-switch scenarios, is effort and playing it tight. The point of switching is to remove gaps, almost like a vacuum seal. Despite her stature, she competes with bigs, using great positioning to get into them, stay in front, and make plays on the ball still, denying what would be an easy roll finish or post-up against the majority of defenses.

It's early in the season to be certain, but Hidalgo's play already has been joyous, it's been breathtaking, and what she brings all around is special, and her defensive play is sparking Notre Dame as they look to build off of a successful 2023 season.