Aday Mara

7.5 pts, FG2-48.6%, FG3-0%, FT-33.3%, 6.2 reb, 1.8 ast, 0 st, 2.8 to, 3 blck

If we look at Aday’s last year’s performance compared to this one’s, one could say he had a rather disappointing showing on this occasion. Although, he looked like he added a few pounds to his frame and felt a touch more confident with his body. He still struggled with physicality, complained about contact and hasn’t improved much his stamina. At times he looked like a deer in the headlights, had a hard time trying to get into a balanced position, too often got dislodged and was forced to move his pivot foot. Was lucky because he got away with travelling quite a few times. With all that out the way it is needless to say that Aday has a rare blend of size with mobility and is a very intriguing prospect. He operates at heights not many players are capable of. Alters a lot of shots inside, can see over the top of the defenses and was able to thread the needle from the top of the key, showing impressive vision and delivering some very neat passes. Could be a bit more careful though. Was able to get some easy buckets inside, mainly thanks to good positioning, simple catch and finish situations, but expected more from him trying to create for himself. Again, limited because of physical shortcomings.

(Written by Igor Chytrzynski)

One of the most intriguing prospects to emerge during this tournament. 2005-born Aday Mara stands at just under 7’2” (218cm), has fairly high, but not very wide shoulders, large hands, pretty good coordination and light feet. Offensively he showed some promising soft touches around the rim combined with nice footwork as well as some stronger finishes above the rim. Although, he does need to work on his vertical pop as he had moments where he barely managed to put the ball in the tin and his jump looked too short. Didn’t show much of his shooting ability in the game, but judging from his free throws he does have a repetitive form, but his left hand seems to be engaged too much in the shot, messing up his accuracy. On the other end, he read the game well, made regular timely rotations over from weakside and was aware of interior affairs resulting in 3.5 blocks per game, the highest number in the event. Also led the tournament in rebounds, grabbing on average 10.5 boards per game, impressive given he only spent 18 minutes per game on the court. Found himself in good spots and done a nice job of not bringing the ball down on his rebounds and extending his arms fully keeping it out of the reach of opponents.