Ben Saraf & Noa Essengue Thoughts: Ulm vs Sopot
Saraf and Essengue's EuroCup season debut was full of highlights
Ratiopharm Ulm beat Polish team Trefl Sopot in the first game of Eurocup on Wednesday 96-93 in an overtime thriller. Below are my notes of Ben Saraf and Noa Essengue, both players who came off of prominent summers. Saraf played for Israel’s U18 team that finished 4th place, and Essengue played in the Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT).
Saraf finished with 17 points on 7-17 shooting with three rebounds, ten assists, three steals, three blocks, and six turnovers in 35 minutes. Essengue recorded 18 points on 5-7 shooting with six rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block, and one turnover in 27 minutes.
Saraf:
First two shots were blocked at the rim. Probably absorbs contact well, but needs to get better at consistently using high glass/high touch on drives through a body. Doesn’t have a great margin for error when meeting bigs at the rim
Third shot he got a corner stepback late in the clock off pretty well over the contest, despite the miss. Felt this was one of many positive misses as an example of process over result.
Seems to have good closeout speed, but needs to refine how he goes after hard closeouts. Got turned around early but lucky the shooter missed
First basket of the game was off a pretty standard P&R corner cut. As the roller gets the ball he cuts accordingly, getting an easy reverse layup
Had a good defensive possession moving backwards against a momentous drive, forcing a side out
It’s minor but his first assist of the game was a great example of why they trust him to be the primary guard. Defender is pressuring him and not letting him move 30+ feet from the rim and he keeps the ball safely away from the defender while keeping his eyes up, conceding the only option which is to pass
I think he may have short arms?
His shot diet is interesting. Cutting some of the bad mid range shots out would be beneficial to his NBA scoring upside. Here’s one tough jumper, and this was not his only one:
Great defense against corner drive to prevent driver from getting any ground on him
Motor is good; plays hard on defense but needs to learn how to play defense. Technique is often poor
I buy his handle; shifty and can get low while moving well and seeing the floor. One example:
Favors everything left. He gives into defenses knowing this too, which limits him
Not always in stance; pretty upright on the perimeter too often
Had a brutal charge attempt; needs to commit to taking the contact if he’s going to be there. Otherwise, just get a contest.
His behind the head pass works beautifully. Did it both in transition and in the halfcourt
Essengue
Second defensive play he is completely blind to the P&R happening to him as he crosses the paint, even if it is not his job to stop it.
Next defensive possession he tries double teaming but essentially closely watches more than he pressures the ball-handler. Could’ve had a free block if he committed to it, but luckily Saraf stopped the play well
Amazing assist on the 2-on-1 drive; also used lengthy strides to easily get to the rim in one dribble
Had a layup attempt off a cut that could have easily been a wraparound pass, but missed. Still, the big got the putback though
Had a great P&R roll man dunk. Plays well as a 4 to minimize some shooting woes
Seems to follow the ball to crash boards well almost every single shot
His length is really difficult to shoot over, even for similarly sized players
Just not buying the shot. Guide hand release isn’t smooth and base is too narrow
Length is going to help at the rim too. Head can be behind the backboard and he can still hit layups