Gonzaga Basketball: Profile of the ultimate “glue guy” in Joel Ayayi
By Maceo Baller
PHYSICAL STANDPOINT
Standing at 6’5 with a reported +2 wingspan, Ayayi immediately springs to mind as an extremely long guard with athletic ability and valuable defensive instincts. He’s not truly imposing from the physical pov though, as he lacks some muscle and overall strength, but he has certainly improved and grown his wiry body-type since his arrival at Spokane.
Ayayi has light feet and gets to places at ease on the back of his 180lbs. He’s also disruptive on-the-ball, quick and agile; always prepared to cover short distances, fill up defensive gaps, fight for the boards and run for buckets in the open court.
DEFENSE: Man To Man
Whether he starts the game in a classic SG role alongside Suggs and Kispert, or in a three big-guard line-up with Jalen and Nembhard, Ayayi’s D versatility allows him to matchup against guards, large wings or even forwards at the 4.
He usually displays his motor and footwork in man-to-man, keeping his guy in check and chasing bodies through picks, although he has some tendency to cheat and to go under the screen at times. His strength shortages can become an issue when navigating picks along with his all-over-the-place approach.
The latter means that he doesn’t always stay attached to his matchup, roaming free around the paint to help teammates or win the glass. Ayayi gets often away with overhelping thanks to footspeed, long arms and timing for recovery, but he can get beaten by his man in rushed closeouts or be late to contests open threes.
When Ayayi is engaged on-the-ball though, his point-of-attack technique becomes a nightmare for the other team: high energy, lateral movement, quick hands, and wingspan shrinking passing windows, and anticipating plays. Still, even with all the promising tools at his disposal, Ayayi is far from the complete D-stopper he will likely need to be at the next level.
He can be smooth but inconsistent against smaller guards. Occasionally he loses his focus and settles for the steal instead of putting his body to work through contact. Although Ayayi makes the most of his natural awareness and length, especially around the rim walling up matchups and cleaning and crashing the glass, a physical step-up and longer periods of concentration will help to establish his D stance in the NBA.
DEFENSE: Help D, Rotation, Switches
Ayayi multiplies his D value thanks to his ability to read offensive schemes and help his big men in doubles as well as to rotate to seal defensive cracks in the line-up. He’s just that sort of glue-guy that every roster needs and, among other things, he has become the perfect advertisement for Gonzaga’s team-defense.
In Ayayi’s world is not strange to swap and switch matchups several times in the very same possession, meaning that he could start it holding his man in the 3pt-line, tag the roller next, put his body on the lane negating the middle to drivers, and then step out and put a hand up on the weak-side shooter. Ayayi’s willingness to accept every challenge giving away inches, lbs of weight or raw speed is not just impressive, but also part of that winner mentality that he brings to the table.
An example of the Zags’ defense all by himself, it’s a joy to watch Joel’s decision-making on the fly, when he reacts but also dictates offense using his length and wing-size to measure the threat, beat opponents to the spot, and hunt and hustle for the ball. When you put together his wing-size and those natural instincts and high IQ, the combination looks fully translatable and could shortly open the doors for Ayayi as a ‘plug and play’ off-the-bench guy in some NBA franchise.
ZONE DEFENSE / 1-2-2 FULL COURT PRESS
The top team in the nation is surely one of the best offenses in recent years, but the notion that Gonzaga isn’t as good a defensive team is wrong. In short, the Zags hold opponents to 69.1pts per game and 42% FG over the year and are #11 in Kenpom Adjusted Defensive Efficiency. They don’t have a towering or athletic big of previous seasons but that’s not a problem.
They work like a well-drilled unit without a specific but several ball-screen D approaches, ready to rotate, scramble and switch, collapsing and helping on Post-Defense, breaking up ball-movement, attacking the basketball and forcing TOs.
One of the tricks that Mark Few likes to use to slow down his rivals’ offensive rhythm and keep them off-balance is to play a full-court 1-2-2 press in which Ayayi usually fits and thrives at the tip of the triangle. The Frenchman moves swiftly on POA putting pressure on the ball-handler and makes himself larger, full arm-extension in display.
He slides his feet, sprints and traps, covers ground fast to negate passing angles closing down the distance between the ball and its target while the possession-clock runs down. It’s worth noting that Gonzaga is on a school-record 30-0 run at the moment, and looks well equipped to keep the wins coming in the NCAA tournament.