The 6:10 Ft Power forward from South Sudan earned himself a basketball scholarship at Syracuse to now actually being a significant figure, with a failed transfer mixed in as well. The forward has been an afterthought for essentially his entire SU career, but now, he is, at least at the moment, part of Jim Boeheim’s rotation.
A good number of Syracuse fans are still astonished as to why Ajak has extracted playing time that went to Maliq Brown during the opening of the season.
Boeheim stated clearly that the kid is intelligent and tremendous in the zone because of his high IQ and ability to read his opponents in each game.
Another element Ajak contributes is his passing ability. The junior had a game-high four assists against Notre Dame. He is averaging 2.3 assists per game, the second most on the team behind only Judah Mintz. A forward with that in his arsenal makes everyone around him, especially Jesse Edwards, better.
The 6:10 Ft Power forward from South Sudan earned himself a basketball scholarship at Syracuse to now actually being a significant figure, with a failed transfer mixed in as well. The forward has been an afterthought for essentially his entire SU career, but now, he is, at least at the moment, part of Jim Boeheim’s rotation.
A good number of Syracuse fans are still astonished as to why Ajak has extracted playing time that went to Maliq Brown during the opening of the season.
Boeheim stated clearly that the kid is intelligent and tremendous in the zone because of his high IQ and ability to read his opponents in each game.
Another element Ajak contributes is his passing ability. The junior had a game-high four assists against Notre Dame. He is averaging 2.3 assists per game, the second most on the team behind only Judah Mintz. A forward with that in his arsenal makes everyone around him, especially Jesse Edwards, better.
Another element of the zone that is key for forwards is finding the balance between covering the wing and the corner. Sometimes the forward is caught too far up towards the wing; in an area where the guard can get to if need be. When that happens, the corner is open and the only hope of contesting the shot is the center getting out there in time, which is difficult. Ajak does this well, again thanks to his high basketball IQ and experience in the system.
The real consequence of giving Ajak minutes is they do not go to Brown. The freshman only has 13 total minutes in Syracuse’s last five games. Brown is a rebounding specialist. That is what he was known as in high school, and in SU’s first three games, he grabbed eight boards in 38 minutes.
As Boeheim likes to say, the Orange is forwards have a rebounding problem. Williams, Ajak, and Chris Bell combine for just 7.6 boards per game. It is a trade-off, but, right now, Boeheim is opting for the experience.