Noa Essengue

Noa Essengue is basically a big ball of energy.  He’s both very fun and very frustrating to watch a times, flashing real potential, but also some very raw and nascent skills.

Offense

Noa Essengue is a raw player whose offensive value comes mostly from using his speed, length, and quick leaping ability as an off-ball threat and transition finisher. He’s most effective cutting without the ball or sprinting in the open floor, where his athletic tools can create easy baskets. However, when asked to do more, Essengue is much more of a mixed bag.

Essengue’s handle is very limited. At this stage, he’s a straight-line driver with little separation ability. While he will do an occasional spin move, it’s not especially effective and in general he struggles to create any separation when he can’t run right past someone.

Similarly, when Noa does drive, the results are very inconsistent. When he gets space and there is a good seam for him to drive in, he can get jump quickly and finish well. But when there is traffic, despite some of the tools mentioned above, he’s a bit stiff and lacks the fluidity, width to shied defenders, or touch finish difficult shots. Essengue can get wild and fling up some pretty bad shots even from close to the hoop and he can miss what seems like easy shots if there is any congestion. He also doesn’t have the strength yet to drive into defenders and bump them back to create space, absorb the contact himself and finish.  He often winds up flailing and losing his balance.

Unfortunately, he also cannot really stop on a dime or pull up into a jumper and use the threat of his shot to open more driving lanes. Essengue’s shooting form is stiff and mechanical.  He tkes a moment to load up too giving the defense some minor time to recover and contest.  Even on open shots Noa is inconsistent.  In Ratiopharm’s offense, he would often sit in the short corner and tried to serve as a spacer.  As you would guess, his shot off the dribble is also pretty rough and leads to a lot of misses, including some really bad ones.

Essengue is willing to use his height to try to post, but has a high center of gravity and lacks strength at this stage, which was a real disadvantage playing in the BBL against grown men.  While he tries to post and move his defender closer to the hoop, he doesn’t gain much ground and usually either retreats or settles for a fadeaway.  He does have a decent up and under he uses occasionally in the post or on the drive where his long arms help him get really close to the hoop for a lay-in  And to Noa’s not afraid of contact, which is to his credit being young and thin while playing against grown men.  He does have the length and quick jump plus double jump ability to get offensive rebounds and even tip back in his own misses at times.

Right now, Noa’s passing is mostly simple and reactive consisting of quick kick-outs, return passes to the original passer, and very basic ball movement. Occasionally, he flashes potential with nice cross-court passes or lobs when the defense is off balance. He shows a willingness to make quick decisions and doesn’t kill ball movement, but currently he struggles with consistency and he can throw off target passes or get picked off on even basic short passes to his guard from a couple of feet away.

Turnovers and offensive fouls are a real issue, especially when he puts the ball on the floor. He’s predictable, mostly driving in a straight line, and doesn’t sense where defenders are very well,, leading to frequent charges.

Defense

Defense is where Essengue flashes much higher potential. His speed, length, and motor make him a disruptive and versatile defender capable of guarding multiple positions at both levels. He can cover ground incredibly quickly, recover after mistakes, and rotate with urgency to challenge shots or help teammates. His footwork and instincts still need refinement, but his tools allowed him to already make an impact in a good FIBA league.

Essengue has great lateral agility and change-of-direction speed, both east-west and north-south. However, he doesn’t always play in a stance or use efficient footwork, leaving him vulnerable to step backs and other counter moves. His frame is narrow, which allows stronger players to turn the corner or push through him at times.

Despite some struggles with footwork and instincts here, his tools are impressive enough that he can often recover and contest pretty well.  We can nitpick some of his decision making or footwork, but ultimately players of all sizes struggled to find a consistent way to score on him.  He could guard big and he could step out to the perimeter.  And when he was locked in and didn’t make an error, players struggled to get up a good shot and he even blocked some jumpers.

Noa does pick up fouls, especially when contesting around the rim. He’s still learning how to time his contests and avoid overcommitting.

However,  he does a pretty good job in rotation. He is still refining judgement, but can cover ground very quickly and dive inside quickly or use his speed, length, and springiness to get outside and get pressure on shooters.

Essengue offers excellent secondary rim protection. He’s not a traditional shot-blocking center, but his timing, speed, and length allow him to impact shots from the help side that would make him a strong potential partner for a big who isn’t a natural rim protector. He racks up blocks not just on his own man, but also on shooters and in rotations.

Noa also racks up a a lot of steals. He  bats down passes from his man like an offensive lineman, jumps into passing lanes, uses his long arms to deflect anything near him, and pokes the ball away from ball handlers. His long arms, speed, and quick reactions let him jump passing lanes and create havoc and really disrupt opposing offenses.

Finally, while he is still refining his feel, Essengue flashes real upside in pick-and-roll coverage, as his tools give him significant potential. While he’s still learning the nuances, especially against crafty FIBA veterans, he can hedge, trap, switch, or rotate back to his man. He can guard the pop, the roll, and disrupt passes to rollers with his quick hands, quick bursts, and anticipation.