Aday Mara, a striker in basketball
The newest Michigan Wolverine, Aday Mara, has a unique playstyle at 7-foot-3. One that draws distinct comparison to the striker position in football.
I wanted to write an article on one of my favorite prospects for some time now, but haven’t been inspired much. However, after watching some UCLA games lately, I started thinking. Seven-foot-three sophomore big, Aday Mara’s performances reminded me of football a ton. Let me explain why.
Mara is one of the most talented players in college basketball, even if his usage at UCLA was underwhelming. The talented sophomore recently committed to Michigan out of the transfer portal, looking for a change of scenery.
Mara is a very good defensive weapon, and while he will make waves with his prowess as a shot-blocker at the next level, in my focus on the striker position, I will solely cover the offensive aspect of his game.
To me, his game can relate to two types of strikers: the “false 9” and the “finishing striker.” Through Mara’s play finishing, dribble handoffs and post-ups, I will try to link each piece of his offensive game to the football counterpart.
“False 9”
The “false 9” tactic in football is when a striker often drops to play in short passes with his midfielders, the goal is to both draw the center-backs and also create a numeric mismatch in the midfield.
Tons of great strikers are known as maestros playing this role, omnipresent in Spanish football. Players from FC Barcelona often were great at it, like Lionel Messi or even at Real Madrid, Franco-Algerian superstar Karim Benzema was often used in that role during his many seasons with the club. Additionally, Spanish tactician Pep Guardiola has been adept in the role since joining Manchester City.
To try to link this role with an aspect of the center position, I’ll use sets when Mara is away from the rim. Having a five-out offense is, in concept, the same thing as playing with a “false 9.” The main goal is to disrupt the defense by clearing the way to a point.
In football, they want to draw the center-backs to create spaces in which the wingers can dive into and make a play. In basketball it’s quite the same, the goal is to clear the paint so the rim is easier to attack.
In both sports, when used in these, strikers and centers they tend to touch the ball a lot. Mara doesn’t create much on-ball pressure like Nikola Jokić or Derik Queen, to give an example at the NBA and college levels. Despite not checking this box, he still touches the ball a lot and is often used as a fixture in this regard.
The “false 9” is used as such nearly every time — receive the ball to disrupt, then release it and attack a new zone. That’s how someone playing that role operates.
One of the traits that represents the “false 9” caricatural archetype is the passing technique, most of them are great at facilitating the game when they touch the ball. Mara checks that mark easily, as he’s an extremely crafty passer and can disrupt any defense.
At his size, his court vision is absolutely elite, and paired with his astonishing arm flexibility, he’s a threat when used as a fixture at the top of the key or on the perimeter.
Furthermore, players used in that “false 9” role are often, if not always, extremely crafty. They’re able to make differences with the ball in their feet and create while being on-ball. I don’t think Mara fits that box quite yet.
However, a part of that craftiness also shows up when they need to finish in front of the goal and Aday shows up in that regard. Indeed, when you watch big-time “false 9” players’ goal catalog, like Lionel Messi, Francesco Totti or Karim Benzema you automatically get blown away by their sweet touch and masterful skill.
When I say that he shows up, you need to read it in an emphatic way. Playing back to the goal as a striker is extremely important, especially as a “false 9”.
Watching Mara’s back-to-the-basket tape tells you everything you need to know about him as a player. As a physically impressive player, he can contain nearly anyone behind him. His hip mobility paired with his fancy footwork makes a deadly combo and his inhuman 7-foot-6.5 wingspan with his touch results in him being a top player when showcasing his post moves.
”Finishing Striker”
“Whichever team scores more goals usually wins”
- Michael Owen
This brilliant quote, often thrown around by commentators around the world sums up football well — a team needs to score. That being said it’s pretty understandable that the most common type of striker is the one who finishes well in front of the goal. Considering how critical and hard it is to score goals in football having a “finishing striker” can be extremely important.
There are tons of examples of this archetype so its traits might differ for every player, but to give a caricatural description of it, the “finishing striker” is a striker that moves well off-ball, not necessarily quickly but needs to read the defense well and have a great placement to attack empty zones.
A striker in this role is also able to make differences on restricted touches. He can’t be heavy on the ball, but still make his presence felt, and, most importantly, he needs to score goals and be merciless when he has the chance.
I’ve always been a football fan. I used to watch it all the time and I feel like I need to refer to my favorite club. The problem is that growing up an AS Saint-Étienne fan, the club hasn’t offered me a ton of great players at the striker position. However, when I started to truly watch all of our games, I was granted an incredible football player who made me fall in love with the sport; Pierre-Emerick “Auba” Aubameyang.
Auba wasn’t the craftiest or the most agile player on the ball, but he knew where and when to be to score a goal. His off-ball movements and overall placement were fantastic, and that’s why his game reminds me of Mara’s.
Mara just moves incredibly well off-ball. He’s great as a roll man, easily recognizing empty spots in the half-court, and possesses a soft touch that helps him finish at the rim.
Moreover, if I took Aubameyang as an example, it’s for another reason. When I was a kid what truly amazed me with this guy was his acrobatic finishes. Of course, all of those crazy goals wouldn’t have been possible without the passing abilities of players like Renaud Cohade or Yohan Mollo but the inverse is true.
Another player who had a habit of being acrobatic to put the ball in the net was Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović, due to his expertise in taekwondo. Both of them were truly impressive; two tall guys jumping in the air to strike the ball and score was like watching a dream when I was young and this connects to the alley-oop in basketball in my mind.
Mara is a great lob threat and with more volume, his numbers should draw way more draft buzz around him.
The most used (and toxic) tactic in actual football might be a tap-in. To be as brief as possible a tap-in is what could be defined as an easy goal. First off, I don’t think there’s such a thing as an easy goal, but in addition to that it gets thrown around to discredit the foxes in the box that are more than important for their respective clubs.
For example, Robert Lewandowski is having a stellar season for FC Barcelona despite having a “meh” goal catalog this season, and it’s not a skill issue. We saw that he has the talent to score wonderful goals with Borussia Dortmund or Bayern München, but the role of a striker is to take high-quality shots, and the shots with the most goals often get called tap-ins by the mainstream audience.
It’s safe to say that Mara is a great play finisher, and he’s merciless on high-quality shots, always aware. He has pretty good hands, so he’s a great threat when his teammates draw the attention of his defender, just needing to finish after receiving a dump-off pass. This is the equivalent of a tap-in in basketball, but it doesn’t get laughed at the same way in football.
Finally, Mara is great on putbacks. He’s good at reading the trajectory and rarely fails to add points to those situations. If I needed to make a comparison for this I would say it’s a mix between a “poacher” (or a “fox in the box”) and a striker great at pressing because I feel like offensive rebounding is where defense starts (and the same thing the other way around defensive rebounding is where offense starts).
It’s always great to draw comparisons between sports, as there are always similarities between the lines. For Mara, the comparison to a striker’s play style is apparent, as he fits the mold with his versatility and skillset.
Through those traits, as well as his immense size, Mara is primed to climb up boards in the 2026 NBA draft cycle.
Really liked this one! Love the creativity.