Bear Down Wildcats

the 7' 0", 260 lbs Junior from Koulikoro, Mali has had a breakout year and is poised to be Honorable Mention All Pac12 on a loaded Arizona Wildcat team.

15.4mpg - 7.6ppg - 4.9rpg - 63.1%fg

his best years ahead of him, Ballo is agile and athletic for a man of his size.

he can already guard multiple levels at a premium - another summer with Lloyd & Co and i believe he could continue to develop at an All Conf/first round rate, maybe even better while playing on another National Championship contending Arizona squad in 2022/23.

imo, Ballo is just scratching the surface of his huge potential

His no-look pass and then the goggles celebration had me HOWLING last night.

Have some fun Big Man!

How are supposed to defend two seven footers passing to each other in the paint?

Narrator: "You don't"

Love Oumar

Our bigs are just killing it literally and figuratively.

Ballo's personality and growth have been such a joy to watch this year. I hope the big guy plans to stick around for a while in Tucson.

We couldn’t quite figure out how to use Dusan and Ayton on the floor together in all situations but this combo seems to excel and in every situation put in front of them. Fun to watch

azcat49 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 18, 2022 10:49 am We couldn’t quite figure out how to use Dusan and Ayton on the floor together in all situations but this combo seems to excel and in every situation put in front of them. Fun to watch

Ballo is much more of a traditional center and isn't looking to shoot 3s, like Ristic was. Ballo can also finish at the rim like a damn boss. Ristic could never do that. CK and OB just seem to "work" together more than Ayton and Ristic ever did.

rising up and finishing strong - impressed with his late season push here. keep working and grinding, Big fella

I don't fail to appreciate what a thing it is to feel complete confidence when Koloko picks up a quick second foul and Ballo comes in.

Longhorned wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 7:47 am I don't fail to appreciate what a thing it is to feel complete confidence when Koloko picks up a quick second foul and Ballo comes in.

its a great luxury to have a capable 7'0 on the bench to go to and lose almost nothing when an All-Conf performer has to sit for fatigue or fouls. its something very rare in college, not to mention the ability to play together effectively in the Death Line-up.

just another thing developed slowly by Lloyd - man is a genius i tell ya.....

I talked to Kevin Pangos FIL a couple of weeks ago and he had nothing but praise for CTL

Ballo will always be fondly remembered as the one guy who left Gonzaga to come play for Lloyd at AZ. It says a LOT about Lloyd, but it says even more about Ballo's confidence that he could hit the reset button somewhere else and continue to develop athletically.

Ballo has been a HUGE contributor this season, and he's only going to get better.

I love the big fella and his feathery touch!

How 'bout that soft floater just inside the nail

And I love that the "prevent" (that's what I call it) works with both of them in putting up a wall in the middle, while allowing CK come out and defend the perimeter in late game situations, like against Oregon.

But I love his skill set, his energy, and the personality he puts out there. He's awesome.

And I'm calling him first or second team all pac next year.

17mins and scored 16pts while shooting a prefect 7-7 from the floor. hit both his free throw attempts along with five strong rebounds, one assist, one steal, and zero turnovers - very efficient and impactful minutes this afternoon.

easily his best game of his career no question and a delightful sign of more things to come - another stroke from the Genius

chance for Lloyd to go big today and play the twin towers together. Colorado pushed AZ around in Boulder and the Genius has challenged his guys to fight back.

Kriisa's injury allows for this to happen naturally and allows AZ to continue to develop multiple ways to beat you.

more opportunity for Ballo to stake his claim and be rewarded with more meaningful minutes.

If there was an award for most improved player during a season, Ballo wins it.

ten points in fourteen minutes played while going a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line in a conf semifinal game

97cats wrote: ↑Fri Mar 11, 2022 10:18 pm ten points in fourteen minutes played while going a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line in a conf semifinal game

Can't remember anyone shooting 100% FTs with such a low arc on the ball.

the continued emergence and polish of Ballo on defense has taken AZ to another level. Koloko can switch, help, and oneVone the opponents best player (1-5) and Ballo stays wide/long/BIG and there is no daylight - its overwhelming opponents down the stretch of games. its the ELITE difference in this team.

imo, its not getting enough credit but kudos to the Genius once again he developed it throughout the season and its paying dividends, gripping hold of the end of games with his NBA Line-up.

Ballo had a Pac12 Tournament record six blocks against UCLA, BTW

Have you also noticed our next level switches on defense? They have been very effective and not something I have witnessed any other team using. Has to be an NBA level strategy (maybe from Fois). Against UCLA it really confused them(except the late switch from Benn on the three to end the half)

When your 2 bigs can switch out on the perimeter and block 3's the other team has basically no chance.

Oumar is only 19. He’s made a huge jump in the last 6 months.

Every game you see his confidence improv.

Lloyd trusts his players and so far they’ve responded.

GO CATS!

How's this for a storybook ending:

Cats vs. Zags in Final.

Cats down 1 with the ball with time winding down. Benn shoots the game winning shot... it misses... rolls off the rim... Ballo grabs rebound and slams it home as time expires.

azcat49 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 14, 2022 3:34 pm Have you also noticed our next level switches on defense? They have been very effective and not something I have witnessed any other team using. Has to be an NBA level strategy (maybe from Fois). Against UCLA it really confused them(except the late switch from Benn on the three to end the half)

the switching has been around since Miller was here so the guys have been applying similar principals at a higher and more efficient level. its bothered UCLA the last two games (the NBA lineup) in the last 10mins of each game when AZ took control.

Big O had SIX blocks against UCLA.

Stepped up like a champion to bring home the trophy.

UAEebs86 wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2022 9:53 am

That's an absurd number of rebounds.

WOW. I think the thing that held him back a bit was his weight. Needed to stay the same size but replace 10 lbs with muscle.

Holy Shit Oumar!!!

MVP

I will confess, I was not high on Ballo when he came here. In fact, I thought it was a mistake. I'm very happy to eat my words.

If someone told me that Ballo would win MVP of the Maui and put up 30 and 13 I would have fell down laughing. I just didn't see it based on his level of play at Gonzaga. CTL has done a phenomenal job in developing his players, Ballo is likely going to be a Pac 12 1st teamer this year. Just incredible.

The interesting thing is if we improve on defense and if our bench develops by mid season, we can make a deep run in the tourney. Pretty much every message board of our opponents are scratching their heads trying to find out how the pollsters overlooked this squad this year. So much room for improvement which keeps me optimistic.

Ballo has to be the most improved in the NATION not just PAC. Someone has really worked with him on his footwork. No walks and has developed a killer up and under move. His rebounding is the best I have seen in a Arizona uniform in a while.

Dude, Ballo is so freaking good, saw flashes last year, he has really stepped up into his role, we so needed him tonight.

I had a feeling he would eat kalkbrenner for lunch.

Kalkbrenner Looked so tired every time they did a close up of him. Ballo just whipped him and stayed out of foul trouble for the most part.

Well he's on the scout list now. And the Wooden watch list!!!

Bilas was right about his poise. There’s no panic in him when he gets the ball on the block. He’s patient and works for the best shot possible or kicks it out.

Wondering if post recruits are noticing the development of Ballo (and Koloko) under CTL? I thought the improvement of Koloko couldn't be matched until seeing the improvement of Ballo already early in this season.

Big Man U.

NBA lottery in his future - let's enjoy watching him in an Arizona uniform while we can.

azgreg wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:44 amBig Man U.

Feels weird but I like it.

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:47 am NBA lottery in his future - let's enjoy watching him in an Arizona uniform while we can.

Not unless he develops an 18 ft jumper. The NBA is not looking for lane cloggers.

CardiacCats97 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:36 am

azgreg wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:44 amBig Man U.

Feels weird but I like it.

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:47 am NBA lottery in his future - let's enjoy watching him in an Arizona uniform while we can.

Not unless he develops an 18 ft jumper. The NBA is not looking for lane cloggers.

I'm sure that's next on CTL's list for Oumar to work on.

Lloyd gave a lot of credit to the S&C people for Ballo's physical development.

Big minutes for a man that big. Only Kriisa and Ramey had more. And to average 1 foul for every 10 minutes is pretty damn good for such an important team anchor amid the slap-happy refs. Veesaar's 10 minutes were Ballo's rest on the bench.

EastCoastCat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 11:56 am

CardiacCats97 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:36 am

azgreg wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:44 amBig Man U.

Feels weird but I like it.

KaibabKat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:47 am NBA lottery in his future - let's enjoy watching him in an Arizona uniform while we can.

Not unless he develops an 18 ft jumper. The NBA is not looking for lane cloggers.

I'm sure that's next on CTL's list for Oumar to work on.

I guess that means he has to stay at Arizona for another year.

Won't be the last. Way to go big fella!