Ballo.

[StatsZag]

He's 16 or 17 playing others of his age, but man he looks so much more mobile and shows more bounce and even a face-up jumper. I know it's a highlight reel, but could he have grown and filled in too much for his own good since then? Just his ability to catch and hold a ball or jump and block a shot looks so much better 2 years ago.

[MDABE80]

Agreed. A project.

[ZagsObserver]

He is really raw. Could go either way. Could be out of the program in 2 years, could develop into a starter by year 3.

As i said a long time ago, he is a project if i have ever seen one. Meanwhile i got responses of him being shawn kemp lmao.

Agreed. Patience.

[ZagsGoZags]

Which of our bigs met your eye test for the NBA, even in their first year. For me Shem, Batista, Clark (ouch was i wrong) Sacre didn't. Collins (of course)Domas, KO, and Rui did. I would have guessed yes for Ballo before the season, now I waver a bit. But if I had to bet money on it I would say yes. I am curious about the eye test for the regulars on this thread who know way more than I do about the game.

[HenneZag]

Which of our bigs met your eye test for the NBA, even in their first year. For me Shem, Batista, Clark (ouch was i wrong) Sacre didn't. Collins (of course)Domas, KO, and Rui did. I would have guessed yes for Ballo before the season, now I waver a bit. But if I had to bet money on it I would say yes. I am curious about the eye test for the regulars on this thread who know way more than I do about the game.

From all of the hype pre-season alone I had very high expectations on his level of play. After watching the last several games (small sample size) he seems to lack timing/coordination. He's a young kid from out of the states and im sure has a mental hurdle as well. At this point I would be happy to have him as a rim protector, that's also been a challenge. The coaches have there work cut out, hopefully we see a good final product.

[ZagsGoZags]

I hope one of the coaches will work with Ballo on his free throws. Sometimes he is backing up when he releases, other times not. His free throws are not always the same, and don't seem ritualized, sometimes using a lot of wrist at the last second and sometimes not. Unlike some centers who can never shoot better than the high 50 percents, I think he can get into the 70's routinely if someone will work with him.
In the game against Dixie he took two steps forward in PT and getting used to D1 in gametime speed and quickness.

He still has that look of a 7 month old German Shepherd juvenile pup, same way KO looked (to me) sophomore year. Ballo will grow into his body like KO did.

[RenoZag]

Ayayi - 6 / 11 - .545
Ballo - 13 / 24 - .542

While the coaches are working on Ballo, maybe they can give Ayayi some pointers too.

[IowaSERE]

17 points in 12 min.

[HenneZag]

I hope one of the coaches will work with Ballo on his free throws. Sometimes he is backing up when he releases, other times not. His free throws are not always the same, and don't seem ritualized, sometimes using a lot of wrist at the last second and sometimes not. Unlike some centers who can never shoot better than the high 50 percents, I think he can get into the 70's routinely if someone will work with him.
In the game against Dixie he took two steps forward in PT and getting used to D1 in gametime speed and quickness.

He still has that look of a 7 month old German Shepherd juvenile pup, same way KO looked (to me) sophomore year. Ballo will grow into his body like KO did.

KO was a point guard in high-school, as well a good 3 point shooter. Different players but I agree he did have that clumsy look as he was growing into his body. Hopefully Ballo can have that same transformation.

[jazzdelmar]

KO was a point guard in high-school, as well a good 3 point shooter. Different players but I agree he did have that clumsy look as he was growing into his body. Hopefully Ballo can have that same transformation.

Absolutely. Totally different players and skill sets. I knew KO was the best prospect to become a pro his freshman year. Check the tape.

[Birddog]

A Tale of Two Cities; it was the best of times (Tuesday, 17 points in 12 minutes) it was the worst of times (Monday, 5 personal fouls in 12 minutes)

[JPtheBeasta]

I think that part of this performance for Ballo against DSU was that his teammates were getting him the ball. Against NAU he was posting up hard enough to get the ball, and was also getting open setting high screens and diving to the rim. On a side note, it is almost comical how few steps it takes him to get from the three point line to the block, and he looks pretty nimble. I think the Zags could have a pick-and-roll game similar to what Kansas had in Azubuike last year.

[TheOtherGreatOne]

Ballo, Ballo, Ballo, release the Beast. It's coming folks, it's coming, I can feel it.

[Zagricultural]

Dickau mentioned that he's lacking conditioning, and the staff feels like as that improves we'll see him blossom. He may be right.

[White lightning]

Gonzaga was blessed with a big man that could run the floor. Karnowski was an amazing athlete. Not many big's can play that pace. I watched the replay against Arizona when he was a junior. I didn't remember him being so athletic. His back injury actually slowed him a bit. I think after Karnowski its easy to have higher expectations from Ballo than needed this early in his development.

Few uses pace to take the big's from the opposition out of the game. Ballo will get there. I believe he's still 18 and will gain strength to match his body. I feel he's made great progress.Its going to be awsome watching his growth.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[tummydoc]

I watched Cory interviewed on the news, and he referred to him as "Big O". I kinda like that moniker!

[StatsZag]

Gonzaga was blessed with a big man that could run the floor. Karnowski was an amazing athlete. Not many big's can play that pace. I watched the replay against Arizona when he was a junior. I didn't remember him being so athletic. His back injury actually slowed him a bit.

Is that game online anywhere?

[White lightning]

Is that game online anywhere?

I watched it on a pack12 network channel. I'm sure it was shown to ease the pain. Since then Gonzaga has basically dominated the league.

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[jazzdelmar]

Like Ballo, Karno’s weight was a factor in his nimbleness or lack thereof.

[StatsZag]

I watched it on a pack12 network channel. I'm sure it was shown to ease the pain. Since then Gonzaga has basically dominated the league.

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Found it! I forgot AZ was as high as ranked #3. They've been such a huge disappointment (relative to talent and history) since this. I'm not sure there's another team with worse results relative to personnel rating the past 6 years.



My other takeaway is how small we were in the backcourt with Pangos and Bell. We haven't had a single as small as either of those guys since.

[Mantua]

Like Ballo, Karno’s weight was a factor in his nimbleness or lack thereof.

Ballo’s body looks much more athletic and proportional than Karnowski’s. Ballo lost some weight and grew another inch or two in the last year. He doesn’t look overweight to me, but he does need to get used to the changes and the rest of the team can’t be throwing passes at his knees.

He’s got some work to do defending under the basket on both ends.

[Larryzag]

"I'm not sure there's another team with worse results relative to personnel rating the past 6 years."

Washington?

[StatsZag]

"I'm not sure there's another team with worse results relative to personnel rating the past 6 years."

Washington?

UW has certainly been bad relative to their player/recruit rating, but I think AZ has been even worse, at least come tournament time.

Last year AZ had 3 one-and-done first round draft pick freshmen and 2 seniors include a 5* recruit center. They were 5th in the Pac-12.


In 2018 AZ had 6(!) top-50 recruits, the future overall #1 NBA pick, and 3 NBA players on their team, along with a veteran senior PG. They lost their first tournament game to 13 seed Buffalo by 21 points. That team also had a regular season loss to Southern Methodist.

AZ has a tournament win in just one (out of 4) seasons with a tourney since 2015.

[23dpg]

UW has certainly been bad relative to their player/recruit rating, but I think AZ has been even worse, at least come tournament time.

Last year AZ had 3 one-and-done first round draft pick freshmen and 2 seniors include a 5* recruit center. They were 5th in the Pac-12.


In 2018 AZ had 6(!) top-50 recruits, the future overall #1 NBA pick, and 3 NBA players on their team, along with a veteran senior PG. They lost their first tournament game to 13 seed Buffalo by 21 points. That team also had a regular season loss to Southern Methodist.

AZ has a tournament win in just one (out of 4) seasons with a tourney since 2015.

Battle for the bottom.
Arizona only had 2 first rounders in the nba draft, like Washington. Washington finished dead last in a bad pac12. They had the number 1 pick in the nba draft 3 years ago and finished last that year too.

I give the edge (of the cliff) to Washington.

[StatsZag]

Battle for the bottom.
Arizona only had 2 first rounders in the nba draft, like Washington. Washington finished dead last in a bad pac12. They had the number 1 pick in the nba draft 3 years ago and finished last that year too.

I give the edge (of the cliff) to Washington.

Thanks for the correction. I guess one of AZ's 3 (Mannion) fell to the 2nd round.

Perhaps I'm wrong and UW is an even bigger underperformer than AZ! I think I must be the only GU fan that actually likes and roots for UW. Hopkins seems like a great guy and WA is an increasingly prominent basketball state. I'd love to see UW perennially atop the PAC-12 and providing a meaningful in-state challenge.