Crimson and Cream

X? 
In conference games--X avged 6p and A/T ratio was 1:1... He was awful. 

Yeah Haircut Gunn, Banks, Sparks, and our child of a 24yr old point guard. Huge losses 

Ballo is a completely different player than DJ Burns. Completely different.
Ballo is bigger, stronger, in better shape, and a world's better defender. Burns is super skilled and a low post clever scorer and passer option in a way that Ballo never will be.

That was literally the entirety of your initial post. And it didn't make any sense to begin with. Everyone knows he can't shoot, and as pointed out above you can succeed with a low post option that doesn't shoot. So it just seems like you're reaching for any reason to bring negativity into what is otherwise (and should be) a positive thread. As a Woody critic myself, I promise you it's a lot more enjoyable to find the positives during the offseason and hope Woody figures out the coaching aspect this upcoming season. This is going to be a much more talented roster and this kid is a big part of it. 

That was literally the entirety of your initial post. And it didn't make any sense to begin with. Everyone knows he can't shoot, and as pointed out above you can succeed with a low post option that doesn't shoot. So it just seems like you're reaching for any reason to bring negativity into what is otherwise (and should be) a positive thread. As a Woody critic myself, I promise you it's a lot more enjoyable to find the positives during the offseason and hope Woody figures out the coaching aspect this upcoming season. This is going to be a much more talented roster and this kid is a big part of it. 

Pump pump pumpity pump pump pumpity look at pumper go.   

My goodness! We get the top player in the portal, another late 5☆, a top pg/cg(and most likely another), keep everyone we reasonably could've hoped for.
And every positive thread gets pissed on, because of people's hate for our coach. Or we're "overpaying" guys. I'm definitely not a CMW fan(for many reasons), but I want our team to field the best talent money can pay for. If Woody can't do anything with it this coming year, I will be just as excited to see his arrogant a** gone.
Malik,MM,Trey,Ballo,Rice,KC,Tucker,Gabe,Newton*, and AL is a pretty good start.

That was literally the entirety of your initial post. And it didn't make any sense to begin with. Everyone knows he can't shoot, and as pointed out above you can succeed with a low post option that doesn't shoot. So it just seems like you're reaching for any reason to bring negativity into what is otherwise (and should be) a positive thread. As a Woody critic myself, I promise you it's a lot more enjoyable to find the positives during the offseason and hope Woody figures out the coaching aspect this upcoming season. This is going to be a much more talented roster and this kid is a big part of it. 

That was literally the entirety of your initial post. And it didn't make any sense to begin with. Everyone knows he can't shoot, and as pointed out above you can succeed with a low post option that doesn't shoot. So it just seems like you're reaching for any reason to bring negativity into what is otherwise (and should be) a positive thread. As a Woody critic myself, I promise you it's a lot more enjoyable to find the positives during the offseason and hope Woody figures out the coaching aspect this upcoming season. This is going to be a much more talented roster and this kid is a big part of it. 

Oh!
I was mislead because you literally said that “bigs that can’t shoot threes” was your problem.
So I guess what you really meant was that “there is nothing this staff can do no matter what to make you think we can win enough to make you happy!”
So let me amend my response:
Wrong thread: redundant mopey sadness about Woody is best expressed in the Fire Mike Woodson thread.

And our team two years ago that was a 4 seed featured a dominant big that could not shoot threes.
And our disappointing team last season featured a dominant big that could shoot threes.
Hmmmm…. Maybe dominant bigs don’t need to shoot threes!

The national championship just featured 2 bigs that meet this description.

It appears we will do well enough in the portal that Galloway will come off the bench in the role that suits him best. That is a very good thing.

Connor Essegian visiting tomorrow.

It’s how Coach K got it done. It’s how Oh golly gee Roy Williams got it done. It’s how Calipari, Pitino, Izzo (if you believe Purdue fans concerning Dawson), and Self have all gotten it done. Notice that’s basically the coaches of the top blue bloods over the last 30 years. Also that’s when IU fell behind. I’m thrilled the boosters have stepped up to get IU back into the mix. Applaud them all. 

The top 7 includes:
6 players who averaged double figure points last year
2 first team all-conference players
2 conference freshmen of the year
1 all-conference honorable mention
2 McDonald's All-Americans
Experience, talent, production. We see you Woody, prove it to us.

Rice is better shooting off the dribble. Carlyle is better at catch and shoot. I like that combination + Mgbako. 

"God forbid?" You are posting exactly that way, and that's fine by me! For real...go for it!
God forbid someone disagrees with you tho.     ;)

Yes-- fair-- you did leave out my favorite part of the equation---- his defensive rebounding ability.. 
"Ballo outlets to Rice, Rice down the court quickly guarded there by Smith, Myles drives right wing and finds Mgbako in the left corner for 3----- GOOOOD!!!!!" ---- Fischer says in excitment.... 
"Indiana is cleaning up the glass tonight, and its giving them the ability to run and not allow the defense to get set up, thanks in large part to Oumar Ballo" ---Suhr adds 

Ballo plays hard.  rebounds hard.  Hustles his best.  I really like him and this addition.  Free throws will bother me, I can guarantee that but we are definitely assembling an Uber "talented" roster! 
At least we are trying to win the whole damn thing and for that effort, I applaud it.  As far as to what happens on the court, I'm less convinced.   

Hmmm ... Just what exactly is Braden Smith seeking more of??? 

Ballo looks like DeAndre Thomas, if DeAndre Thomas had a personal trainer instead of a personal pizza delivery guy.

prolly promises of playing time and starting

It’s not a slap in the face. You currently have 5 scholarship guards plus a visit lined up for later in the week with a highly regarded kid who has no other visits scheduled. It’s entirely possible the kid wanted a sense of his role and upon getting that feedback calculated that he wanted more certainty for his last year in college. In that case the process worked exactly as it should and I wish him well.