A huge barrier in the inside! The former Trail Blazers center played a dominant performance in the African Cup?

In the previous 1/8 final of the men's basketball team in the African Cup, Senegal defeated South Sudan 78-65. After this game, Senegal successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, and they will compete with Nigeria for a spot in the semi-finals; while South Sudan, which was widely favored by everyone and participated in last year's Paris Olympics, was eliminated.

In this game, Senegal's starting center Ibou Badji's performance is impressive. Baggy played 28 minutes and 50 seconds in the game, made 3 of 8 shots and 3 of 4 free throws, scoring 9 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks, including 5 frontcourt rebounds, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls, and the plus and negative value reached +15. On the one hand, Baggy's scoring ability and finishing ability at the basket are indeed a little worse, and he can't get more points, but on the other hand, Baggy still showed a pretty good ability to compete for the frontcourt rebounds, and he was able to turn the opponent's inside line upside down. In addition, Baji's performance on the defensive end is quite outstanding. He has excellent rebound protection and basket protection ability, and it is difficult for his opponent to attack the inside line he is guarding. Overall, Baji has played a very good role on the court, which is also an important factor in the team being able to defeat strong opponents.

Since the start of the African Cup, Baggy has played 3 games in the first four games, averaging 26.7 minutes per game, averaging 7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals and 4 blocks, including 3.7 frontcourt rebounds, 1.7 turnovers and 2.7 fouls, with a shooting percentage of 44.4%, free throw percentage of 62.5%, and a plus-negative value per game. Baji's overall performance in these games is still very stable. He can always provide super basket protection and rebounding support on the defensive end. His inside defense ability can definitely be considered top-level in this level of games. But on the other hand, Baggy's performance on the offensive end is indeed a little mediocre. His skills are a bit rough and his finishing ability is relatively average. Even if his ability to compete for the frontcourt rebounds is good, it is still difficult for him to play a greater role on the offensive end.

Bagi was born in October 2002 and is 22 years old, 216cm tall and weighs 109kg. He is the undraft in the 2022 NBA Draft. Baggy first spent a year in the NBA Development League after becoming an undraft, and then he received a two-way contract from the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2023 offseason. However, after only one season in the NBA, he left the Trail Blazers. Last season, he played for the La Liga team Lenovo Tenerife. His performance in the La Liga was also very average and he had no particularly outstanding performance. However, judging from the situation in the African Cup, Baji's role is still very obvious, and his improvement in the team's competitiveness on the court is also very obvious. I don’t know if Baji can gain confidence and experience through his performance in this African Cup and strive to return to the NBA in the future.