Bakary Konate

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touchdownvikings

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In the off chance that Bakary or members of the team read posts from Gopherhole...

Bakary, you've done a metric ****-ton of work as it relates to your hands. And it shows. I've watched passes that came at you at fast-ball speed this year - and you CAUGHT THEM! Your rebounding has improved because you SECURE THE BALL! Your presence is a big part of the team's success; don't think it isn't noticed. Great job, and keep it up. You are turning into a force.
 

I don't think I saw anyone mention the 3 point play he converted against Rutgers.
 

I've been as hard as anyone on the big guy but you can't fault his effort. And he seems like a great teammate who never complains. Too bad he just hasn't played enough basketball in his life to be much of a factor.
 

Cayman said:
I don't think I saw anyone mention the 3 point play he converted against Rutgers.
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We loved that play! 3 important points.
And yes, touchdown, we've noticed too. He brings some serviceable minutes and given Lynch's foul troubles, he has played a key role at times at defense. Not only have his hands improved but we notice he can provide said defense without an excess of fouls, and without an excess of turnovers. I still feel a bit uneasy when the ball is in his hands but he's moved into being a role player, and an unsung one at that.
 

Other than the three pointer he hoisted up a few games ago, he has done and admiral job. Granted we are deep enough with our four bigs where he does not have to take a lead role. Enough to fill in, defend, rebound, and an occasional put back or dunk. Works for me [emoji106]


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JMGIII said:
Other than the three pointer he hoisted up a few games ago, he has done and admiral job. Granted we are deep enough with our four bigs where he does not have to take a lead role. Enough to fill in, defend, rebound, and an occasional put back or dunk. Works for me [emoji106]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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What you laid out is the perfect role for him. He doesn't have the skill set to be a full time starter but he is solid when you can limit his minutes and he can go out and give max effort over a short amount of time. He is a perfect piece coming off the bench.
 

Just in case he's reading this: Keep the ball up when you receive a pass near the basket or an offensive rebound! Don't put it on the ground!

Otherwise, I love what he's doing in his role. He gives great defensive effort. It's just annoying when he has a great chance for points but then gets swarmed/turns the ball over because he brings it down.
 

MissouriGopher said:
Just in case he's reading this: Keep the ball up when you receive a pass near the basket or an offensive rebound! Don't put it on the ground!

Otherwise, I love what he's doing in his role. He gives great defensive effort. It's just annoying when he has a great chance for points but then gets swarmed/turns the ball over because he brings it down.
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I think you might be confusing him with Lynch. :rolleyes: Wait, then Lynch makes a move where I go where'd that come from? But to me, more than Bakary, Lynch is set up with an easy basket and turns it into a turnover, no shot because he was too slow, dribbles, brings it down, whatever...he's the maddening one to me. Especially because like a lot of these guys he'll then make a play that inspires you...but probably not to be seen again. But you now know he is capable.
 

touchdownvikings said:
Bakary, you've done a metric ****-ton of work as it relates to your hands. And it shows. I've watched passes that came at you at fast-ball speed this year - and you CAUGHT THEM! Your rebounding has improved because you SECURE THE BALL! Your presence is a big part of the team's success; don't think it isn't noticed. Great job, and keep it up. You are turning into a force.
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I agree touchdown. Is there another gopher center (or any position for that matter) who has improved as much from his freshman year to his junior year than Bakary? I go back to Jeff Hagen's improvement and he had the benefit of a redshirt year. Aaron Robinson comes to mind when you consider all positions.

IMO if Bakary continues on his improvement scale, he could have a very good or maybe even excellent senior year.

If you're reading this Bakary, keep on improving. :)
 



rrjackIII said:
I agree touchdown. Is there another gopher center (or any position for that matter) who has improved as much from his freshman year to his junior year than Bakary? I go back to Jeff Hagen's improvement and he had the benefit of a redshirt year. Aaron Robinson comes to mind when you consider all positions.

IMO if Bakary continues on his improvement scale, he could have a very good or maybe even excellent senior year.

If you're reading this Bakary, keep on improving. :)
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Damian Johnson comes to mind but I agree Konate has developed nicely.
 


I've been hard on Konate over the years as well. He came here playing basketball like a soccer player, good athlete no hands. It's impossible to not cheer for him now based on how far he has come. Obviously has put in tons of hard work to make himself better. As a fan of the player I hope his progression continues and he has a great junior and senior year. As a fan of the team I hope they get Fitzgerald back and bring in freshman center talent good enough to push down his minutes. I thought Rutgers was his best game to date. When your high end ceiling is that game, I don't think it unreasonable as a fan to hope that our 8th man next year is better.
 

Love the guy. Really. Sure, we could have ended up with a recruit with a higher ceiling, with more potential, especially earlier in their career, that also could have left early for the NBA, or gotten into trouble with the law, or whose academics got him to the point of being ineligible or needing to transfer to a JC, but instead Pitino brought in a player who works hard, does well in school, and who won't leave early to go to the NBA, or transfer to another school or get in trouble and make the program look bad.

I'm hoping he continues to improve and just makes our bench into a real strength next year, and helps us to make our first legitimate Final Four run.
 



He plays hard, does his best, and improves. If a guy does that I will not talk him down, I will leave it at that.
 

mizzougopher said:
He plays hard, does his best, and improves. If a guy does that I will not talk him down, I will leave it at that.
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Yep, not everyone can be a superstar, good teams need role players and Konate has developed into a solid big man off the bench who can come in and give quality minutes.
 

I've been very pro Big Konate, he has great size and moves pretty well... doesn't look like a guy that has been playing since 3rd-4th grade at all, but has a lot of ability. Always disagreed with lumping him in with Gaston during the 'The Africans' are terrible threads. He's no superstar, but Kontae can contribute and give meaningful bench minutes.
 

HOOP DREAMS said:
I've been very pro Big Konate, he has great size and moves pretty well... doesn't look like a guy that has been playing since 3rd-4th grade at all, but has a lot of ability. Always disagreed with lumping him in with Gaston during the 'The Africans' are terrible threads. He's no superstar, but Kontae can contribute and give meaningful bench minutes.
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Well said, in this camp, as well. The big guy gives Gophers valuable minutes. Not every rotation player is destined to be a high-level player in their conference. Some folks don't understand that, want everyone to be All-B1G caliber (that's not easy). Energy, effort, some intangibles. ... those are valuable attributes to supplement your core players, especially considering Lynch's foul problems.
 

touchdownvikings said:
In the off chance that Bakary or members of the team read posts from Gopherhole...

Bakary, you've done a metric ****-ton of work as it relates to your hands. And it shows.
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Agreed. Catching the ball is his biggest improvement so the team should throw to him a couple more times a game. He also doesn't tend to force something or turn the ball over when he gets it near the basket. If a quick move and good shot isn't there, he tends to pass back out.

Actually, I wish he played about 4 minutes more per game. That would help keep the other big men a bit fresher.
 

He seems to hesitate on going up right away ( lynch factor in practice?) on a lot of shots in close - I think he could score more with more confidence.
 

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