The Minnesota coach started a few surprises in the frontcourt.
Happy Sunday. It certainly feels like basketball season now (meaning that I've stopped sleeping for a while)!
A few other notes on Thursday's 95-68 exhibition win over Minnesota Duluth while you await the NFL slate:
*** On Thursday, coach Richard threw out a bit of a surprise starting lineup …
DeAndre Mathieu
Andre Hollins
Carlos Morris
Josh Martin
Bakary Konate
… choosing to bench junior power forward Joey King and senior center Elliott Eliason for a pair of freshmen in the frontcourt.
Before anyone gets too excited that this might be his new lineup, Pitino made it pretty clear that isn't the case.
"I started Bakary and Josh, they didn't deserve it, I just did it because it's an exhibition game and I know what I'm getting from Joey and Elliott," Pitino said. "I'm trying to throw different things at them. I want everybody to be ready."
Asked whether he was trying to throw some smoke in the face of Louisville's preparation, Pitino laughed.
"He knows better," he said, referring to his dad, Louisville coach Rick Pitino. "He knows I'm not going to start those guys."
***There was, however, another small reason involved, at least for Konate's appearance in the starting lineup. Due to the "tough work load" Konate deals with as he's enrolled in an English program along with his regular classes, he's under a fair amount of time constraints. How bad of time constraints? Apparently enough that he was unable to get to Williams Arena until about 6:20 last night, for a 7 p.m. game.
That's a tough pattern if it were to continue throughout the semester. Asked whether he had the power to get a student out of class early for gameday, Pitino scoffed.
"Apparently not," he said. "I haven't built up enough equity just yet. It will take a couple more wins, hopefully."
** Martin wound up playing 24 minutes, finished with eight points and seven rebounds and showed a knack for cutting from the baseline, getting a few really nice dunks off of that strategy – one Pitino says they've been focusing on in practice. He also took a charge, which the coach was quite pleased about.
Konate played 13 minutes, showing potential down low before fouling out. Some of the calls were questionable, but his defensive control is definitely an area that needs improvement.
In any case, the move definitely made Konate -- who practically beams genuineness when you speak to him – happy.
"That gives confidence to me and Josh," he said. "Because they try to say if you work hard every day, you going to have your shot on the court. And that's very surprising and I'm very blessed indeed to have this chance. I hope that next time I will do better."
The Gophers were outscored 5-0 at even strength and were outshot 46-21 by the Buckeyes.
