Freshman Konate needs to tame fouls, but shows a lot of potential

Richard Pitino glared at the freshman forward as he sat down on the bench, four fouls next to his name atop the jumbotron.

"Could you not foul please?" he emphatically asked.

Bakary Konate turned toward the floor, innocently gesturing at the man in black-and-white with the whistle.

"Maybe" the coach heard him say. "If he would stop calling them."

For Konate -- a 6-foot-11 center who previous played in Mali and Spain and who was named student athlete of the month in October -- the American college basketball experience is quite new and different. And although the freshman is far more prepared to play, and impact, at this level that Pitino or the other coaches could have hoped, there is one area that could be a particular challenge for Konate: fouling.

Given the opportunity to start in Minnesota's exhibition and eventual 95-68 win over Minnesota Duluth, Konate fouled out in a matter of 13 minutes. Some of the calls, as the newcomer indicated, were a bit questionable. Others were blatant. Regardless, it's clear Konate needs to find much more defensive control before he can receive big minutes on the court regularly.

It's not a big surprise that Konate arrives with such an asterisk. Playing in Africa and Spain, officials call few fouls -- and the ones they do call are so egregious that a whistle hardly needs to blow.

The center, who radiates genuineness when you talk to him, ruffled his brow after a couple calls as the officials explained. After one explanation, Konate gave the ref a thumbs up -- not a sarcastic thumbs up; maybe the most genuine thumbs up I've ever seen.

"I touched the ball first and afterward the guy came for contact," Konate said of his fifth foul. "And they say no, no, my hand went down. But I have to learn all this stuff because it's new for me. It's different where I come from."

Said senior center Elliott Eliason: "He's just so eager. He's so excited to play and get after it that he puts himself into bad situations at times. We try to help him as much as we can, it's just a process. He's not going to learn overnight, but I think he's definitely going to be able to give us some great minutes this year. He's such a physical guys, he's a tough kid."

Gophers fans have already been treated to that part. When the public announcer read the lineups, Konate went to shake Pitino's hand and the coach was reminded of his young player's sheer size, his large paw engulfing any hand he shook. On the court, Konate hinted at the post moves he has available to him, even if he is still a bit anxious to execute immediately after touching the ball. Afterwards, shirtless in the locker room, it was apparent to all the media members present just how strong this young man is.

"He's got very, very good potential as you can see," Pitino said. "But he fouls a lot and that's just part of the deal, he needs to learn from it."