Photo by: Big 12 Conference
WVU's Huggins Says Konate Expanding His Game
October 24, 2018 02:31 PM | Men's Basketball
KANSAS CITY – How can college basketball's No. 1 rim protector expand his game?
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was asked that question about junior forward Sagaba Konate during his time at the dais here at the Sprint Center in Kansas City during the Big 12's annual media day activities.
"We have talked to Sags about being able to do more defensively on the perimeter on a one-on-one basis," Huggins, decked out in a traditional gray three-piece suit, said Wednesday morning.
What that entails is Konate's ability to move his feet against smaller players and stay in front of his man instead of letting him get closer to the rim where Konate can demonstrate his one-of-a-kind skill – blocking shots.
"Well, what I'm told by all the NBA guys is they need their four-man to be able to switch because they're switching everything now," Huggins explained. "If you are going to be able to switch, they're going to put you in a ball screen with a guard so you have to be able to get the guard in front of you.
"Nobody is saying you've got to stop them all the time. Nobody stops anybody all the time in that league, but you've got to be able to keep them in front of you," he added.
The second thing Huggins said Konate needs to improve is his shooting range, although not necessarily out to 3-point distance.
He shot 51 percent from the floor last year, although the vast majority of his shot attempts came from 10 feet and in. However, the fact that Konate is a 79 percent free throw shooter demonstrates his ability to shoot the basketball.
"He has to be able to make open shots," Huggins said. "He doesn't necessarily have to make 3s. He can and he's worked hard at it, but he's got to be a consistent shooter from 17, 18 feet because you've got to be able to drag your guy away from the basket.
That's what Kansas State big Dean Wade does so well, and that's probably the biggest reason why the Big 12 coaches recently named him preseason player of the year instead of Konate, who was one of five to make the preseason all-conference team this season.
Konate ranked second in the NCAA in blocks last year with 116 while also finishing among the top rebounders in the Big 12 with an average of 7.6 boards per game.
Presently, Huggins said Konate has been dealing with what he has termed a "tweaked knee" during preseason practice, although Konate did participate in the team's Gold-Blue Debut last Friday night at the Coliseum.
The junior scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds, blocked five shots and made a 3 in helping the Gold team defeat the Blue team 64-58. He played 31 minutes during the scrimmage and didn't look restricted at all.
"We're just being careful," Huggins said. "It would be nice to have him out there so the other guys get used to him, but we can sit him for another week and he'll be fine. It's just precautionary."
Speaking of injuries, junior guard James Bolden has been battling a wrist injury that has limited his time on the court as well.
"We've got to get healthy," Huggins said. "We're a little beat up now. When you take Konate out of practice and Bolden out of practice it hurts your practice considerably. And those two guys haven't gone for quite a while, so we just got to get healthy."
The team has its closed scrimmage coming up in Columbus this weekend and then will play Penn State in a charity exhibition game on Saturday, Nov. 3.
Both of those games will give the Mountaineers a good gauge of where they're at as they move closer toward their season-opener against Buffalo at the WVU Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 9.
Huggins said the Bulls, coming off a 27-win season in 2018 and predicted to finish first in the MAC East, will provide a stern challenge for his team.
Three starters return from last year's Buffalo squad that knocked fourth-seeded Arizona and its No. 1 NBA draft pick Deandre Ayton out of the NCAA Tournament.
"They're good," he said.
Big 12 Media Day Notebook
* Prior to coach Bill Self's appearance in Kansas City, Kansas announced that forward Silvio De Sousa will be held out of the Jayhawks' exhibition game against Emporia State on Thursday night.
De Sousa's recruitment has been discussed during the ongoing federal trial in New York concerning corruption in college basketball.
"Information was presented during the current trial in New York – some of which we know, some of which we didn't. We have decided to withhold Silvio from competition until we can evaluate and understand the new information," Self said in a prepared statement. "We have already discussed trial developments with the NCAA and will continue to work with NCAA staff moving forward."
When it came time for Self to address the media, he limited his remarks to his team and the upcoming season.
"I will refrain from any comment that is directly related to the trial, due to the fact that there has been a mandate given to me, and certainly I will honor that," he said.
Following one question about De Sousa, which Self declined to get into specifics, the five remaining questions he answered were about other less serious matters.
Prior to Self addressing the media, Huggins and Kansas State coach Bruce Weber were asked to give their opinions about the state of college basketball in light of the trial.
Huggins said the game is just fine as far as he's concerned.
"The state of our game is really pretty good," he said. "If things happened, we all know they shouldn't have happened, but that doesn't affect the state of our game and the way people go about doing their business."
Weber said he feels sad for their business.
"It's like anything else, if there is a problem, hopefully, we can get it fixed," he said. "Our game is special. I've been involved in it 40 years. It's been my life, and I'm proud to be involved with it."
He later added, "The game is important to me, and I want things corrected if it can be, and hopefully, it will be in the future."
* Speaking of Weber, he said his team is looking for a little respect. The Wildcats have everyone back from last year's Elite Eight team, but he doesn't believe his squad is getting much love from the preseason pollsters.
He said as much during his preseason media day in Manhattan a few weeks ago.
"My whole point then was we have everyone back and we went to the Elite Eight and we went to the Elite Eight without supposedly the preseason player of the year in the Big 12 (Dean Wade)," he said. "Why shouldn't we be in the top 10 or whatever? It is what it is, and I can't worry about it. We've got to worry about our play and getting ready for the opening game."
The Wildcats were predicted to finish second in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll behind annual favorite Kansas.
* Old Big East guy Jamie Dixon said he is excited to see the Big 12 enter into a four-year scheduling alliance with the Big East that will be similar to the deal it now has with the SEC.
Dixon's greatest successes as a coach came at Pitt when the Panthers were members of the Big East Conference.
"I like the Big East. I like the challenge with the SEC first off, I think it's great. I didn't quite know how to handle it being in the conference schedule, but I think it's been good," he said. "I know it's really what the conference wants. I think the coaches have come around to seeing the value of it as well and I thought ESPN did a great job with it as far as making it a big day, so I think it's been tremendous."
Considering other Power 5 conferences are beginning to adopt 20-game league schedules, Dixon believes getting the Big East on board is a prudent thing for the Big 12 to do.
"Given the situation with the 20 conference games that I think pretty much every conference is going to do eventually, I thought the Big East opportunity was something we needed to look at," he said. "I love the 10 teams; it's another conference that's going to be in a similar situation that needs to probably find two games to make up for the other 20 that the Power 5 conferences have."
Huggins, too, likes the arrangement but for different reasons.
"For us, it's good because it's one less time change," he said. "That's one less trip. We can fly virtually anywhere in the Big East in an hour, so that helps us."
* Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton is going through a significant transition with almost an entirely new roster of players coming off a 21-win season during his first year with the Cowboys in 2018.
"Not only did we lose four guys who would have been very strong contributors, but we had two late transfers from our team – guys who probably could have helped a lot this year," Boynton said. "That's okay – I don't begrudge those kids at all. At the same time we're into a new role now in our program and there is excitement in Stillwater now about basketball and what the program can be again as it once was under coach (Eddie) Sutton."
Texas Tech is another program undergoing a major overhaul coming off its first-ever Elite Eight appearance in school history in 2018.
"For us, it's year three building the program," coach Chris Beard said. "The first year we really wanted to lay the foundation and try to become part of the fight. We created a culture that first year and we were competitive.
"Last year, the second year, we thought we were good enough to compete and ultimately win and we wanted to finish," he said. "We won a lot of close games last year which resulted in us making it to the Elite Eight, which is a special run. We had five guys graduating, four guys under professional contracts now.
"This third year what we're trying to do is become more consistent," Beard added. "We want to make sure last year's success doesn't define us as a program. We want to be a part of that fight again."
Indicative of the turnover at Texas Tech, Beard chose to bring five players to media day this year: seniors Brandone Francis, Norense Odiase, Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens, and sophomore Jarrett Culver.
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was asked that question about junior forward Sagaba Konate during his time at the dais here at the Sprint Center in Kansas City during the Big 12's annual media day activities.
"We have talked to Sags about being able to do more defensively on the perimeter on a one-on-one basis," Huggins, decked out in a traditional gray three-piece suit, said Wednesday morning.
What that entails is Konate's ability to move his feet against smaller players and stay in front of his man instead of letting him get closer to the rim where Konate can demonstrate his one-of-a-kind skill – blocking shots.
"Well, what I'm told by all the NBA guys is they need their four-man to be able to switch because they're switching everything now," Huggins explained. "If you are going to be able to switch, they're going to put you in a ball screen with a guard so you have to be able to get the guard in front of you.
"Nobody is saying you've got to stop them all the time. Nobody stops anybody all the time in that league, but you've got to be able to keep them in front of you," he added.
The second thing Huggins said Konate needs to improve is his shooting range, although not necessarily out to 3-point distance.
He shot 51 percent from the floor last year, although the vast majority of his shot attempts came from 10 feet and in. However, the fact that Konate is a 79 percent free throw shooter demonstrates his ability to shoot the basketball.
"He has to be able to make open shots," Huggins said. "He doesn't necessarily have to make 3s. He can and he's worked hard at it, but he's got to be a consistent shooter from 17, 18 feet because you've got to be able to drag your guy away from the basket.
That's what Kansas State big Dean Wade does so well, and that's probably the biggest reason why the Big 12 coaches recently named him preseason player of the year instead of Konate, who was one of five to make the preseason all-conference team this season.
Konate ranked second in the NCAA in blocks last year with 116 while also finishing among the top rebounders in the Big 12 with an average of 7.6 boards per game.
Presently, Huggins said Konate has been dealing with what he has termed a "tweaked knee" during preseason practice, although Konate did participate in the team's Gold-Blue Debut last Friday night at the Coliseum.
The junior scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds, blocked five shots and made a 3 in helping the Gold team defeat the Blue team 64-58. He played 31 minutes during the scrimmage and didn't look restricted at all.
"We're just being careful," Huggins said. "It would be nice to have him out there so the other guys get used to him, but we can sit him for another week and he'll be fine. It's just precautionary."
Speaking of injuries, junior guard James Bolden has been battling a wrist injury that has limited his time on the court as well.
"We've got to get healthy," Huggins said. "We're a little beat up now. When you take Konate out of practice and Bolden out of practice it hurts your practice considerably. And those two guys haven't gone for quite a while, so we just got to get healthy."
The team has its closed scrimmage coming up in Columbus this weekend and then will play Penn State in a charity exhibition game on Saturday, Nov. 3.
Both of those games will give the Mountaineers a good gauge of where they're at as they move closer toward their season-opener against Buffalo at the WVU Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 9.
Huggins said the Bulls, coming off a 27-win season in 2018 and predicted to finish first in the MAC East, will provide a stern challenge for his team.
Three starters return from last year's Buffalo squad that knocked fourth-seeded Arizona and its No. 1 NBA draft pick Deandre Ayton out of the NCAA Tournament.
"They're good," he said.
Big 12 Media Day Notebook
* Prior to coach Bill Self's appearance in Kansas City, Kansas announced that forward Silvio De Sousa will be held out of the Jayhawks' exhibition game against Emporia State on Thursday night.De Sousa's recruitment has been discussed during the ongoing federal trial in New York concerning corruption in college basketball.
"Information was presented during the current trial in New York – some of which we know, some of which we didn't. We have decided to withhold Silvio from competition until we can evaluate and understand the new information," Self said in a prepared statement. "We have already discussed trial developments with the NCAA and will continue to work with NCAA staff moving forward."
When it came time for Self to address the media, he limited his remarks to his team and the upcoming season.
"I will refrain from any comment that is directly related to the trial, due to the fact that there has been a mandate given to me, and certainly I will honor that," he said.
Following one question about De Sousa, which Self declined to get into specifics, the five remaining questions he answered were about other less serious matters.
Prior to Self addressing the media, Huggins and Kansas State coach Bruce Weber were asked to give their opinions about the state of college basketball in light of the trial.
Huggins said the game is just fine as far as he's concerned.
"The state of our game is really pretty good," he said. "If things happened, we all know they shouldn't have happened, but that doesn't affect the state of our game and the way people go about doing their business."
Weber said he feels sad for their business.
"It's like anything else, if there is a problem, hopefully, we can get it fixed," he said. "Our game is special. I've been involved in it 40 years. It's been my life, and I'm proud to be involved with it."
He later added, "The game is important to me, and I want things corrected if it can be, and hopefully, it will be in the future."
* Speaking of Weber, he said his team is looking for a little respect. The Wildcats have everyone back from last year's Elite Eight team, but he doesn't believe his squad is getting much love from the preseason pollsters.
He said as much during his preseason media day in Manhattan a few weeks ago.
"My whole point then was we have everyone back and we went to the Elite Eight and we went to the Elite Eight without supposedly the preseason player of the year in the Big 12 (Dean Wade)," he said. "Why shouldn't we be in the top 10 or whatever? It is what it is, and I can't worry about it. We've got to worry about our play and getting ready for the opening game."
The Wildcats were predicted to finish second in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll behind annual favorite Kansas.
* Old Big East guy Jamie Dixon said he is excited to see the Big 12 enter into a four-year scheduling alliance with the Big East that will be similar to the deal it now has with the SEC.
Dixon's greatest successes as a coach came at Pitt when the Panthers were members of the Big East Conference.
"I like the Big East. I like the challenge with the SEC first off, I think it's great. I didn't quite know how to handle it being in the conference schedule, but I think it's been good," he said. "I know it's really what the conference wants. I think the coaches have come around to seeing the value of it as well and I thought ESPN did a great job with it as far as making it a big day, so I think it's been tremendous."
Considering other Power 5 conferences are beginning to adopt 20-game league schedules, Dixon believes getting the Big East on board is a prudent thing for the Big 12 to do.
"Given the situation with the 20 conference games that I think pretty much every conference is going to do eventually, I thought the Big East opportunity was something we needed to look at," he said. "I love the 10 teams; it's another conference that's going to be in a similar situation that needs to probably find two games to make up for the other 20 that the Power 5 conferences have."
Huggins, too, likes the arrangement but for different reasons.
"For us, it's good because it's one less time change," he said. "That's one less trip. We can fly virtually anywhere in the Big East in an hour, so that helps us."
* Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton is going through a significant transition with almost an entirely new roster of players coming off a 21-win season during his first year with the Cowboys in 2018.
"Not only did we lose four guys who would have been very strong contributors, but we had two late transfers from our team – guys who probably could have helped a lot this year," Boynton said. "That's okay – I don't begrudge those kids at all. At the same time we're into a new role now in our program and there is excitement in Stillwater now about basketball and what the program can be again as it once was under coach (Eddie) Sutton."
Texas Tech is another program undergoing a major overhaul coming off its first-ever Elite Eight appearance in school history in 2018.
"For us, it's year three building the program," coach Chris Beard said. "The first year we really wanted to lay the foundation and try to become part of the fight. We created a culture that first year and we were competitive.
"Last year, the second year, we thought we were good enough to compete and ultimately win and we wanted to finish," he said. "We won a lot of close games last year which resulted in us making it to the Elite Eight, which is a special run. We had five guys graduating, four guys under professional contracts now.
"This third year what we're trying to do is become more consistent," Beard added. "We want to make sure last year's success doesn't define us as a program. We want to be a part of that fight again."
Indicative of the turnover at Texas Tech, Beard chose to bring five players to media day this year: seniors Brandone Francis, Norense Odiase, Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens, and sophomore Jarrett Culver.
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