Five takeaways from Gophers basketball foreign tour in Italy

Thirty years ago, Clem Haskins took his Gophers basketball team to New Zealand and Australia over the summer – and they used that bonding experience to reach the Elite Eight in 1990.

That's basically the poster child for foreign tours turning into big-time success for the U.

Haskins also went to England, Belgium and France in 1993, which followed with his team reaching the NCAA tournament second round. Still, Dan Monson went to London in 1999, while Tubby Smith and Richard Pitino went to Canada and Spain in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Those teams didn't make the NCAA tourney.

Can Pitino's Gophers use a recent trip to Italy to help them achieve their NCAA tournament goals in 2019-20? That question won't be answered anytime soon, but below are five things we learned about the Gophers on this summer's foreign tour.

Willis was MVP

Pitino picked junior guard Payton Willis as the Italy trip's MVP in his latest blog. It's easy to see why that was the case. The Gophers could have finished their trip to Italy with a loss if not for Willis' play in the fourth quarter of their 84-79 opening win last Tuesday against Stella Azzurra Academy in Rome. The Vanderbilt transfer scored seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, including the second of back-to-back three-pointers after Minnesota faced a 75-73 deficit with under three minutes left. During game-sealing 9-0 run, Willis also assisted on a clutch Gabe Kalscheur three from the corner. After struggling offensively in Game 2 (2-for-7 from the field), Willis bounced back with 15 points (13 points in the first half), seven assists, five rebounds and three steals in Saturday's 98-66 win vs. Como Select to end the tour. The 6-foot-4 Arkansas native averaged 11.3 points, a team-best 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals in three games. He shot just 29.4 percent from beyond the arc, but Willis was outstanding taking care of the ball (16 assists and just two turnovers). Pitino put Willis at point guard at times, allowing Pittsburgh transfer Marcus Carr to play off the ball. Willis is a different player than Amir Coffey, but he should help the Gophers fill that role with his versatility on offense and defense.

Freshmen class should contribute

Oturu's development

Daniel Oturu has the talent to establish himself as one of the top centers not only in the Big Ten but the entire country this year. That's not debatable (averaged 11.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in just 14.3 minutes in Italy). The question is how dominant a player the 6-10 sophomore is going to be this season. Swatting shots and running the floor to throw down rim-rattling dunks are what highlighted his freshman year. This summer he's also added a three-point shot to his arsenal, going 3-for-5 from long distance on the foreign tour. He was just 1-for-2 from deep last season. Oturu will do most of his damage near the basket, but having a frontcourt (also forward Alihan Demir) that stretches the floor can open Minnesota's offense up this season. Oturu, who added 15 pounds this summer, will be a force in the Big Ten if he's more consistent defending without fouling and foul shooting for the Gophers. His playing time was limited in Italy in part due to foul trouble in all three games. Oturu could find himself at the foul line more than any other Gopher this season, so he'll have to shoot better than 47 percent (9-for-19) on the foreign tour. He was a 61 percent foul shooter last season, so maybe we're overreacting a little from his free throw issues in Italy.

Three-point dependency

The level of competition was hard to gauge in Italy, but one constant was that the Gophers relied heavily on three-point shooting. They averaged 11.3 threes made in three games, but also 33.7 attempts. Minnesota shot 10-for-36 vs. Stella Azzurra and 13-for-38 vs. Tuscan Select. Keep in mind that the school record for three-point attempts in a game is 36 (record for made threes is 16). If this trend continues during the regular season don't be surprised to see three-point team records fall, especially in nonconference games. The U only averaged 5.3 threes per game last season, which was last in the Big Ten and among the worst nationally. Shooting more threes means you could make more. That doesn't mean you're a better shooting team. Still, the Gophers have added more outside shooting threats. Kalscheur, who missed the final game with a minor ankle sprain, was Minnesota's top shooter last season. He was 4-for-12 from three on the trip, but Williams (6-for-19), Willis (5-for-17), Ihnen (4-for-12), Greenlee (4-for-8) and Michael Hurt (3-for-4) all had games with multiple threes. The Gophers shot 33.7 percent in Italy from long range (31.7 last season), but the team's accuracy could improve with better shot selection.

Starting lineup