Five preseason exhibition games are obviously nothing when it comes to predicting what type of team the Gophers will be in Year 7 under Richard Pitino. How they played, though, might give us a little glimpse of what we see early this season.
Pitino dismissed the significance of Minnesota's undefeated three-game foreign tour to Italy this summer. The competition was like playing the "bellhop," he said.
Still, three games in Italy gave the Gophers a chance to get their first look at seven newcomers, including transfers Marcus Carr and Payton Willis. They've been so far the standouts of the newcomers and have given a preview of what could be a sneaky good backcourt in the Big Ten.
Fast forward to the fall, the Gophers tested themselves against a potential NCAA tournament team from the Big 12 on Oct. 19. They won 77-68 in overtime in a secret scrimmage at Iowa State. Willis, Carr and returning starters Daniel Oturu and Gabe Kalscheur combined for 49 points in a game that Pitino clearly was trying to win [four starters played between 29 and 35 minutes]. That's not such a bad thing.
The only opportunity for the Gophers to play an exhibition game in front of their fans came in Monday's 73-48 win vs. Southwest Minnesota State. Nine of the 10 players to see the floor played at least 12 minutes. Willis, Carr, Oturu and Kalscheur again led the way with 49 points combined [nobody played more than 29 minutes].
That was the final warmup before Tuesday's season opener vs. Cleveland State. So, what did we learn from the exhibition games? Again, it doesn't necessarily mean the stats from these five games will translate to the regular season, but some of this just might carry over. Good and bad. Let's take a look.
Carr, Willis, Kalscheur and Oturu were the 'Big Four'
The Gophers' top four scorers last season were Amir Coffey, Jordan Murphy, Daniel Oturu and Gabe Kalscheur who combined for 51.8 points per game. Gone are Coffey and Murphy, who also led the team in assists and rebounds, respectively. Who will fill those roles this year? Carr and Willis both averaged a team-high 12 points during the five exhibition games. Willis was much more efficient shooting 52 percent from the field and 37 percent from the three-point line. Meanwhile, Carr shot just 37 percent from the field and 25 percent from three. Carr didn't let rough shooting stretches keep him from being aggressive. He also got his teammates involved with a team-best 4.6 assists. Kalscheur missed one of the games in Italy with an ankle injury, but he still averaged 11.5 points in four games. Oturu not surprisingly was the Gophers' most productive big man. He was close to averaging a double-double with 11.4 points and 9.6 rebounds [16 rebounds vs. SW Minnesota State], to go along with 1.4 blocks in five games.
