All Things Gophers Summer Trip to Italy Thread

Donate To GopherHole
Obviously much weaker competition than last game. There looks like a lot of potential on this team.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

By no means am I saying completely write off various contributions, but 80 shots taken suggests that this was probably not close to a BIG game. I’m assuming there was fast breaking and wide open shots that won’t be there against Ohio State or Purdue. Also jacked up rebound numbers.

All of that said nice to see Ihnen’s scoring.
 


Pitino is excited about Isaiah Ihnen:

 

bga1 said:
Pitino is excited about Isaiah Ihnen:

Click to expand...
I think he's going be our Carlos Gomez. He will dazzle us at times, and at times were going to shake our heads, but it will never be boring

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 



With so many new faces on the team this year, it was great timing to take a trip like this. It really doesn't make too much of a difference what kind of competition they're playing against. Games/scrimmages outside of practice are crucial to improve team chemistry and cohesiveness, especially when many new players are entering the fold. Hope these guys are enjoying Italy! Definitely a bucket list destination of mine.

It really does appear that Tre is of the Nate Mason mold. Absolutely not afraid to take the shot. Love it.
 


So when is the last game? The Italy trip info said that it would be against Como Selects the next day after the TS game.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 













Stats on my man Omersa? I think he will break this year.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

diehard said:
Stats on my man Omersa? I think he will break this year.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Break out. No edit function available.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 

Per the U of M press release:

Gophers Close Out Italy Trip with 98-66 Win

Note: Postgame comments from head coach Richard Pitino available at https://twitter.com/GopherMBB/status/1160285076606918661

COSTA MASNAGA, Italy - The Minnesota men’s basketball team had no trouble with the final opponent of its Italy tour, handling Como Select in a 98-66 victory to finish the trip 3-0.

Five Gophers reached double figures while 13 players saw the court, all but sophomore Gabe Kalscheur who was held out as a precaution with an injury. Freshman Tre’ Williams led the way with 22 points on 50 percent shooting, while junior Payton Willis added 15. Senior Alihan Demir and sophomores Daniel Oturu and Marcus Carr each chipped in 10 points to help the Gopher effort.

Overall, the Maroon and Gold shot 51 percent from the field (36-71) and better than 40 percent from beyond the arc, sinking 11 3-pointers. They won the rebounding battle 47-40 and were plus-7 in turnover margin. Minnesota’s defense also recorded 15 steals and eight blocks, with Willis and sophomore Jarvis Omersa leading the way in the former category with three each. Oturu swatted three Como Select shots.

The Gophers picked up earlier wins over Stella Azzurra Academy in Rome and Tuscan Select outside Florence this week, and will return to the Twin Cities on Sunday.
 


GopherLady said:
Per the U of M press release:

Gophers Close Out Italy Trip with 98-66 Win

Note: Postgame comments from head coach Richard Pitino available at https://twitter.com/GopherMBB/status/1160285076606918661

COSTA MASNAGA, Italy - The Minnesota men’s basketball team had no trouble with the final opponent of its Italy tour, handling Como Select in a 98-66 victory to finish the trip 3-0.

Five Gophers reached double figures while 13 players saw the court, all but sophomore Gabe Kalscheur who was held out as a precaution with an injury. Freshman Tre’ Williams led the way with 22 points on 50 percent shooting, while junior Payton Willis added 15. Senior Alihan Demir and sophomores Daniel Oturu and Marcus Carr each chipped in 10 points to help the Gopher effort.

Overall, the Maroon and Gold shot 51 percent from the field (36-71) and better than 40 percent from beyond the arc, sinking 11 3-pointers. They won the rebounding battle 47-40 and were plus-7 in turnover margin. Minnesota’s defense also recorded 15 steals and eight blocks, with Willis and sophomore Jarvis Omersa leading the way in the former category with three each. Oturu swatted three Como Select shots.

The Gophers picked up earlier wins over Stella Azzurra Academy in Rome and Tuscan Select outside Florence this week, and will return to the Twin Cities on Sunday.
Click to expand...

Great to see you back Nadine. Where you been? Hope all is good.
 



Pitno Blog: Ciao, Italia https://gophersports.com/news/2019/8/11/mens-basketball-pitno-blog-ciao-italia.aspx

Good morning Gopher fans,

I am currently writing this blog en route back from Italy. What a fun trip. Thank you so much to those that supported our program and allowed this trip to happen. Below I will break down my thoughts on each city we visited as well as each player's performances in the three exhibition games. Keep in mind it was extremely hot in every gym, we hardly prepared for each game, and the competition wasn't great because a lot of the club teams didn't have all their players. With that being said it was still very beneficial from a basketball standpoint. Most importantly it was a once in a lifetime trip for our guys to experience. Enjoy!

Rome

Amazing city. We toured the obvious three spots right when we got in. Those three being The Colosseum, the Forum, and of course, Vatican City. My favorite was probably Vatican City. So impressive on multiple fronts. The Pantheon was also awesome. Rome as a city is pretty cool. So much to do. Need to have a plan going in for sure because you can get pretty spread out at times.

Best Restaurant: Poldo e Gianna Osteria. Get the chicken carbonara. Trust me.

Best place to hang at night: Piazza Navonna. Great spot. Give the guy who asks you to buy roses or a megaphone every five minutes a firm no.

Florence

Reminds me a bit of Disney World, Pebble Beach, and Whistling Straits. Bear with me on the comparisons. Florence is a magical city. Beautiful buildings, insane amount of interesting history. The Duomo in Florence may be the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The sculpture of David is a marvel. You can spend the entire day walking the city and see so much. The downside in Florence is there are huge crowds. Much like Pebble Beach and Whistling Straits, you're going to play a long round of golf but you're going to walk away being blown away by the property. Think about your time going to Disney World. Do you ever actually enjoy it when you're in it? Of course not, but there is something about it that's addicting and you keep coming back! That's Florence. Amazing, amazing city but I was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds at times.

Best Restaurant : Cafe Toscana

Best place to hang at night: City Hall. Get a nice view of the Tower of San Niccolo.

Lake Como

By far my favorite spot on the trip. George Clooney has a summer home here so it has to be awesome. Was the least touristy of the three trips. Most of the people spoke less English than in Rome and Florence. We took a boat trip with the team to Bellagio. What an amazing town to day trip to. Perhaps the nicest place in the world.

Best Restaurant: Il Gato Nero, amazing view of Lake Como. Food is solid but the view makes up for it.

Best place to hang at night: Put on your walking shoes and explore. Como isn't too spread out and you can find so many good things. Jill and I stumbled upon this small square when we were walking around and loved it. Two Italian men replicated the band in Something About Mary and cranked out some great live Italian tunes.

Basketball Thoughts

Alright, on to more important things. We played three games in each city and showed some obvious growth. Keep in mind we battled a lot of elements that we don't traditionally deal with. Every gym was extremely hot because they didn't have air conditioning. We played with the official FIBA basketball which is completely different than what our guys are used to. Guys were slipping and sliding all over the place. Do I sound spoiled enough? Our first game in Rome we were completely disconnected defensively. Everyone was on their own little island and didn't help each other when a mistake was made. The good thing is we got better every game and learned from prior mistakes. A good defense is built on being a connected defense. Offensively we showed some promise. We averaged 11 made 3's per game. Last year we averaged five a contest. We made a lot but our percentage was too low at 34 percent. Free throw shooting was abysmal at 50 percent. We had a total of 65 assists to 35 turnovers. That's pretty solid. Favorite moment: A fan in Como came up to me after the game, asked me for a picture, then offered me a beer. More fans need to be like him!

Roster Thoughts

Tre' Williams - Competes very hard on both ends. Love his confidence. 15 points per game is great but 47 % from FT line and 32% from 3 obviously have to go up. They will. I'm not concerned.

Payton Willis - If I had to name a three game MVP it would go to Payton. He played three different positions and made it look easy. 16 assists and only two turnovers! 29 percent from three has to improve.

Daniel Oturu - 3 for 5 from 3! He can knock those down occasionally but can't fall into the trap of living on the perimeter. Did a great job of posting up early in Game 3. Had some nice blocks. Has to sprint the court consistently. Limited minutes at times because he was in foul trouble.

Alihan Demir - 58 percent from the field is great. He's very good at attacking downhill and finishing at the rim or creating for others. Better shooter than 16 percent from 3. Only shot one free throw.

Marcus Carr - Played him at the 1 and the 2 and liked what I saw. Percentages need to go up from the field and the three point line. Tough competitor. Elite guard in my opinion.

Isaiah Ihnen - Immensely talented. Probably the fastest guy on our team. Still learning the system. Long arms. Can knock down the three and drive it. Has some "wow" moments.

Gabe Kalscheur - Sat out Game 3 due to a minor ankle sprain. Nothing serious. Gabe did exactly what Gabe always does. So solid across the board.

Michael Hurt - 3 for 4 from 3. Need Mike to hit shots this year. I know he will. 63 percent from the field is great. Mild ankle sprain at the end of Game 3.

Bryan Greenlee - Was very good in the first two games. Needs to be a pest defensively on the ball. Better three point shooter than he gets credit for. I liked what I saw.

Jarvis Omersa - Shot 86 percent from the field! 6 for 7 from the field is obviously great. Has to work on his timing on rebounding. Phenomenal at running the court for a big.

Brady Rudrud - Gave us quality minutes. 50 percent from the field.

Sam Freeman - Showed flashes. Still learning the system. Came in Game 1 and played extremely hard. Does a good job of going after the ball with two hands.

Hunt Conroy - Played well in Game 3 off the bench despite staying up all night to watch the New Orleans Saints play a preseason football game.

What's next?

Our players get to go home for a little bit and recharge the batteries. Hope they stay off their feet for a few days but then get back to work. We did some good things this summer that we can certainly build off of in the fall. Our staff will take a little time away, as well as stay on top of recruiting. We will be working on securing official visit dates for our top recruits on the weekends in September. Our upcoming schedule just needs a few signatures on some contracts then will be released soon. We will be tested early for sure. See everyone at the Barn soon!

Go Gophers,

Richard Pitino
 

This may be a stupid question but is it a NCAA rule they can only do a trip like this every 4 years or is that a UofM rule or?
 



Nice recap on the trip. Coach does a good job as to do and what not to do as to the peddler.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom