Nightcap: Freshmen impressing Weber

-To read Klee's take on the Big Ten's surprise players, click here.

7 p.m. each weekday leading up to the season opener, beat writer Paul Klee will have an update on the Illini or the 2009-10 basketball season:

Minutes before today's practice at Ubben Basketball Complex, Bruce Weber gathered his players around the whiteboard.

The coach's talking point: how to earn playing time.

Scoring points on the Matto chart - a formula that rewards hustle - is one way to get off the bench. Another way is to prove their worth in Sunday's Orange & Blue Scrimmage at the Assembly Hall.

And - if the season started today - freshmen already have worked their way to the top of the rotation.

"If you had the coaches vote a top seven, I think three of them (freshmen) would be on there," Weber said today. "They've played well. They're talented. Now can they do it when the lights are on? That's what we'll have to see."

The three rookies he's referring to are guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson and forward Tyler Griffey. The fourth - guard Joseph Bertrand - is practicing but has been slowed by a September knee surgery.

An intrasquad scrimmage on Tuesday provided the latest example of a freshman emerging. Richardson scored a team-high 32 points in about 22 minutes, Weber said.

"One day Brandon Paul might be the best player. Demetri's (McCamey) stepped it up and played pretty consistent. D.J., the other night, both in the Illini Madness and in the scrimmage, he shined," Weber said. "We'll keep tabulating who fits with who and (who) the backups (are). I think the rotation will take us a little bit. And then they've got to prove it in games."

The rotation, of course, is a work in progress; Illinois is less than a week removed from its first official practice. Weber also has a pair of exhibition games in which he can define an early rotation.

"Ideally I'd like (it) to be like '04-05, start the same guys and you know you have everybody back and you go win 29 games in a row and you don't have any snags," he said. "But in this case I think it's more like '03-04 and you're trying to figure it out. It may take a little bit."

The Orange & Blue Scrimmage is 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are general admission and go for $10. Coaches said they would mix and match lineups to create a competitive atmosphere. So far, that hasn't been an issue.

"Those guys (veterans) know if they don't play well, there's someone right behind them ready to take their spot," associate head coach Wayne McClain said today.

Comments

Add a Comment