Many thousand apologies for the conspicuous absence of updates today, much as I would like it to be, blogging is not my full time job. Regardless I am making it up to myself and all of you by giving some fun live coverage of the first exhibition game tonight at the Assembly Hall.

Its the first game in which we will see the Illini not playing other Illini, and for many of us to see what these new freshmen really can do. Plus its the first game of the year, and I welcome the return of competitive basketball in the Assembly Hall. The Band, the Orange Krush, and Bruce Weber destroying his vocal chords, it is basketball season folks!

So with all of that in mind, here are the 5 things I want to learn from the team tonight.

1. Demetri McCamey is now going to be looked to as the man in control of the offense now that Chester is gone. Is he up to it? We have all heard that he is quicker, smarter and more driven this season, lets see if it translates into his PG play.
2. Alex Legion, a full offseason and alot more seasoning hopefully has done Alex some good. If he can continue to shoot those 3's like he did in the scrimmage, watch out. Of course if he starts shooting like he did last year, we may see even more of the freshmen guards than any of us expected.
3. D.J. Richardson and his defense. I was surprised to hear when Bruce said recently that D.J. may in fact be the best defensive player on the team right now. We all know that in a Bruce Weber world that means playing time, so I am excited to see just how good this guy is at "givin' em the business"
4. Mike Davis's ankle prevented him from having a full normal off season this year. From everything I have heard, he is back 100%, but for the guy who may be most important to the success of this team, I want to see him play alot more minutes of up and down ball to be sure.
5. Speed. Many Illini fans have long wanted to get back to the up and down fast running Illini of old, but for the last couple years, the players for that type of ball just haven't been here. That may well have changed with the new freshmen and Legion set to log a lot of minutes at guard this year. The Illini of the next couple years may look alot different that to what we have become accustomed to seeing in the Hall.

This isn't technically a real game so for all intents and purposes this is your open thread. Hope to see you here if your aren't there in person.