California,

Thanks, I appreciate that. I'm not completely familiar with exactly what words Thomas has used when asked about the future of Beckman and I'd hate to speculate what he meant without talking with Mike myself. That being said, if you're trying to read into things, it probably means that Beckman is in his first year and he's likely going to be around next season, regardless of how many losses the team accumulates.

Big Walt,

Thanks. Brian Cook was waived by the Wizards a couple of days ago and I'm uncertain what's next for the big man. Jamar Smith was with the Celtics during much of camp, but they let the sharp-shooter go. I ran into Jamar at Ubben last week and he said he's likely headed to Israel to play in the Super League out there. A guy who can shoot like Jamar will always have a place in pro basketball. Demetri McCamey was waived by the Rockets last week and he's likely headed overseas.

BB,

Good to hear from you. In speaking with a few of the players, they're excited about playing for and learning under the new staff. It remains to be seen if that translates to them playing at a higher level, but the enthusiasm and energy level is up a notch from recent years. Unless you're talking about guys rated among the Top 10, Top 5, recruiting rankins are to be taken with a grain of salt most times. What the illini have are a lot of great athletes, but they haven't developed into great basketball players as expected. The biggest problem is dribbling and passing. I agree these guys are better than what they've shown and as the season progresses, you'll see most of them come closer to reaching their potential. These guys are going to work with them extensively on their weaknesses.

Klee beat me one time in H-O-R-S-E, the only time I've ever seen him touch a basketball. He was stone sober. I had a few pops prior to the matchup. You do the math.

Great to see Eddy back in the league after all he's been through. Fact of the day: I threw Eddy his first alley-oop in a high school basketball game.

Dan,

Thanks, I'll do my best. That's a big "if". Ball handling needs to improve and when the Purdues and Michigan States play that physical defense on the perimeter, we'll see how far the Illini have come in that area. The staff has been working the guards in practice with different drills to shore up the ball handling, one being sending a surprise defender from the blindside to condition their nerves. With Nnanna, as he becomes a more confident defender, he'll cut down on the fouls. At this stage, that's just something they're dealing with. Nnanna is the most coachable guy on the team, so I expect you'll see him clean it up going forward.

Palatine,

Thanks. Egwu has really impressed the staff and the fould trouble did limit his production Saturday. That's an area he will have to improve and I think he will. At this point, I don't see him being replaced by either of those guys. It was just one game and Nnanna is going to be fine. He won't be out-worked. Sam and Tyler will see plenty of action, though.

Jim,

Thanks. The future is bright under John Groce and his staff. Remember, this is a team that lost 12 of its last 15 games last season. It's best player — Meyers Leonard — was a lottery pick and isn't around anymore. They can get better, but that won't necessarily translate into wins. The Big Ten is going to be tough. Three teams are ranked in the Top 5 in the country and two others are in the Top 25. Three of the six players on the Preseason All-America team are from the Big Ten, too. Wins are going to be hard to come by once the conference season comes starts.

BTW, Meyers debuts tonight for the Blazers against the Lakers. I spoke with Robinson athletic director Terry Roche this morning and he said he's got his DVR set in case he's not home for the tip. The folks down there can't get enough Meyers and they know everything that's going on in his career.

EJ,

Klee got a job as a columnist covering mainly the Broncos for The Gazette out of Colorado Springs. He's going to be living in Denver. He'll also do some work covering the Nuggets and Rockies, too.

Look for Nnanna Egwu to make the biggest jump this year. He's really stood out to the coaching staff since they arrived. Myke Henry should also flourish under the new staff. They really like what he's going to be able to provide playing the 4. The coaches really like what each of these guys provides on the offensive glass.

Also, when you get a chance, take a look at D.J. Richardson. He looks like a completely different player than he did the last two years. One former Illini told me recently that D.J. looks like the guy he saw tearing it up at Peoria Central. He's putting the ball on the floor more and is playing with a swagger.

Kevin,

Thanks. Myke has never made defense a prioroty, he's a scorer and that's what he wants to do. He is getting better on the defensive end and the coaching staff is keeping on him and making sure he improves in that area. He's been their most consistent rebounder and that's why he's starting now and why he'll play a lot of minutes.

Paul is playing the point because Tracy hasn't played that well in recent weeks. He's in a big funk right now. Until he starts playing better, he'll get his minutes off the bench. Brandon will probably make money as a wing in the future, but right now he's your point guard. It's a good thing for him. When he does play the wing, his game will improve tremendously because of the experience playing point guard under John Groce. It also speaks to what Groce thinks of Paul You've read so much about how important point guards are to the first-year coach and to put the ball in Paul's hands is a big deal.

Drew,

They definitely get it. Groce was named the Recruiter of the Year in 2006 by Rivals.com. That was after he landed Mike Conley, Greg Oden and Co. at Ohio State. Eventually, they're going to get it going in terms of recruiting. Kendrick Nunn has been the biggest name so far, but, as Paul said, the fact that they were finalists for Demetrius Jackson and Xavier Rathan-Mayes after being here for such a short time speaks volumes about their ability to connect with kids.

AJ's Dad,

They could very well end up being better than expected, but as I said earlier, that might not necessarily translate to wins with the Big Ten so tough. The key to having a good season will be winning in the nonconference and maintaining in conference play. Wisconsin losing Josh Gasser is a significant blow, so the Badgers won't be as tough as projected. That helps Illinois.

Bertrand has improved his outside shooting since last season. Groce says he's shooting better than 50 percent from behind the three-point line and if he can add that to his mid-range game, he'll be a formidable offensive option. Tyler is the best shooter on the team and if he rebounds and plays as hard as he did Saturday throughout the season, he'll see a consistent increase in minutes. Henry scores in his sleep and he's been their best rebounder. He's your starting 4. Langford is still a work in progress. He wasn't apart of the eight-man rotation you saw Saturday night. He's been working with Paris Parham at improving his overall game. He spent much of the offseason competing alongside Rayvonte Rice and Joesph Bertrand.

QC,

Hope I can fill the huge shoes the little guy left for me.

If you know Paul, then you know he's great at building relationships with people. He's as comfortable talking to a millionaire donor as he is a kid from the toughest part of Chicago. He's actually a lot like John Groce in that sense. So, he was able to connect with all kinds of people to gather the information he did while on the beat. My goal is do get to know as many people around the program and around college basketball to get as much insight as I can. The more and more I'm around, the more in depth my information will become.

Season tickets are about identical to where they were a season ago, I'm told. Where Illinois is struggling is with the students. Student ticket sales are down right now.

Anonymous,

Groce has an idea of what he wants to do, but it's going to take time. The biggest issue is there isn't the dynamic point guard on the roster who can facilitate the way the coaches want. The transition game should get better, but quite honestly, the personnel isn't equipped to handle it all right now. Again, these are the same players who went 17-15 last year.

They did shoot a lot of 3s Saturday, particularly early, but most of those came on kickouts after someone had broken down his defender. There weren't the 3s at the end of the shot clock or the ill-advised 3. Later on, after guys broke down the defender, they either tried to finish at the basket or dumped it to another guy in the lane. One play that stands out was Brandon Paul hitting Myke Henry in the lane after getting by his guy. There was an emphasis on getting Nnanna Egwu and Sam McLaurin the ball in the pain, too.

Brent,

Thank you. Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch conducts the media poll. Two writers who cover each team in the league votes. Illinois was picked ninth.

Check out the full poll here.

Anonymous,

I asked Lindsey, a good friend of mine and Paul's, for her answer. Lindsey is a fashion expert. She said me, but I must say, Paul really stepped his game up during his time in Champaign.