Go skim through a preseason college basketball publication. You’ll find yourself fixated on the numbers posted next to Illinois, because they make you think about the possibilities of buying tickets in St. Louis for the Final Four. But what those magazines won’t tell you is the hard work put in before Delaware State strolls into the Assembly Hall.

“Practice has been kind of standard,” senior center Nick Smith said. “Beat each other up, hold, foul – but that’s kind of the way the first few weeks of practice usually are.”

This veteran squad, who returns all but one player, is ahead of last year’s pace. It is already accustomed to head coach Bruce Weber and Weber has grown accustomed to them. In the first year of the pairing neither side knew what to expect; up to this point practice has been different.

“Everyone knows what their role is and what’s expected of them,” Smith said. “The learning curve shouldn’t be as hard to work out this year as it was last year.”

Preseason Big Ten player of the year Deron Williams agrees with Smith that they have an advantage over last year.

“We are light-years ahead of where we were at the start of last season,” Williams said. “We know the offense better and we know what he (Weber) wants better so we can start rolling.”

When Weber joined the program last year, he changed the offense and upped the ante on defense. The motion offense was instilled and everyone’s defense was questioned and whipped into shape. The process took time and effort, and players and coaches alike are thankful that they don’t have to start from the beginning again.

“Last year after two weeks they were learning the drills,” Weber said. “At one point the assistant said you have to yell at them, I said how can I yell at them, they don’t even know what they are doing yet. Now I can raise the intensity and get after them, it took until after Christmas last year before I felt that we had that flow.”

Weber adds that after the first ten practices of the season this year, nine have been very good and only one has been bad. The one that was bad happened to be a scrimmage day though, so the annual Orange and Blue scrimmage this Saturday holds extra importance.

“For the Mid-day Madness scrimmage I tell them you can do what you want, let the fans enjoy it,” Weber said. “Saturday is our day, it’s the coach’s day and we’re going to see what type of improvement they’re making.”

The experience from last year alleviates some pressure, but because of the added motivation brought on by the possibilities of this season practice has not let up intensity.

“We’re going to be ready,” Williams said. “By November 19th we’ll be good, we’ll be ready.”