H&R Staff Writer
CHAMPAIGN – A new and improved Illinois men's basketball team attitude was on full display before Tuesday's rare July practice.
With preparation for a 10-day August trip to Italy continuing, players and coach Bruce Weber talked about a more mature and coachable roster for this season.
After a couple years of turbulence with personalities, D.J. Richardson said the team is listening to Weber and staying together as a team even if it is months before the season begins.
"The chemistry is just way different," Richardson said. "Everybody's on the same page. No one has a bad attitude. Everybody comes to practice every day to get better."
A big step in that direction came when all six freshmen showed up on campus without attitudes. Robinson product Meyers Leonard said individual agendas, including his own, caused issues with last year's team. Now, with a more mature Leonard and juniors Brandon Paul and Richardson, the team's mojo has changed.
The team also lost four starting seniors, including Mike Davis and Demetri McCamey, as well as freshman Jereme Richmond.
"I think we'll be really solid and surprise people because we play really hard and we're willing to listen to coach," Leonard said.
Tuesday was the fourth of 10 practices Weber can use to prepare the Illini for the trip. He introduced all of the newbies with one practice back in June and the team is beginning a four-practice stretch.
They will go another five times before leaving for the trip, which will include at least four games in Rome, Florence, Venice and Como against professional Italian club teams.
"It's a great opportunity for us to have with all these new guys to go through the practices," Weber said. "The games are the icing on the cake when it comes down to it; more value in the teaching and learning, so when we get to the fall with these guys, whether it's terminology or how hard we want to go or part of our system, hopefully, we'll have an advantage."
Given the amount of roster changes, especially the addition of Sam Maniscalco, who transferred from Bradley in the offseason, the timing of the trip couldn't be any better. Maniscalco sees the perfect opportunity for the seven fresh faces to mesh with the six returners. For him, the likely season-opening starter at point guard, bonding time is immeasurable. Throw in the fact that he's still recovering from major ankle surgery and the trip's bonuses keep stacking up.
"I'm just getting back into the swing of things and having the opportunity to play against some competition of that level and speed will pay dividends down the road," Maniscalco said.
Maniscalco estimated he's at about 70-80 percent of basketball-playing shape and he's still taking it slow at times by listening to his body. He just started playing basketball again after taking eight months off.
"It's taken a little longer than we had thought," Weber said. "But Sunday, he kind of showed us the things we thought he was going to do. He's very crafty. He's got some toughness. He understands the game.
"I hope he ends up being a very good player for us."
Weber said he hopes to split the minutes evenly throughout the roster on the trip but it's certainly an opportunity for players to prove they should be in the rotation come the beginning of the season.
lbridges@herald-review.com|421-6970
Published in the Herald & Review in July 2011.
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