Beach ballin’

If you thought the men’s basketball season didn’t officially get underway until Midnight Madness, Hoosier Hysteria or whatever they call that night in mid-October, you would normally be right. But not this year. This year, IU is getting a head start on the season.\nThe Hoosiers began practicing last weekend and continued throughout the first week of classes in preparation for their Labor Day weekend tour of the Bahamas. And while visions of extremely tall men sun bathing on marble white sand and drinking colorful drinks may pop into your head, this tour is far from an excuse for a vacation. \nIn fact, players and coaches will be lucky to get a picture of a palm tree during their two-day stay unless they are near the beach. They will pack in four games and addtional, practices.\nAs IU coach Kelvin Sampson made abundantly clear at last Saturday’s press conference, the real value of this trip is the 10 extra practices the team is allowed. Sampson claimed to not even know who IU would be playing during the trip (Beware of the Sunshine Auto Club, Kelvin. I hear their point guard is a real piston). \nWith so many fresh faces on this year’s team, an early introduction in August could pay big dividends come March. And make no mistake about it, this team is looking to make some major noise come the month of madness.\nIndividually, the Hoosiers appear to be one of the most talented IU teams in recent years with the addition of freshman guard Eric Gordon and several other highly touted members of the 2007 recruiting class. Only seven players remain from last year’s 21-win team, however. Forward D.J. White and guard Armon Bassett are the only two returning players that started at least two-thirds of last season’s games.\nThe 2007 recruiting class got a chance earlier this month to become familiar with each other’s playing styles during their barnstorming tour, but Sampson noted that “there’s no correlation between barnstorming and the way we play.”\nThe adoption of solid, fundamental team basketball will determine whether this squad is a worthy contender for a national championship or just a flash in the pan. Team basketball can only be developed if the players are familiar with each other on the court, and that familiarity will build this weekend.\nIf there was any doubt about who was going to lead the 2007-08 Hoosiers, that debate was put to rest this summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the Pan American games. White led Team USA in points and rebounding against international talent. White’s inspired play garnered some attention this past summer – was he possibly trying to attract one of Rio’s bikini-clad beach babes? \nSampson commented on the new swagger D.J. exhibits on the court these days, something that was missing last season as he returned from a fractured foot which sidelined him for much of his sophomore season.\n“We still have that D.J. kid inside,” Sampson said. “This is his team.”\nWhite’s new teammates will find that out on a tropical island in the Atlantic this weekend. We won’t find out about “his team” until late November.