-To learn about Mike Davis' weightlifting increase, follow Klee on Twitter.

7 p.m. each weekday leading up to the season opener, beat writer Paul Klee will have an update on the Illini or the 2009-10 basketball season:

Three Things to Watch
(In Sunday's Orange & Blue Scrimmage)

1. Tyler Griffey
Watch closely, because he's not a flashy player, but in practice the 6-foot-9 forward has made few mistakes and has steadily improved throughout the fall. "I think the best adjective to use to describe Tyler is 'solid.' He's just good every day," said associate head coach Wayne McClain. "It's really kind of interesting, because all of the other guys come in with big names. But here's this guy, strumming along and doing everything well every day. So I think he's going to surprise people." While the freshmen guards arrived with much fanfare, Griffey arrived relatively quietly. Bruce Weber theorized that's because he skipped some AAU events to play in the lightly exposed adidas Nations program. "So his so-called ratings might have dropped," Weber said. At least through one week of practice, Griffey is battling veterans like Dominique Keller for playing time. Practice, however, is much different than performing in games, and the freshmen have yet to prove anything when it matters. "He's pushing some of the other guys," Weber said of Griffey. "I don't know if they realize it. I think we realize it. The coaches feel that way."

2. Attendance
Tickets for Sunday's scrimmage are general admission and go for $10. Get there early and sit close enough to see Demetri McCamey's new tattoo. (It's a snazzy piece of ink: "My City, My Game," with a shadowy backdrop of Chicago's skyline, on his left biceps. "I got it about a month ago," McCamey said). Either Illinidom doesn't like new tattoos or had other obligations last Friday - probably the latter - but the attendance at Illini Madness (7,632) fell woefully short of the DIA's expectations (a full house). What will we see today? In Bruce Weber's tenure, the Orange & Blue Scrimmage has averaged about 6,700 fans. The low point was last year (2,532), but that figures to jump due to an NCAA tournament berth and a buzz around the four freshmen. "If you had the coaches vote a top seven, I think three of them would be on there," said Weber, referencing freshmen guards Brandon Paul and D.J. Richardson and forward Tyler Griffey. Fans on hand will watch four 8-minute quarters in the scrimmage Sunday. Coaches said they'll mix up the teams at each quarter.

3. Playmakers
When the topic of replacing Chester Frazier comes up, it's usually about replacing the departed Illini's defense and leadership. But his 5.3 assists per game - tops in the Big Ten - are gone, too. Someone must replace his ability to create scoring opportunities for others. There are more playmakers on this roster, but their approach on offense is different than Frazier's. "Chester would go to the basket and look to pass off," said forward Mike Davis, often the beneficiary of Frazier's assists. "Meechie (McCamey) and D.J. (Richardson), when they get to the basket, they look to score." Nothing wrong with that. But so far, Davis and Mike Tisdale aren't finding the wide-open looks - courtesy of Frazier's drives - that lifted their scoring averages as sophomores. "I wouldn't say (I'm) as open as I would like to be," Davis said. "D.J.'s been going to the basket a lot more, and he can finish. That's good for us."