-Ask Klee more about offseason conditioning stats in his weekly chat here.

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:

D.J. Richardson, a voice of reason for a freshman, had a simple explanation for Alex Legion's 28-point outburst at the Orange & Blue Scrimmage on Sunday.

"Alex, that's coming from staying after (practice) in the gym, and coming early in the gym, and getting shots up," Richardson said.

Bruce Weber often says Legion, the streakiest of the team's off-guards, is also one of its hardest workers. It's rare when Legion doesn't stay afterward - usually with Richardson and Demetri McCamey - for extra jumpshots.

Still, after a rollercoaster first season at Illinois, the 6-foot-5 guard knows he's going to be judged when his opponents aren't his teammates.

"Hopefully I'll do it when it counts," he said after making 6-of-8 three-point shots.

"He's got to be a catch-and-shoot player," Weber said.

Strength and conditioning coach Jimmy Price keeps track of "wins" in offseason sprints and timed runs. (Guards and big men race separately.) Richardson had the most wins overall; Dominique Keller had the most wins among big men.

Though Legion rarely won sprints, the high school cross-country runner has excellent stamina. His shot got hot as the scrimmage wore on, a testament to his solid conditioning.

"Anything long distance, I can do. My stamina is like that," said Legion, who weighed in at 202 pounds last week. "But I'm not really fast. Coaches get mad at me, but I'm not a fast guy. I never was fast. It's not my style. D.J., he's just fast."

The Illini watched film of the Orange & Blue scrimmage today before practice, and they will hold a closed scrimmage Tuesday before a day off Wednesday.

Whether Legion is on the court in late-game situations - when that stamina would be a factor - could depend on how he performs early in the season. Friday's exhibition against Missouri Southern is another chance to prove he belongs.

"This year the preseason is going to be real important to me," he said. "It's pretty much going to determine my season."