Illinois women's basketball took part in the first of two days of Big Ten Basketball Media Days on Tuesday, with Kendall Bostic, Makira Cook, and head coach Shauna Green all representing the Orange and Blue in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

With eight new faces on the roster and a new coaching staff, the Fighting Illini will embrace a new identity and system heading into the 2022-23 season, which gets underway at the start of November. 

From the keys to improvement, to defining progress, to developing chemistry, let's take a look at three key takeaways from the Illini's trip to Minnesota.

The name of the game will be defense

One of Green's biggest strengths at Dayton was her team's defense, as the Flyers ranked among the top-15 teams nationally in defensive field-goal percentage during her six-year tenure.

Not only does good defense prevent opponents from scoring, it provides the groundwork for good offense, and it allows for Green and the Illini to play fast.

"We defend, we rebound, and then we're gonna run," Green said. "We want to play really, really fast, but I always tell these guys you can't run and play fast if you're playing off of a dead ball and a make, so gotta get stops."

Bostic said there has been a "big emphasis" on defense in practice, while Green sometimes allots 60-70% of the practice to focus solely on defense. After ranking in the bottom half of the Big Ten in points allowed last season, Illinois will need to develop more disciplined defense to take a step in the right direction in Green's first season.

"We have to be able to defend," Green said. "That's gonna put us in a position to at least be in a position to win games, so it starts with that, no question."

Progress = improvement "possession by possession"

With a new roster and lots of unknowns heading into the start of her first season in Champaign, Green does not want to look too far ahead and instead focus on game by game and possession by possession. Though it may be easy to look back on last year's record and compare it to how the team performs this year, Green brings a fresh slate to an Illini program excited to start a new chapter.

These changes bring obvious questions about expectations heading into the season, but Green says progress can be defined by improvement on a small scale.

"I've always been concerned about just are we getting better possession by possession, day by day, drill to drill. Are we getting 1% better," Green said. "That was the same way last year when I had a veteran team knowing we were going to compete for a championship, or this year when we're trying to rebuild a program. You can't get too far ahead of yourself.

"You got to really stay present and try to just get better in those moments. Right now we're just really trying to learn how to win, teach them how to win, have winning ways, what the standard of excellence looks like day by day, again, possession by possession. Progress, I've said it at my press conference, I'll say it again. We'll be good when we're good. As long as we're continuing to get better day by day, drill by drill, then the outcome takes care of itself."

Illinois has found ways to develop chemistry on and off the court

The Illini roster features eight newcomers – four freshmen and four transfers – and five returners, bringing about concerns about chemistry both on and off the court. With plenty of new faces in the locker room, the team has turned to potlucks, card games, and group hangouts at Green's house while off the court to establish a better connection on the court.

Illinois returns three of its top five scorers, its top three rebounders, and two of its top three minute-getters, but the addition of several new faces will certainly shake up the starting rotation when the Illini open their season on Nov. 4.

Additional practices and games will create more opportunities to build trust and chemistry, but until then, Green is satisfied with the progress the team has made so far, both on and off the court, and she is looking forward to leading her team out at State Farm Center for the first time.

"I'm just really trying to just get our program heading in a positive direction, trying to get us back, really compete with the best that there is in this unbelievable conference," Green said. "I'm excited to be here and excited about the season."