CINCINNATI — Talent can be assembled in a matter of weeks.  But a basketball team takes much longer.

That's the challenge facing first-year Cincinnati head coach Jerrod Calhoun as the Bearcats continue summer workouts with a roster that looks dramatically different than the one that took the floor just a few months ago. Twelve newcomers have joined the program, making this one of the most extensive roster overhauls in the country.

For now, however, wins and losses aren't the priority.  Learning one another is.

Every practice provides another opportunity for players to understand where teammates like the ball, how quickly they make decisions and what they're capable of defensively. Those lessons may seem insignificant in July, but they're often the difference between winning and losing close games in February.

That's one reason Cincinnati's upcoming trip to the Bahamas carries far more significance than a pair of exhibition games.

For Calhoun, it'll be the first opportunity to see his new roster compete against someone wearing a different jersey. For the players, it'll be a chance to experience game situations that simply can't be replicated during practice. Just as importantly, the extended time together away from campus should accelerate the chemistry every new team spends months trying to build.

Assistant coach Ben Asher recently noted that the exhibitions will give the coaching staff its first real opportunity to evaluate rotations, lineups and how players respond when the games become competitive. That's information coaches simply can't gather from practice alone.

The encouraging news for Bearcat fans is that the early reports coming out of Fifth Third Arena have been positive.

Players have repeatedly talked about the energy surrounding the program, while coaches have emphasized the willingness of an almost entirely new roster to embrace Calhoun's expectations. That's exactly what you'd hope to hear this time of year.

While the real evaluations will come later, the Bahamas trip will provide a first glimpse.  The outdoor exhibition against Ohio State will offer another.

Only then will anyone have a meaningful understanding of what this basketball team is capable of becoming.  Until then, the Bearcats are doing exactly what they should be doing:  learning one another.

Because for a team this new, chemistry isn't just important.  It's everything.