OXFORD — Ole Miss’ basketball season opener is less than four weeks away.

As practices roll on, the sense of urgency increases. Ole Miss meets Long Island on Nov. 4 and then Grambling on Nov. 8 — both games are in Oxford — so the time to prepare for what the Rebels hope is a run in the NCAA Tournament in March is running short.

Ole Miss coach Chris Beard has assembled an older, veteran team in his second year in Oxford. Determining roles and rotations is an ongoing process, but Beard used this summer’s U.S. Olympic team — one that featured LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and other NBA superstars — as a model.

On that team, one that took home a gold medal in Paris, players had to accept complementary roles at times for the betterment of the collective. Beard is hoping that inspiration carries over to his team by the time games begin next month.

“We’re a work in progress,” Beard said earlier this week. “(Monday was) practice No. 8 of 28, so I think it’s just continuing improvement. There’s no doubt about it, like a team like Team USA, everybody hears that you have to sacrifice and try to figure out how each role fits together.”

One focus in the preseason has been on embracing practice. Beard’s philosophy is practice should be harder than games, which means preparing for practices on a daily basis is paramount to success.

“We’ve seen some real positives in that regard, especially with the veteran players,” Beard said. “We’re just trying to challenge them to do things differently this season than they’ve done in the past. If we had a guy out here on the floor who has won the national championship, we could probably talk to him about duplicating his performance, but that’s not our reality.

“So from our best player to our least experienced player, coaches included, we’re just trying to talk about doing new things. To me, if you want a different result, the things you have to do on a daily basis have to change. For the most part, our guys have embraced that.”

The Rebels added some veteran scoring to a team that returns Matthew Murrell, Jaemyn Brakefield, JuJu Murray and others. Guards Dre Davis and Sean Pedulla and forwards Malik Dia and Mikeal Brown-Jones, among others, should give the Rebels positional versatility and depth. That’s certainly the plan, Beard said.

“That’s our system,” Beard said, referring to a “position-less basketball” philosophy that has become very popular in the college and professional game over the past several years. “That’s how we play the game. There are different ways to play, but that’s our identity, beginning in the recruiting process. We try to recruit players to the way we like to play. Ultimately, these guys have goals to play after college and that goes hand in hand with that. I don’t know what the difference between a 3 and a 2 is. I just know who can dribble, pass and shoot and on the defensive end, what positions can you guard. …It’s one of the advantages of this year’s team and it could be a strength and a weapon for us — we have a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things.”

A year ago, Ole Miss struggled in the latter weeks of the season, primarily because some of the Rebels’ defensive deficiencies were exposed and then taken advantage of. Not surprisingly, this preseason, there’s been an emphasis placed on trying to establish defense.

“It starts with us,” Beard said. “Culture, intensity, our willingness to defend. We’re making sure guys understand that’s our plan around here.”

Ole Miss plays host to Illinois in a Charity Benefit for CASA of North Mississippi exhibition game on Oct. 27 at 11 a.m. Tickets are available now.