Wednesday, December 08, 1999
Mickeal refocused for Tar Heels
After rough start, senior 'starting over'
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CHICAGO — Bob Huggins said so many dreadful things about the UC Bearcats publicly after their most recent game.
He questioned their effort. He questioned their intelli gence. He questioned their commitment. And yet no comment was as searing as one made privately to the players in their locker room.
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UC vs. N.CAROLINA
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• When: 9 tonight
• Where: United Center, (21,000) Chicago
• Records: UC 5-0, UNC 6-1
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: WLW-AM 700
BY THE NUMBERS
• 7-0: North Carolina's series lead against the Bearcats
• 34-35: UC's record against all teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference
• 3: NCAA rank of UC's Steve Logan (.636, 14-of-22) among 3-point shooters with at least 15 attempts
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Senior forward Pete Mickeal did not say if he was mentioned by name, but when Huggins said, “My heart and soul of this team ... is not rebounding, not scoring, not doing what he's capable of doing,” there was no doubt which Bearcat he meant.
In a seven-point victory over Gonzaga, Mickeal failed to score double figures for a second consecutive game. In the second half, he was benched for an extended period after he stood on the court and answered back Huggins' criticism of his effort.
He enters tonight's Great Eight game between the No.1-ranked Bearcats and No.7 North Carolina at the United Center averaging 10.8 points.
“I haven't averaged 11 points since I was like a sixth-grader,” he said. He is averaging 4.4 rebounds, a figure he failed to surpass only eight times in 33 games as a junior.
“For the five games I've played, I really haven't been myself,” Mickeal said. “I just haven't been playing to my capabilities. I haven't been going to rebound like I normally do. I haven't been scoring like I usually do. My timing's not there.
“I know I wasted five games of my career, which I can't afford to do. I already did it, so I've just got to play now. Luckily, I only wasted five games. I'm starting all over ... and what a place to do it.”
This is home for Mickeal, a graduate of Rock Island (Ill.) High. There will be family members and friends in the audience when the Bearcats (5-0) play the Tar Heels (5-1) at 9 p.m. He says “my people are my worst fans — my worst critics — so I can't get away with anything.”
On the bus home from Cleveland, he thought for a while about how he had performed so far this season. He came to a few conclusions.
Sunday, he apologized to Huggins and his teammates for being, in so many words, a jerk. Mickeal thought yelling back at Huggins set a bad example for UC's younger players. Afterward — and again Monday — he offered his best practice since the regular season began.
Against the Tar Heels, he accepts the challenge of guarding freshman star Joseph Forte, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who leads the Tar Heels in scoring at 17.3 points a game.
Mickeal said he's certain this game will be different, more like the games he played as a member of the U.S. team in the World University Games and as a junior with the Bearcats. He led them last season in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage and defensively shut down Lamar Odom and Shawn Marion, double-figure scorers this season in the NBA.
“Because you know what? It starts in practice,” Mickeal said. “That's what convinces me. North Carolina, my mindframe is going to be totally different. I know what I've got to do.”
Huggins approached Mickeal after Monday's practice and congratulated him for reverting to the Mickeal of old.
Although he said the Bearcats will need that player to accomplish everything that is possible this season, Huggins is not panicked about Mickeal's early play.
“It affects us a lot. He does more of everything than anyone else on this team does,” Huggins said. “But I think he'll be fine. We haven't had to have him. He's best when we have to have him.”
Mickeal is shooting better — 4-of-9 from the 3-point line — and still Huggins would prefer he focus on the strength of his game. But with center Kenyon Martin a force inside and the Bearcats' other perimeter shooters so effective, the Bearcats often get the ball to Mickeal only when a play is specifically called for him to slash to the goal.
Mickeal does not accept this theory, that he has been groping to discover what his role should be. He offers no alternative.
“There's no reason for it. I just haven't been playing to my capabilities,” Mickeal said. “Huggs has been coaching the same way. The team has been playing good. But I haven't. My mind frame has been a little different than usual. It just changed.
“It's basically just wanting it as much as everybody else again. Before in games, I didn't want it as much; I just wanted to stand around and hopefully it would come to me. Now I'm back to going after it every time. I've got to be more assertive. That's something I'm real hard on myself about, and when I'm hard on myself about something, I usually get it done.”
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Cincinnati girls basketball roundup
N.Ky. boys basketball roundup
Ohio boys basketball results
Ohio girls basketball results Akron Elms 46, Rittman 16
Kentucky boys basketball results
Kentucky girls basketball results
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