Wednesday, January 12, 2000

UC's Johnson showing maturity

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Not letting bad game hurt focus for Tulane

BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DerMarr Johnson scored just 5 points Sunday. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        NEW ORLEANS — Coming off his worst game as a UC Bearcat, DerMarr Johnson appeared to be unfazed. He still had that sad, droopy-eyed look he often carries.

        His body language — head titled slightly down, shoulders shrugged — was a typically shy response to a pre-practice interview.

        Johnson still talked with his usual confidence. The question, though, is not what he says off the court; it's how he responds on the court tonight.

        The Bearcats (14-1, 3-0 Conference USA) enter the 8 p.m. league game at Tulane as the nation's top-ranked team for the first time in nearly a month. They also come in with a freshman shooting guard (Johnson) who took only two shots and scored just five points (eight below his average) in Saturday's 19-point defeat of Marquette.

UC at TULANE

›When: 8 tonight   • Where: New Orleans Arena (17,832)   • Radio: WLW-AM (700)   • TV: Channel 19   • Records: UC 14-1, 3-0 C-USA; Tulane 10-3, 0-2   BY THE NUMBERS   • 5.4: Assists per game for Tulane point guard Waitari Marsh, second in C-USA   • 5.5, 5.0: Assists per game for UC backup point guard Kenny Satterfield, best in C-USA, and UC starting point guard Steve Logan, third in C-USA

        “It's a big learning experience. Usually a freshman will hang his head, and he hasn't,” senior forward Pete Mickeal said. “That tells me right there his maturity level is heavy. If you score as much as DerMarr averages (13.2 points a game) and you score five points, you're usually sitting on the bench hanging your head. But he handled it well.”

        Because UC is stacked with talent — and senior leadership from Mickeal and Kenyon Martin — Johnson's bad day really didn't matter. But Johnson played just 22 minutes (none in the crucial late minutes when Marquette mounted a comeback) and was having trouble getting in position to receive the ball to get shots. Coach Bob Huggins wanted him to learn by watching.

        “The shot I took I hit,” Johnson said. “I felt I'd have a pretty good shooting game, but I guess I didn't have enough time to show it. I don't get upset about it. Sometimes it's good to sit out and watch.”

        Huggins isn't surprised. He knows coaching a team that relies so heavily on freshmen — rookie backup Kenny Satterfield is the Bearcats' top assist man — means ups and downs. And because of the Bearcats' blowout wins, they've had a chance to mature more quickly. Reserve guard Leonard Stokes and center Donald Little have been able to average 10 minutes a game, and Satterfield leads C-USA with 5.5 assists a game.

        “I think they're getting better,” Huggins said. “For any of us to think they're going to be as consistent as Pete and Kenyon, it's not going to happen. But we've had enough of them be consistent at the right times that we've been fine. DerMarr had a bad game. That happens.

        “All they can do is come out and try to get better. They're young and it's hard. People don't realize how hard it is to 35 times a year be really focused. When you lose focus, you're going to get exposed, because (the opponents) are so much more athletic. The difference with Kenyon and Pete is they don't lose their focus near as much.”

        Mickeal said he has seen the freshmen get tougher physically since the veterans started roughing them around — in a good way — when practice began in October.

        The physical rigors are the first thing Johnson mentions when asked what he has learned in his first two months as a college player.

        “I've learned it's hard,” Johnson said. “They play a lot more defense in college. And in high school, we didn't go through all the scouting. I'm stronger, trying to rebound more.”

        The scouting report on Tulane (10-3, 0-2 C-USA) is that it probably will press UC and try to force turnovers. The Green Wave are on a two-game losing streak and committed 20 turnovers in losing at Louisville last week. The Bearcats have won eight of the last nine against the Wave.

        “They just don't want you to run an offense,” Huggins said. “They try to make you play in a very helter-skelter fashion, and if you don't have guys that can handle the ball, it's very effective.”

        UC has great ball-handlers in Satterfield and starting point guard Steve Logan. One of the more interesting matchups will pit them against Tulane guard Waitari Marsh, a sophomore from Chicago who is second in the league with 5.4 assists.

       

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