By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A week after Armein Kirkland opened the University of Cincinnati coaches' eyes, they're still trying to figure out exactly what they saw.

They'd like to believe they detected an answer to the Bearcats' offensive problems. They hope Kirkland's work on the wing, which seemed to open the middle against Xavier and free Leonard Stokes to slice down the lane, was a preview of good things to come.

Kirkland, a freshman, scored only four points in 13 minutes, but he also grabbed five rebounds, had four assists and blocked a shot.

More important, the Bearcats' offense was more fluid when Kirkland was in the game.

"If there was a ray of hope, I think he was a ray of hope," said UC head coach Bob Huggins.

Since the XU game, the Bearcats have spent the week taking final exams and continuing to look for ways to improve their offensive execution.

They'll find out how much progress they've made at 6:05 p.m. today when they take on LaSalle (3-2) at Shoemaker Center. That's also when UC (3-2) hopes to get a better read on what Kirkland's presence can mean to the team.

"Even as a staff, we wonder that," said Dan Peters, UC's associate head coach. "We know offensively we're a little better because he gives us ballhandling and you have to guard him. Now it's a question of, can he play with the other four guys and does he understand what we want?"

This week's first order of business was to work on Kirkland's shooting. If he's going to force defenders out of the post, he's going to have to make more shots.

That's why Peters was in the gym with Kirkland on Monday providing individual instruction.

"He's got a lot of unnecessary motion," Peters said. "He shoots the ball too low. He needs to shorten that stroke a little bit because guys are quicker and they're going to get up on him."

There are also questions about how well Kirkland will be able to defend and rebound. At 190 pounds, he could find himself getting knocked around by more physical players.

"I did everything in high school," Kirkland said. "I brought the ball down, then I would go post up and sometimes I would run the offense from the point. This is different. Everybody is bigger. It's easy to rebound when you're 6-8 in high school. Now the other guys are as tall or taller. I've just got to try harder and get stronger."

Stokes benefited more than anyone from Kirkland's presence, so it's only natural he'd like to see the freshman establish himself.

"He can do a lot of things," Stokes said. "He's just got to learn to listen. Sometimes when people talk to him, he tends to talk back a little bit, but once he starts listening, he'll be a pretty good player. He's got all the tools and the talent."ALUMNI CONTRIBUTIONS: Former UC players Damon Flint, Curtis Bostic and A.D. Jackson have been practicing with the Bearcats.

"I think it's helped out," Stokes said. "They put Curt on Jason (Maxiell) and Damon guards me. I know it helps me a lot. It helps Max, because he's not able to catch it as easy and post against Curt."

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com

LaSalle at UC

Tipoff: 6:05 p.m. today.

Records: LaSalle 3-2, UC 3-2.

Radio: WLW-AM (700).

TV: Ch.19.

Series: UC leads 6-3.

LaSALLE

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Jeff Farmer	So.	6-5	3.0
Steven Smith	Fr.	6-8	8.6
Joel Jean-Baptiste	Jr.	6-9	1.2
Jermaine Thomas	Fr.	6-2	12.8
Mike Cleaves	So.	5-10	12.6

Coach: Billy Hahn (18-19, 2nd season; 60-64 overall).

UC

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Leonard Stokes	Sr.	6-6	15.2
Jason Maxiell	So.	6-7	9.4
Kareem Johnson	Jr.	6-7	3.0
Field Williams	Jr.	6-3	14.2
Taron Barker	Sr.	6-1	6.0

Coach: Bob Huggins (335-102, 14th season; 503-174 overall).