MID-SEASON RECAP: Flames still trying to find themselves

(as published in Whoosh! magazine Jan. 16, 2006)

Just over halfway through the 2005-06 season, the UIC Flames are 8-8, but the journey to that .500 record has taken some rather strange twists and turns.

Fans and media have used many different terms and phrases to describe the Flames thus far this season – “Jekyll and Hyde” has been a popular phrase and an appropriate one.

How else can you explain wins over Big Ten (Northwestern), ACC (Georgia Tech), and SEC (Mississippi) schools, along with losses to Chicago State and NAIA St. Xavier?

“I think we’ve got a lot of guys with great ability,” said senior forward Justin Bowen (pictured), who leads the team in scoring and rebounding. “I don’t think we’re showing it enough to win basketball games.”

Sometimes, in a game played by 18-to-22-year olds, it’s human nature to look at records and level of competition before playing an opponent.

“I think some of the guys have that in their mind,” Bowen said. “But every team comes out with an objective to win and you can’t underestimate anybody, despite their record. Those losses should teach us a lesson – we should come out with the same focus for every opponent.”

UIC coach Jimmy Collins says off-the-court happenings have affected the team at times.

“I think we’ve lost focus for various reasons,” Collins said. “Most of those reasons have been outside distractions away from the game of the basketball – those have hurt us.”

Early in the season, the Flames needed to adjust to life without Cedrick Banks and Armond Williams – two four-year stalwarts that anchored the team.

Things started relatively well in the season-opening Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the Flames grabbed wins against Montana State and San Diego State before losing to Denver in overtime of the championship game.

Then UIC returned home and promptly lost to St. Xavier, a quality NAIA team that caught the Flames napping. Of course, two days later UIC whipped Georgia Tech by 22 points in Atlanta.

That was just the beginning of the roller-coaster ride as within the next two weeks, UIC lost by 20 at Georgia Southern, lost at home to Chicago State, defeated Mississippi in overtime, earned a solid road win at Northwestern and nipped Northern Illinois on a late rebound basket by Elliott Poole.

At the end of December, the Flames played hard, if not well, in a 14-point loss to Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Dec. 21. After an eight-day break for Christmas, UIC picked up a hard-earned victory over Southern Conference powerhouse Davidson to finish its pre-conference schedule.

Bowen has established himself as the team’s leader and go-to guy, but several others have been instrumental in some of the team’s successes.

Sophomore forward Othyus Jeffers has led a crusade on the glass for the Flames. UIC won the rebound battle in its first 11 games and in 13 of 16 contests overall.

“Our rebounding is a big part of our offense,” Jeffers said, who has had five double-figure rebound games. “A lot of times the offense breaks down. It’s our job as a team to get the ball to the shooter. And if they miss, it’s my job to clean up the mess.”

Collins has been pleased with the concerted effort on the boards.

“We’ve really worked on blocking out this year,” Collins said. “We don’t have overwhelming size, but we use what we’ve got with our quickness. We like to go and turn with the ball and the other team sends guys back [to defend the break].”

Junior forward Jovan Stefanov has shown flashes, although he is still not active enough on offense, which he admits, “Coach [Collins] tells me I need to be more aggressive.”

However, Stefanov (pictured) has been another important cog as far as rebounding the ball. He twice had 11 rebounds this season – against Georgia Tech and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Flames had hoped to have a solid rotation at the guard spot, but things in the backcourt haven’t gone as planned initially, although there have been some surprises along the way.

Freshman Josh Mayo, after a few games of tentative shooting, has shown flashes of playing like an upperclassman.

Sophomore Robert Bush, who many believed was probably the No. 5 guard on the depth chart, has started 11 games and has netted a career-best 16 points twice this season, including knocking down four three-pointers in the 90-84 overtime loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay on Jan. 11.

“I don’t know if Robert knows how good he can be,” said Collins, who likes Bush’s work ethic.

Sophomore Karl White has not quite lived up his billing and has struggled with maturity this season. After a run-in with the coaching staff in Alaska and sitting out the Mississippi game, White’s playing time has fluctuated. Collins, however, sees a glimmer of hope for the Omaha, Neb. native.

“Karl is a very good player that could become a great player,” Collins said. “We were expecting him to be the successor to Cedrick Banks. He has a lot of energy, but Karl needs to know that [earning] playing time starts in practice.

“It’s not that Karl is a bad person, but sometimes he gets hung up in things through boredom or whatever that’s not conducive to the image that I’m building for this team and the university.”

The Flames have missed the shooting and leadership of point guard Rocky Collum, who has been limited to just one game due to various ailments. Junior college import D.J. Smedley has struggled to the point where Collins elected to go to junior walk-on Greg Zimny for minutes at the point guard position.

Sophomore swingman Kevin Bond has also shown some great strides of late.

“Kevin is certainly moving up in our rotation,” Collins said. “He’s playing defense well and he’s not turning over the ball. Everyday in practice, he’s showing more confidence.”

The Flames know they have to fine tune some things.

“A lot of work needs to be done,” said Jeffers (pictured). “We need to work harder on defense and we need to execute better offensively. Work the ball around for our shots and make the opposing defense tired.”

With six newcomers combining with veterans adjusting to new roles, the results have been mixed, but the jury is still on whether the Flames can have a successful season.

“We’ve got a bunch of new guys,” Collins said. “Sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get. For the very beginning, I think this a great group of guys, but they’re going to have to get tougher to compete at the Division I level.”

UIC has started 1-3 in the Horizon League with a one-point win against Youngstown State, blowout losses against Butler and Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a heartbreaking overtime loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay.

“We’re underachieving right now, big time,” Stefanov said. “Our record is not that horrible, but we have to pick up our game if we’re going to stay a winning team. There were definitely some games we should have won. Now we need to pull together and show everything we’ve got.”