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OPENING TIP: Bright spots amid .500 start
(as published in Whoosh! magazine Jan. 16, 2006)
Take one look at the results over the first 16 games and people must wonder: Are there two different Flames teams playing?
I love the historic victory at Georgia Tech – the first one ever over an ACC school. It wasn’t just a victory, it was a total thrashing – a 22-point walloping of the Yellow Jackets in their own building. Wow!
The Flames also recorded victories at Northwestern and over Ole Miss at home. Neither team is rated very highly in their conferences, but still to record victories over a Big Ten and a SEC team, speaks volumes for what coach Jimmy Collins has done for the program. There are also the solid wins over Northern Illinois and Davidson.
However, there are still the head-scratchers. The games that make you wonder if anyone here knew how to coach or play the game. Sure, you can credit St. Xavier, an excellent NAIA program, and Chicago State for playing brilliantly in those games. But, they’re still bad-looking losses on the official docket. I guess that’s what happens when you get a bunch of kids in the 18-to-22-year-old range.
One bright spot in the chaos known as the 2005-06 UIC Flames men’s basketball team is the play of Justin Bowen. The senior forward has really emerged and improved his game. His baseline jumper is now almost automatic. He’s also improved other parts of his game and will probably earn a paycheck somewhere around the world playing basketball if he chooses to go that route.
In talking with Bowen and observing him this season, I see a young man that is smart, friendly and can be real difference in the world as a human being. Bowen, along with Othyus Jeffers and Jovan Stefanov, is among the players that Collins likes to mold his program around.
As for the rest of this season, there is still a lot of promise despite a 1-3 record in the Horizon League (at press time). Even though the team lost Elliott Poole to academic issues, there’s still potential for a strong finish.
The comeback from 16 points down on the road at Green Bay was something special. Even though UIC didn’t win the game, they fought hard to take it into overtime and that’s the fight that the Flames will need to show to make this season mean something.
Along with Bowen, Jeffers and Stefanov, Josh Mayo, Robert Bush, Danijel Zoric and Kevin Bond are making strides toward making the Flames a contender before the season is over.
As Collins, the eternal optimist, has said to his team on numerous occasions: “We’ve been telling them that they have the makings to be a very, very good team if they continue to be patient and play hard and play together.”
May the Flames burn brightly forever!
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