Friday, October 29, 1999

Long-range goal for UC's Mickeal

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Vows to open up game with new outside shot

BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Pete Mickeal demonstrates his new shooting technique (left) using his fingers to grip the ball, and his old style (right) of using his palm to lauch shots. (Michael E. keating photos) | ZOOM |

        Pete Mickeal's game plan last season was so obvious and indelible, he could have stamped it across his uniform jersey instead of “Cincinnati.” When he gained possession of the ball, “Everybody knew I was going to the hole.”

        He drove to the basket from the left, from the right, from the center of the lane. What he almost never did was stand at a significant distance from the goal and attempt a jump shot.

        Mickeal, A 6-foot-6 small forward, was good enough to be named first-team All-Conference USA and the Bearcats' MVP, and he averaged 16.1 points in their 27 victories. Ultimately, though, came the NCAA Tournament and UC's matchup against Temple. Mickeal tried four shots the entire game, the offense imploded and he departed the season well aware his approach was too narrow.

        “I really didn't realize until it was over that if I had the ability to hit those shots, it would have helped my teammates out a lot,” Mickeal said. “You just don't understand that until you lose a game like the Temple game.”

        There is a new wrinkle to Mickeal's game for his senior season. He is a shooter. There will be no scientific proof of this until the Bearcats open their season Nov. 20 against Youngstown State, but the lab results from UC's practices suggest he is not the same player who attempted only 16 3-pointers — and made five — in his first season of Division I ball.

        Mickeal's shooting style didn't help matters. He previously shot with the ball resting on his palm, with his wrist only slightly cocked and his fingers close together. From there, he'd sling the ball along a low, laser-beam-like path that too often caught too much of the rim.

        It was hard not to notice. “I've had so many people give me advice about my shot,” he said.

        The one constant to the various tips and comments was this: look for the wrinkles. Coach Bob Huggins mentioned this first, and enough others followed to convince Mickeal.

        Without cocking his wrist properly, he could not get a sufficient, consistent arc on his shots.

        “Huggs always tells me to get my wrist bent back, and when you see the wrinkles in your wrist, that's how you shoot the ball,” Mickeal said. “I could never get the wrinkles back there, so I tried. It took long time for me to finally see the wrinkles.”

        In his offseason workouts, Mickeal started every day standing at close range and tried to shoot 100 shots with ideal form. He wouldn't move on to the rest of his workout until he hit 10 in a row, all net.

        Often, he would summon team managers Scott Wilhoit or Mark Berger to rebound for him in late-night workouts.

        “At the beginning, we had to run all around rebounding for him and no one wanted to do it,” Berger said. “It got easier over the course of the summer. His 3-point shot improved so much.”

        Mickeal would end every day in his apartment with a basketball in his hands, trying to ingrain the habit of shooting properly. It could be 2 a.m., and he'd be “trying to get the wrinkles in my wrist.”

        UC recruited freshman guards DerMarr Johnson and Kenny Satterfield to rejuvenate its perimeter attack, but Mickeal's improvement could provide a welcome weapon.

        The Bearcats could challenge defenses with a minimum of three players who are proficient long-range shooters, as opposed to last season when, Huggins said, “We counted on one guy to make shots.” That guy was senior guard Melvin Levett, who made only five of his last 29 attempts from 3-point range.

        “This could make all the difference in the world,” Huggins said. “We have to get back to where we had three or four different guys and you had to guard all of them. Pete's game is always going to be driving to the goal, but he's got to be able to make enough shots out there that they come out and guard him.”

        Now, Mickeal's shots fly higher and land softly. He releases the ball with a flick of his wrist — off his fingertips rather than the odd, short-arm motion from his past.

        He nailed a 3-pointer after a quick dribble in UC's Midnight Madness session. One week ago in practice, he made nearly every outside shot he attempted.

        “That's the way it's been every day,” Mickeal said. “I need that confidence. Like now, I can miss two straight and I'm going to go out and shoot the next one. Because I know I can shoot it. I've worked on it so much. I've shot so many shots.

        “It's to the point now where I just expect to make every shot, and if I miss, I get mad. Before, I'd stop shooting.”

       

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