Sunday, November 07, 1999

UC 107, B.C. Honved of Hungary 49

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Satterfield, Johnson rev up exhibition

BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kenny Satterfield fired up the Bearcats. | ZOOM |

        It took longer for the Cincinnati Bearcats to warm up to the 1999-2000 basketball season than for their fans to cross the street from watching the football game at Nippert Stadium.

        The audience at the Shoemaker Center was in place well in advance of the tipoff between UC and B.C. Honved of Hungary, and UC was stationary on the court well afterward.

        Then, Kenny Satterfield happened.

        A freshman point guard from New York, Satterfield blazed through the Honved defense with a blizzard of fastbreak attacks, leading UC to a 107-49 victory in its exhibition opener. He missed all seven of his shots and ended the game scoreless, but had as much to do with the Bearcats' scoring output as classmate DerMarr Johnson (21 points) and senior center Kenyon Martin (19).

        “He really pushes it,” said UC coach Bob Huggins. “He pushed it one time when he was walking it up there and asking me what to run, and I told him to run transition. And he ended up still getting by people.

        “He really sees the floor. He sees so many guys.”

DeMarr Johnson was filling it up. | ZOOM |

        Satterfield, who passed for six assists, was one of four UC freshmen playing his first game, and the three perimeter players among them helped veterans Martin and Pete Mickeal (14 points) turn the Bearcats into a looser, less restrictive outfit.

        Johnson was only 1-of-4 from 3-point range, but those were the only shots he missed. Wing Leonard Stokes took over at the point with starter Steve Logan resting a sore ankle for the second half and Satterfield resting in the closing minutes; Stokes ended with 16 points and six assists.

        The difference between this team and its immediate predecessors is as simple as this: these Bearcats will run, whereas they only talked about it in the past three years.

        The Bearcats moved sluggishly through their offensive sets and appeared uncertain where they wanted the ball to go in the first five minutes. Honved, which was led by former UC guard Terrence Davis's 19 points, stayed close.

        Two changes from the bench energized UC. First, Satterfield entered the game. Then, coach Bob Huggins set the Bearcats in a zone press with Mickeal and Martin attacking the ball at the front.

        The press created a freer atmosphere, and that created the room to get the ball to Martin inside. He immediately demonstrated his newfound eagnerness to be a focal point of the offense, shooting on his next three touches and making each to get UC a 13-10 advantage.

        “I think it was just like we were very anxious to get started, and once we got out there, I don't know if it was nerves or what,” said Martin, who finished 8-of-8 from the floor. “But it we got it going. That's all that matters.”

        The play that most impressed the spectators during the first half also involved Satterfield's ability to serve the ball in transition. After scoring on a devastating tip-slam off a missed 3-pointer by Johnson, Martin tipped loose the inbounds pass and directed it to Satterfield. In an instant, Satterfield spun to face the goal and scooped the ball up toward the rim, where Johnson caught it and threw it down for a 40-25 lead.

        “When Coach put me in, he told me to push the ball and get the offense going, because we started slow,” Satterfield said. “Everybody felt it pick up a little bit. Kenyon started rebounding more and going to the offensive glass. Pete started slashing. DerMarr started scoring. Everything started to click after that.”

        After deliberating overnight -- and throughout the first several weeks of practice -- whether to redshirt his freshman season, 6-11 center B.J. Grove entered the game with 5:19 left and scored on his first shot attempt. He finished with four points and four rebounds.

        It took Johnson more than 10 minutes to score his first point in a UC uniform, but because of his ability to get loose in the running game and finish plays, he fell just short of double figures by halftime. His most impressive play, though, came against a Honved halfcourt zone, when he dribbled around the front defender on the right wing, cut left with the ball and then banked in a running jumpshot.

        “That's what I'm trying to work on now,” Johnson said. “I'm used to shooting 3s, but putting it on the floor and pulling up -- I've been told I have to work on that a lot, so I'm trying.”

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