Friday, June 09, 2000
Mickeal eager to prove NBA value
UC's finish may hurt ex-Bearcat
By Mike DeCourcy
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CHICAGO — It was Kenyon Martin who was forced to fall in pain, limp from the court, undergo surgery and endure the rehabilitation process when his leg was broken in a freak accident during the Conference USA tournament in March. But that injury might have hurt Cincinnati Bearcats teammate Pete Mickeal even more.
Mickeal could have been approaching the NBA draft with the momentum that comes with playing an essen tial role for a NCAA champion — the sort of momentum that lifted Connecticut's
Richard Hamilton to No. 6 in the draft last season, that got Kentucky's Tony Delk selected 16th in 1996 and is likely to push Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson of Michigan State to the lottery level this year.
Were it not for Martin's injury, Mickeal might have had the opportunity to shut down Peterson, a high-scoring 6-foot-6 wing player, in the NCAA title game. Then which of them would be sitting home this week and which would be trying to strengthen his candidacy at the NBA pre-draft camp?
“It's not frustrating,” said Mickeal, who started two seasons at small forward for the Bearcats after winning two national championships at Indian Hills Community College. “Nothing really frustrates me, because I think everything happens for a reason.”
With a long NCAA Tournament run, Mickeal would have had plenty of opportunity to repair his image after a disagreement with coach Bob Huggins led to his benching in a nationally tele vised game at DePaul.
Instead, largely because Martin was missing, Mickeal got to play only four more games at UC, and two were defeats.
Mickeal said the only NBA executive to ask about that circumstance was Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause. “But he knew the situation,” Mickeal said. “He knows Huggs very well, he knows me very well. Everybody knows, because they all talk to Huggs and he says positive things about me. We had one altercation, and that's over. It went no further than that.”
Mickeal played well in the games Martin missed, but one NBA scout said he was looking for someone to take control and was disappointed Mickeal could not carry the Bearcats.
Mickeal knows he's up against this perception and is hungry to challenge any underclassmen in the pre-draft camp.
In his first camp game, Mickeal scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and passed for three as sists.
“I'm just looking forward to the opportunity to show I can shut down any "young guy' they would pick over me,” Mickeal said.
Mickeal will have several more individual workouts before the June 28 draft. He previously worked out for the Sacramento Kings and Orlando Magic. In Chicago, he was measured at 6-foot-5, 222 pounds, which is eight pounds lighter than when the season ended.
“The read from the GMs and all that is pretty good,” Mickeal said. “So many teams are telling me so many different things, and it's all good. Every workout I've been to, I was the best player there. No doubt.”
Two months ago at the Nike Desert Classic in Phoenix, the second of the three talent camps before the draft, Mickeal was the second-leading scorer and named to the all-tournament team. Chris Monter of Monter Draft News still called him a second-round pick. Duke's Chris Carrawell, whom Mickeal outshone last summer with the U.S. team in the World University Games, is Monter's No. 3 small forward. Mickeal is ranked No. 9.
“This is one of those drafts where no NBA team is looking at the player they draft as a solution,” said Andy Miller, Mickeal's agent. “The team that chooses Pete will choose him not because they think Chris Carrawell is better or worse than Pete, but because they want Pete to fill a very specific niche. If someone likes him, they're going to like him for what he brings to a team.”
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 Mickeal eager to prove NBA value
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