Monday, March 13, 2000

It's time for DerMarr to think 'me'

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BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

UC's DerMarr Johnson awaits reporters after learning that the Bearcats has been seeded second in the NCAA's South Region. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        With some of them, you just don't know. The highly recruited freshmen arrive with their jumpshots and their attitudes, believing the hype. They want rewards they haven't earned and praise they don't deserve. Not DerMarr Johnson. He came to UC and fit like a good sneaker.

        At times, Johnson was almost too quiet, too reluctant to take a shot or make a play. “As unselfish as they come,” Jermaine Tate says.

        He has had a stress-free season, sheltered beneath Kenyon Martin's over-sized wingspan. Johnson has been under less glare than even fellow freshman and point guard Kenny Satterfield.

        Johnson has been free to dazzle one night — 21 points in the first half at Louisville — and disappear the next.

        No more.

A group project
        The Bearcats head into the NCAA tournament as a No.2 seed needing all the help they can get. It's a group project now. Martin's broken leg put a new face on their season. It's starting to look like DerMarr Johnson's.

        “I've got to get more shots. That's a given,” Johnson said. “Also create more for other guys instead of standing around and shooting it.”

        It is not in Johnson's nature to be selfish. It's barely familiar to him to be a star. While teammates say Johnson is a cut-up off the court — “a crazy kid,” said Pete Mickeal — on it he can go for minutes without being noticed.

        The night he lit up Louisville for 21 points in the first 20 minutes, he had zero points the next 20. Part of it was the Cardinals adjusting defensively. Some more of it was Johnson's reluctance to take the spotlight for an entire 40 minutes.

An unselfish player
        “All my life, even in high school when I was The Man, I wasn't a selfish player,” he said “I always got people the ball. That's just my nature.”

        Well, forget that.

        Time to be selfish.

        Time to roll off screens and shoot. Time to handle the ball enough to draw the defense to you, then make the pass. Martin is not there to absorb the defenders, take on the pressure, make the shots. In recent games, Martin was looking more and more like Danny Fortson. The Bearcats force-fed Fortson the ball; they'd started doing the same with Martin. Without him, they need to share the wealth.

        He has had a good freshman year, good enough to make the NBA people notice, if not drool. But like most freshmen, Johnson drifts. He can hit consecutive 3-pointers, then disappear. “Stand behind the 3-point line, waiting for a pass” is how he described it.

        Not now. There is no time for that. There is no Martin to get him the ball.

        “Some days he lets the game come to him,” said Tate, meaning Johnson is reluctant to take charge. “If he hits shots early, if he's really feeling it, he'll keep shooting. If not, he expects someone else to step up.”

        Not now. Everyone has to step up. Stand in line, take a number. Produce.

        It's time for the platinum freshman to play like he's a star. Time for him to take over a game the way his hero, Alonzo Mourning, can. All winter, Johnson has been no better than the third spoke in UC's offensive wheel, behind Martin and Pete Mickeal.

        That worked until Thursday, when everything changed. Time now for DerMarr Johnson to be the player everyone suspects he is. There's no time to worry about being unselfish, or taking points from upperclassmen. There is only time to play.

        “We'll get him some open shots, keep him fresh,” Mickeal said.

        Mickeal and Johnson spend a lot of time playing the NBA 2000 video game. When Johnson wins — which Mickeal swears is close to never — Mickeal never hears the end of it. “Like he's The Man or something.”

        Maybe he is. Now's the time to find out.

        Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at (513) 768-8454.

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