By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

David West: "Be careful what you wish for." (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

"Be careful what you wish for." That is David West's message to the University of Cincinnati's Jason Maxiell, who said he will be able to use his strength to control West, Xavier's preseason All-American, during the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Saturday at Shoemaker Center.

"I'm a lot tougher than he is," said Maxiell, a sophomore. "I can tell you that. He gives up a lot and wants to go out on the perimeter and play out there. I like to stay around and get power shots. He doesn't like much contact."

Maxiell also said West, a senior, isn't used to the type of defense Maxiell will play, although the two won't necessarily be defending each other the entire game.

"(West has) got a really nice game, but the people he plays against let him go where he wants to go and do what he wants to do," Maxiell said. "In this game Saturday, I'm not going to let him do what he wants to do. I'm going to have a hand in his face the whole time."

"Be careful what you wish for," is all West said about the topic several times Thursday before practice, signifying he's not going to continue a verbal war that West actually began in the days following last year's Shootout.

After UC's 75-55 win at Cintas Center last year, West ignited a controversy by saying if he hadn't sprained his ankle late in the first half, Xavier would have come back and won the game.

The Musketeers trailed by 13 when West went down with 1:03 left in the first half. He returned early in the second half but only for a short time and hobbled on the court before coach Thad Matta took him out for good with 8:45 left. West finished with just nine points, the only time all season he didn't score in double figures.

"If I played my normal amount of minutes, we win the game," West said last season, five days after the UC game, which was the first time he was available to the media because of his injury and final exams. "Hands down, I feel we'd win. Because I hadn't even started to play yet (when the injury occurred)."

At the time, Bearcats players responded to West's statement with indifference and said they had moved on past the Xavier game and were already in Las Vegas preparing for Richmond.

"There are different circumstances this year," West said. "The two teams are totally different. I may not be able to say that just because their team isn't the same. Our team isn't the same.

"It's one (statement) I wish I could get back, but I can't. It's in the past."

Matta said West was in a difficult position having to address the questions in the first place, and he doesn't expect the comments to be a part of this year's game.

"I thought that was an unfair thing to do to David," Matta said. "I mean, what did (reporters) want him to say? I really thought it was an unfair question to ask him at the time. But that's all part of dealing with the media.

"It's almost been one year, and our team's changed. Their team's changed. Four o'clock on Saturday, we've got to be ready to play, regardless of what's been said. If somebody says something to help a team win a game, I don't know how it can. You've actually got to play the game."

Judging by what Maxiell said, West's words are still remembered at UC, even by players who weren't around last year.

"That's just motivation," said Bearcats center Kareem Johnson, who is a junior-college transfer from Chipola (Fla.) College. "That's the way I look at it."

UC senior guard Leonard Stokes said West's comments were more a part of last year's game and won't carry much weight once this year's game starts.

"We don't worry about what (West) said last year," Stokes said. "We're going to play this year. We remember it, and it is going to be in the back of our minds, but we're not focused on that."

Which is how UC coach Bob Huggins wants things to be, much like Matta.

"I've never seen a game won by what a guy says or does," Huggins said. "If we need that to get ready, we need to give (players) blood transfusions."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com