It is always nice to see a kid turn his game around. Steve McClain is in his second year as head coach at UIC (Illinois-Chicago). Last year the Flames were a pathetic 5-25. Their leading scorer was 6-7 freshman Dikembe Dixson, who averaged 19.8 points per game, but took a lot of shots to do it. He shot only 36.9% overall and 30.4% from the arc. His number of attempts from 3-point range were almost twice as many as any other player on the team. In other words, he was jacking up a lot of shots, making enough of them to score a lot of points, but the team was suffering as a result.
This year? A different result. Dixson is averaging 20.3 ppg,but he is shooting 47.7% overall and a nice 36.7% from the arc. He is only fifth on the team in 3-point attempts, but is making a far better percentage of them. In addition, he is getting to the line a lot, and making his free throws. In other words, this kid has cleaned up his act and is making a player. Tip of the hat to the coaching staff for developing his game. And the bottom line is that UIC is 7-6 on the year - already more wins than last season.
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