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Adding muscle to his hustle

KREPS ADDS MUCH-NEEDED STRENGTH

November 9, 2010

Whoosh! photo

Senior guard Robo Kreps is carrying about 15 pounds more muscle on his frame this season.

There was a noticeable difference in Robo Kreps as he took the court at UIC’s pancake breakfast scrimmage a few weeks ago .

The senior guard filled out his uniform as he displayed his new upper-body muscle mass for the first time in front of some Flames season-ticket holders.

Kreps said he added 25 pounds during summer conditioning even before new coach Howard Moore took over for the retiring Jimmy Collins. Kreps said he wanted to get stronger to better absorb the physical pounding he received from opponents last season as he was UIC’s marked man.

“I can start bodying people more on offense and defense instead of last year, which was the other way around,” Kreps said.

When Moore met with Kreps shortly after he was hired in late August, the coach was a little concern that his co-captain may have put a little too much weight.

“He did a good job of getting stronger and putting on some weight,” Moore said. “I understand the philosophy of being stronger and physical and being able to take on the rigors of playing college basketball, but we’re not going into some sort of WWE or ECW match. When we came in, we wanted him to lose 10 pounds, so he wouldn’t lose any of his quickness and he didn’t lose any strength. We want to him to be quick as well as strong.”

Kreps is right around 200 pounds after a great summer of lifting weights and conditioning himself at the Flames Athletic Center. His name adorns some of the leaderboards for accomplishments in the weight room.

Now Kreps will be called upon to help the Flames against physical and athletic Pittsburgh squad on Wednesday night in UIC’s season opener. Kreps and Zavion Neely will be challenged by the Panthers’ excellent backcourt tandem of point man Ashton Gibbs and shooting guard Brad Wanamaker.

Gibbs is one of the nation’s top point guards and is a proficient perimeter shooting and the Flames will need Kreps’ new-found muscle and Neely’s quickness in order to contain him.

The Flames’ big men will have their hands full as well. Minnesota transfer Paul Carter, senior center K.C. Robbins, senior forward Brad Birton and junior college import Darrin Williams will need to offset the Panthers’ bulk and athleticism on the inside of guys like Gary McGhee (6-10, 250) and Talib Zanna (6-9, 225). UIC will also have to contain small forward Gilbert Brown.

Moore was definitely concerned with rebounding after the Flames’ 80-53 exhibition win over UIS last week.

“We need to improve our defensive rebounding,” Moore said. “Our hands are down a little too much. We need to block out. Pittsburgh is physical, big and athletic. We need to do a better job of blocking out and keeping them off the boards.”

Pitt (1-0) is coming off an 83-75 win over Rhode Island on Monday and most project the Panthers to win the Big East and contend for a spot in the Final Four. Pitt is ranked No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 4 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.

Coverage of Wednesday night’s 6 p.m. game will be available with video on ESPN3.com and audio on ESPN Radio 1000 with Flames announcers Adam Levinson and Kenny Williams.

Regardless of the ranking of the opponent, Kreps feels the Flames won’t back down.

“We’re just going to go out there and compete,” Kreps said. “I think we’re going to win a lot of ballgames. But we just need to keep buying into what Coach Moore is saying. We’re really hungry to get some wins.”

TV, RADIO SCHEDULES FINALIZED: UIC fans will be able to watch the Flames on TV or via video streaming for the majority of the 2010-11 schedule.

In addition to Wednesday night’s game at Pitt, the Flames’ home contest with Loyola on Feb. 16 will also air on ESPN3.com.

Comcast SportsNet will broadcast eight UIC games, beginning with the Flames’ Horizon League opener on Dec. 2 against Valparaiso. CSN will also air games at Illinois State (Dec. 11), vs. Wright State (Jan. 6), vs. Detroit (Jan. 8), vs. Cleveland State (Jan. 27), vs. Milwaukee (Feb. 12), vs. Butler (Feb. 19) and at Valparaiso (Feb. 26). Dave Wills and David Kaplan will be the broadcast team for most of those games.

UIC’s game against Illinois at the United Center on Dec. 18 will air on the Big Ten Network. The Flames’ game at Loyola on Jan. 22 will be a part of the Ramblers’ TV package on Lakeshore Public TV. In addition, all Flames home games and non-conference road games not contracted to the ESPN networks will be streamed over the Horizon League Network.

Also, UIC extended its agreement with ESPN Radio 1000 (WMVP) to broadcast 15 games this season, starting with the Pitt game. Four games will also be audio streamed exclusively through ESPNChicago.com.

In other recent news:
Not a bad first impression (exhibition vs. UIS) (11/4/10)
Flames picked to finish ninth (Kreps honored) (10/21/10)
Flames' staff gets "High Five" (10/15/10)
Moore rounds out staff, schedule (9/27/10)
Flames looking for Moore (8/25/10)
Flames coaching search intensifies (8/18/10)