After the Loyola boys basketball team started the season 5-5, the Ramblers' players received a writing assignment from the coaching staff.

"They had us write our thoughts about basketball and everything in general and about our season, how we were playing," said senior forward Julian DeGuzman, who lives in Chicago.

The responses were brought up in a discussion between players and coaches in a Florida hotel when the Ramblers were in Naples for December's Gulfshore Holiday Hoopfest.

DeGuzman said that he learned his tight bond with teammates Ramar Evans, Matt Lynch, Kris Lampley and Kai Khasu may not have been ideal for the Ramblers' team chemistry. DeGuzman said some teammates may have felt excluded by the friendship between him and a couple of the other seniors.

DeGuzman, Evans and Lynch, all starters, have been friends since elementary school when they met playing in a Rogers Park youth league. DeGuzman said that for the good of the team, it became time for the group to branch out a little more.

"Those guys are my childhood friends, so it was kind of natural for me to be around them," DeGuzman said. "But I realized I am with them a lot. Since then, I've been catching myself and maybe we'll split up at team dinners, and I'm just trying to be around other kids."

DeGuzman said other topics were discussed in the meeting, including the team playing too selfishly and too fast and teammates being able to critique one another without eliciting anger.

The exercise clearly proved to be productive because Loyola responded by reeling off 10 straight victories before it fell 46-37 to Fenwick on Jan. 31 in Wilmette.

DeGuzman's play on the court has been solid this season and also was a factor in the winning streak. He's averaging 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds and at 6-foot-3, he has held his own in the post both offensively and defensively.

After the loss to Fenwick, which dropped the Ramblers to 6-2 in the Catholic League North, Loyola coach Tom Livatino praised DeGuzman's defensive effort against Fenwick's 6-5 forward Jamal Nixon, a four-year varsity player, who finished with 13 points and just two rebounds.

"(DeGuzman) has good feet. Nixon is a tough cover," Livatino said. "I thought Julian played him really well. That's big praise. The games we watched (of Fenwick), Nixon is a really good player. But so is Julian."

Livatino continued: "(Offensively) Julian is crafty, he has an assortment of moves, an ability to put it on the floor, score in the post and knock down the jump shot. He's having a really good year."

Livatino has told DeGuzman he is particularly hard to guard when he is more efficient with his post moves.

"Coach Livatino said sometimes I do too many spins and head fakes, and he's stressing getting the ball and going right into my move instead of all this extra stuff that I do," said DeGuzman, who said he is hoping to play college basketball and that Division III schools like Denison (Ohio), Lawrence (Wis.), Wabash (Ind.), Loras (Iowa) and Knox have shown interest.

In college, even at the Division III level, DeGuzman likely will have to play a little farther from the basket. But Lynch, who has been an AAU teammate of DeGuzman's with Fundamental U, said he believes DeGuzman will be able to make the adjustment.

"(DeGuzman) has a good shot, and I've noticed that over the past year in practice, he's improved and is capable of shooting the 3," said Lynch, who lives in Chicago. "He's got OK handles for a (post player). He's experienced playing that outside spot because (in AAU) we had someone bigger than him, and that pushed him out to the wing."

In memoriam

Before the Fenwick game, Loyola held a moment of silence for former boys basketball coach Jim O'Donnell, who died unexpectedly on Jan. 30 at the age of 76. O'Donnell coached the Ramblers from 1980-88 and won two regional titles. He was a longtime history teacher at the school and, even after his retirement from teaching, remained the public address announcer for Loyola football.

"He was a very, very good basketball coach, who had excellent teams," Livatino said. "He loved Loyola, loved the kids he coached. He was one of the best coaches we've had at Loyola. A tremendous loss. He was a great guy and it was a very sad day for our basketball program."

Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.

Twitter @Pioneer_Press

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To aid team chemistry, Loyola's Julian DeGuzman becomes more inclusive - Chicago Tribune