Points great, but Miami hoopster wants wins

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 8:33 PM Wednesday, November 25, 2009

OXFORD — Twice in less than a week, Nick Winbush was amazing. After awhile at the University of Kentucky, he actually had Wildcat basketball fans groaning in unison when he squared up to shoot.

“I heard about that after the fact,” Winbush said with a laugh.

But that’s all Miami University’s 6-foot-7 junior forward will allow himself this week. One laugh, maybe two.

Yes, Winbush scored a career-high 26 points at UK and six days later scored 25 at New Mexico, drilling 13-of-18 shots from 3-point range in those two games. Those are All-American numbers against two excellent teams.

But the RedHawks are 1-4. That’s all that matters to Winbush.

“We play to win,” he said. “The individual numbers don’t really mean a whole lot to us. We want to get back to winning games, starting this week against Evansville.”

Winbush will try to keep his magic touch Saturday, Nov. 28, when the RedHawks finally play their home opener against the Purple Aces.

Three-point baskets are not a priority for Winbush and his teammates these days.

“Defense, defense and defense,” he said. “We haven’t played well on defense at all. And we haven’t rebounded at all.”

Besides, Winbush never actually plans to step onto the court and shoot the lights out from downtown.

“I don’t go out and say I’m going to shoot a lot of 3-pointers,” he said. “I consider myself a pretty good athlete. I can score in a variety of ways, around the hoop, using my height to shoot over people.”

Winbush does concede that he always has been “a decent shooter. If I get a couple of open shots, I can knock them down.”

But Winbush said he wants to be more than a shooter, or even a sharpshooter.

“With shooting, you have an off night and then you have a good night,” he said. “No matter how good of a shooter you are, you’re going to have off nights. But defense is something you can have control over.”

That’s why Winbush won’t laugh much. You don’t laugh when you’re playing defense. Not in practice. Not in games. Not when Miami coach Charlie Coles, whose basketball world begins with defense, is within shouting distance.

Still, Winbush would have to be a robot not to think about those 3-pointers raining down on Kentucky and cherish the memory. And Winbush is no robot.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball,” he said. “That was totally fun. That’s something I’ll remember a long time.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

Next game

Who: at Miami (1-4) vs. Evansville (2-1)

When:  3 p.m. Saturday

Where: Millett Hall (6,400), Oxford

Radio: WMOH-AM (1450), WPFB-FM (105.9)

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