’Hawks offense needs balance

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By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 10:24 AM Wednesday, February 17, 2010

OXFORD — Miami University basketball coach Charlie Coles said he wants better shot selection from the RedHawks when they put their title hopes on the line tonight, Feb. 17.

The RedHawks face the Akron Zips at Millett Hall in a critical Mid-American Conference matchup.

Just how critical?

A victory would keep Miami in the hunt for the overall league title along with Akron and Kent State, both of whom start the night one game ahead of the RedHawks in the MAC East Division.

A loss would put Miami in the midst of a free-for-all along with Ball State, Western Michigan and Buffalo for what would likely be the No. 4 seed and the final first-round bye for next month’s MAC tournament.

Coles said he wasn’t pleased with his players’ choice of shots in their 67-64 loss at Bowling Green last Sunday, and he definitely didn’t like their shots the last time they played the Zips, a 69-49 loss at Akron on Jan. 20.

“We’ve got to get better shots,” Coles said, “and when we get those shots we’ve got to make them. We didn’t make good choices up there (at Akron) and when we did get the shots, we didn’t make them.”

Miami shot 32.2 percent from the field at Akron and connected on only 2-of-16 shots from behind the 3-point arc.

The RedHawks did better with their 3-pointers at Bowling Green (11-for-25), but it still got them into trouble. Miami was hot from the outside early in the game, but later began settling for long-distance shots instead of trying to push the ball inside.

“I like the 3-point shot,” Coles said, “but it depends on how we’re getting it. When we go inside-out (pass the ball inside and then pass it back outside) it’s a good play. But at Bowling Green we forced about three or four 3-pointers in the second half, and we had been getting some shots inside.”

Miami, which fell behind 41-33 early in the second half, stormed back with 3-point shooting by Antonio Ballard and Kenny Hayes, and then took a 51-47 lead behind three inside baskets, two by Adam Fletcher and one by Julian Mavunga. But then the RedHawks stopped getting the ball inside and they didn’t score for the next 5 minutes.

“It’s patience and it’s the big guys really wanting that basketball,” Coles said. “We’re better off when we can get it inside. Fletch and Julian have proven that when they really want it, they can score inside.”