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Nixon a Winning Habit
by Doug Krikorian, Long Beach Press-Telegram
January 25, 2007
Those who grace the athletic landscape etch themselves a defining legacy
that shadows them throughout their life.
You mention the great quarterback, Joe Montana, and you think of practiced
poise under duress and Super Bowl titles.
You mention the iconic boxer, Muhammad Ali, and you think of his epic
conquests against an array of mean men and his famous draft board legal
tiff against the federal government and his battle with Parkinson's Syndrome.
You mention the abundantly talented receiver, Terrell Owens, and you think
of a clownish fellow whose work has been tarnished by his juvenile shenanigans
that have resulted in his being discarded by two NFL teams.
You mention the peerless basketball player, Michael Jordan, and you think
of all his spectacular heroics that led to all those Chicago Bulls' NBA
championships.
You mention the NFL coach, Marty Schottenheimer, and you think of terrific
regular season success and ill-starred postseason failure.
You mention the one-time heavyweight king, Mike Tyson, and you think of
staggering artistic and financial opportunity forfeited because of boorish,
self-destructive behavior.
You mention the senior guard for the Long Beach State basketball team,
Aaron Nixon, and you think of an unselfish guy whose presence always results
in his teams having winning records and whose knack for making final-second,
game-deciding shots has become a standard part of his repertoire.
Of course, Mr. Nixon has stamped himself as a prolific scorer - he leads
the 49ers with a 17.1 average and recently erupted for 35 against UCSB
and 27 against Fullerton State - but it is when he makes one of his shots
that has enhanced his reputation on the hardwoods.
You might recall Nixon's implausible 3-point Hail Mary from the corner
that slayed UC Irvine 75-73 in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament
tournament last year.
And in December, Nixon converted a 35 footer at the buzzer that gave the
49ers a riveting 66-65 win over Loyola Marymount.
"I think I concentrate a little more on my shot when a game is on
the line," says Nixon, explaining his faculty for such dramatics.
"I think I become calmer in such situations. I knew in both of those
instances when the shots went up that I'd make them. I knew I had to make
the shot if we were to win. And at all times my top goal on the court
is to win."
This is another Aaron Nixon trademark.
The 49ers hadn't had a winning record since the 2000-2001 season until
Larry Reynolds went out and lured Aaron Nixon in the late spring of 2005
from San Bernardino Valley College, where he had led the team to a 27-5
record with a 23.5 point average and into the state championship match
against Fresno City College in which he would score 36 in a valiant but
vain effort.
It wasn't exactly a coincidence that the 49ers went 18-12 last season
with Nixon in their lineup because this is a guy who has won everywhere
he has played, going back to his high school days in Cleveland at Cleveland
Heights where the team won a district title and went 20-6 and at Columbus
State where the team won a conference title and went 29-2.
"I'm just about winning," reiterates Nixon, whose Big West-leading
team faces UC Irvine tonight at the Bren Center. "I always try to
do the things it takes for us to come out on top."
Even if that means taking the game's final shot from long distance with
the 49ers behind by two points on an evening when he had made only one
of his previous 12 shots, as was the case against Loyola.
"I had scored only three points before I made that last shot against
Loyola," says Nixon with a grin. "It's not how many points you
score. It's when you score that counts."
And this is what 24-year-old Aaron Nixon, who grew up refining his skills
on the tough playgrounds of east Cleveland, has done throughout his stellar
career, as opponents have found the 6-2, 209-pounder with quick hands
and feet a difficult player to contain not only in those final minutes
of a game but the other ones as well.
"Aaron is a very special player who presents matchup problems for
the opposition," says his coach, Larry Reynolds. "If you put
a small guard on him, he's too strong for him. And if you put a big guard
on him, he's too quick for him. He's a natural scorer, and as intense
a competitor as I've ever coached. And, obviously, he's an extraordinary
clutch shooter."
It is Aaron Nixon's goal, of course, to one day play professionally.
"I don't care where it is ... the NBA, overseas, anywhere as long
as I earn a paycheck to play basketball," he says. "I definitely
think I could do it. I've heard from scouts that I have to work on my
lateral quickness, and I will."
Nixon has enjoyed his stay at Long Beach State, but he plans to return
to his native city.
"It's just too expensive to live out here," says Nixon, who's
majoring in black studies. "I love the weather and the ambiance.
But I eventually want to buy a home, and things are a lot more inexpensive
back in Cleveland."
His parents, James and Betty Nixon, have never seen him play in person
at Long Beach State - they plan to come out for Seniors Night on March
1 when the 49ers face Irvine at the Walter Pyramid - but they were watching
TV last March 10 when their son performed his late-game Big West tournament
magic.
"It was early in the morning back in Cleveland, and they woke up
the whole neighborhood with their screams when I hit that shot against
Irvine," says Nixon. "They were watching the game on TV and
got pretty excited."
Aaron Nixon is excited about the way the 49ers have been performing for
most of the season.
"I see no reason why we can't win the Big West tournament and make
it to the NCAA tournament," he says. "If we stick together,
as we have been doing, we will. I think we have the talent and experience
to win our conference and then the tournament."
The 49ers also have the advantage of having a player in Aaron Nixon who
becomes Jordanesque in those dire late-game moments when his team needs
him most.
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