Craig Winder Interview

                       By: Joshua Fischman

 

An Interview with Craig Winder of the NBDL

Craig Winder is a 23-year-old guard for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. As of Saturday, February 23, 2008 he is averaging 9.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 18.6 minutes of play while shooting an impressive 41.7% from three-point range. Formerly of the University of Texas, Winder has played with a lot of terrific young players, ranging from Kevin Durant to LaMarcus Aldridge to Daniel Gibson. In this exclusive interview with the Deli's Joshua Fischman, Winder discusses his days at junior college, his favorite memories from Texas and his future in the NBDL and (hopefully) the NBA.

Joshua Fischman: Talk about your playing days at Cecil Community College.

Craig Winder: My days at Cecil are ones to remember. When I first got there, I didn't know what I got myself into. There were six returning players and five of them were guards. That was one challenge I had to overcome. The next challenge was conditioning. I wasn't used to the amount of physical stress you put on your body at the college level. We had to run and lift weights six days out of the seven day week. If it wasn't running, it was weight-lifting and that was new too because I never lifted weights when I was in high school. Somehow through conditioning and preseason games I found my way into the starting lineup over the guys that were already there. They were very good players.

I had an average first year, ending up scoring about 14 points a game. The next year I redshirted and didn't play. I came back that summer, before my sophomore [year], and went to a juco (junior college) camp with a lot of D1 scouts. I had a good camp out there which led to a good number of schools recruiting me. I came back that year after working hard with my juco coach (Bill Lewitt) in the summer and preseason to improve my game and averaged 22 points. In my years at Cecil, I think I only lost a total of seven games. I wanted to transfer to a school that also had a winning program that I could continue to help. That was one of the things I considered when I chose to attend UT.

JF: How did you feel when you learned you were going to be a Longhorn?

CW: I was very excited when I found out I was going to Texas and it was that much better because I signed on my birthday, April 14.

JF: What is your proudest basketball moment at Texas?

CW: My best moments at Texas were all the fun times I had with my teammates. It was fun to sit down at team dinners and be able to laugh and have fun because everyone got along so well.

JF: What was it like playing with Kevin Durant? How good is Kevin on the court, and what is he like off the court?

CW: It was real fun playing with KD. He was a very good player and he would do things in the game that you didn't see him do at practice and be like WOW, I didn't know he could do that. There were also times when you'd see him get hot and be like, man is he gonna miss? Off the court he was very humble. If someone wanted him to do something, he would always include the people who were with him (his teammates). He would never talk about what he was doing on the court and he always wanted to be in the gym during his free time.

JF: At Texas, you had the opportunity to play with LaMarcus Aldridge, Daniel Gibson and P.J. Tucker. Please discuss the basketball futures of each of these guys.

CW: At Texas, I played with a lot of good players. Off the court, me and PJ would always do different things like party and go to a lot of different places. He played with the Toronto Raptors for a year and now he is overseas making good money. Me and LaMarcus would always find ourselves in the game, getting extra shots up at the same time. We became close friends because we had the same thing in mind on the court and that was getting better. Now he is with the Portland Trailblazers having a breakout season.

Daniel Gibson was a person that I could really compete with in practice. He would always compete to the highest level. It didn't matter if we were at practice or just shooting shots after practice. He made everything a competition no matter what it was. He was a person who also liked to joke and laugh a lot like me, so we got along very well. He is now the starting shooting guard with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was very helpful in the Cavs' run in the playoffs last season, scoring 30 points in one game. He is becoming a good NBA player.

JF: How good do you think the Longhorns will be this year?

CW: I think the Longhorns will be very good this year. They have a very good point guard in DJ (Augustin), maybe the best shooter in the country in AJ Abrams, a lot of other (quality) players like Justin Mason, Damion James, and a big man that can shoot in Connor (Atchley). The best thing about Texas is that they have players on the bench that could start on any D1 team. These guys just have to adjust to not playing a lot of minutes and the role that the coach wants them to play. I think the Longhorns will be a Top 25 team all season and one of the top three teams in the Big 12...

JF: Who are the best players you have played against in each stage of your career (at Cecil CC, at Texas and now in the D-League)?

CW: I think the best players I've played against at each level have been my teammates. At Cecil, they were Adam Gonzalez (who was our starting PG and now plays overseas), and Vic Akinyanju (who was an undersized big man at Cecil [and] now plays in Portugal). PJ Tucker, Daniel Gibson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant, DJ Augustin and AJ Adams were the best players I played with at Texas. And now it's CJ Watson so far here in the D-League, but we still have a lot of games left, so I haven't played against all the players here. As you know, there are a lot of good players in the league.

JF: What do you love about playing in the NBDL? What is tough about being in the D-League?

CW: I like that the NBA can bring you up at any time if there is a team out there that likes what you're doing. I really don't know the tough parts about being in the D-League. I'm so happy to be playing again that there may be something I am overlooking...

JF: What are your goals for the season, both team and personal?

CW: Our team goal right now is to make it in the playoffs and then take it from there... I try not to set any individual goals because I think they sometimes get in the way of team goals and our main goal is winning.

JF: How do you feel the season has gone so far?

CW: So far the season is going ok... we started off winning but now that we lost five players we are trying to put together a winning team again. We [have] had 20 players so far on our team... only five have been here since the start.

JF: Talk about the talent on your team, specifically C.J. Watson and fellow Longhorn alum Kenny Taylor.

CW: CJ was the biggest loss to our team. He could control the whole game and give people the ball at the right time while also scoring 20 [points] himself. Kenny was a sharp shooter who could keep us in any game. He was a player that you just can't leave open.

JF: What are your strengths and weaknesses on the basketball court?

CW: My weakness overall is ball-handling. I sometimes don't try because I don't trust my ball-handling. My biggest strength is my ability to score. I can score in a lot of different ways.

JF: What do you need to do to get to the NBA?

CW: I need to become a point guard. I have been playing the off-guard so much. I have to learn when are good times for the point guard to take shots because he can't take the same types of shots the off-guard does.

 

We'd like to extend our thanks to Craig Winder for his interview and wish him the best of luck in his quest for the NBA.

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