Yeh, maybe sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, although he sure wasn't always lucky (see Oden, Greg).
I didn't really know what to make of Dre at first either - he's certainly not the warm and fuzzy or even a rah-rah guy (except during the last minutes of the last Heatles win). The turning point for me was the 52 pointer he had against Dallas last year - but not for the fact that he scored that many points. It was because, as a non-local fan, that was the first time I was able to see Dre interviewed after a game. Only then did I get a peek of his general personality off the court: he didn't look into the camera and basically looked nervously everywhere else but the camera. And his squeaky voice is perfect for that guy that people continually write off but always shows up and gets the job done. It was funny to me that it appeared as if he couldn't wait to get the interview over so he could hit the showers and go home and out of the spotlight. After that, it all kind of made sense to me. Dude's just not the most outgoing, sociable guy out there but he gets the job done. Some people (including teammates) may not get his personality and won't appreciate everything he brings as a player and team leader. I love the guy . . . and would consider a ghey marriage with him if he could develop an outside shot!!!
If he'd ever developed a decent outside shot, he would've been one of the best point guards of the past decade. Even still, I was thrilled when we got him, and I like him now. Slow, lousy perimeter shooter, not a media whore. But big, strong, smart, crafty, able to finish around the rim, consistent, team-first, little ego, at least tries on defense (even if he's never had the foot speed to be much better than mediocre). He's the anti-Damon Stoudamire. I don't just wish we had him five years ago. I wish we'd had him a decade ago when we were making our championship runs. Wish I could go in a time machine and trade Jermaine O'Neal for his #8 pick in the draft back in 1999. We'd probably be talking about retiring Miller's jersey right now.
And if we had gotten a good outside shooter, you would be complaining that we don't have anybody to run the offense. There are very, very few players that are both. I'll take a great court general and a PG that can run the offense and try to fill in other positions with guys that can just shoot, if that is what is needed.
I think even without the outside shot, he's been one of the best point guards of the past decade. I think he's in the running for least-appreciated player of his generation, largely because he was laboring for bad teams (and I don't think he was the reason they were bad). Had he played for San Antonio the last decade, I think there would be a large contingent of people calling him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Hey, I made that exact same point a couple of weeks ago! Miller with Pippen (and Smith and Sabonis) would be one of the smartest teams ever. And I have no doubt they win a title or two with Miller instead of Stoudamire.
I'm just stating why it took me a while to warm up to him. I prefer Deron Williams, but since he's unattainable Dre will do.
lol that's like saying ahh I prefer Maserati's but since that's kinda expensive a Mercedes will do. You nailed it, smart blue collar player who always plays smart and shows up for work no matter what. And what do you know, Stoudamire had an outside shot!
