Andre Miller Is Just Being Andre Miller - Brian T. Smith

Nice piece from The Columbian

 

I like this part of the article better.

 

Best back up PG in the league? I think so. Steve Blake is also compared to John Stockton, but not because of his playing ability.

 

And Aldridge!!! He is our leader also!

 

Good stuff!

 

Why doesn't this guy have Quicks job by now?

 

Everyone else, including Miller. Does Miller know that?

 

"I don't have time at this stage in my career to be making a fuss over all the extra stuff," Miller said. I don't really get caught up in off-the-court politics and all the extra stuff," Miller said. "Just come to work, put in the time and go home."

Maybe it loses in the translation to print (every time he speaks?), but every word that comes out of his mouth seems to be a guy who's mentally burnt out with his chosen career, isn't about to put in any extra time at this point, just looking to secure the best retirement package he can and take it easy the rest of his life.

If he worked a normal job and made these comments and reacted so negatively to "extra duties" he was asked to handle at work, I'd be looking to replace him with a much more enthusiastic worker.

I compare it to old, burnt out teachers who take the whole summer off each year while the hungrier, more enthusiastic teachers teach summer school or get more schooling themselves.

 

I think he realizes he isn't going to play forever, and wants a ring.

 

Wow dude.... you read that and this is what you took from it? I've been to school. I've seen those teachers you speak of. The older "burnt out" teachers know the game. They know the environment they are walking into.

It's the younger, hungrier, more enthusiastic teachers who usually can't take the pressures of teaching, and reach their boiling point during the school year. I lived with my buddy and his girlfriend, who just happened to be a first year teacher in a middle school. She came home crying every night because the kids were getting to her. I've seen young idealistic substitutes absolutely explode at kids because things weren't going the way they thought they would.

Not all veteran teachers are good, but most of them understand what it takes to make it through a school year. How to keep their sanity. How to really reach the kids. This is no different. Andre Miller understands what it takes to make it through an NBA season. He's seen all the hype of training camp before. You can nitpick him all you like, but when the ball drops, the lights go up, and the season starts, he's going to be ready. He's going to make our team better. And he's going to help us win a championship.

 

That's what his 4 previous teams hoped, but it never happened and they went their separate ways.

5 teachers stand out as exceptional educators in my memory. They were all young, enthusiastic, engaging, risk-taking (career-wise) individuals. The ones who I remember as a waste of my time were much older and had Andre's attitude of doing only what is absolutely required for employment.

 

Those four teams were the Cavs, the Clippers, the Nuggets, and the Sixers. Four teams not exactly known for their exceptional personnel decisions.

 

Nowhere did Andre say this. All he said was "Just come to work, put in the time and go home." As far as I have heard, he has done everything asked of him by his employers. Let's look at his statement. "Just come to work", no problem with that, he is not giving an AI style I don't practice or a Sheed, show up when I feel like it, answer. He says he comes to work. Next "put in the time", Sounds like he is going to be putting in the time working from what I read. He did not say spend a couple hours or do the minimum while at work, he said that he would put in the time. Lastly, "and go home.". What would you have him do after he has come to work and put in the time, sleep at the gym or follow Zach to a strip-joint? After a hard day's work, I go home too.

 

Miller knows his body better than anyone else and his status as an iron-man of the NBA speaks for itself. He's earned the right to follow his own particular rituals prior to and during training camp, since they're not disruptive and don't have a negative impact on his performance during the regular season.

 

I love how Miller is going to be MARIS' whipping boy of choice this season ... you might as well stick with Jerryd, since you'll have a much better chance of being able back that one up (since he's unlikely to sniff the court).

This year is going to be funny (in a "I want to jab an ice-pick in my eye socket" kind of way).

 

I just want to go on record as being 100% OK with Miller's attitude. As far as I have heard he was a little peeved on media day about having to duplicate some procedures for the Blazers PR people; if he is like me he considers his time valuable and is irritated when someone isn't helping him make efficient use of his time.

It seems to me that when he talked about "extra stuff" , he was talking about reporters trying to stir up some controversy.

 

My prediction is that Maris will do a 180 on Miller within 10 games. Maris enjoys watching uptempo ball, and Miller is going to do a better job of pushing the pace than any PG we've had since, jesus....a long time ago.

However, even I always find somebody to be down on. Even during the regular season of the 2000 WCF team I still was taking pot shots at Stoudamire. So there's always a scapegoat. My guess is that a lot of us, including Maris, will suddenly start wondering why Steve Blake is getting all these minutes at the expense of Miller, Rudy and possibly even Bayless. (Bayless will see so many DNP's early in the year that a lot of us will extrapolate maybe a little too much when he blows up during garbage minutes.)

It's nothing against Blake, really. It's only natural to pick at over and over again the weakest link in the chain. Last year it was #1 Sergio, #2 Frye, #3 Outlaw.

Outlaw will still get carped at, but we need to use somebody for backup PF, and as bad as Outlaw is, he's almost certainly better than our two crummy draft picks.

So Blake is the logical candidate. He's the least talented player getting major minutes, and there are other guys who could play more.

 

Yeah, but Jesus couldn't run the pick-and-roll or play defense!

 

I've never worried about the pop-psychological issues surrounding players. Either they are effective on the court (as part of the team dynamic) or they aren't. Kobe Bryant has all sorts of issues off the court, but he's proven successful at making teams good. Rasheed Wallace's attitude only bothered me insofar as it dragged the team down (generally through getting kicked out of games). I don't care if Miller views this as a job, if he's not an outgoing personality. As long as he buys into what the team is doing and plays well, I'm happy.

 

He can't hit a curve ball either.