http://www.sacbee.com/351/story/156968.html
Miller's season starts, ends on the wrong foot
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:43 am PDT Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Forget about the foot for just a minute, and focus on the pride.
Brad Miller, for the record, still has plenty of it, although it's a close race to the end to see if the foot hurts nearly as much as falling so far short of one's personal expectations.
"This was a very disappointing year, team-wise and personally," the Kings center said. "I've never shot this bad a percentage since I can remember, never had years where I just couldn't make shots."
Or couldn't run without feeling like a hoops version of Davy Jones on a peg leg. Or couldn't help with things like transition defense or even the transition period of an organization. Or -- and this one hurt far more than Miller alone -- couldn't boast about his role as a smooth-passing big man on the high post, the facilitator in an offense that was once the free-flowing envy of the league.
It is no coincidence that Miller's worst season since his earliest days coincided with a general downturn in offensive efficiency. The same Kings who were ranked No. 1 in assists per game in their first two seasons with Miller and fifth in 2005-06 are currently ranked 22nd, an undesired effect of a coaching change that brought a more aggressive, simplistic style and failed to use Miller as well as the past regime.
Yet even Miller wonders what might have been if not for the hobbled start. During that third quarter Nov. 4 in Milwaukee, he left the floor discretely and returned with a frown and a foot problem. He had suffered a partially torn tendon in his left foot.
The injury led to the cursed diagnosis of plantar fasciitis, the foot-tissue inflammation that has slowed past Kings and is fixed only by significant time off one's feet.
That, however, wasn't a viable option. So Miller missed eight games before returning, then spent the next five months laboring through his most frustrating campaign. The effects of his ailing foot, Miller said, were compounded by the time he lost learning the expectations of first-year coach Eric Musselman.
"If it was (former coach) Rick (Adelman), it would've been easy because you know exactly what (expectations are) going to be coming in, but I was just trying to get a feel (for Musselman)," Miller said last week. "That pretty much got me under the gun right away on this season. I wish I could've gone back and just had them completely tear it, and then I'd take a lot more time off and get it completely back."
Instead of suffering his way through.
"There were a couple games, like the Pacers game (Feb. 25) where I was all excited and jacked up and tried to jump off it, then you go up and dunk, and it about buckled my knee and I missed a layup," Miller said. "You lose explosiveness, so it throws off your stride and running the floor trying to go both ways. You can't really push off it. ... Your whole foot feels like one big rock, and you feel all the muscles in there not being able to do what they're supposed to do."
Better late than never, Miller said that's the plan this summer. He has opted to skip the Olympic qualifying tournament this summer in Las Vegas for a family obligation but also to give his foot proper rest.
"The No. 1 thing is to get treatment, and I'm going to start up (Thursday) right away ... and get this plantar back to what it should be," Miller said. "They said (to stay off it for) three months."
The long-term plan, Miller said, still includes a desire to qualify for Team USA and play in the Beijing Games in 2008, not to mention the years beyond. Having recently celebrated his 31st birthday, he said he's nowhere near ready to follow former teammate and fellow country boy Greg Ostertag into retirement. The close friends have a handshake agreement for the day when they're both retired, a hunting excursion in Africa that will have to wait.
"I talked to him the other day, and he really misses (basketball)," Miller said. "For a guy like that who everybody thought, Oh, he'd be fine. He'll go out in the country, go fish, and that'll keep him occupied. He's a lot better golfer now than he was, but he misses it."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@ sacbee.com.
Miller's season starts, ends on the wrong foot
By Sam Amick - Bee Staff Writer
Last Updated 12:43 am PDT Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Forget about the foot for just a minute, and focus on the pride.
Brad Miller, for the record, still has plenty of it, although it's a close race to the end to see if the foot hurts nearly as much as falling so far short of one's personal expectations.
"This was a very disappointing year, team-wise and personally," the Kings center said. "I've never shot this bad a percentage since I can remember, never had years where I just couldn't make shots."
Or couldn't run without feeling like a hoops version of Davy Jones on a peg leg. Or couldn't help with things like transition defense or even the transition period of an organization. Or -- and this one hurt far more than Miller alone -- couldn't boast about his role as a smooth-passing big man on the high post, the facilitator in an offense that was once the free-flowing envy of the league.
It is no coincidence that Miller's worst season since his earliest days coincided with a general downturn in offensive efficiency. The same Kings who were ranked No. 1 in assists per game in their first two seasons with Miller and fifth in 2005-06 are currently ranked 22nd, an undesired effect of a coaching change that brought a more aggressive, simplistic style and failed to use Miller as well as the past regime.
Yet even Miller wonders what might have been if not for the hobbled start. During that third quarter Nov. 4 in Milwaukee, he left the floor discretely and returned with a frown and a foot problem. He had suffered a partially torn tendon in his left foot.
The injury led to the cursed diagnosis of plantar fasciitis, the foot-tissue inflammation that has slowed past Kings and is fixed only by significant time off one's feet.
That, however, wasn't a viable option. So Miller missed eight games before returning, then spent the next five months laboring through his most frustrating campaign. The effects of his ailing foot, Miller said, were compounded by the time he lost learning the expectations of first-year coach Eric Musselman.
"If it was (former coach) Rick (Adelman), it would've been easy because you know exactly what (expectations are) going to be coming in, but I was just trying to get a feel (for Musselman)," Miller said last week. "That pretty much got me under the gun right away on this season. I wish I could've gone back and just had them completely tear it, and then I'd take a lot more time off and get it completely back."
Instead of suffering his way through.
"There were a couple games, like the Pacers game (Feb. 25) where I was all excited and jacked up and tried to jump off it, then you go up and dunk, and it about buckled my knee and I missed a layup," Miller said. "You lose explosiveness, so it throws off your stride and running the floor trying to go both ways. You can't really push off it. ... Your whole foot feels like one big rock, and you feel all the muscles in there not being able to do what they're supposed to do."
Better late than never, Miller said that's the plan this summer. He has opted to skip the Olympic qualifying tournament this summer in Las Vegas for a family obligation but also to give his foot proper rest.
"The No. 1 thing is to get treatment, and I'm going to start up (Thursday) right away ... and get this plantar back to what it should be," Miller said. "They said (to stay off it for) three months."
The long-term plan, Miller said, still includes a desire to qualify for Team USA and play in the Beijing Games in 2008, not to mention the years beyond. Having recently celebrated his 31st birthday, he said he's nowhere near ready to follow former teammate and fellow country boy Greg Ostertag into retirement. The close friends have a handshake agreement for the day when they're both retired, a hunting excursion in Africa that will have to wait.
"I talked to him the other day, and he really misses (basketball)," Miller said. "For a guy like that who everybody thought, Oh, he'd be fine. He'll go out in the country, go fish, and that'll keep him occupied. He's a lot better golfer now than he was, but he misses it."
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at samick@ sacbee.com.
