[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14072563p-14903151c.html[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Kings notes: Teams catching on to Miller
The Kings' center has had a dip in production after a red-hot four-game stretch.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, January 14, 2006[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]NORMAN, Okla. - The reality of the Kings' situation won't be changing anytime soon.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]With so much youth and injury on their roster, they are a team with very little margin for error, a team that can't afford off nights from one or - heaven forbid - two key players if they are to remain competitive.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In other words, this is no time for Brad Miller's game to fall off. But after a four-game stretch in which Miller played his best ball of the season, he has indeed gone the other direction.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Miller, who averaged 26.3 points and 18.8 shots in the four games after forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim broke his jaw, put up 9.3 points and 9.3 shots in the three games coming into Oklahoma. The Kings, meanwhile, lost to Indiana and Memphis, then barely held on against a bad and battered Houston squad.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Miller chalks it up to good scouting. Teams pay substantial salaries to video coordinators, who share their findings with scouts and coaches in a collaborative effort to counter the opponents' toughest threats.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In a 90-76 loss to the Hornets on Friday, Miller picked up his game, scoring 18 points while going 7 of 16 from the field.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"They're really staying with me now," Miller said. "Teams watch and learn, and it took them five or six games to finally figure it out, and I'm sure they'll stick with it. I don't worry about it. I just take it when it comes."[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]All the while, Miller quietly relinquished his title as "point-center," as Bonzi Wells dubbed him early this season. After Miller led the team in assists for most of the season, the actual point guard, Mike Bibby, now leads with 5.6 per game to Miller's 5.3.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Miller's assists have been on the decline since Dec. 11, when he had 10 dishes for the fourth time this season and was at a 6.4 per game clip to that point. In the 13 games thereafter, he's averaged 3.5.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]All about five - Just the other day, Hornets coach and former Kings assistant Byron Scott was telling the local Oklahoma newspaper about how he judges the highs and lows of an NBA season in five-game increments.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Each chapter is its own, to be judged and evaluated so as to determine progress or regress.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Sounds familiar, perhaps because it's the same philosophy employed by Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Some rookie - Chris Paul continues to amaze his new team.[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]When the Hornets' rookie point guard tore a ligament in his right thumb against Portland on Jan. 6, he was supposed to be out two weeks.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]But Paul returned after missing one game, tallying 13 points and five assists in a loss to Detroit before facing the Kings.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I can't stand to watch, especially watching guys you practice with day in and day out," said Paul, who is wearing a protective sleeve on the thumb. "You want to get out there and help."[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com[/FONT]
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[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Kings notes: Teams catching on to Miller
The Kings' center has had a dip in production after a red-hot four-game stretch.
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Saturday, January 14, 2006[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]NORMAN, Okla. - The reality of the Kings' situation won't be changing anytime soon.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]With so much youth and injury on their roster, they are a team with very little margin for error, a team that can't afford off nights from one or - heaven forbid - two key players if they are to remain competitive.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In other words, this is no time for Brad Miller's game to fall off. But after a four-game stretch in which Miller played his best ball of the season, he has indeed gone the other direction.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Miller, who averaged 26.3 points and 18.8 shots in the four games after forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim broke his jaw, put up 9.3 points and 9.3 shots in the three games coming into Oklahoma. The Kings, meanwhile, lost to Indiana and Memphis, then barely held on against a bad and battered Houston squad.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Miller chalks it up to good scouting. Teams pay substantial salaries to video coordinators, who share their findings with scouts and coaches in a collaborative effort to counter the opponents' toughest threats.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In a 90-76 loss to the Hornets on Friday, Miller picked up his game, scoring 18 points while going 7 of 16 from the field.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"They're really staying with me now," Miller said. "Teams watch and learn, and it took them five or six games to finally figure it out, and I'm sure they'll stick with it. I don't worry about it. I just take it when it comes."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]All the while, Miller quietly relinquished his title as "point-center," as Bonzi Wells dubbed him early this season. After Miller led the team in assists for most of the season, the actual point guard, Mike Bibby, now leads with 5.6 per game to Miller's 5.3.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Miller's assists have been on the decline since Dec. 11, when he had 10 dishes for the fourth time this season and was at a 6.4 per game clip to that point. In the 13 games thereafter, he's averaged 3.5.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]All about five - Just the other day, Hornets coach and former Kings assistant Byron Scott was telling the local Oklahoma newspaper about how he judges the highs and lows of an NBA season in five-game increments.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Each chapter is its own, to be judged and evaluated so as to determine progress or regress.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Sounds familiar, perhaps because it's the same philosophy employed by Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Some rookie - Chris Paul continues to amaze his new team.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]When the Hornets' rookie point guard tore a ligament in his right thumb against Portland on Jan. 6, he was supposed to be out two weeks.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]But Paul returned after missing one game, tallying 13 points and five assists in a loss to Detroit before facing the Kings.[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I can't stand to watch, especially watching guys you practice with day in and day out," said Paul, who is wearing a protective sleeve on the thumb. "You want to get out there and help."[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com[/FONT]
when he was on that hot streak. This may be a little insulting, but Brad really doesn't have much game. And here I am using "game" to mean ability to beat players by himself, adjust and adapt on the fly etc. He's unathletic, lacks one on one moves. And once a team looks at film and decides to take him away...well, he can be taken away. He's another one of our blown up roleplayers ala Peja. Ignore them, don't know what they are going to run, try to double off of them etc., and they are deadly. But lock in and key on them, study the tape, diagram the offense, and figure out how you want to defend them and...well, no more 30pt outings. Noticed the Hornets covering Brad with Desmond Mason at times. 
