Is there any chance that Muss...

[kupman]

can turn Brad Miller into a decent, possibly strong, interior defensive presence?

Our lack of a good post defender against guys 6'10" and taller may be our biggest weakness. It is difficult to trade for a proven post defender. Muss has had some luck improving the defensive talents of Bibby. Could he do the same for Brad?

 

[Cal-Kings]

Miller

can turn Brad Miller into a decent, possibly strong, interior defensive presence?

Our lack of a good post defender against guys 6'10" and taller may be our biggest weakness. It is difficult to trade for a proven post defender. Muss has had some luck improving the defensive talents of Bibby. Could he do the same for Brad?

I think with Brad, it's largely about effort. Earlier and in Pre-Season he played with a lot of effort and actually got rebounds.

 

[piksi]

can turn Brad Miller into a decent, possibly strong, interior defensive presence?

Our lack of a good post defender against guys 6'10" and taller may be our biggest weakness. It is difficult to trade for a proven post defender. Muss has had some luck improving the defensive talents of Bibby. Could he do the same for Brad?

Bibby's defense isn't improved. It is still the same and it sucks. And - NO- Brad will not be better defender under Musselman. They are - what they are in terms on defense. We have to work around it

 

[tyrant]

i think muss should start timing brad miller in 40's. until he makes under 5.5 seconds.

 

[Troy]

I think with Brad, it's largely about effort. Earlier and in Pre-Season he played with a lot of effort and actually got rebounds.

Exactly, if Miller puts in the effort he can be quite good. He definately shines more with his shooting and offensive game, setting picks and hitting his 18 footers than being a Defensive monster, but he has his moments as a 7 footer being fairly unathletic should.
I hope he recovers fully and takes preventive measure so the foot doesn't flair up again, or not as bad...he was off to a good start with playing for the National team and Muss pushing him and others (running up and down the court a few times under a minute and such).

 

[VF21]

i think muss should start timing brad miller in 40's. until he makes under 5.5 seconds.

And how is that going to help anything?

I think you should make an effort to avoid Brad Miller threads since your predisposition to hating anything about him is so well known around here.

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can turn Brad Miller into a decent, possibly strong, interior defensive presence?

Our lack of a good post defender against guys 6'10" and taller may be our biggest weakness. It is difficult to trade for a proven post defender. Muss has had some luck improving the defensive talents of Bibby. Could he do the same for Brad?

A healthy Brad Miller is much more of an asset than a liability. We aren't going to change him into Ben Wallace, however. A successful team is one where the coach utilizes the skills and strengths of all their players to form the best possible cohesive unit to put onto the court. I think Brad can be effective and I have faith that Musselman is going to find a way to maximize that effectiveness. It's his job; it's what he was hired to do.

 

[SacKings384]

You can't change a player into a defensive player after all these years. I mean you can mold a rookie maybe, but a guy with little athleticism and little speed such as Brad can't be changed. A guy like Ilgauskus is big and strong, and he is able to basically just power guys away from the hoop. Brad does not have that strength. He is what he is. No amount of coaching is going to change it. The only thing Muss can do is try his best to hide it using different defensive schemes.

 

[Merdiesel]

I think anything is possible if you practice and actually have the drive to do something...

IMO even if he had 3 hard fouls a game, that would do something... anything at this point can help.

 

[Jechtsphere]

I'm happy just to have a 7 footer who can at least alter shots instead of two small fowards getting shot over all the time.

 

[Lamar_Odom]

can turn Brad Miller into a decent, possibly strong, interior defensive presence?

Our lack of a good post defender against guys 6'10" and taller may be our biggest weakness. It is difficult to trade for a proven post defender. Muss has had some luck improving the defensive talents of Bibby. Could he do the same for Brad?

Being a good post defender means a commitment to banging againsts physical bigs, it is more of a mental thing than a physicality although one can't ignore the physical aspect of it. Miller is probably athletic enough to man the post if he deems he is going to be one. Maybe not the best, but adequate.

 

[Lamar_Odom]

You can't change a player into a defensive player after all these years. I mean you can mold a rookie maybe, but a guy with little athleticism and little speed such as Brad can't be changed. A guy like Ilgauskus is big and strong, and he is able to basically just power guys away from the hoop. Brad does not have that strength. He is what he is. No amount of coaching is going to change it. The only thing Muss can do is try his best to hide it using different defensive schemes.

Can something be done about his strength even at this stage of his career? Can the weight room help him if he really makes a commitment to it?

 

[Bricklayer]

Given that in general we are worse on defnese now than we were to end the season last year, no, I am not betting on Muss as a miracle worker.

Brad looked to be in better shape in preseason, and maybe if that holds, and the health holds, and....

But in general, no, Brad will be Brad. Of course the irony beign that given what we've seen without Brad, he's goign to come in and look like Ben Wallace comparatively regardless of his own shortcomings.

 

[BMiller52]

Brad was a good defender in 2004 and during his years with the Bulls/pacers. I still remember when he was guarding KG in the 04 playoffs and he got a foul or something for touching KG in the forehead.

 

[Evenstar]

^^^^ i remember that!

that was hilarious, seeing KG get all hissy i have pictures saved on my hardrive

 

[kupman]

Brad was a good defender in 2004 and during his years with the Bulls/pacers. I still remember when he was guarding KG in the 04 playoffs and he got a foul or something for touching KG in the forehead.

This is true. I actually remember people saying that Brad was brought here to defend Shaq as he had luck against the diesel in that same season.

I think he has the ability, but I am not sure about the hunger.

 

[Padrino]

This is true. I actually remember people saying that Brad was brought here to defend Shaq as he had luck against the diesel in that same season.

I think he has the ability, but I am not sure about the hunger.

see, here's the thing. brad miller came into the league as an undrafted big man outta purdue, and he used to have the blue collar attitude of a hard-working, do-it-yourself brand of basketball player. he scored his payday in a sign and trade with the kings, and while some of the scrappy play he displayed in chicago and indiana remained when he first got here, its clear that he's content sitting on his fat chunk of change at this point. that's not to say that he's lazy, but i'm sure he feels like he belongs in the nba now. he's got nothing left to prove to anybody. i wish he'd revert back to his scrapping and hustling ways, but he's been converted into more of a finesse player the last few years. not to mention he's been in and out of the lineup because of injuries. i think he's become very tentative because of that. and to be clear, i ain't making excuses for brad miller. i'm just trying to identify the root problems in his psyche at present, cuz he hasn't been playing at an all-star level for a while now, and i'd like to see him get there once again.