ReinadelosReys
Starter
So, to hold you guys off on the last Peja in Sacramento interview [I'll try to get that up later tonight, but its really long so at the latest by early afternoon tomorrow], here's Brad Miller from today's sportsline. Some good stuff I thought 
As always, forgive any typos etc., and of course since this is Brad Miller there are lot of "Brad-isms" that I just omitted for the sake of not typing a gazillion "you know's" 
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Mike: Give me your impression, give me what you thought at first because obviously you’re probably more qualified to talk about this trade than anybody else I can think of because you have played with Peja and you have been a teammate with Ron Artest two times. What were your thoughts when you heard this trade went down?
Brad: I knew that there were talks about it last summer, this summer, earlier in the season, so it was kind of one of those—you know it makes it kind of more tough on Peja, to where it kind of messes with your head to know you’re constantly involved with a trade and no one ever pulls the trigger on it. The way that it went where, Philly he wasn’t on the bus, and its like the trades done, just waiting for the league approval which by the league standards with the numbers and everything was going to match up just fine, so no problem and then for it not to go through, and then him have to ride the bus with us to NY and then for it to go down once we got to NY, is kind of you, know makes it tough on a guy.
Mike: Tell me your thoughts about Peja Stojakovic no longer being a teammate of yours and what you think the future holds for him?
Brad: I wish him the best because two summers ago when they talked about Indiana, I was like you son of a gun, I love Indiana can we makes this a packaged deal? Just kind of messing with him, just Indiana, having a good time with him. He’s been lucky enough to be on the Kings—his only team for so many years. I wish him the best, I told him that. I think he’ll like it. I believe he has a couple of friends he knows there. You know, it makes it tough, I bet he could probably win some money off of Larry shooting 3 pointers in practice the way he shoots the ball.
Jason Ross: The end you guys are getting, Ron Artest, you would know better than anybody----you played with Ron Artest in Chicago, in Indiana, you would know him better than anyone. And no body is really arguing his merits on the floor, how about the character of Ron Artest? What can you say about that and him as a person?
Brad: People don’t realize how good of a guy, how nice of a guy that he really is. They always just see all of the negative, which obviously the whole world just knows that part of Ron; all they know is the suspensions and stuff and this and that. Also the defensive player of the year, Ron is one of—he’s just a quiet guy, he’s a really good guy. Its just—he gets on the court and you always talk about being able to turn that switch on and off and he just really turns that switch on and plays with everything that he really has once he steps on that court.
Mike: I have been told by a number of people that Ron Artest has a very…..short fuse when it comes to him perceiving people that aren’t playing hard and that he has dressed down some of his teammates after games in the past. Is that the case and if that is the case, how do you think that’s going to fly in Sacramento?
Brad: When you do a trade like this sometimes you need an outside perspective. I know Ron so I know he’s been watching NBA games, he’s been paying attention, he’s been working. This guy works on his game more than anybody I’ve ever seen in the NBA first of all. He would show up for rookie camp in the summer and just destroy the guys and make sure they knew they have a long ways to go and so he can work on his game. So hopefully it will be kind of a reality check. We haven’t been playing very well at times, and maybe when he comes, you know maybe a swift kick in the butt from somebody that hasn’t really been around us all the time. We are professionals we got to understand that we got to take constructive criticism. I’ll let him know if he’s gone a little too far. Just try to work with it, but you know when a guy plays with that much energy, emotion, that’s going to happen.
Jason Ross: Well Brad, he’s likely to have an impact on this team; how quickly do you think he can? It sounds like he’s going to be with you guys in Boston, I don’t know how much he’s going to play tomorrow. What do you guys know about whether or not he’ll suit up tomorrow?
Brad: About as much as you guys. Really don’t know how that’s going to go. We’ve got just shoot around, we just got done with 4 in 5 nights. We got in today, he was on the plane with us, he’s in Boston with us. We’re just going to shoot around, kind of tells me we won’t do much shooting and a lot more just kind of running through some basic stuff tomorrow, get him acclimated to the team and you know the concept of everything and see how it goes from there.
Mike: I don’t want to put you in an awkward spot because I know this guy is going to be your teammate, but I think the trade was a mistake. I think there was too much of a downside, would you—can you admit to me or does the team understand that there are risks to this, that there is a downside potentially for this trade?
Brad: One of the things they’ve been talking is the United States of America, you always give guys second and third chances, you just always hope you put a guy in the right situation at the right time in his life and he can really strive in that. I think what Ron’s been through in the last couple of years, you just hope that he’s really matured and learned a lot from his mistakes—because he has made mistakes—but hopefully he’s learned from those. That he’s a point where he’s just more concern about playing basketball and maturing as a man himself.
Grant: Do you think it’s strictly a maturity thing or is there a possibility that he’s a little more high strung than some other guys you’ve played with.
Brad: The desire that this guy has to win is just unbelievable. I get worked up and might not sleep 6, 7 in the morning sometimes after—after the Philly game, I was just kind of you know not sitting too well with myself and all that. He’s a guy who has a big heart and big desire to win games and succeed at the highest level possible.
Mike: Do you think this trade is going to make the Kings better?
Brad: That’s what I’m hopping for. Time will only tell with that. Hopefully, it will. It sucks to lose a guy like Peja, who no matter what he’s doing this year, he’s still probably the best shooter in the NBA, there’s no doubt about that—I’ll never change my opinion on that. It is a tough trade considering, but we had a tough trade with Webb last year too and kind of struggled, but we’re just trying to re-tool and get better as a team.
Jason Ross: [asking about Artest’s impact on D]
Brad: I think he’s going to bring in an attitude, kind of what Bonzi is; Bonzi brought that this year. A tough guy that is real physical with opposing guards. I think once Bonzi comes back, those guys are really going to be a tough match up for any combination in the league. I’ve seen Ron guard the point guard, the 2, 3, 4--he’s even been on me since I’ve been in Sacramento. He’s a guy who’s real versatile. I think sometimes defense is contagious, because the way that he plays, the steals that he gets isn’t like gambling skill, it’s because he’s real physical. He gets up into guys. He’s just a tough son of a gun, that’s for sure.
Mike: So he’s versatile like you are?
Brad: Yea, I can guard most point guards…
[They laugh]
Mike: Last thing last night at the end of the NY game when you missed the first FT, two questions: did you think you were going to make the second one and did you think you guys were going to win or lose? Be honest.
Brad: Absolutely knew I was going to make the second one. I don’t know, they give me hard time about my FT shooting, whether I either swish it or it hits front of the end of rim and bounce around and in. I’ve shot like them forever. You know get on the rim with the right spin. I don’t know how—I think the NBA was willing that one not to go in or something because it rattled around quite a few times, but you know I knew I was going to make the second one. And then I knew we were going to pull that one out.
As always, forgive any typos etc., and of course since this is Brad Miller there are lot of "Brad-isms" that I just omitted for the sake of not typing a gazillion "you know's" -------------------------------
Mike: Give me your impression, give me what you thought at first because obviously you’re probably more qualified to talk about this trade than anybody else I can think of because you have played with Peja and you have been a teammate with Ron Artest two times. What were your thoughts when you heard this trade went down?
Brad: I knew that there were talks about it last summer, this summer, earlier in the season, so it was kind of one of those—you know it makes it kind of more tough on Peja, to where it kind of messes with your head to know you’re constantly involved with a trade and no one ever pulls the trigger on it. The way that it went where, Philly he wasn’t on the bus, and its like the trades done, just waiting for the league approval which by the league standards with the numbers and everything was going to match up just fine, so no problem and then for it not to go through, and then him have to ride the bus with us to NY and then for it to go down once we got to NY, is kind of you, know makes it tough on a guy.
Mike: Tell me your thoughts about Peja Stojakovic no longer being a teammate of yours and what you think the future holds for him?
Brad: I wish him the best because two summers ago when they talked about Indiana, I was like you son of a gun, I love Indiana can we makes this a packaged deal? Just kind of messing with him, just Indiana, having a good time with him. He’s been lucky enough to be on the Kings—his only team for so many years. I wish him the best, I told him that. I think he’ll like it. I believe he has a couple of friends he knows there. You know, it makes it tough, I bet he could probably win some money off of Larry shooting 3 pointers in practice the way he shoots the ball.
Jason Ross: The end you guys are getting, Ron Artest, you would know better than anybody----you played with Ron Artest in Chicago, in Indiana, you would know him better than anyone. And no body is really arguing his merits on the floor, how about the character of Ron Artest? What can you say about that and him as a person?
Brad: People don’t realize how good of a guy, how nice of a guy that he really is. They always just see all of the negative, which obviously the whole world just knows that part of Ron; all they know is the suspensions and stuff and this and that. Also the defensive player of the year, Ron is one of—he’s just a quiet guy, he’s a really good guy. Its just—he gets on the court and you always talk about being able to turn that switch on and off and he just really turns that switch on and plays with everything that he really has once he steps on that court.
Mike: I have been told by a number of people that Ron Artest has a very…..short fuse when it comes to him perceiving people that aren’t playing hard and that he has dressed down some of his teammates after games in the past. Is that the case and if that is the case, how do you think that’s going to fly in Sacramento?
Brad: When you do a trade like this sometimes you need an outside perspective. I know Ron so I know he’s been watching NBA games, he’s been paying attention, he’s been working. This guy works on his game more than anybody I’ve ever seen in the NBA first of all. He would show up for rookie camp in the summer and just destroy the guys and make sure they knew they have a long ways to go and so he can work on his game. So hopefully it will be kind of a reality check. We haven’t been playing very well at times, and maybe when he comes, you know maybe a swift kick in the butt from somebody that hasn’t really been around us all the time. We are professionals we got to understand that we got to take constructive criticism. I’ll let him know if he’s gone a little too far. Just try to work with it, but you know when a guy plays with that much energy, emotion, that’s going to happen.
Jason Ross: Well Brad, he’s likely to have an impact on this team; how quickly do you think he can? It sounds like he’s going to be with you guys in Boston, I don’t know how much he’s going to play tomorrow. What do you guys know about whether or not he’ll suit up tomorrow?
Brad: About as much as you guys. Really don’t know how that’s going to go. We’ve got just shoot around, we just got done with 4 in 5 nights. We got in today, he was on the plane with us, he’s in Boston with us. We’re just going to shoot around, kind of tells me we won’t do much shooting and a lot more just kind of running through some basic stuff tomorrow, get him acclimated to the team and you know the concept of everything and see how it goes from there.
Mike: I don’t want to put you in an awkward spot because I know this guy is going to be your teammate, but I think the trade was a mistake. I think there was too much of a downside, would you—can you admit to me or does the team understand that there are risks to this, that there is a downside potentially for this trade?
Brad: One of the things they’ve been talking is the United States of America, you always give guys second and third chances, you just always hope you put a guy in the right situation at the right time in his life and he can really strive in that. I think what Ron’s been through in the last couple of years, you just hope that he’s really matured and learned a lot from his mistakes—because he has made mistakes—but hopefully he’s learned from those. That he’s a point where he’s just more concern about playing basketball and maturing as a man himself.
Grant: Do you think it’s strictly a maturity thing or is there a possibility that he’s a little more high strung than some other guys you’ve played with.
Brad: The desire that this guy has to win is just unbelievable. I get worked up and might not sleep 6, 7 in the morning sometimes after—after the Philly game, I was just kind of you know not sitting too well with myself and all that. He’s a guy who has a big heart and big desire to win games and succeed at the highest level possible.
Mike: Do you think this trade is going to make the Kings better?
Brad: That’s what I’m hopping for. Time will only tell with that. Hopefully, it will. It sucks to lose a guy like Peja, who no matter what he’s doing this year, he’s still probably the best shooter in the NBA, there’s no doubt about that—I’ll never change my opinion on that. It is a tough trade considering, but we had a tough trade with Webb last year too and kind of struggled, but we’re just trying to re-tool and get better as a team.
Jason Ross: [asking about Artest’s impact on D]
Brad: I think he’s going to bring in an attitude, kind of what Bonzi is; Bonzi brought that this year. A tough guy that is real physical with opposing guards. I think once Bonzi comes back, those guys are really going to be a tough match up for any combination in the league. I’ve seen Ron guard the point guard, the 2, 3, 4--he’s even been on me since I’ve been in Sacramento. He’s a guy who’s real versatile. I think sometimes defense is contagious, because the way that he plays, the steals that he gets isn’t like gambling skill, it’s because he’s real physical. He gets up into guys. He’s just a tough son of a gun, that’s for sure.
Mike: So he’s versatile like you are?
Brad: Yea, I can guard most point guards…
[They laugh]
Mike: Last thing last night at the end of the NY game when you missed the first FT, two questions: did you think you were going to make the second one and did you think you guys were going to win or lose? Be honest.
Brad: Absolutely knew I was going to make the second one. I don’t know, they give me hard time about my FT shooting, whether I either swish it or it hits front of the end of rim and bounce around and in. I’ve shot like them forever. You know get on the rim with the right spin. I don’t know how—I think the NBA was willing that one not to go in or something because it rattled around quite a few times, but you know I knew I was going to make the second one. And then I knew we were going to pull that one out.
