Versatility on Display
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As the Minnesota Timberwolves spent the traditionally coldest month of the year on a sizzling streak, sharp-shooting guard Mike Miller was waiting for that same January thaw. But strangely, as the Wolves stayed on fire, Miller was as cold as ice.
The Wolves opened the new year by posting a 10-4 record in January. They were out-rebounding, out-hustling, and in most cases, out-shooting their opponents. With a simple flip of the calendar (and the humming of a few bars of Auld Lang Syne), a team that for two months looked like they had lost their compass finally found their way out of the northwoods and suddenly looked like a Western Conference contender.
Yet there was still one wolf whose GPS was not fully functional. With the Wolves still heating up, Miller was still trying to thaw a frigid eight-game shooting stretch where he had hit just 31 percent of his shots, and just 15 percent of his three-point attempts.
This, from the team's alleged sharpest shooter, a player who has made a living from a location NBA broadcast legend Marv Albert labeled “way downtown.” For the Timberwolves, having one of your top shooters go into a month-long deep freeze was like a band losing its lead singer to laryngitis.
“The only way I'm going to get out of the way I'm shooting is to make shots, and the only way to do that is to keep shooting,” Miller kept saying during the slump. “And lay-ups don't count. Just go out there and play. It's all you can do.”
Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale can empathize. In his storied career, McHale can remember a stretch or two when he felt like someone put an invisible manhole over the rim, a time when he felt he couldn't have hit water if he fell off a Carnival cruise ship.
“It's hard to explain,” McHale said about breaking out of a slump. “But if you've played, it happens in weird ways. It happens over practice times, it happens sometimes when the ball's swung around to you and there's two seconds on the shot clock, you don't think, you rise up and shoot it. It just happens in weird ways.”
It wasn't as if Miller didn't have an alibi. He severely injured his ankle in early December during a homecoming where his NBA career started in Orlando with the Magic. After missing a little more than a week and four games, he returned for five games before injuring the same ankle again. He returned after missing five games. Too often, Miller felt as if he left his shooting touch on the shelf.
“(The ankle) is not where I want it to be, but it's not an excuse, either,” said Miller. “If I'm out there playing, it's not an excuse. The only way I'm going to get out of this is to make shots and keep shooting.”
So long as his veteran shooter keeps talking like that, McHale isn't worried.
“Mike's going to be fine,” McHale said. “A couple ankle sprains set Mike back a little bit, but his rebounding, his moving the ball, all the things he brings to our team, he's a very unique player. You know, when that shot starts going, which it will, that will just add a whole other level to our team.”
Added Miller: “You just gotta take the shots that are there,” he said. “It's a pretty simple game, really. You have to pick your spots. When you're open you just have to step up and shoot the ball.”
Whether he was playing for the Orlando Magic or the Memphis Grizzlies, whether he was shooting near the swamp as a Florida Gator, or if he was still shooting in the Corn Palace in his hometown of Mitchell, S.D., Miller's stone-cold outside shooting attitude remains the same with the Timberwolves.
“Growing up in South Dakota, my only option if I wanted to make the next level was to spend a lot of time in the gym,” Miller said.
And that, Timberwolves assistant coach Brent Haskins says, is what makes a player like Miller so special.
“Years and years and years of practice and repetition. He gets his shots up and works on his game every day,” Haskins said. “It's no accident that he makes (shots). He has great technique and follow-through. His lift isn't that great, but it doesn't have to be. He'll be able to shoot for years and years because he doesn't really jump high on his shot. He's big enough and strong enough where he doesn't have to have as much lift. But it's his work ethic and practice through the years that now he maintains every day.”
The ingredients Haskins describes are what enables a player like Miller to last a decade in the NBA.
Miller, though, isn't simply a sharp shooter, warns Wolves assistant general manager Rob Babcock.
“Not only is he a great shooter, but when you have a guy that is that height that can shoot it, it's a rarity,” Babcock said. “Usually great shooters are in the 6-2 to 6-6 range, but he's a solid 6-7 if not 6-8. To have that range with that height is very rare. Having great technique is certainly an advantage, but there are a lot of great shooters that don't have perfect technique. It's practice, consistency and follow-through. His biggest thing is that he works at it. You can't become a good shooter unless you shoot the ball a zillion times.”
That is probably why a chilly January did nothing to slow down Miller. In fact, it is the cold streaks like the one last month that help define the kind of player Miller is. Rather than run from it, he played right through it. Soon enough, he figured, the icicles would start melting and the shots would start falling. Eventually, he figured, the shooting percent that temporarily was in the low 30s would climb back up into the mid-40s, where it has been for the last five or so years.
“I take what's there,” Miller said. “It's called basketball. James Naismith invented it a long time ago.”
A good outlook. From a good player.
“Mike has been unbelievable,” McHale said. “Mike is such a great guy. His ability to rebound, pass the ball, defend out there — he's been doing so many good things for us. The thing everybody looks at is he's not making shots right now. These are shots he normally makes. He's going to make those shots, I'm not worried about that.
“He's just another one of those guys who we're blessed to have.”
The Wolves opened the new year by posting a 10-4 record in January. They were out-rebounding, out-hustling, and in most cases, out-shooting their opponents. With a simple flip of the calendar (and the humming of a few bars of Auld Lang Syne), a team that for two months looked like they had lost their compass finally found their way out of the northwoods and suddenly looked like a Western Conference contender.
Yet there was still one wolf whose GPS was not fully functional. With the Wolves still heating up, Miller was still trying to thaw a frigid eight-game shooting stretch where he had hit just 31 percent of his shots, and just 15 percent of his three-point attempts.
This, from the team's alleged sharpest shooter, a player who has made a living from a location NBA broadcast legend Marv Albert labeled “way downtown.” For the Timberwolves, having one of your top shooters go into a month-long deep freeze was like a band losing its lead singer to laryngitis.
“The only way I'm going to get out of the way I'm shooting is to make shots, and the only way to do that is to keep shooting,” Miller kept saying during the slump. “And lay-ups don't count. Just go out there and play. It's all you can do.”
Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale can empathize. In his storied career, McHale can remember a stretch or two when he felt like someone put an invisible manhole over the rim, a time when he felt he couldn't have hit water if he fell off a Carnival cruise ship.
“It's hard to explain,” McHale said about breaking out of a slump. “But if you've played, it happens in weird ways. It happens over practice times, it happens sometimes when the ball's swung around to you and there's two seconds on the shot clock, you don't think, you rise up and shoot it. It just happens in weird ways.”
It wasn't as if Miller didn't have an alibi. He severely injured his ankle in early December during a homecoming where his NBA career started in Orlando with the Magic. After missing a little more than a week and four games, he returned for five games before injuring the same ankle again. He returned after missing five games. Too often, Miller felt as if he left his shooting touch on the shelf.
“(The ankle) is not where I want it to be, but it's not an excuse, either,” said Miller. “If I'm out there playing, it's not an excuse. The only way I'm going to get out of this is to make shots and keep shooting.”
So long as his veteran shooter keeps talking like that, McHale isn't worried.
“Mike's going to be fine,” McHale said. “A couple ankle sprains set Mike back a little bit, but his rebounding, his moving the ball, all the things he brings to our team, he's a very unique player. You know, when that shot starts going, which it will, that will just add a whole other level to our team.”
Added Miller: “You just gotta take the shots that are there,” he said. “It's a pretty simple game, really. You have to pick your spots. When you're open you just have to step up and shoot the ball.”
Whether he was playing for the Orlando Magic or the Memphis Grizzlies, whether he was shooting near the swamp as a Florida Gator, or if he was still shooting in the Corn Palace in his hometown of Mitchell, S.D., Miller's stone-cold outside shooting attitude remains the same with the Timberwolves.
“Growing up in South Dakota, my only option if I wanted to make the next level was to spend a lot of time in the gym,” Miller said.
And that, Timberwolves assistant coach Brent Haskins says, is what makes a player like Miller so special.
“Years and years and years of practice and repetition. He gets his shots up and works on his game every day,” Haskins said. “It's no accident that he makes (shots). He has great technique and follow-through. His lift isn't that great, but it doesn't have to be. He'll be able to shoot for years and years because he doesn't really jump high on his shot. He's big enough and strong enough where he doesn't have to have as much lift. But it's his work ethic and practice through the years that now he maintains every day.” The ingredients Haskins describes are what enables a player like Miller to last a decade in the NBA.
Miller, though, isn't simply a sharp shooter, warns Wolves assistant general manager Rob Babcock.
“Not only is he a great shooter, but when you have a guy that is that height that can shoot it, it's a rarity,” Babcock said. “Usually great shooters are in the 6-2 to 6-6 range, but he's a solid 6-7 if not 6-8. To have that range with that height is very rare. Having great technique is certainly an advantage, but there are a lot of great shooters that don't have perfect technique. It's practice, consistency and follow-through. His biggest thing is that he works at it. You can't become a good shooter unless you shoot the ball a zillion times.”
That is probably why a chilly January did nothing to slow down Miller. In fact, it is the cold streaks like the one last month that help define the kind of player Miller is. Rather than run from it, he played right through it. Soon enough, he figured, the icicles would start melting and the shots would start falling. Eventually, he figured, the shooting percent that temporarily was in the low 30s would climb back up into the mid-40s, where it has been for the last five or so years.
“I take what's there,” Miller said. “It's called basketball. James Naismith invented it a long time ago.”
A good outlook. From a good player.
“Mike has been unbelievable,” McHale said. “Mike is such a great guy. His ability to rebound, pass the ball, defend out there — he's been doing so many good things for us. The thing everybody looks at is he's not making shots right now. These are shots he normally makes. He's going to make those shots, I'm not worried about that.
“He's just another one of those guys who we're blessed to have.”
