Lowe: Andre Miller Is Top-3 NBA Sixth Man Of Year Candidate
Zach Lowe of SI.com writes that former Portland Trail Blazers guard Andre Miller, who was traded to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Raymond Felton, deserves recognition as a top-3 candidate for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award, which will go to Oklahoma City Thunder guard and World Peace Victim James Harden.
----------------------
You might as well pick this out of hat, because it’s not even clear if Miller is the most valuable bench player on his own team. Miller’s work as an almost-co-starter with Ty Lawson allows the Nuggets to play heavy minutes with two point guards on the floor, a lineup type that’s central to the team’s identity. But the same goes for Al Harrington, whose work shooting threes, attacking the rim and playing (mostly) engaged defense has allowed George Karl to play several dynamic small lineups.
And Miller, for his part, hasn’t always been super-engaged on defense. The Nuggets’ perimeter players switch a ton off the ball when Miller plays, and his attention has waned more than usual this season.
But when Denver has the ball, Miller is a professor on the court. He gets the ball wherever it should go, when it should get there, and he is steps ahead of other players in terms of knowing how to create space that doesn’t yet exist by either cutting or dribbling to a certain spot. The Nuggets have scored nearly six more points per 100 possessions when Miller is in the floor, and that’s no coincidence. We’ll give the old man the third ballot spot in a one-man race.
----------------------
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
0 comments:
Post a Comment