by Micah Hart
Sekou can talk all he wants about Joel Anthony’s role in the middle for Miami (as a Horns fan, I’m looking for “Sexy” Dexter Pittman to take his spot by mid-season), but in my eyes the guy who will be the most important sidekick to Miami’s MV3 is South Dakota’s own Mike Miller.
Here’s the deal – LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are outstanding in nearly every aspect of the game of basketball, but let’s just say I don’t see either taking home a 3-point title at All-Star Weekend any time soon. In fact, dig this: .329, .289, .405.
Know what those numbers are? They are the career 3-point shooting percentages for LeBron, Wade, and Miller, respectively. Shoot, Chris Bosh has a better career mark (.298) from distance than Wade, albeit in way fewer attempts.
I suppose it’s possible the Heat can win with Wade, James, and Bosh scoring all their points (at least against the Pistons tonight), but in the long run they are going to need someone else to knock down open shots, and frankly, Miller is the only guy on the roster I trust to make that happen. No offense, Eddie House.
Frankly, I can’t think of another player in the NBA who should be more excited right now than Miller. With as much attention as will be paid his teammates, Miller might as well be shooting baskets in an empty gym. He’ll get more looks than Inez Sainz at football practice.
Besides, LeBron is probably excited about the Heat having a hole in the middle – that just means more potential rebounds for him to grab as he attempts to match Oscar Robertson‘s triple-double season.
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Catch up on every single game-winning buzzer beater during the season and see how it rates on the Horry Scale.
I definately agree with you on this one, Micah.
Mike Miller was rookie of the year for a reason, and just because he’s on a team with some all-star talent doesn’t mean that he’s lost any of his own talent. Definately the best 3-pt marksman on the team, and can definately do some damage from that distance. I see the most dangerous starting 5 as one that includes Miller on the wing and Wade as the starting point, what do you think about that line up?
Only one game but I would add James Jones to the list of outside shooters. If Pittman can develop into a low post scorer (3 for 5, 8 pts in 17 min. Tuesday) by mid-season, Miller becomes even more an outside factor with four other positions capable of scoring at the rim or on drives inside. Should be interesting.