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Mike Miller Reminds Everyone Just How Good NBA Role Players Are at Basketball

Remember a few years back when every proverbial sports pub bigwig was certain they could beat Brian Scalabrine in one-on-one? And it turned out a former Syracuse player couldn’t even get close?

Well, in case that was far back enough for us to forget how good NBA players — even ninth, 10th and 11th men — are at basketball, Mike Miller is here to refresh our collective memories.

 


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Miller was a coach at Memphis until just last week, and apparently, he used his time there to show potential NBA players a thing or two about one-on-one. Keep in mind: the guy guarding Miller in the video is D.J. Jeffries, a 6-foot-7 starter for a good Memphis team. And while he is not a top-10 NBA prospect or anything like that, he has a good shot at getting drafted next year. Plus, in these clips, he is all dressed for practice, fully engaged. Meanwhile, Miller is in long pants, a long-sleeve shirt and a backwards hat. He looks like he’s coasting, yet he is destroying a DI starter. Yes, a good chunk of the video is Miller doing what he does best — sinking 3’s. But he also gets Jeffries on skates more than once and finishes at the rim impressively.

Granted, Miller was the No. 5 overall pick out of Florida. That was 20 years ago. He is 40 now and spent 17 years as primarily a spot-up shooter. A really good spot-up shooter, but a spot-up shooter nonetheless. Like Scalabrine, the fact that he can still absolutely cook DI starters should not be surprising, and yet it always is when videos like these come out. Has Mike Miller used up all of his college eligibility? I’m sure Penny Hardaway wouldn’t hate some of that butter in his starting lineup, especially after losing James Wiseman and Precious Achiuwa this year.

A message to my childhood hero, Jason Kapono: I’m still waiting for a video of you putting the Dream Shake on Jalen Hill in a UCLA practice.


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