| 29 November 2009
On Saturday, Andre Miller and Nate McMillan found themselves in some pretty exclusive company.
In an article by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Bruce Jenkins called “Golden Age of the NBA point guard”, Miller and McMillan were basically referenced in the same breath, with Jenkins posing the question, “is it possible we're watching the greatest collection of point guards in NBA history?”
I’m not sure about that one. But by Saturday night in Utah, both Miller and McMillan were certainly “watching”, that’s for sure.
Two weeks ago against the Detroit Pistons at the Rose Garden, Miller tweaked his right ankle late in the game. Back then, Blazers’ trainer Jay Jensen checked him out repeatedly on the sidelines but Miller played on, even being reinserted in the fourth quarter in a game Portland nearly blew. Miller didn’t appear to be moving well against Minnesota last Saturday either. He looked a bit better Monday off the bench against Chicago. But versus both Memphis and Utah, Miller’s jumper wasn’t the only thing that looked gimpy.
After Portland’s tank job to the Utah Jazz, McMillan suggested Miller wasn’t “moving well”, explaining why Andre only logged 6:18. Miller contends he’s okay. That’s interesting. So was Miller going 0-4 with 2 turnovers the root of the “benching”, or is the right ankle giving him trouble more than he really is letting on?
The lift isn't there on the jumper.
The bounce to his step comes and goes.
He's moving gingerly in the open floor.
It’s now raising the question, is Andre healthy or hovering around 80%?
If you are looking for Miller to miss anytime, you can pretty much forget about it. This much we know.
Aside from his NBA Ironman accolades, last season alone Miller battled through a right calf strain and sprained middle finger on his right hand causing him to miss no games for the Philadelphia 76ers. But a season later and at this rate, Portland – minus four players already in Travis Outlaw, Nicolas Batum, Patty Mills and Jeff Pendergraph - really can’t afford to have another player go down. It’s like McMillan said last week: “we need bodies.”
Miller isn’t going to offer himself up to be placed on injured reserve. And until the Blazers do as much, a gimpy Miller may be better than no Miller at all. Or is he?
Guess we’ll have to watch and see what McMillan does with Miller.
photo: latimesblog
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