10: Purdue
The book on the Boilermakers: They'll go as high as their
center lifts
them
Brad Miller, Purdue's
6'11",
240 pound senior center, claims that before last year's
NCAA tournament he had read just one book from cover to cover.
"It was that one by Larry Bird,
Drive," he says. "It took me about a year to
finish."
Considering this aversion to reading, you have to wonder
how Miller has gotten as far as he has—he expects to get
his
degree in hotel and restaurant management next August. Ever
pick up a textbook, Brad? "Ah, you read the
beginning, you read the end,"
he says. "That pretty much tells you what you need to
know."
Fortunately Miller's reading habits have changed. Since
picking up James Dickey's
Deliverance before Purdue's 83-76 win over Rhode Island in the first
round of the NCAAs, Miller has embraced the written word.
This summer, while playing with the USA Basketball team in
the under-22 world championships in Australia, Miller
finished another entire
volume, John Sanford's
Sudden
Prey. "It's this story about a serial killer," he
says. "It was really good, but it probably
could've been even
better."
Just like Purdue. The Boilermakers were supposed to be
rebuilding last season but finished 12-6 in the Big Ten,
good for a
second-place tie in the conference. Now coach Gene Keady's
club could be even better, but he'll need Miller to reach
his
potential for that to happen. Although Miller averaged 14.3 points
and
8.3 rebounds a game in 1996-97, he sometimes played a little
soft in the middle, a style that
doesn't work well in the black-and-blue Big Ten. "I
think this summer I picked up the things I needed to
learn," he says. "They came from playing those
older,
stronger players [in Australia], guys who are like rocks in the
paint. Now I can hold my
own."
If so, Miller and senior guard Chad Austin could give Keady
his best one-two punch since Glenn Robinson and Cuonzo
Martin took the Boilermakers to within a game of the Final
Four in 1994. The
6'2" Austin averaged 17.0 points a game last season,
making him the Big Ten's top returning scorer. More
important, while playing on that under-22 team with Miller
and Purdue forward Brian Cardinal, he did some much-needed
honing of his ball handling
skills.
Either Austin or junior guard Alan Eldridge must emerge as
a steady playmaker if the Boilermakers are to improve. With
2.9 assists per game Miller was one of the few college centers
to lead his team in assists, and that can't be allowed to
happen again, because teams don't survive in the postseason
without solid backcourt play. Purdue may even go to a
three-guard offense,
with Jaraan Cornell, a
6'3" sophomore who averaged 10.2 points off the bench,
filling the third
spot.
|
Last Year | 18-12 |
|
Returning Starters | 5 |
| Points Per Game '96-97 | 72.2 |
| PPG By All Returning Players | 70.5 | "We've been talking about Arizona a lot lately,"
says Miller. "They
weren't very big, and look what they did. If we have the
right attitude and play consistently, the only ones who'll
stop us are ourselves. History shows that hard work pays
off."
Sounds like Miller's been reading after
all. —Jeff Pearlman
Next: UCLA
|
