There is a Reason They are Great Shooters

From Celtics Assistant Coach Kevin Eastman:

Ray Allen always shoots three hours before every game — like clockwork. Since the main floor wasn’t available for another hour, we had to find an alternative. We found out there was another court in the arena, so we headed down there. So as we’re walking into that small gym we hear a ball already bouncing — it’s Mike Miller already into his shooting workout. Two of the best shooters in the game today, three hours before the game, making sure that they continue to work and prepare for the game!

There is no magic formula that makes them two of the best shooters in the league. They work at it all the time. There they were, at opposite ends of the court working on their game shots — game shots from game spots, and each repetition at game speed.

We had three assistants on our end working with Ray and there were two on the other end with Mike. Very little talking — just tremendous concentration — both players proving that even though they are the best, they continue to work to stay there. Being the best gets harder as time goes on so you need to continue to work on your game. Both guys went full speed and had a lather going by the time they were done.

When I walked into that gym I wished every player in the country — at any level — could have seen Ray and Mike working ON GAME NIGHT! Small gym, opposite ends of the floor, opposing teams, but one common denominator — working to get better and focusing on preparing for the game.

The lesson is that preparing for the game is what the best do so well. Working at your game at every opportunity is what makes a player the best at his skill.

Scoring hasn't been Miller's priority with Wolves, yet

Good article on how Mike Miller is being a great teammate this preseason in his first year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. I have posted before on his attitude and work ethic being tremendous over his 9 years in the NBA.

Miller is trying to get his teammates involved during this preseason, choosing to defer to his teammates offensively. Miller knows he can score, which is one reason he is allowing others to do so. (This is evidence of his ability to score)

"I've done it a long enough time now," he said. "I've had years when I've scored a lot of points. There are going to be times when I'll score a lot of points this year. We've got enough scorers. That's not going to be a problem. Passing is contagious. My job right now is to get the ball hopping. I'll get the ball in the hole when they need me to, but I'm going to make plays for other people because that's going to be my job a lot this year."

Teammate Randy Foye says:

"I come down and pass the ball to him: I want that assist because he's wide open at the three and he passes the ball to Big Al," Foye said, smiling. "I know what he's trying to do. He's trying to build a relationship with all of us. During the season, I think he'll take those shots.

"Right now, he's trying to learn us and at the same time we're trying to learn him."

Mike Miller Shooting

Here is a video of Mike Miller shooting. Very impressive stuff!

Mike Miller Workout

NBA.com has a great feature on Mike Miller and his individual skill workouts. Miller is a career 40 % 3 point shooter over his 8 year career. This is a link to hear Miller talk about what he goes through in a normal workout.

http://www.nba.com/media/timberwolves/miller_workout_080804.MP3

Mike Trudell, who is a reporter for the Minnesota Timberwolves interviews Miller. This is really an excellent look into what a great NBA shooter workout looks like!

From Mike Trudell:

In talking to Miller, I learned a few interesting things:

1) He made 36-straight threes to conclude Monday's workout. That's decent.

2) The former Sixth Man and Rookie of the Year (you forgot about those awards - be honest) goes at game speed throughout his workout, and he shoots more than just stand-still jumpers. Try step backs, curls, bumps, one-dribble pull ups and more (game situation shooting, basically).

3) For his warm up, Miller must make 10 shots from seven spots on the floor, and can't miss more than four shots (or he starts over).

4) He is the opposite of happy if he has to go back to a spot.

5) There aren't many NBA players, let alone normal people, who could get through Miller's workout due to how many consecutive shots he has to make.

6) One of Miller's hardest drills is this: A three-point make is +1 and a miss -1, and he has to get to 50. So he could make 49 in a row, miss one and he'd need two straight makes to finish. Miss five, make five and you're at zero. Try that sometime with NBA threes ...