Kentucky basketball fan’s take: It’s Darius Miller time

Kentucky basketball fan’s take: It’s Darius Miller time

By Matt David, Yahoo! Contributor Network

Kentucky's Darius Miller is from Kentucky and won the coveted Mr. Kentucky Basketball award back in 2008. A picture of a young Darius Miller and Tony Delk has recently been circulating the internet. This guy has bled blue his whole life.

Princeton game

Kentucky may not even be playing right now if it weren't for Miller's stellar play in the first game against Princeton. In the first half of that game, the freshmen seemingly had to shake the jitters. Miller scored 15 points on five-of-eight shooting to get the team on track. He finished with 17 points which led the team.
AdChoices

North Carolina

Miller didn't have the same impact against West Virginia and Ohio State. Brandon Knight, DeAndre Liggins, and Josh Harrellson deserve every bit of attention they have been getting and stole the show in those games. However, Miller makes contributions as well. Against North Carolina in the Elite Eight game, Miller scored 11 points. He had the assist on each of the two big three pointers at the end by Liggins and Knight. He also had a block with 21 seconds to go that helped seal the win.

UConn and title game

Miller is a team player who knows his role on the team. He has the ability to shoot the three, post up, and drive to the paint to cause problems for the defense. When he is feeling it, the opposing team is in trouble. Miller can cause matchup problems with his game. If Miller plays like he did in the ten games from the Mississippi State game on February 15th to the Princeton game, the Cats will be very difficult to beat. In that stretch, Miller averaged 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 blocks. He also shot 55% from the floor, 91% from the free throw line, and 48% from behind the arc.

Miller's future

Miller reminds me of former Kentucky Wildcat Kelenna Azubuike. Their college stats are similar. Here are their junior year stats at Kentucky:

Azubuike

14.7 points
4.7 rebounds
1.5 assists
1.1 steals
.4 blocks

Miller

11.1 points
4.6 rebounds
1.7 assists
.7 steals
.8 blocks

Azubuike left Kentucky after his junior season and didn't get drafted. He worked hard on his game in the development league and played in the NBA for four years. Right now, he is battling injuries and was recently waived from the New York Knicks. It should surprise nobody if Miller makes it to the NBA as well.

Go Cats!

Having grown up in Kentucky, I am a lifelong Kentucky Wildcat fan. You can follow me on Twitter here. Still want more? Go to my blog.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor.