重點：
"I stayed in touch," Miller said. "Normally, I don't talk to anybody in the
summer. I stayed involved. Every player wants some type of stability in the
long run. At my age [32], I definitely want to see that happen, but you have
to weigh your options. They've made strides."
"我一直都跟高層保持聯繫" Miller 說到 "一般來說，我不會在夏天跟任何人
接觸。長遠來說我希望留在這裡，所有球員都希望在職業生涯的最後能夠安定
下來。我已經三十二歲了，我當然不願意離開費城，但是你必須自己衡量所有
的選擇；不過費城的高層對於這件事情，已經邁出了重要的一步。"
-- Andre Miller
Posted on Thu, Sep. 11, 2008
Andre Miller says he's happy with Sixers
By PHIL JASNER
Philadelphia Daily News
jasnerp@phillynews.com
http://tinyurl.com/6xzpzu
ANDRE MILLER likes to say that he wants to be the loudest player on the
court, the quietest one off it.
The 76ers' point guard likes to disappear during the offseason, content to
live a private life away from the questioning glare of the media, even away
from the franchise that employs him.
Ed Stefanski, the Sixers' president/general manager, will tell you that once
the last game is played, Miller is hard to find.
Not quite as hard this summer. In a lengthy conversation with the Daily News,
Miller revealed that he has not had any discussions with the Sixers about
extending his contract, but that he is interested in staying after the coming
season. He also said that he met with coach Maurice Cheeks in Los Angeles
last month, and that he sent a handful of e-mails and text messages to
Stefanski and senior vice president/assistant GM Tony DiLeo during the NBA
draft and after the acquisition of free agent Elton Brand.
"I stayed in touch," Miller said. "Normally, I don't talk to anybody in the
summer. I stayed involved. Every player wants some type of stability in the
long run. At my age [32], I definitely want to see that happen, but you have
to weigh your options. They've made strides."
Miller is in the process of changing agents, and once he has secured new
representation is open to talking about the future. In large part because he
never has depended on blinding speed, he believes he can continue to play at
a high level.
"I'm 28," Miller deadpanned. "You've seen [effective performance] in [older]
players like Gary Payton, Sam Cassell, John Stockton. Those guys took care of
their bodies. They weren't the quickest, but they knew what they could do.
They played within themselves and within the system. I'm trying to go as long
as I can. When I feel the need to back down a little as far as practice time
to preserve my body, I'll do that. I think I've earned that. I don't think I
miss any practices."
Miller has played at least 80 games in each of his previous nine seasons, and
has appeared in all 82 six times, including last season when he averaged 17
points, 6.9 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 36.8 minutes. He was easily
the team's most valuable player, helping the Sixers climb out of an early
18-30 hole to finish 40-42 and reach the postseason for the first time since
2004-05. They even beat heavily favored Detroit twice before getting
eliminated in the first round.
"I've showed I'm durable, that I play through bumps and bruises and I stay
professional," he said. "I've got to be able to play at different speeds. I
think I still have good speed as far as the game, the tempo. My body still
feels good."
He wonders about the e-mailers and message boarders who said he wasn't happy
here, who said he wanted to be back on the West Coast.
"I like the team, I definitely like the way the team has gone," he said. "I
never made any comment as far as not wanting to be in Philadelphia. I pretty
much came into the situation and did as much as I could to try and turn the
situation into a positive. I definitely like the team. I also know that it's
a business, that I can't really say where I want to be because anything can
happen. I'm happy with the situation right now. There's definitely some
upside to the coming season."
Miller talked to the Daily News a couple of hours after the Sixers announced
they had agreed in principle to a contract extension for Cheeks.
"That's cool," Miller said. "It's been fine [playing for Cheeks], a learning
experience every day for me to play for somebody I followed when I was
little. It's definitely something I'm taking advantage of.
"He understands players' bodies. He knows when to push a player, when to back
off. He's a player's coach, he blends in well, but at the same time he gets
his respect from the players."
Miller's offseason evaluation of the Sixers includes pointing out "that the
coaching staff and management are willing to bring in players that can
compete at a high level says a lot about the organization and where they're
trying to push to. There's definitely a lot of young talent, guys that are
still trying to prove themselves and are eager to get better. The talent
level is definitely there." *
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