Brandon Miller - Alabama

[SeattleJazzFan]

Huh? One of his biggest strengths is his ability to control tempo and blend playmaking/shotmaking with smart decision making. He isn't Colin Sexton.

Guys like Darius Garland, Trae Young, DeAron Fox, and Dame all went right outside your arbitrary cutoff of #4 and all would probably be the 2nd best prospect in this draft if Scoot wasnt in it.

Watch on YouTube

Mostly offball and transition scoring in regulation but towards the end and in OT you started seeing drives and 1 dribble pull ups off ballscreens. He hasn't graded out well as a PnR handler to this point so would be a welcomed addition to his game if it carries over to the remaining schedule.

he made 14 FGs - 8 of them were him creating his own shot off the bounce in the half court.

:31 fouled driving in transition
1:06 catch and shoot 3
1:14 catch and shoot 3
1:25 transition lob finish
1:30 transition drive into dunk
2:02 catch and shoot 3
2:35 catch and shoot 3
2:42 transition layup
2:48 3 pull up off ball screen
3:12 fouled on transition 3
3:30 fouled on drive
3:55 1 dribble pull up off DHO
4:16 layup off a drive

I count 10 offball/transition plays and 3 self creation in regulation

OT
4:45 layup off a drive
5:10 floater off a ball screen
5:25 layup off a drive

so 10 to 6 is my count. If you remove the plays he got the line (not sure why), its 9 to 5 with the bulk in OT.

Watch on YouTube

here are the 8 out of the 14 made FGs.

:30 drive and dunk
1:03 driving layup off a semi-break - beat GG off the bounce and slid past Meechie
1:09 pull up three off the bounce
1:20 another pull up three off the bounce. he dribbled into a pull-up, but i admit this one could go either way
1:30 the game tying lefty lay up
2:28 driving lay up on the right side
2:40 slow drive and finishes with a little push shot
2:50 the game winning drive and lefty finish.

so at the very least it was 7. and who cares when the bulk happened - if anything OT is clutch time so he should get more credit for creating his own in OT.

[clyde21]

It was very disgusting behavior by some dudes with big platforms. Some are the usual suspects any time these elements are involved with the NBA and are expected. However, some other media types were eyebrow-raising but it is not shocking because I have always said that a lot of these dudes that cover the NBA for a living do not like NBA players at all.

They should be "forced to apologize" publicly if the information put forth by the defense attorneys is correct (obviously I'm being glib here bc I don't believe in lip service). It seems that that is the case, as he isn't being charged. Just amazing that "journalists" published a hit piece on a 20 yr old before all the information is/was known.

that's been the case - that's why he wasn't arrested or charged. Miller/Alabama have been cooperating with the investigation since Jan so none of this is new information to authorities, but these people decided to hop on the train with half-baked intel.

i really don't understand what drives people to do this ****. its like their default state is to just pearl clutch 24/7 regardless of logic or facts.

[jman3134]

It was very disgusting behavior by some dudes with big platforms. Some are the usual suspects any time these elements are involved with the NBA and are expected. However, some other media types were eyebrow-raising but it is not shocking because I have always said that a lot of these dudes that cover the NBA for a living do not like NBA players at all.

They should be "forced to apologize" publicly if the information put forth by the defense attorneys is correct (obviously I'm being glib here bc I don't believe in lip service). It seems that that is the case, as he isn't being charged. Just amazing that "journalists" published a hit piece on a 20 yr old before all the information is/was known.

that's been the case - that's why he wasn't arrested or charged. Miller/Alabama have been cooperating with the investigation since Jan so none of this is new information to authorities, but these people decided to hop on the train with half-baked intel.

i really don't understand what drives people to do this ****. its like their default state is to just pearl clutch 24/7 regardless of logic or facts.

The only thing I can think of is that people do this for clout. As long as you are amplifying their platform, they will spew whatever nonsense it takes to attract 5 bot followers. It is a pretty pathetic existence.

I firmly believe in innocent until proven guilty as a principle and in this case, I am more confident in his innocence given the aftermath. It feels like a situation where people are twisting facts to drum up controversy. If the tape reveals otherwise, I'll happily admit it. Until then, Miller is innocent.

[reanimator]

he made 14 FGs - 8 of them were him creating his own shot off the bounce in the half court.

:31 fouled driving in transition
1:06 catch and shoot 3
1:14 catch and shoot 3
1:25 transition lob finish
1:30 transition drive into dunk
2:02 catch and shoot 3
2:35 catch and shoot 3
2:42 transition layup
2:48 3 pull up off ball screen
3:12 fouled on transition 3
3:30 fouled on drive
3:55 1 dribble pull up off DHO
4:16 layup off a drive

I count 10 offball/transition plays and 3 self creation in regulation

OT
4:45 layup off a drive
5:10 floater off a ball screen
5:25 layup off a drive

so 10 to 6 is my count. If you remove the plays he got the line (not sure why), its 9 to 5 with the bulk in OT.

Watch on YouTube

here are the 8 out of the 14 made FGs.

:30 drive and dunk
1:03 driving layup off a semi-break - beat GG off the bounce and slid past Meechie
1:09 pull up three off the bounce
1:20 another pull up three off the bounce. he dribbled into a pull-up, but i admit this one could go either way
1:30 the game tying lefty lay up
2:28 driving lay up on the right side
2:40 slow drive and finishes with a little push shot
2:50 the game winning drive and lefty finish.

so at the very least it was 7. and who cares when the bulk happened - if anything OT is clutch time so he should get more credit for creating his own in OT.

Yeah, you're listing a some transition plays not half court creation IMO but not really worth arguing. I never said anything about the creation coming in OT to minimize it merely described what occurred. And I am crediting the creation shown in this game hence "would be a welcomed addition to his game if it carries over to the remaining schedule." I watched this live and tipped my cap to Miller last night in this very thread.

[JMAC3]

Huh? One of his biggest strengths is his ability to control tempo and blend playmaking/shotmaking with smart decision making. He isn't Colin Sexton.

Guys like Darius Garland, Trae Young, DeAron Fox, and Dame all went right outside your arbitrary cutoff of #4 and all would probably be the 2nd best prospect in this draft if Scoot wasnt in it.

Yeah I think you missed my point. I am not saying Scoot is a bad player. Just that precedent says guys his size don't go in the top 4. There is this sentiment that Scoot would be the #1 pick in the draft without Wemby and still be a can't miss prospect.

Is he a better prospect than Fox, Dame, Garland, Young? Is he the best sub 6-4 prospect of the last 10 years?

My point was that its an arbitrary cut off and the past 10 years show there are quite a few guys who should have gone higher sub 6'4. I think Scoot is every bit as good as those list of guys btw.

Does Scoot's iffy 3 pt shooting drop him in the same tier as Miller who is 2 years older and has questionable onball ability? I'd say no personally but I see this gaining traction with some. If the argument is that Miller fits more teams due to ease of integrating his skillset and has arguably the highest floor in the draft then by all means I agree but to call Scoot an undersized shooting guard diminishes a lot of what he does well.

I would say I feel bad discussing Scoot in this thread, but it seems like he doesn't have one for some reason.

I think there is more question marks on Scoot than just his outside shooting though.

Last season he shot 51 threes and made 11, or 21% this season he shot 15/42 or 36%. Neither is a large enough sample size to really feel confident, so I would go back to volume. Typically better shooters take more 3s. Scoot is averaging under 2.5 attempts per game, that is very low for a guard. If you look at the samples sizes together he is shooting 28% which probably feels closer to his real shooting %. Shooting can improve though, so this isn't even my biggest cause of hesitation.

His size and therefore defense is the part I see him struggling with. How many 6-2 guards or smaller are there in the NBA? 60? how many of them are good defenders 7? Especially ones that are scorers and not just defensive specialists. Feels like there is a 90% chance he is a subpar defender.

Whereas I feel like Amen, Ausar, Wemby, Whitmore, Jarace are all very likely to be above average to good defenders. Even Miller at 6-9 feels like he probably will be at least average.

From Day 1: if you take Scoot you are setting yourself in path of... well since my point guard is small I can't have a small off guard and more than likely you need to pair him with a defensive minded shooter. Really hard to say that any of the top prospects are pigeonholed into a certain roster build.

Hornets for example: LaMelo and Scoot feels like a horrible pairing. Neither defends. Scoot is small which negates the advantage of having a tall point in Ball. Kind of feels the same with Rockets and Jalen Green/Scoot. Does Scoot/Ivy/Cade work? To me a tier 1 player should't present this many issues from day 1.

You could say Amen you need to pair him with shooters, but that I feel like is a lot easier to find lineups that can work. Miller feels like he works on any team. Same with Wemby.

[wco81]

If he keeps lighting it up he'll still be a high lotto pick.

Teams will whitewash this incident.

If he wasn't such a high level prospect, it would be a different story.

BTW, didn't Jabari Smith have even more hype last season? He's not shooting so great in his rookie season, on a bad team. But wasn't the hype that he could be a generational shooter with great length? Maybe the next KD?

[clyde21]

If he keeps lighting it up he'll still be a high lotto pick.

Teams will whitewash this incident.

If he wasn't such a high level prospect, it would be a different story.

BTW, didn't Jabari Smith have even more hype last season? He's not shooting so great in his rookie season, on a bad team. But wasn't the hype that he could be a generational shooter with great length? Maybe the next KD?

1) there is nothing to whitewash

2) good thing players don't retire half way thru their rookie yrs

[reanimator]

Yeah I think you missed my point. I am not saying Scoot is a bad player. Just that precedent says guys his size don't go in the top 4. There is this sentiment that Scoot would be the #1 pick in the draft without Wemby and still be a can't miss prospect.

Is he a better prospect than Fox, Dame, Garland, Young? Is he the best sub 6-4 prospect of the last 10 years?

My point was that its an arbitrary cut off and the past 10 years show there are quite a few guys who should have gone higher sub 6'4. I think Scoot is every bit as good as those list of guys btw.

Does Scoot's iffy 3 pt shooting drop him in the same tier as Miller who is 2 years older and has questionable onball ability? I'd say no personally but I see this gaining traction with some. If the argument is that Miller fits more teams due to ease of integrating his skillset and has arguably the highest floor in the draft then by all means I agree but to call Scoot an undersized shooting guard diminishes a lot of what he does well.

I would say I feel bad discussing Scoot in this thread, but it seems like he doesn't have one for some reason.

I think there is more question marks on Scoot than just his outside shooting though.

Last season he shot 51 threes and made 11, or 21% this season he shot 15/42 or 36%. Neither is a large enough sample size to really feel confident, so I would go back to volume. Typically better shooters take more 3s. Scoot is averaging under 2.5 attempts per game, that is very low for a guard. If you look at the samples sizes together he is shooting 28% which probably feels closer to his real shooting %. Shooting can improve though, so this isn't even my biggest cause of hesitation.

His size and therefore defense is the part I see him struggling with. How many 6-2 guards or smaller are there in the NBA? 60? how many of them are good defenders 7? Especially ones that are scorers and not just defensive specialists. Feels like there is a 90% chance he is a subpar defender.

Whereas I feel like Amen, Ausar, Wemby, Whitmore, Jarace are all very likely to be above average to good defenders. Even Miller at 6-9 feels like he probably will be at least average.

From Day 1: if you take Scoot you are setting yourself in path of... well since my point guard is small I can't have a small off guard and more than likely you need to pair him with a defensive minded shooter. Really hard to say that any of the top prospects are pigeonholed into a certain roster build.

Hornets for example: LaMelo and Scoot feels like a horrible pairing. Neither defends. Scoot is small which negates the advantage of having a tall point in Ball. Kind of feels the same with Rockets and Jalen Green/Scoot. Does Scoot/Ivy/Cade work? To me a tier 1 player should't present this many issues from day 1.

You could say Amen you need to pair him with shooters, but that I feel like is a lot easier to find lineups that can work. Miller feels like he works on any team. Same with Wemby.

Your qualms just seems to go back to my point about shooting and fit. PGs are never the defensive anchor and unless they're someone like Jrue Holiday/Marcus Smart who can defend multiple positions, does fixating on their defense or lack of warrant it? That said, I do think the rationale that since Scoot is "small" then surely he will be a poor defender doesn't necessarily follow. Dude is cerebral, explosive, and strong all in a 6'3 ish frame, so if he puts effort on that end then he will be fine. Make no mistake about it, however, Scoot is being drafted to be a offensive hub and there is arguably not a better prospect in the draft in that singular aspect even if other prospects have higher floors, are better 2 way prospects, integrate more seamlessly, etc. Just out of curiosity, would you take Chet Holmgren or Evan Mobley over Scoot too?

[azcatz11]

It was very disgusting behavior by some dudes with big platforms. Some are the usual suspects any time these elements are involved with the NBA and are expected. However, some other media types were eyebrow-raising but it is not shocking because I have always said that a lot of these dudes that cover the NBA for a living do not like NBA players at all.

They should be "forced to apologize" publicly if the information put forth by the defense attorneys is correct (obviously I'm being glib here bc I don't believe in lip service). It seems that that is the case, as he isn't being charged. Just amazing that "journalists" published a hit piece on a 20 yr old before all the information is/was known.

that's been the case - that's why he wasn't arrested or charged. Miller/Alabama have been cooperating with the investigation since Jan so none of this is new information to authorities, but these people decided to hop on the train with half-baked intel.

i really don't understand what drives people to do this ****. its like their default state is to just pearl clutch 24/7 regardless of logic or facts.

Like I said earlier - if he has any true culpability heads will roll and that begins with the president of the school. This is a very serious issue. If Alabama had even a 1% doubt he would have been suspended which is why I’m confident Miller has done nothing wrong.

[wco81]

Alabama probably has a lot of clout since it has big-time football and basketball programs.

49ers made a big mistake a few years ago and drafted Ruben Foster, despite his off field red flags. He flamed out, as many would have predicted.

I don't know how many seasons he played in Alabama but I bet Saban smoothed things over so he was always available. 49ers couldn't do that at the NFL level.

So saying the local police didn't arrest him doesn't mean that a less-talented player or just a regular college student, not a NCAA division 1 athlete (much less one with a huge pro potential), under the same circumstances wouldn't have been arrested.

[JMAC3]

. Just out of curiosity, would you take Chet Holmgren or Evan Mobley over Scoot too?

Probably. I just think they are a more rare breed.

I think prime they will be scoring 20+ and providing elite level defense.

Scoot probably scores 20+ but without the defense. Score first guards aren't nearly as rare.

[reanimator]

His most Paul George-ish game of the year. Multiple impressive halfcourt drives. He takes a lot of dribbles to get where he needs but loves that hesi and Alabama just spaces. If he gets stopped by the help then he just rises up since no one can contest.

[reanimator]

Read on Twitter

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Awful look.

[clyde21]

trying to prove a point to all that jumped to conclusions, love it.

[reanimator]

I have not spoke on the gun stuff at all so I'm not "yall" but taunting a situation where someone was murdered even if you have no culpability seems like pretty awful decision making and indicative of a lack of empathy.

[CptCrunch]

Just complete lack of judgement from all parties within Alabama basketball. Anyone other than Brandon Miller, would be suspended by Alabama by now. Ignoring all the potential undercharging by local prosecutor Miller enjoyed.

Family of the dead victim should be filling a civil suit against Miller yesterday.

[clyde21]

suspended for what exactly?

how are we still having this convo?

[baldur]

Read on Twitter

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Awful look.

WOW. this is bold and provocative.

[zeebneeb]

suspended for what exactly?

how are we still having this convo?

Because Miller thinks its funny, and some kind of game that a 23 year old women is dead?

He's a piece of ****.

[azcatz11]

Read on Twitter

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Awful look.

Ummmmm wtf?

I don't think he did anything wrong but horrible judgment and a complete lack of respect to the victims' family. Just disgusting and gross.