Empty the Bench

Andre Miller (18 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 8-10 FGs in tonight’s win over Sac town) has picked up his game recently for the Philadelphia 76ers. He is taking on more of the scoring responsibilities and learning to play with his new teammates (.69% FGs, 14.7 points, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals in the last week). If you’re in need of traditional point guard stats and you don’t want to hurt your percentages, look no further. He’s ranked in the middle of the pack in most formats, but he can provide superior assist and steal totals when he’s on his game. The key thing is his shooting though. Miller has always been a guy who didn’t take shots he couldn’t make (.7 3-pointers attempted per game for his career) and knocked down his free throws. Somehow, he got into a massive slump in those categories over the last couple of seasons, but he appears to be back in his comfort zone.

The premier alley-oop tosser in the league has been posting those solid assist, steal and point totals, but it’s the shooting categories where the improvement has really taken place. In February he is scoring at a sizzling 55.3% from the field and 83% from the line (49% FGs and 79% FTs overall as a Sixer). It’s about time for Miller (a career 80% FT shooter who is coming off the two worst seasons of his career in the category, 72.8% and 73.9%) found his groove again. Andre will always be an assist specialist (441 total this year, fourth in the NBA), but he can also give you a boost in rebounds and FG% from the point guard position, and when his shot is falling there are very few point guards in the league I would rather have.