By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Sound surprises in Euroleague, usually have the signature of a certain “hero”. You know, someone that will make a true difference in said game, stepping up and helping the underdog come out stronger against the favorite. And in the film that projects Brose Baskets’ historic Top 16 victory, 72 – 77, in Piraeus against Olympiacos, the protagonist was no other than Darius Miller. While a rookie in Euroleague, Bamberg‘s small forward had his best performance (23 points, with 8/11 field goals) in the competition, so far, against last season’s finalists and a team that the Euroleague GMs hail for being the toughest in defense! Not a small feat mind you.
Despite his great game, the 25 year old player from Kentucky was quite humble, giving all of the credit to his teammates. After the match against Olympiacos, Darius Miller answered Eurohoops‘ questions about his great shooting night, the big win of his team and Brose Baskets’ game in general, while also sharing with us his impressions from playing side by side with some NBA stars and what telling us what increases his already high motivation.
Congratulations for your game Darius. Do you realize the magnitude of that victory of Brose Baskets vs Olympiacos?
Thank you. I definitely do recognize how big this win is! Before we even started preparing for this game, my teammates talked a lot to me about what kind of opponent we will face. I am new in Euroleague, and Europe in general, but I recognize which are the big teams and the best, plus difficult places to play. The rest of Brose Baskets players, the staff and everyone in the team, prepared me from this game, especially with aspects that had to do with having the right mental approach.
How do you feel about being the best scorer of your team, with 23 points, against what is probably the toughest defense in Euroleague?
Honestly…. I think that our team does a great job on playing team basketball. So every night there is somebody different who is the top scorer. It just happened to be my night against Olympiacos. It could have been anyone of my teammates, in my place. For example, you saw that Janis (Strelnieks) was really hot! He made good shots. So it could have been any of us. I was at the right spots when it mattered and I helped as best I could. So scoring the points you mentioned, came naturally.
Brose Baskets plays really effective basketball. What is the secret behind it?
It’s all about sharing the ball man. I feel that we have a lot of great teammates in the team. Everyone of us is doing a great job on putting each other in a good position for our team to be effective as a whole. We share the ball and our system makes it happen. That works for the basketball we want to perform. Against Olympiacos, we knew that this is going to be an extremely tough game, so we had to stick to that plan, perhaps even more than before. And you saw how it worked for us.
What were your coach’s main advice before the game?
He wanted to protect our paint and he wanted us to play team basketball. He devised a plan by which we could outwork them. He asked us to control the rebounds, find the loose balls and make the best with them. I feel like that’s what we try to do in every game, not only against Olympiacos. But, as I told you, this time we made it work really fine.
You were quite good in defense, as well. What was your strategy in that area?
Our strategy was simple: Don’t give them exactly what they want. We know that they have a certain way of playing, that suits them fine, and we gave our best on taking it from them. Of course, tonight they missed a lot of shots that they normally make. I won’t deny that this helped us a lot, but our tough game, and playing hard made a difference on defense.
Something more personal about you. During your college years, in Kentucky, you played side by side with great players like DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis or John Wall. How was it having them as teammates?
Well first of all, it helped me out a LOT. I learned so many things in the time I spent with these extremely talented guys. Especially by playing with them, as you said. They have different talents and different skills and that helped me so much. Being beside them, playing with them and sharing the same court, was important for me. These people you mentioned they are all great guys and great players. So when I play with someone who is like this, I try to take a little piece out of each and everyone of him and put it in my game.
You played in the Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks but you didn’t stay with them. Do you think that right now someone over there looks at you and thinks that he might have been wrong about your game?
I don’t know about it (laughs). To be honest I haven’t really thought about it. I try to focus with the thing we got with Brose Baskets. We have a good momentum going on right now. The thing we build here is so good that I haven’t even had the time to think about anything else. And I mean it when I say that. I love what we have here.
But the fact that it didn’t work out with them, gave you some sort of an extra motivation, right?
Of course! Being cut in any situation makes you feel even more hungry. I felt like that sometimes. But, as you said, that works as an extra motivation. For me? It fueled up my game and it fueled up my efforts, even more than before.
Finally, where can Brose Baskets can go in the Euroleague? Do you have any other surprises hidden in your sleeves?
We don’t look too far ahead. We try to take it one game at a time. Like you said, we are the underdog in this situation, so we can’t, and we shouldn’t, go so far ahead of ourselves. The coach does a good job on helping us prepare every week. So the thing we have to do is come out hard every week, try to compete as best we can and do a good job on playing our usual great team basketball.