This Brad Miller fellow, he's alright.
That was by far his best game in about four years, and arguably his best game ever. (He went for 22/16/5/4 in 2003.) Just a tremendous performance, and a beautiful testament to what we expected from B-52 back in 2004.
The question with Brad starts to become: How long can he keep it up? He's got about 20,000 pro minutes under his belt. Vlade Divac lasted about 36,000 minutes (not counting international competition or pickup games in the freezer at the Alpha Beta). Miller got a later start, but (I assume) Marlboros and Stolichnaya affect a player's conditioning more than Copenhagen and Keystone. In my estimation, three to four more valuable seasons wouldn't be out of the question. (That jump shot and passing acumen alone can keep him around so long as he can get two inches off the floor and run faster than a rhinoceros.)
Call me an optimist, but I think Miller can be relevant on the next great Sacramento Kings team. His performance this season is more inline with his first campaign as a King than anything since... and it'd be even better if the rotational flux didn't lead to various backdoor turnovers or the shot was falling consistently. Players improving or staying level in their 30s is not unheard of. By nature, we do not expect it. We watched Doug Christie and Chris Webber and Vlade reach cliffs and dive. We figured Brad had done the same. I'm glad he wore a parachute.
Miller's night won't be the biggest news of today, but I figured it deserved attention before we, ahem, move on.