HT: 6-8 | WT: 218 | AGE: 21 | YR: 1
PTS: 10.8 | REBS: 4.0 | AST: 1.6
By Dr. Jack Ramsay
Special to ESPN.com
Mike Miller may be a rookie who is still developing as a player, but he has a complete game. Miller can put the ball on the floor, shoot with great accuracy from long distance, pass, defend and rebound. Miller has the ability to become an NBA standout.
Even though he came into the league with questions about his defense, Miller has surprised a lot of people, including Magic coach Doc Rivers. Rivers has been very impressed with the versatility of Miller's game.
The 6-foot-8 Miller can play either small forward or the two-guard spot. He still needs to work more on his finish in the basket area. He has a great first step on the dribble and has good enough hops and can get over the rim easily. Miller also needs to become a better team defender. But for a rookie, he's made very nice progress.
Rick Fox, meanwhile, plays a good team game for the Lakers, but he has developed into a limited perimeter shooter. He's a good spotup threat for them, plays hard, knows his limitations and plays within them. But Miller's game, which is more complete than Fox's, will keep getting better.
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HT: 6-7 | WT: 242 | AGE: 31 | YR: 10
PTS: 8.8 | REBS: 3.9 | AST: 3.0
By Eric Karabell
ESPN.com
There's no doubting which player is going to be better in a year or two, but right now, in a big playoff game, you have to take the experienced and steady Fox. Sure, Miller does shoot better from the outside (.395 to .365) but Fox is the superior passer, defender and leader, and on a team that has two superstars, he plays his role perfectly.
Fox is a great team player who doesn't care about his stats. Put him on a bad team and he could give you 15 points and 5 boards a night, like he did in Boston, but the Lakers don't need that from him. While Miller has been put into a situation where he has to score for the Magic, he is not a good defender and opponents do look for him when he's out there, since other Magic regulars are top defenders (Darrell Armstrong, Bo Outlaw, Tracy McGrady).
And we shouldn't merely dismiss Fox on offense either. In his last three games he has scored 13, 21 and 18 points, while getting 16 rebounds and 13 assists and draining seven threes. The third-leading scorer on a team many think will still defend the NBA title, Fox doesn't have the same natural ability that Miller does, but he's very smart. For this season, he's the pick.
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