The old line about Michael Jordan was that no one could hold him under 20 points except Dean Smith. Jordan had a collegiate scoring average of 17.7 under Smith at North Carolina.
And nobody in the NBA has been able to stop Reggie Miller–except teammate Jalen Rose.
Rose, the University of Michigan Fab Fiver who long has talked about being the next Magic Johnson, has performed some magic of his own. Since returning to the Pacers after missing the first 10 games with a broken wrist, he has made Miller vanish.
Miller was averaging 26.7 points while the Pacers were 5-5 with Rose out and new coach Isiah Thomas in. But since returning, Rose has become one of the elite scorers in the NBA, averaging 24 points per game.
Miller is averaging 20 points per game, which is higher than his scoring averages the last two seasons. But most of that figure comes from the first 10 games of the season. Since then, Miller has averaged 15.4 points after single-digit scoring games in his last two games and five games of 10 points or less in his last 15.
“We’re not going to win a lot of games with Reggie taking eight or nine shots,” Thomas said last week after a loss to Toronto.
But that’s the way it is as Rose has taken over the team’s offense. The problem for Miller–and for the Pacers, who are 8-13 since Rose’s return–is Rose rarely looks for teammates and never looks for Miller. Rose likes to go into the post and gets his assists when opponents double-team. With Mark Jackson gone, Miller doesn’t have a point guard watching for his superb movement off the ball.
Instead, Rose has led the Pacers in scoring in 11 of their last 12 games and 15 of their last 21. Some point guards lead their teams in scoring, such as Stephon Marbury in New Jersey. But who else scores on that team? OK, Seattle’s Gary Payton also leads his team in scoring, and so does Houston’s Steve Francis. But how many championships have they helped to win? Marbury, Payton and Francis will be fortunate to make the playoffs this season.
And so will the Pacers, now 13-18 and leaving this week for a six-game Western Conference trip.
